Diverse Islamic stories

Titles of Stories:

Marshta and Asia (a.s.)
The Prophet's Gift
A Poor Man At The Place
Junaid and Behlool
Behlool
Imam Ali (a.s.) and the Candle
The Poor Man Said
Self Reliance
Ghazali and The Robbers
Time
STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL
The Room of My Life
The Stranger By Rand Diab
Choices in Life
IMPACTING LIVES ...
Park Bench

The Stone Started Running away with the Clothes
Life
ISLAMIC BED TIME STORIES for CHILDREN Adapted for children by Khadijah Stephens
The Turner of Hearts
The Sultan and the Fisher Boy
The Sultan and the Woodcutter
The House in Paradise
The Father and His Son
The Cobbler and the Worshiper
The Worshiper and the Youth
The Man Who Looked for Goodness
The Drink from Paradise
The Man and the Sieve
The Dog that Talked
The Vision
The Grateful Lady
The Runaway Cow
The Unjust Ruler
STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL
Knowledge
Junaid and Behlool
Behlool
Imam Ali (a.s.) and the Candle
Death - The Leveller
Self Reliance
Ghazali and The Robbers
Time
The Creator
Belief in Allah
My Grandfather: The Muezzin by: Shawqui Baghdadi
The Elderly's Resort by Abdallah Ahmad
Kicking the fallen ones
The Effort of the Frog
Growing Pains

Marshta and Asia (a.s.)
This story takes place in Egypt. From Qur'an we begin with Sura 28, ayats 1-4. Ta Sin Meem the same as Alif Lam Meem means to open and unlock something with a key. Key being the important word here. Some kind of key that opens or unlocks a mystery or puzzle. Introduction, Pharoah is an oppressor. The name of this story is the trial of Marshta and Asia, two believers in the time of Musa a.s.
The daughter of Pharone had a nurse maid. The name of this nurse maid was Marshta. There was one day when this nurse maid (Marshta) was combing the hair of the daughter of Pharone. While combing her hair, the comb fell from her hand on to the floor. While picking up the comb from the floor, Marshta uttered the following words, "Curses be upon those who reject Allah s.w.t.". Immediately the daughter of Pharone turned to her at once and asked "Do you believe in a God besides my father?" Marshta replied my Creator, my God and your God and your father's God and the God of the Heavens and the Earth is but one God. No partners have He. The daughter of Pharone said "You dare say such a word and she entered her father's chambers weeping and crying.
What happen here was in the time of Musa a.s. Among the Israelites there were many who accepted Islam in secret. They would come to his lessons and came and accepted the Deen of Musa a.s. (which we will call Islam) - the teachings of Musa a.s. was that there is only one true God. They came and accepted but they remained in secret. Why in secret? Because Pharoah was an oppressor. He killed their sons and kept alive their daughters for personal use. So because he was an oppressor they were afraid, fearful to reveal their Islam to him, therefore they held it back. But there were many Muslims in the employ of Pharone - many who had accepted Islam.
One of them happen to be this youthful maid of the daughter of Pharone, who worked in the palace in the chambers of Pharone. Pharoah wheeled a tremendous power and strength in Egypt. Sura 43, ayat 51 & 52, Allah s.w.t. say's that Pharoah proclaimed "Oh my people, Does not the land of Egypt belong to me?" " And am I not the possesor and maker of the land of Egypt?"
" And these rivers that flow through my property ( The Nile and such) I have created them, they belong to me." " There is no God besides me." " Am I not better than Musa, who is a disgrace and cannot even express himself clearly?" Now what does Pharoah do, he laughs at Musa. This is the Musa that grew up in my palace? He is trying to bring about change and he is trying to bring about La Ilaha Ilallah. He is a disgrace and he cannot even speak clearly. He doesn't even have bracelettes of gold or angels to attend to him or own any possesion. Like Pharoah had all these armies and such, Musa hasn't got anything. In Egypt the mark of a man's status, you can see on the pictures of idols and such was a golden bracelette around the neck.
So Musa hasn't any mark of being a man of honour of status and dignity.
He's got no blue blood. And he's got no angels, or soldiers, or armies parading for him. That is what Allah s.w.t. tells us, this is how Pharone was. The Qur'an also tells us in Sura 40, ayat 25, And when the Prophets (Musa a.s and companions) came to them with the truth from us - They said (the oppressors said) "Slay the sons of those who believe with him and save their daughters alive for our use." But the strategy for the disbelievers were to end in vain say's Allah s.w.? Back to the story now, What did Pharone say?
"Any believer in my community that you find believing in the Deen of Musa - slay their sons with them and save their daughters alive."
Sura 79, ayat 23 & 24, Allah s.w.t. say's and this Pharoah called a big parade one day ( a big rally) and the Pharoah called upon his people and proclaimed "I am your Lord the Supreme One" Therefore Allah s.w.t. chastised him with a punishment in the hereafter along with the present life. And Allah s.w.t. say's "Verily here in is an example and a lesson for those that fears Allah"
The story that I am about to tell you, this is the theme there of. That we must learn to respect and honour our deen and that we must fear Allah s.w.t. all the time. See now the faith of a maid here in the palace. See now the courage and bravery of a simple maid in the palace of this powerful Pharoah. Imagine what I am going to reveal to you know. A kind of Iman, a kind of bravery, a kind of faith along with a strong conviction.
Here is a young girl, she wasn't yet married. She came from a very poor family. She's working for a living. She is a maid for the daughter of Pharone. But when Iman came into her, Look at what Iman did to her. This maids name is Marshta. She is now a mother of two. She was the wife of "Kharkill", who also had accepted the Deen of musa a.s. (Islam). But Marshta was an extrovert, meaning she was a fearless person. Whatever she had to say, she always said it. And when she was picking up the comb from the floor she said what she wanted to say. She was very brave, very honorable and very courageous. And she admitted to Pharoah's daughter to believing in Allah s.w.t. and said that He is Lord and Creator of the Worlds and of Pharoah and of the Heavens and Earth. The daughter went and reported this girl "Marshta" to her father.
Pharone holds court, in other words, a court like proceedings. And he summons Marshta . So they go and bring her. She is brought chained before the justice of Pharoah. She comes however smiling and laughing. And in her heart she say's "Today is the test of my Iman" "Today is the test of my faith" I she tells herself will never succumb. Because I am ever prepared to meet my maker. Today let the interrogation begin. Ask me what you will, but you shall never get me to change my faith or to succumb. So Pharoah proceeds. After establishing her faith, she say's she believes in the God of Musa a.s., In the Unity of Allah s.w.t., Allah is one, exactly what she said in front of the daughter of Pharone. She repeats it bravely and courageously in front of this powerful ruler. In front of him without fear of punishment she tells him exactly the truth. Then he tells her, Look Marshta, Leave your Allah and accept me as your Lord and Creator, for who is there to save you now? If you accept me as your God, I can save you and release you. But if you have a God, Where is you God? Can he save you now? Alright Marshta, I will give you a choice. Leave your God and accept me as your God and I will spare you your life. Listen to her reply.
Marshta replies, she say's "NOT ON YOUR LIFE and NOT ON MY LIFE." "Do your worst you criminal, but me you will never convince." "Not until the day of Judgement." This is the first time in the history of Egypt that someone with such bravery, besides Musa a.s. , stood up in fromt of Pharoah with such conviction. This servant girl stood before him with just that, bravery and conviction. So Pharoah like Shaiton also adopts strategies and steps to punish people. He orders Marshta to be taken by his soldiers to the reptile den.
So Marshta was taken to the reptile den. If anyone suspected of believing in other than him, were to be brought before him. He then questions them to their belief and if it is not in him, they were put in to a reptile den. A place where the people were made to suffer, where the reptiles and scorpions and everything as such is kept.
So he ordered Marshta to be taken to the reptile den. She is told, "Oh Marshta, You will be released to these pythons, scorpions and reptiles and they shall feed on you for two months." "We warn you before we put you in there, Accept Pharone as your God and we will set you free." And she replies to the soldiers. She tells them for two months - to me, even if you were to put me in this reptile den for 70 months, each day will only increase my faith without going back on my word. No matter how much suffering you cause me. There is a hadith in Sahih Bukhari that says, (The power of Iman is such that once it feels the heart of a true believing Momin it is impossible to be removed.) She is put into the reptile den and whatever happened there is not told to us thru the Qur'an or hadith. How long she actually stayed in the reptile den is not known. All we do know is that she was taken out of the reptile den by the soldiers unscathed.
Nothing at all had harmed her.
Test # 2 Marshta had two daughters. One was a five year old and she had a breast feeding baby. So Pharone orders her two daughters to be brought. He first says take Marshta and strap her. Now pharone had a punishment torture chamber. In this chamber was a big slab of stone and on the stone there were four places where pegs were ejected attached with leather prongs.
Anybody he wanted to punish or torture was thrown on to this slab of stone and they were pegged. Their two hands and two feet were stretched and tied down. This type of torture was a custom that was started by Pharone. This is what the Qur'an says regarding the system of torture that was introduced by Pharone. Pharone asks the believers, "Have you believed in Him, Allahs.w.t., Moses' God, before I have given you such permission." "Verily this is a plot which you have concocted in this city in order to remove it's inhabitants." "But you shall soon know that I am the Lord. And the Master and the Creator". "I will have your feet and your hands be cut off on opposite sides and I will cause you all to be crucified." So this system of crucifiction was introduced by Pharone the Qur'an tells us.
Pharone used to strap those he suspected of believing in the deen of Musa a.s., in the one Allah, by their hands and their feet and then torture them. So Marshta was then tied down and was prepared for torture and torment. First her eldest 5 yr. old daughter is brought and placed over the chest of her mother. In those days the system of torture was - If they wanted to kill someone, was to take a sharp knife and slit their throats.
Cut it off completely. This was their system of punishment. So this little girl is brought and placed over the breast of her mother, and in front of her mother while her mother is looking on, her neck is cut off. Now marshta is told, Listen, Oh Marshta get some sense into youself. Accept Pharone as your Lord and God and we will release you. Otherwise we will have to slaughter your little baby.
And she replies (as a mother she replies) "If you were to bring the whole of this world and sacrifice every daughter on my chest, I will never leave my Allah." Pharoah orders for the little girl to be brought and laid across her bosom. The baby is then laid across her mother's chest. Her mother strapped by her feet and hands, helpless. And they prepare to cut the baby's neck. The 6 month old baby of Marshta, who only recently suckled milk from her mother, and was now under going this supreme test of faith and Iman. The tears flowing freely from the mother's eyes and her baby and her own body contorts with the emotion of heartbreak. Every nerve and tissue, every fiber of her body is erect by the passion and pain which only a mother experiences - the love which only a mother experiences for her child. And in this tense and frightful but miraculous moment, This baby of Marshta, this 6 month old baby of this mother, which should be an example to every living mother of this world, speaks out! In a loud and clear tone of voice. This little 6 month old baby as the soldier holds the knife to slaughter her, this little child in a loud voice so that everyone congregated there could hear, (many people often hundreds would come to observe the tortures) this little baby in a loud voice so everyone there could hear tells her mother "Oh my beloved mother, Why do you cry so? Why do you weep so?" "I can see Jannah being prepared for you" "Oh my mother.
Don't weep so, when you get to Jannah you will be blessed with a vision and the nour of Allah s.w.?" "So be in peace, in peace, be in peace." And as it said so the neck of the child was cut off in front of her mother. When this is done and the words that were spoken from the little baby - sunk into the mother - tranquility and peace descends on her. So the child was slain and immediately following, Pharone ordered the mother to be slain as well. The mother's neck is then cut off..
This is what happened in this torture chamber, but there is another lady ( a true believer) also in this chamber. She is sitting on one side upstairs and she is watching this entire scene. Do you know who it was? It was the mother of Musa a.s. (that is what we can refer to her as). Musa a.s. had 2 mothers so to speak. One was his real mother and the other one was his mother in the palace. She was Asia. She was watching the whole scene - she was a believer even before Marshta was a believer. She could not bear it.
She could not tolerate that a girl, a servant girl has displaced this kind of Iman, this kind of yaqin, She cannot tolerate it, and she runs from her room. She is completely overcome with emotion. She is hysterical. And Asia runs down to seek Pharone. She saw these entire proceedings and was overwhelmed. What convinced her even more to reveal her faith was not only the courage and conviction of the maid, but also what she had seen. By the power of Allah s.w.t. of the angels descending from the heavens. Allah s.w.t. revealed to her, Allah s.w.t. took away the curtains from her eyes and when Marshta was killed, Asia by the power of allah.s.w.t. saw the malika descending from the heavens with garlands and robes from jannah for Marshta. Wrapping her Ruh in these robes of Jannah and ascending there with. This was too much for her, she could bear it no longer and she became hysterical. She regarded it as contemptable to hide her faith in Allah s.w.t. any longer. She ran about seeking her husband.
When she found him, she began screaming at him. Have you become so courageous? You are the worst amongst mankind. You dare to raise your finger towards Marshta for a simple belief and you have slain her. Pharone turns to her and says "Oh Asia have you become sensitive by it?" "Are you also influenced by her brand of madness?" Marshta's brand of madness. She replies "No, I'm not mad." And this is the first time she reveals to Pharone her faith. She says "But I warn you Pharone and I tell you my Lord, my Creator and your Lord and your Creator and the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth is one Allah and no one comes near Him." "There is no partnership."
The same as Marshta had previously told him.
Pharone was a powerful man. He was not only cleaver and a genius. He had a large build and was powerful. He stood up like an enraged bull. He tore her clothes and he beat her to a pulp and then he summoned her family and people and he said talk some sense into her. He beat Asia until she was black and blue. Then he called her father and her mother amongst others and said talk to this woman. "Explain to this woman that if she does not accept me as God and if she continues to persist in this belief, believing in the deen of Musa a.s. , then I will destroy her" The family came together and listened and then said to Asia, "Oh Asia, let it be, leave well enough alone." "Pharone is God." "He is almighty." "He is all powerful on Earth and he rules as he pleases." "What's going on with you?" "Why are you throwing such golden opportunities away?" "Where is your pride, your
dignity, your honor?" "We are amazed at your folly and stupidity." "Come to your senses." "Oh Asia, we plead with you." "Look at all of the wonderful things that Pharone has given us." "All the homes and servants, all the gifts and comforts." "All of this we must lose?" "Asia, look at yourself, you are the queen." "Everything you want and desire, you have."
"Are you going to kick all these wonderful material blessings and pleasures he has given you aside for La Ilaha Ilallah?" "For the deen of Musa a.s.?"
"Have you become mad?"
And then Asia replied. Listen to what she said. "Don't waste your breath any longer." "Oh foolish ones, what moves you is the selfishness of pride and prejudice." "Not the honor of dignity and respect." "The affection for glamour and splendor moves you and not the inclination of submission to Allah s.w.?" "He is the Lord, the Creator of all things." "Even if Pharoah were to present me with a glittering crown the glory of which be such that if the sun appeared before me and the moon behind me with sparkling stars in between the two, I will not leave my Allah, who is my Lord." That is my decision that is my commitment, that is my conviction."
That was too much for Pharone. He immediately ordered for her torture to begin. So she was strapped and fastened on the same slab of stone in which Marshta had just recently been slain. A burning tray of fire, a slab, a stone. He had a heavy stone. One was beneath her and then they placed another heavy stone on her chest. On this stone a huge bonfire was lit.
The system was like this. The stone was a slow condenser. It heats up slowly and then starts burning up the body. Through heat the body burns.
In other words, if you put fire to the body it would burn immediately. So he evolved this trick of laying a thin, very heavy slab of stone on the body and lighting a fire on top of it. A lot of the heat travels upward, but a good amount goes to the bottom and it penetrates and then it starts burning and torturing you. This gives him time to try and force the believer to say that he is God. The moment you say it he removes the slab and you are free to go. So this was another system of punishment. And this is what he is doing to Asia. His own wife he does this. And he tells her as the fire is lit, "Oh Asia, now leave your God alone and accept me as your God, as your Lord or I will increase your torture." And she replies, "Oh Pharoah if you punish me you can only torture this body of mine, but you can never touch the love in which I bear for Allah s.w.?. , nor lesson it in any way." "Oh Pharoah, even if you break my body into pieces and tear it into shreds, for every drop of blood that flows out - will my love for Allah s.w.t. only increase the more no matter how much you batter and bruise me."
"Reproaching, rebuking and reviling, Oh Pharoah are superficial complaints, but the love for a beloved is deep and profound." "Inside it is unapproachable." "Look at me now Pharone, blood flows from every part of my body." A fire is placed on top of me which is beginning to burn and scorch me but the fire of unapproachable and unlimited love for Allah s.w.t. burns intensely and fiercely inside this very body." These are the words of Queen Asia. This lady of Egypt. In the meantime, words of the Queen's uncovering of faith and Iman in Allah s.w.t. had reached Musa as. .
Musa a.s. who grew up in this palace - who knows every avenue, every door, every step of the palace of Pharone. He rushes to the palace. He knew the severity of the test. This is why he told Asia when she accepted the faith at his hands, "Don't reveal it to Pharone otherwise he will torture you to death. But now the torture and the test has begun, and he rushes in wondering whether Asia could withstand and endure the torture that Pharone would give to her. However, on arriving to the torture chamber, he finds her strapped and tied down in the sacrificial chamber, blood streaming from cuts and abrasions, lacerations all over her body but a great smile of peace and contentment he finds on her face.
Asia sees Musa a.s. coming and she says "Oh Musa, Do you see? I have put on the mantle of departure from this world and I have put on the cloak of the hereafter." Tell me Oh Musa, Is my creator satisfied, pleased and happy
with me? Or is my Lord displeased and angry with me? And Prophet Musa a.s. replies to her. "Oh Asia, daughter of Muzihem, the angels of the seventh heaven are awaiting you with great pleasure." "And Allah s.w.t. looks forward to meeting you. He is very pleased to meet you." This is what the Qur'an has to say about these last, last few minutes. I'm quoting to you from Surah 66, ayat 11. Allah s.w.t. says "Allah s.w.t. sets forth for those who believe the parable or example of the wife of Pharone when she said "Oh my Lord build for me a house with Thee in paradise and deliver me from Pharoah and his doings and deliver me from the unjust people."
In the heaven, Allah s.w.t. is indicating to thee angels the nobleness and courage and conviction of a true believing Momina and of her love for Allah s.w.t. for which she is prepared to sacrifice so much of wealth, position and status and to endure so much pain, sufferings and anguish. Allah s.w.t. in front of the angels that are gathered there pleading with Allah s.w.t. to save her, Allah s.w.t. is telling them that this is insaan. You see angels when I created him you said this insaan is going to commit so much evil and bloodshed and commit so many sins. Do you see what kind of quality I have given to those that believe. Look at this Asia, look at Marshta and Musa a.s.. Look at the courage and conviction of faith. Allah s.w.t. is telling the angels this, "Verily we created man of the most excellent fabric, Allah s.w.t. tells us about His creation. And in the meantime in suffering and hardship and the trials and tribulations, their love and fear for me increases, Allah s.w.t. is telling the angels. Pharone is having his court here and Allah s.w.t. is holding his court with the angels. And Allah s.w.t. tells them in the suffering and hardship and the trials and tribulations the love of my servants and the fear that they have for me only increases. These are the true, the sincere, the devoted.
"Oh Asia, What do you ask for?" Allah s.w.t. asks Asia in those moments, "What do you want?" "What do you seek?" And you tell me what does a faithful slave ask from Allah s.w.t. in these moments? This is what she asks. She says "Oh my Lord, build for me a house in paradise so I can be close to You, be near You." Allah s.w.t. orders Jibril to reveal to her as her eyes close, as she is about to die, Jibril a.s. is ordered to reveal to
Asia her home in paradise. And seeing this she was so overcome with peace and happiness and she passed silently out of this world.

The Prophet's Gift
Whenever the Prophet's (p.b.u.h.) followers reaped their first harvest, they brought early, fresh fruits to him. Then he would distribute them among those who sat around him. One morning, a poor man brought one fruit from his small farm and gave it to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.).
The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) accepted the gift, tasted it and then went on eating it alone while the companions watched. One of those present meekly said:
"O Prophet of Allah, you have overlooked the right of those who watch while you eat?"
The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) smiled and waited till the man who had brought the fruit had gone. Then he said:
"I tasted the fruit and it was not yet ripe. Had I allowed you to have some of it, someone would have definitely shown his distaste, thus disappointing the poor man who brought this gift.
Rather than make him feel bitter, I accepted the bitterness."

A Poor Man At The Place
Once a poor, unkempt man appeared at the gate of a king's palace. He was in rags and not at all suitably attired to be admitted into the presence of a monarch. So the guards stopped him.
"You cannot enter the palace in rags, "they said.
The man insisted. He began to quarrel with the guards, raising his voice so loud that the king heard it."
He sent for the man.
When he appeared before the king, the noblemen around raised their eyebrows. What was this pauper doing here?
"What is your problem?", the king inquired.
"Oh, I have many problems. But the immediate one is that your guards refused me entry into the palace. Am I not your subject?"
"Yes, you are.....indeed, you are. But you must dress properly and suitably," the king said.
The poor man looked up and said, "O king, it is not wrong to enter a palace in rags and empty-handed. But to come out from a palace empty-handed and in rags is indeed a disgrace."

Junaid and Behlool
Behlool simulated madness, though he was not mad. Junaid a scholar and Sufi of repute, knew him very well. One day as they met, Junaid requested him to give him some counsel and admonition.
"You do not need any advice. You are a well known scholar," Behlool said.
But Junaid insisted. Behlool gave in and said: "Well, I shall ask you three questions. If you answer them correctly, you will be advised."
And then he proceeded to ask:
"Do you know how to talk?"
"Do you know how to eat?"
"Do you know how to sleep?"
Junaid found these simple. He said:
"I know how to talk. I talk with a low voice, politely and to the point, so that the listeners are not at all offended. I eat after having washed my hands, say Bismillah before I commence, and chew the food properly. When I finish, I thank Allah. Before I go to sleep, I do my wudhu and retire to a clean bed. Then I bear witness to my faith and sleep."
Behlool stood up and started walking away. He said: "I thought you were quite learned.
You do not know the most elementary things of Islam." But Junaid would not let him go.
"Please guide me," he said.
"Well," Behlool said, "It is no use talking softly if it is a lie, remembering Allah before eating has no meaning if the food you eat is forbidden or usurped or that the food has been bought from the money of an orphan, a widow or a fellowman. And what is the use of sleeping with wudhu and all the recitations if your heart is full of malice, jealousy and enmity towards your brother in faith."

Behlool
Behlool liked to visit the graveyards.
"People here are good friends," he used to say "They do not backbite". Once, he sat in a corner of a graveyard and with a long stick. He started probing at some of the old skulls which lay scattered about. Harun Rashid, the king, passed by and saw him and asked, "O Behlool! What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing very important", said Behlool. "I am just trying to find out whether the skulls belong to kings or paupers. They are all the same." "And what is the stick for?" Harun asked.
"Well, I'm measuring the earth", Behlool replied.
"Measuring the earth? What are your findings?" Harun joked.
"It is equal and the same, O King", Behlool retorted. "Three armlengths for me, in spite of my poverty and three armlengths for you, in spite of your pomp and wealth."
"And what is the stick for?" Harun asked. "Well, I'm measuring the earth", Behlool replied.
"Measuring the earth? What are your findings?" Harun joked.
"It is equal and the same, O King", Behlool retorted. "Three armlengths for me, in spite of my poverty and three armlengths for you, in spite of your pomp and wealth."

Imam Ali (a.s.) and the Candle
A candle burnt by his side, as he sat down meticulously recording all the revenue and the expenses of the treasury.
Just then Talha and Zubair appeared.
They aspired to some positions of authority in Ali's (a.s.) rule and had come to strike a deal. If Ali (a.s.) gave them a place of distinction, they would in turn pledge their full support. Ali (a.s.) knew of this.
Just as they sat down, Ali (a.s.) put out the candle and lit another one.
Talha and Zubair exchanged a glance of surprise and then one of them said:
"O Ali, we have come on some important business. But why did you extinguish the first candle?"
Imam Ali (a.s.) replied: "That was a candle bought of Treasury funds. As long as I worked for the Treasury, I used it. Now you have come for some personal work, so I use the candle bought of my personal fund."
Talha and Zubair left him without saying another word.

The Poor Man Said
It was a usual meeting. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) was in his place and his companions gathered around him to hear the words of wisdom and guidance.
Suddenly a poor man in rags appeared, saluted the assembly:
"Salamun Alaikum" and finding a vacant place, comfortably sat down. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) had taught them that all Muslims were brothers and in an assembly one should sit wherever one finds a place, regardless of any status.
Now, it so happened that this poor man sat next to a very rich man. The rich man felt disturbed and tried to collect the edges of his dress around himself, so that the poor man did not touch them. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) observed this and addressing the rich man he said:
"Perhaps you were afraid that his poverty would affect you?"
"No, O Messenger of Allah," he said
"Then perhaps you were apprehensive about some of your wealth flying away to him?"
"No, O Messenger of Allah."
"Or you feared that your clothes would become dirty if he touched them?"
"No, O Messenger of Allah."
"Then why did you draw yourself and your clothes away from him?"
The rich man said: "I admit that was the most undesirable thing to do. It was an error and I confess. Now to make amends for it, I will give away half of my wealth to this Muslim brother so that I may be forgiven. "
Just as he said this, the poor man rose and said: "O Prophet of Allah, I do not accept his offer."
People present were all taken by surprise. They thought the poor man was a fool. But he explained:
"O Prophet of Allah, I refuse to accept his offer because I fear that I might then become arrogant and ill treat my Muslim brothers the way he did to me."

Self Reliance
It was a long journey. At one place, they all decided to rest. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and his companions alighted from their horses and loosened their luggage. Then they decided to slaughter an animal and prepare a meal.
One companion said: "I will slaughter the animal."
Another said: "And I will skin it."
The third one volunteered to cook the meat. And so everyone volunteered to help in one way or the other.
The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: "I will go to find the fuel."
Immediately the companions rose to say: "No, O Prophet of Allah, let it be our pride to serve you while you rest. We are here to do the work for you."
The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: "I know that you could all do that. But Allah hates a person who enjoys such a privilege among his friends and companions. He hates a man who arrogates himself any preferential position."
Then he went towards the woods and brought back with him twigs and thorns which he had gleaned.

Ghazali and The Robbers
Ghazali, the renowned Muslim scholar, was born in Tus, a small village near Mashhad. He lived in the fifth century hijrah.
In those days, students wishing to acquire higher knowledge of Islam travelled to Nishapur, which boasted several centres of learning and many teachers of repute. Ghazall, after completing his preliminary education at home, arrived in Nishapur to pursue further studies. He was brilliant and was soon acclaimed by his tutors as the most studious and painstaking student. In order not to forget any finer points of erudition, he formed the habit of noting down all that he heard and learnt from his teachers. And then he meticulously rewrote them under various headings and chapters.
He treasured these notes as dearly as his life, or perhaps more.
Years later, he decided to return to his village. He tied all his prepared notes into a neat bundle and set forth in the company of a caravan. On the way, they were held up by a gang of highway thieves who robbed each traveller of all his valuables. And then it was Ghazali's turn. They searched him thoroughly, snatching away all that they wanted, and then laid hands on the tied bundle of notes.
"Take all that you want, but please do not touch this bundle," Ghazali pleaded. And the waylayers thought that there must be something very precious hidden in the bundle which Ghazali was trying to save.
So they untied the bundle and ransacked the pages. What did they find? Nothing but a few written papers.
They asked: "What are these? Of what use are they?"
"Well, they may be of no use to you, but they are of great use to me," Ghazali answered.
"But of what use are they?" the robbers insisted.
"These are the fruits of my labour. If you destroy them, I am also ruinously destroyed.
All the years of my attainment go down the drain," Ghazali replied.
"So whatever you know is in here, isn't it?" one of them said.
"Yes," Ghazali replied.
"Well, knowledge confined in a few papers, vulnerable to theft, is no knowledge at all.
Go and think about it and about yourself"
This casual but pungent remark by a commoner shook Ghazali to the core. He realised
that he had studied as a parrot, jotted down all that he learned and crammed in into his
mind. He found that he knew more, but he thought less. If he wanted to be a true student and a good scholar, he had to assimilate knowledge, think, ponder, deduce and then form his own judgement.
He set out seriously to learn the way he should, and became one of the greatest ulema in Islam. But in his advanced age, when he summarised his achievements, he said:
"The best counsel and admonition which changed my thinking, came to me from a highway robber."

Time
Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today..
To realize the value of ONE YEAR Ask a student who has failed his exam.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY Ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet or . . .
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE Ask a person who has missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND Ask the person who has won a silver medal in Olympic. Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special.. special enough to have your time... and remember time waits for no one ...

STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL
This is a true story about a girl who lived in Oman, and was Omani. The people who told her story are
her best friend and some members of her family.
The story starts when a young Omani man married a western woman. The woman stayed on her Christian
religion, but she came to live in Oman with her husband. The man had a good job and was wealthy. They
had some children, but they lacked a family.
This story is very sad because it talks about THE TRUTH; The truth that was so bitter for one of their
daughters. I will call her Malak, it means angel. That is what she turned out to be later, so there is no
better name to call her.
Malak lived a life of luxury and wealth. She had whatever anyone would dream to have.The only thing
that this young girl lacked was a family.
Malak wanted someone there for her to spend time with, and to confide in.The only people who she could
turn to were the other rich girls who led a life similar to hers. They spent their time with friends basically
having fun, as it would be called. There was no one to interfere with them, they could do whatever they
please. In one of the vacations they decided to go to Salalah for a couple of days.
There was Malak and her best friend and six boys that went with them. They took two rooms, one, which
the boys slept in, and the other where she and her friend slept in. They would all stay together in one
room, or in the clubs then they would go to sleep around two in the morning. This is how much freedom
these girls had. At least that is what they considered freedom.
Malak and her best friend both had boyfriends, so once they wanted to hang around somewhere without
being disturbed by the others. They decided to go to her friend's house because there was no one there.
So they sat together in the living room for sometime, then her friend wanted to go into one of the rooms
with her boyfriend, and she told Malak that she could also go into any of the rooms if she wanted to.
Malak preferred to stay in the living room and talk to her boyfriend. After some time her friend called her,
so she and her boyfriend both went.When they did they were astonished to see their two friends in such a
shameful way. Malak was so furious that she slapped her friend and told her, " How dare you?" Then she
stormed out of the house,full of feelings that she had felt for the first time in her life. For the first time she
felt that her life was worthless. She just needed somewhere to run to be comforted.
She went to her house,only to hear the loud music playing and the voices of her siblings with their
friends. Oh how she hated all those things that happened in that house. She ran to her room for comfort,
only to find all those horrible paintings and posters staring at her. She pulled them all down and broke
them. She felt very tired after that, but relieved.
Now she needed to pray, she went to their living room, because it was quiet so that she can pray. She
wanted to pray, she needed to pray, but she didn't know how! She went into the toilet and got her whole
body wet,because she had no idea how to perform wudhu. Then she found her grandmother's prayer mat
and she stood on it, not knowing what to do.
Then she just did what her heart told her to do, she prostrated ( did sujood) and just talked to God. She
stayed like that for one whole hour. She just poured her heart out to her Creator. She felt much better after
that,but there was more that she wanted to do now. She remembered her uncle, whom she hadn't seen for a
very long time, because he was not on good terms with her father. He was the person who could help
her. She planned to go to his house, but she absolutely couldn't go there dressed the way she was. She
tried to find something suitable to wear, she couldn't. All her clothes exposed her body. Then she
remembered that her aunt had once given her an abaya and veil and the holy Quran. She went and got
them all out, wore the Abaya and veil, then she called her grandmother's driver to take her to her uncle's
house.
When she got there, her uncle's wife opened the door. Malak threw herself into her arms and cried her
heart out. The aunt understood what happened, so she called her husband. When Malak saw her uncle,
she did the same, she just hugged him tight and cried. The uncle didn't even recognize his niece at first
because he hardly sees her. When he understood who she was, he comforted her and sat with her and
talked to her. Malak had later said that this was the first time that she ever felt love and care. Then she
asked to see one of her cousins. When her cousin came, she asked her to teach her how to pray. After she
learned the prayers, she said I don't want anyone to come in this room, I want to be alone for three days.
Then she asked her uncle, "Howlong would it take me to memorize the holy Quran." The uncle said that
she would need at least five years to do that. She was not happy, she said," I could die before five years
had passed."
So she started her mission,she started memorizing the Quran. Malak was so much happier and at peace
with herself in this new lifestyle. After about two months her father finally realized that his daughter was
not in the house and started to inquire about her! He was infuriated to discover that she was in his
brother's house. He went to take her from there, but she refused to go back to their house. Finally Malak
decided to go live in her grandfather's house, so as to solve the problem.
What's important is that Malak did reach her goal, she memorized the holy Quran in three months only!
Now she called her uncle and his family to come over so that they could celebrate the occasion. She told
them to hurry. They were all so happy and excited and they went quickly. When they got there, they were
told that she was praying. A long time passed and she still didn't come, so her cousins decided to go see
her. They saw her on the prayer mat holding the holy Quran in her arms, lying dead. Yes you all read that
sentence correctly, she had died holding the holy book in her arms near the heart that memorized it.
The whole family was devastated at her death, but now they had to bury her quickly. They called her
father, but she had told her grandfather that she doesn't want her mother to come if she had not converted
to Islam. Her sister and brother also came. Then they started washing her. It was the first time for her
cousins to wash someone, but they did it anyway, because they were the closest people to her. They said
that they felt other people helping them, people that they couldn't see.
They had prepared the Kafan (the white cloth that the dead person is wrapped in), but it had disappeared.
They started looking for it everywhere, but they couldn't find it. Then to their surprise in one of the
corners of the house they found another Kafan that had the most beautiful smell. So they had no choice but
to use this Kafan. When the men went to pray for her, there were six men, dressed in green.
These six men also prayed for her, then they carried her to the graveyard and they buried her. These six
men were not members of the family, they were strangers. After the burial, these men disappeared and no
one knew who they were or where they came from. There is no doubt about whom they are and where
they came from. They were angels and they came from up above to take the body of the pure Malak and
treat it the way God wants. Malak deserved to be buried by angels not humans, because she had reached a
higher standard than most other humans had.
The sad thing is that there are many like Malak in Oman and in other Islamic communities. I just hope that
everyone spreads this story so that we could learn from this live example. To all the men and women,
when it comes to marriage don't just think of love and lust, think of the children that are going to come.
Choose good parents for you children before you bear them. Remember that there is death and judgement
and then heaven or hell. Take good care of your families and nurture them with love and care,and sow
faith in their hearts. Like Malak, with all that she had, she never really felt happy until she found her path
back to Allah. Without faith there is no happiness or contentment.

The Room of My Life
In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small indexcard files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endlessly in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "People I Have Liked". I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one.
And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match.
A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I Have Betrayed".
The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read", "Lies I Have Told", "Comfort I Have Given", "Jokes I Have Laughed At". Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've Yelled at My Brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents". I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped.
I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my 20 years to write each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.
When I pulled out the file marked "Songs I Have Listened To", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.
When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts", I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded.
An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: "No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In an insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.
Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title bore "People that I Have Taught About Allah". The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.
And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that the hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key.

The Stranger By Rand Diab
"A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.
As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. In my young mind, each member had a special niche. My brother, Yusuf, five years my senior, was my example. Samya, my younger sister, gave me an opportunity to play 'big brother' and develop the art of teasing. My parents were complementary instructors-- Mom taught me to love Allah, and Dad taught me to how to obey Him. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell-bound for hours each evening. If I wanted to know about politics, history, or science, he knew it.
He knew about the past and seemed to understand the present. The pictures he could draw were so life like that I would often laugh or cry as I watched. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Yusuf and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several famous people.
The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind-but sometimes Mom would quietly get up-- while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places-- go to her room, read the Qur'aan.
I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house-- not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm.. To my knowledge, the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking.
But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often.
He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (probably too much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.
I know now that my early concepts of the man-woman relationship were influenced by the stranger.
As I look back, I believe it was Allah's Mercy that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents. Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. He is not nearly so intriguing to my Dad as he was in those early years. But if I were to walk into my parents' den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name you ask?
We called him TV.
It makes you think, doesn't it . . .

Choices in Life
Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can chose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry said.
"Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life." I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination.
The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma enter. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "the first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "...the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a deadman'. I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry.
"She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'BULLETS!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

IMPACTING LIVES ...
Jean Thompson stood in front of her fifth-grade class on the very first day of school in the fall and told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her pupils and said that she loved them all the same, that she would treat them all alike. And that was impossible because there in front of her, slumped in his seat on the third row, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were unkempt and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy was unpleasant. It got to the point during the first few months that she would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then marking the F at the top of the paper biggest of all. Because Teddy was a sullen little boy, no one else seemed to enjoy him, either. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's records and put Teddy's off until last. When she opened his file, she was in for a surprise.
His first-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright, inquisitive child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has goodmanners...he is a joy to be around."
His second-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."
His third-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy continues to work hard but his mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."
Teddy's fourth-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class. He is tardy and could become a problem."
By now Mrs. Thompson realized the problem, but Christmas was coming fast. It was all she could do, with the school play and all, until the day before the holidays began and she was suddenly forced to focus on Teddy Stoddard. Her children brought her presents, all in beautiful ribbon and bright paper, except for Teddy's, which was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper of a scissored grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of cologne. She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume behind the other wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed behind just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to."
After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and speaking. Instead, she began to teach children. Jean Thompson paid particular attention to one they all called "Teddy." As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. On days there would be an important test, Mrs. Thompson would remember that cologne. By the end of the year he had become one of the smartest children in the class and...well, he had also become the "pet" of the teacher who had once vowed to love all of her children exactly the same.
A year later she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that of all the teachers he'd had in elementary school, she was his favorite.
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still his favorite teacher of all time.
Four years after that,she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson she was still his favorite teacher.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still his favorite teacher but that now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D.
The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was to be married.He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering...well, if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the pew usually reserved for the mother of the groom. And guess what, she wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And I bet on that special day, Jean Thompson smelled just like... well, just like the way Teddy remembered his mother smelling on their last Christmas together.
THE MORAL: You never can tell what type of impact you may make on another's life by your actions or lack of action. Consider this fact in your venture through life.

Park Bench
The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read
Beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree.
Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown,
For the world was intent on dragging me down.
And if that weren't enough to ruin my day,
A young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play.
He stood right before me with his head tilted down
And said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"
In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight,
With its petals all worn - not enough rain, or too little light.
Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play,
I faked a small smile and then shifted away.
But instead of retreating he sat next to my side
And placed the flower to his nose
And declared with overacted surprise,
"It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too.
That's why I picked it; here, it's for you."
The weed before me was dying or dead.
Not vibrant of colors: orange, yellow or red.
But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave.
So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need."
But instead of him placing the flower in my hand,
He held it mid-air without reason or plan.
It was then that I noticed for the very first time
That weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.
I heard my voice quiver; tears shone in the sun
As I thanked him for picking the very best one.
You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play,
Unaware of the impact he'd had on my day.
I sat there and wondered how he managed to see
A self-pitying person beneath an old willow tree.
How did he know of my self-indulged plight?
Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight.
Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see
The problem was not with the world; the problem was me.
And for all of those times I myself had been blind,
I vowed to see the beauty in life,
And appreciate every second that's mine.
And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose
And breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose
And smiled as I watched that young boy,
Another weed in his hand,
About to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.
- Author Unknown

Beautiful Repent Stories: taken from: http://www.angelfire.com/on/ummiby1/RepentStories.html
1
A man went to Ibrahim ibn Adham (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: 'O Abu Ishaq! I transgress against myself by committing sins. Inform me of a deterrent that will deliver my heart.'
Ibrahim (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'If you accept five practices and remain steadfast on hem, nothing will harm and no sinful pleasure will destroy you.:
1. If you want to disobey Allah, then don't eat from His provisions
2. If you want to disobey Allah, then don't live in a place that He owns.
3. And if you (are such an ingrate) and still wish to disobey Him, then find a place where you can do so inconspicuously.
4. When the Angel of Death arrives, ask him to delay taking your soul for awhile so that you are able to make a sincere repentance and perform some good deeds for Allah. The angel will not grant you your desire and will immediately dispatch your soul to the next world.
5. When the angels of Hell come to escort you to Hell, don't follow them. You will not be able to resist.
The man said: 'Enough, enough Ibrahim. I will make a sincere repentance right now.' The man did so and stayed with Ibrahim until his death separated them. (Muwaqif Mushriqah Fi Hayatis Salaf:15)
2
Fudail ibn Ayad (may Allah be pleased with him) used to be a highway robber and was madly in love with a young woman. One night as he as scaling the walls of the young woman's house, he heard someone reciting the following verse of 57:16) Is it not time for believers to subject their hearts to the remembrance of Allah.
Fudail was so taken in by that verse that he immediately repented and spent that night in a derelict place nearby. Later in the night, he heard a few travelers shout: 'Beware! Fudail is ahead of you. He will rob you!' Fudail shouted: 'Fudail has repented!' He promised the travelers safe passage. Fudail became a beacon of guidance and his sayings are still quoted today. (Muqawqif Mushriqah Fi Hayatis Salaf:24)
3
Malik ibn Dinar (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about the reason behind his repentance. He said: 'I use to be a policeman and an alcoholic. I then acquired a maid who was very good to me. She bore a daughter of ours to whom I became very attached. I became even fonder of her when she started to crawl. Whenever I used to serve myself wine, she would come and drag my tumbler away from me and spill everything over my clothes. Our daughter died when she turned 2 and I was devastated. The 15th of Shaban came along that year on a Friday. I went to sleep drunk and without offering my prayers. I saw in a dream that the Day of Judgment had come about; the Trumpet was blown; graves were resurrected about people were gathered and I was among them. I heard a hissing noise behind. I turned around and saw that I was being approached by a huge black and blue snake. I started to run away as fast as I could trembling with fear. I then encountered an old man who was well dressed and wore good perfume. I greeted him and asked him to help me. The old man cried and said that he was very weak and the snake was much stronger than he. However, he did tell me to keep on running in the hope that I would find something that would save me from the snake. I continued to run and climbed on top of an elevated area. I found myself on top of a valley of fire. The horror of the fire alone made me almost fall into it. Then, I heard someone shouting: 'Get away from there. You don't belong there.' I found security in that shout and ran further with the snake still at my heels. I found the old man again and pleaded with him to help. Again, he started to cry and say that he was very weak and that the snake was far stronger than he. Then, the old man directed me towards a hill where he said I might find a deposit of mine that could help me. I looked at the hill, which was circular and made of silver. In the hill were pierced windows and hanging curtains. Every window had two golden panels and each panel was adorned with silk curtains. I quickly ran towards the hill. An angel then cried: 'Raise the curtains. Open the panels and look. Perhaps this afflicted person has some sort of deposit here that can help him.' I then saw faces of small children who were like small moons peeping out from the windows. Then one of them shouted: 'What's wrong with you all. Come quickly. His enemy has almost come upon him.' So they came and looked from their windows - hundreds of them. Then, I saw the face of my daughter who had died. When she saw me, she cried and said, 'By Allah! That is my father.' She then shot out of the window like an arrow from a bow and jumped into a pool of light (nur). She then appeared in front of me and extended one of her hands to me. I grabbed and hung onto her. She put her other hand in front of the snake and drove it away. She then made me sit down and sat herself in my lap, stroked her right hand through my beard and said:
O father, Is it not time for believers to subject their hearts to the remembrance of Allah.
I started to cry and asked how she knew the Qur'an. She said they (the children) knew more than they (in the world) did. I then asked her about the snake that ran after me. She explained that it represented my bad deeds, which would drive me into Hell. I then inquired about the old man. She said he was my good deeds, which had become so weak that they were unable to defend me against my bad deeds. I then asked what they were doing inside this hill. She informed me that they were the deceased children of Muslims waiting for their parents on the Day of Judgment. Malik said: 'I woke up in a fright. I smashed all my wine containers and repented. This was how I repented.' (Ibid:49)
4
Malik ibn Dinar (may Allah be pleased with him) says that he was once walking through an alley of Basra when he saw a beautiful regal maid riding and being escorted by several servants. Malik called out to her and said: 'O maid! Will your master sell you?'
'How can you say that old man?' she replied.
'Will your master sell you?' Malik asked again.
'if he does, are the likes of you going to buy?' she asked.
'Yes! Even better than you.'
She laughed and asked her servants to escort Malik to her quarters. On arriving at her place, the maid informed her master who also laughed and asked to see Malik. Malik was brought in and had an immediate impact on the master. 'What do you want?' the master asked him.
'Sell me your maid.' Malik said
'Can you afford to buy her?'
'To me she is worth no more than two rotten date pits.'
Everybody in the room burst into laughter. 'How can her price be that,' they all asked mockingly.
'Because she has so many defects.' Malik retorted
'And just what might her defects be?'
'If she does not wear perfume her perspiration stinks,' said Malik. 'If she does not brush her teeth, her teeth give off foul odor. If she does not groom her hair, it becomes infested with lice and disheveled. If she lives for a few more years, she will become an old woman. She menstruate, urinates and defecates. Perhaps she only likes you for selfish reasons. She probably isn't loyal to you and if you die before her, he will find someone else just like you. I am in a position to buy for much cheaper than you want for your maid, a maid whose constitution is of pure camphor: if she were to mix her expectorate in salty, bitter water, it would become sweet; if she were to speak to the dead, they would respond to the melody of her voice. If she raised her hand towards the sun, it would lose it shine; if she appeared at night, it would radiate with light and if she confronted the horizon with her dresses and jewelry, she would adorn it (the horizon). She is a maid who has been nurtured in musk and saffron; raised in gardens and suckled by the waters of Tasneem (Waters of Paradise). She will never be disloyal and her love for you will never falter. Which one of these maids is more deserving of a price?' Malik concluded.
'The one you described.' The master conceded.
'Then you should know that she is very affordable and accessible.'
'What is her price? May Allah have mercy on you.'
'Very cheap. Spare a moment at night and offer two units of prayer with sincerity. Wyou place food in front of you, think of the hunger and sacrifice your craving for lavish food (and feed the hungry). Remove stones (impediments) and dirt (obstacles) from the road. Spend the reminder of your life on bare necessities. Remove your worries of this world of oblivion so that you may live in this world with the honor of an abstemious person, go tomorrow to the station of dignity in peace and dwell in Paradise forever.'
The master turned to the maid and asked: 'O maid! Have you listened to what our man has said?'
'Yes.' She replied.
'Has he spoke the truth, or is he merely telling a tale.'
'No, he has spoken the truth. He has been kind and offered advice.'
The master then exclaimed: 'If that is the case, then you are free for the sake of Allah. And such and such property is yours. And all your servants around me, you are all free and you may have such and such properties. This house is mine and everything in it is a charity in the path of Allah.'
He then ripped a piece of rough curtain cloth and replaced his expensive clothes with the curtain cloth.
The maid remarked: 'I have no life after you, my master.'
She also took off her attire and replaced it with some rough clothing and set off with her master. Malik saw them off: he took one route and they took another. (Kitabul Taibeen Minal Mulook Was Salateen:14)
5
Sulaiman ibn Khalida says that a young man of an old lady was mentioned to Hisham ibn Abdul Malik (the Khalifah in Damascus 105 AH). This young girl was renowned for her beauty, good manners, and recitation of the Quran and prolific poetry. Hisham sent orders by post to the governor of Kufa to have the girl bought for whatever her owner (the old lady) asked for and then to have her immediately sent to him. He sent along a servant for her. When the governor received the letter, he sent for the old lady who sold the girl for 2,000 Dhirhams and a date orchard which would yield five hundred mithqal (a unit of weight) of dates every year. The governor dressed the girl in royal clothing and sent her to Hisham.
Hisham gave her, her own quarters and an escort of servants, presented her with some precious jewels and extravagant clothing. One day while Hisham was with her on a luxurious balcony which was enhanced with cushions and perfume, she related some intriguing stories to him and composed some poems. Suddenly, there were cries for help. Hisham looked over the balcony and saw a hearse accompanied by people.
Behind the procession was a group of mourning women. One mourner cried out loud: 'O you who are being carried on wooden sticks; you who are being taken to the dead; you are who about to be left alone in your grave and you who are about to be made a stranger in your resting place. O you who are being transferred. If only I knew whether you are telling those who are carrying you to hurry up, or whether you are asking them where they are taking you and to take you back.'
Hisham started to weep, discarded his pleasure and started to say: 'Death is admonition enough.'
Ghadid (the girl) said: 'This mourner has broken my heart.'
Hisham said: 'It is a very serious matter.' And called the servant. He came down from the balcony and left.
Ghadid remained stuck to her couch. That night she dreamt that someone came to her and said: 'You are flattered by your beauty and you lure with your charm. How will you be when the trumpet is blown (on the Day of Judgment) ; when people are resurrected and then confronted with their actions.'
Ghadid woke frightened and drank something to pacify herself. She then called upon one of her servants and asked her to prepare a bath for her. After her bath, she got rid of her jewels and clothes and wore a woolen jalabiyah and tied a string around her waist. She took a cane with a bag over it and stormed into Hisham's room.
Hisham did not recognize her. 'I am Ghadid, your girl,' she said. 'A warner came to me and his warning shook me. You have had your pleasure with me. I have come to ask you to free me from the slavery of this world.'
'There is so much difference between those who seek pleasure. You are with your pleasure, so go you are free for the sake of Allah. But where do you intend to go?' Hisham inquired.
'I want to visit the House of Allah,' she replied.
'Go,' replied Hisham. 'No one will be in your way.' She left the capital and arrived in Mecca where she remained in fasting during the day like a gazelle in its den. When night came she wound perform tawaf of the Ka'ba and say: 'O my treasure you are my provision. Don't cut off my hope; grant me my wish; make good my return and be generous in giving me reward.'
She became very famous and died worshipping. May Allah have mercy upon her. (Ibid:22)
6
Ibrahim ibn Bashshar, the protégé of Ibrahim ibn Adham (may Allah be pleased with him) says that he asked Ibrahim about the beginning of his quest to serve Allah. Ibrahim said:
'My father was a king of Balkh (Central Khurasan). We used to love hunting. I went out one day on my horse accompanied by my dog. Suddenly a rabbit or a fox jumped up and agitated my horse. Then , I heard a voice from behind me saying, "You have not been created for this; nor have you been ordered to do this (hunting for pleasure)."
I looked around me left and right but I did not see anybody. I cursed the Devil and continued to ride. But then, my horse started to shake again and I heard the same voice saying the same thing. I looked around and found no one so I cursed the devil again and tried to continue. But my horse would not stop trying to shake me off. Then, I heard a voice from beneath my saddlebow calling me by name and saying: "O Ibrahim! You have not been create for this; nor have you been ordered to do this."
So I stopped and realized that a warner from the Lord of the Worlds had come to wake me up from my state of oblivion. I vowed not to disobey my Lord from this day, lest He does not protect me. Then I returned to my family. I went to see one of my father's shepherds and exchanged my clothes for this long shirt and blanket. Then I traveled across the mountains and valleys to Iraq.
I worked there for a few days but I was not satisfied with the purity of my earnings. I asked a learned person about this and he told me to go to Syria. I did so and reached a town called Al-Mansoora (or Maseesah). But even here, I as not satisfied with the purity of my earnings. Another learned person told me to go to Tarsoos where there was said to be plenty of work and good pure earnings. I went there and sat on the beach when a man came and hired me to be a warden many days until one day a servant came along with many friends and shouted: "O warden!".
I went over to him. He asked me to bring him the biggest pomegranate. I went and brought him the biggest pomegranate. He cut it and found it very sour and complained. "Warden! You have been here in our orchard for so many days eating our fruits, but yet you don't know the difference between a good pomegranate and a sour one?"
I told him I had never tasted any of the fruits I guarded. The servant pointed towards his companions and said: "Did you hear what he said? He couldn't have said anything more if he were Ibrahim ibn Adham."
The servant left and discussed me in the masjid the next day. One person recognized who I was. The servant came to the orchard with a large contingent of people. I hid amongst the trees and scampered as soon as I had the chance to do so. This was the beginning of my quest and this is how I left Tarsoos to travel the desert. (Ibid:29)
7
Abdullah ibn Faraj (may Allah be pleased with him) says that he was in need of a handyman for his house whom he could pay daily. So he went to the bazaar and found a pale young boy wearing a woolen shirt tied with a woolen belt and had a big basket and a rope in his hands. Abdullah asked him if he would be willing to work. The boy said yes and asked to be paid one dhirham and one daniq (1/6th of a dirham). The boy also stipulated that he would discontinue work and prepare for prayers when the adhan of Dhuhr was given and likewise at time of Asr. Abdullah agreed and took him to his house where he showed him what he had to do. The boy worked well with his hands and did not speak until the adhan for Dhuhr was given. He reminded Abdullah of the condition. Abdullah told him to leave. The boy went, offered his prayers and came back to work until Asr. The boy went for Asr, came back and worked until the end of the day. The boy left when Abdullah gave him his wages.
After a few days, Abdullah needed some work done again. His wife told him to find the very same boy because he was good and honest. Abdullah went in search of the boy but did not find him. On inquiring, the people told him that he only worked on Saturdays and that he was a loner.
Abdullah waited for Saturday to come and found the boy. The boy agreed to work on the same conditions. At the end of the day's work, Abdullah offered the boy extra wages. The boy was very displeased and left. Abdullah ran after him and begged him to take at least what he had asked for. He did so and left.
Some time later, Abdullah needed to hire the boy again. He waited for Saturday to come and went to the bazaar. He did not find the boy there. Someone told him that the boy spent one daniq every day but had been taken ill. Abdullah found out where he lived and went to visit him. He was staying in the house of an old woman. He found the boy sleeping with his head resting on a brick.
'Do you need anything.' Asked Abdullah.
'Yes,' replied the boy, 'If you accept.'
Abdullah said he would.
'When I die,' the boy continued, 'sell my rope, wash my shirt and belt and then bury me in them. Look inside the pocket of my shirt. There is a ring in it. Wait until the day Harun-al-Rashid (the Khalifah at the time) comes to town. Stand in a place where he can see you and then approach him and show him the ring. But do this after you have buried me.'
Abdullah agreed to do so. When the boy died, Abdullah did as the boy requested. When Harun al Rashid came to town, he went to see him, informed him that he had a trust for him and waved the ring.
Harun summoned Abdullah to his quarters. When Abdullah went, Harun excused everybody from his presence and asked Abdullah who he was and where he got the ring from. Abdullah answered both questions, Harun heard the long story of the boy and wept so much that Abdullah started to feel sorry for him. 'O leader of the believers!' Abdullah addressed the Khalifa. 'Who was this boy to you?'
'He was my son!' The Khalifah exclaimed.
'How did he become like that?'
'He was born before I became entrusted with the Khalifah. He was brought up very well and was well educated in the Qur'an and other sciences. When I assumed the Khalifah, he left and did not care for any of my worldly belongings. He was very found of his mother so I gave her this expensive sapphire ring to give to him. He took the ring very reluctantly. His mother passed away and you are the only person who has informed me of him. You will take me to his grave tonight.'
Abdullah took Harun to his son's grave. Harun wept for a long time and remained there until dawn. Harun asked Abdullah to stay with him a few days so that he could visit the grave at nights. Abdullah did not know that the boy was the son of Harun until Harun himself told him. (Ibid:37)

The Stone Started Running away with the Clothes
The Prophet Moses (Pbuh) was a shy person. He used to cover his body completely because of his extensive shyness. One of the men of Israel hurt him by saying, "He covers his body, perhaps to hide some defects of his skin; either leprosy or scrotal hernia or he has some other defect". Allah wished to show that Moses was not having any defect which they imagined and talked of. One day while Moses was in seclusion, he took off his clothes and put them on a stone and started taking a bath. When he had finished bathing, he moved towards his clothes to dress. But the stone rolled away along with the clothes.
Moses picked up his stick and ran after the stone saying, "O stone! Give me my garments! Till he reached a group of Banu Israel who saw him naked, and found him the best of what Allah had created. And Allah cleared Moses of the accusation of the people of Israel. The stone stopped there and Moses picked up and put on his garment and started hitting the stone with his stick. By Allah four or five marks of the stick can still be found on the stone." (Bukhari: 2/483)

Moral of the Story
It is stated that all Prophets who ever lived in the world throughout the ages were shy and modest. It was said about the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) that he was more shy than a celibate veiled-girl. Whenever he disliked anything, the companions could easily recognize his aversion on his face. (Muslim; 2/255)
Modesty, however, is a vital part of faith. Virtually, all Prophets had complete faith, thereby, they all were extremely modest. The Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) made this important moral value very clear in a speech saying, "Modesty is a part of faith and faith is a means to reach paradise, whereas, immodesty is a kind of cruelty and disbelief. And the consequence of disbelief is Hell-fire." (Tirmizi;2/21)
However, the Prophet Moses was very modest and a shy person. On the contrary, Banu Israel were very immodest as well as most rude. They were notorious known for their persecution and the suffering they caused to Prophets. They left no stone unturned to persecute the Prophet Moses. Banu Israel misinterpreted his modesty and blamed and offended him by censuring and defaming him. It is worthy to be mentioned here that all the Prophets were unblemished and free from any kind of physical and moral defects. Hence, when Banu Israel started blaming and mocking at the Prophet Moses Allah wanted to justify and purify him from their baseless blame. Qur'an, the holy book, also refers to this incident in the verse below and completely vindicated the Prophet Moses. "O ye who believe! Be ye not like those who hurt the Prophet Moses (Pbuh). But Allah cleared him of the calumnies they had uttered, and he was honourable in Allah's sight." (Qur'an:33/69)
There are two miracles which took place in this incident, one of them the fleeing of the stone with the clothes, another is the traces of the hitting available on the stone to this day. It is believed that it was the same stone from where the twelve springs gushed. (Al-Mirquat: 11/4)
It is also a miracle that an inorganic hard substance was affected by hitting. There is a Hadith which throws light upon the subject. However, it is narrated that the Prophet (Pbuh) used to stand by a stem of a date-palm tree (while delivering a sermon). When the Prophet (Pbuh) stopped leaning against the stem we heard the stem crying like a pregnant she-camel, till the Prophet (Pbuh) got down from the pulpit and placed his hand over the stem. (Bukhari : 1/125)
We must avoid all kinds of baseless suspicion, spying or enquiring curiously into other people's affairs. It would be better to mention here that back-biting also is a brood of the same genus. Sometimes these sins may be crimes. Therefore, all in all, they are despicable. Moreover, Allah also censures those people who indulge in this type of mischief;
"O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible), for suspicion in some cases is a sin, and spy not upon each other, nor speak ill of each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it - but fear Allah, for Allah is oft-returning, most merciful." (Qur'an: 49/12)
There is another verse in this context which throws light on this very concept of conjectures and suspicions and denounces those who entertain such baseless thoughts. "They follow nothing but conjecture and conjecture avails nothing against truth." (Qur'an: 53/28)

Life
A boy and his father were walking in the mountains. Suddenly, the boy fell, hurt himself, and screamed "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" To his surprise, he heard the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain,
"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Curious, he yelled: "Who are you?" He received the answer: "Who are you?"
Angered at the response, he screamed: "Coward!" He receives the answer:
"Coward!"
He looked to his father and asked:
"What's going on?" The father smiled and said: "My son, pay attention."
And then he screamed to the mountain:
"I admire you!" The voice answered:
"I admire you!" Again the man
screamed: "You are a champion!"
The voice answered: "You are a champion!"
The boy was surprised, but did not understand.Then the father explained:
"People call this "ECHO",but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do.
Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.
This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; Life will give you back everything you have given to it."
LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE......IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU!.

SUPPLICATION ( DUA)
When Evil thoughts come to mind
Aoozubillahe minash-shaitane
amantubillahi wa rasoolehi
I take refuge with Allah from the Satan.
I repose my faith in Allah and His apostles.
At the Time of Anger
Aoozubillahe minash-shaitwanir rajeem
I take refuge in Allah from the Satan outcast.

Taken from: http://www.mosque.com/shortstories.html
ISLAMIC BED TIME STORIES for CHILDREN Adapted for children by Khadijah Stephens
THE MOSQUE OF THE INTERNET Copyrighted 2000 all rights reserved

NEW WORDS
Pious: Means holy.
Vizier: A vizier is an advisor to the sultan or king
Sultan: A sultan is like a king.
Dirham: Money, at the time of this story a dirham was a coin.
Dinar: Money, a dinar is greater in value than a dirham.
Muttering: This means when someone talks to themselves and others cannot hear what is being said.
Quill: A quill is an old fashioned pen. It was often made from the pointed end of a feather which was then dipped into a pot of ink.
Supplication: A prayer.
Cobbler: A shoe-maker.
Repented: Means being very sorry to Allah for your sins

THE TURNER OF HEARTS
In the age of sultans and viziers there once lived a poor but pious shaykh and a vizier who feared Allah. The fact that the shaykh was poor did not concern him, he was satisfied with whatever Allah sent him.
The shaykh was wise and knew that Allah rewards those who give charity in His Name receive a very handsome reward -- a reward far greater than anyone can imagine. It was not the shaykh's custom to ask anyone for help, but one day he really needed help so he decided to visit the vizier and ask for his help. Without hesitation the good hearted vizier instructed his wakeel to give the shaykh 50 dirhams, which was quite a lot of money in those days.
The next week the shaykh needed more help so he went to visit the vizier and asked his help once again. When the vizier saw the shaykh he was taken aback and exclaimed "Shaykh, I gave you 50 dirhams only last week!"
The shaykh accepted the vizier's decision and started to leave. As he left it seemed to the vizier that the shaykh was muttering something disagreeable about him to himself, however, he could not hear exactly what he was saying and said "Shaykh, aren't you ashamed to speak against me?" The shaykh was taken by surprise. It had not occurred to him that the vizier should think that he would do such a thing and told him that it was not so, and that he was remembering Allah saying: "O You, the Turner of hearts and eyes."
The vizier felt ashamed of himself for thinking that the shaykh would do such a thing and quickly called for his quill and paper. His assistant handed him the quill and paper and the vizier started to write: "Give the shaykh 50 dirhams," but instead of writing "dirhams" he wrote "dinars" -- which is a lot more money. As the shaykh thanked the vizier he did not notice what was written on the paper and took the note to the wakeel for payment.
When the wakeel read the note both he and the shaykh were surprised when he read aloud "Pay the shaykh 50 dinars," so the wakeel asked the shaykh what he had sold the vizier. The shaykh told him that he had not sold him anything and told him what had happened.
Now the wakeel thought he had better check with the vizier before giving the shaykh such a large amount of money, so he went to the vizier to show him what he had written. When the vizier read the note he smiled and said "His supplication has been answered, the shaykh called upon 'He who causes hearts to turn.' The Turner of hearts has turned both the heart and pen, therefore give him the 50 dinars."

THE SULTAN AND THE FISHER-BOY
There was once a blessed, kind-hearted sultan called Mahmood who would accompany his army whenever they set off on an expedition. One day when the sultan and his army were out riding he wanted to be alone for a while, so he galloped off on his horse like the speed of the wind across the fields.
Some time later the sultan reached the bank of a river and noticed a sad, young boy sitting all alone trying to catch some fish. The sultan dismounted from his horse and went over to speak to the boy and asked: "My dear boy, why do you look so sad? I have never seen anyone look as sad as you." The boy was startled when he saw the sultan in his fine clothes but thought he must be kind to ask such a question, so he told him: "My mother has seven children and is very poor; we have no father to look after us. Every day I come here to try and catch some fish. If I do not catch any then we go hungry and there is no supper that night."
The kindly sultan smiled and asked: "Would you like me to try and catch some fish for you?" "Yes," replied the young boy and the sultan cast the fishing net into the river. Allah blessed the sultan and soon a hundred fish swam into the net and they hauled the net up onto the bank of the river. The young boy was amazed and thought to himself: "I am so lucky that all these fish were caught in my net!" The sultan knew the boy's thoughts and told him: "Do not deceive yourself, my young friend. I am the cause of your blessing, it is I who caught these fish for you."
As the sultan started to mount his horse the young boy asked him to share the catch but the sultan refused, saying: "Tomorrow, you shall fish for me and I will take the catch", then the sultan returned home to his palace.
The next day, the sultan sent one of his guards to the fisher-boy and told him to bring him to the palace. When they arrived the sultan told the boy to come and sit beside him on his throne. His courtiers were very surpised and exclaimed: "Your majesty, the boy is nothing but a beggar!" "That does not matter" replied the sultan, "he is now my companion; we have become partners and I cannot send him away."
And so the sultan treated the boy as an equal partner.
The situation puzzled several of the courtiers, then one day one of them asked the young boy: "How did you become so honored?" The boy replied: "Happiness has come, sorrow has left me because I met with a blessed sultan."

THE SULTAN AND THE WOODCUTTER
Sultan Mahmood and his army were out riding together, however, the sultan like to ride by himself and had ridden on ahead of them when he noticed, a little way off, an old woodcutter walking beside his donkey laden with thorny firewood. As he watched, the poor old donkey stumbled and fell, and as it did its thorny load fell from its back, landed on top of the old woodcutter's head and scratched him.
When Sultan Mahmood saw what had happened he rode up to the old woodcutter, who was rubbing his sore head, and offered his help. "Can I help you; are you in need of a friend?" asked the Sultan, "You are indeed chivalrous, " replied the old woodcutter who did not recognize him, "if you help me, I will without doubt benefit and you will not be harmed. You look as if you are a blessed person and it is well known that when someone meets a blessed person, goodness comes from such a meeting."
The kind-hearted sultan dismounted and helped the donkey to get up then loaded the thorny firewood onto its back, after which he rode off to join his army. When he rejoined his army he told them: "An old woodcutter will be coming this way very soon, block his way so that he will have to pass by my tent."
Sure enough, a little while later the old woodcutter came upon the sultan's army and thought to himself: "I cannot pass through all these soldiers with my poor old donkey," so he took another footpath. Not long after the woodcutter saw the Sultan's tent and was somewhat alarmed but what could he do? there was no other path for him to take.
The woodcutter approached the Sultan's tent with caution, when, to his surprise he realized that the man that had helped him was none other than Sultan Mahmood himself. As the woodcutter came nearer, Sultan Mahmood called to him asking: "My poor friend, what do you do for a living?" The woodcutter thought to himself:
"This is strange," but replied: "You already know, honestly, don't you recognize me? I am a woodcutter; I gather thorny firewood every day and sell it but my poor old donkey is weak, and is dying from hunger. If you would like to help me, please give me some bread."
The Sultan took pity upon the old man and asked: "How much do you ask for your load of firewood?" The woodcutter told the Sultan he would give him the firewood but would not sell it to him but the Sultan declined. Then the woodcutter said: "As you do not wish to take the load as a gift and I do not want to sell it, then give me a purse of gold." The soldiers gasped at the woodcutter's request and said: "Watch what you are saying, old man. Your firewood is not worth even a handful of barley -- it is worthless!" The old woodcutter turned to the soldiers and replied: "That may be the case, but its value has changed. When a blessed man such as the Sultan touches a bundle of thorns they become roses. If he wishes to buy them then he must pay at least a dinar for each because he has increased their value a hundred times by touching them."

A HOUSE IN PARADISE
A long time ago before there were cars and airplanes there was a man who lived in a far away place called Khurasan and wanted to go on pilgrimage to Mecca.
Now the man had heard of a very trustworthy shaykh called Muhammad, the son of Wasi, who lived in the city of Basra. So, before setting off on his pilgrimage he decided to visit him to tell him of his intention and ask him to do something for him.
When the man reached Basra he asked the way to the shaykh's house and was taken to his home.
The man from Khurasan told the shaykh of his intention then said: "I want to entrust you with ten thousand dirhams. Please buy a house for me with this money." The shaykh accepted and the man left to go on his pilgrimage.
Now at that time there was a severe famine in Basra. Men, women and children were very hungry and it distressed the shaykh to see such terrible suffering. Then, the shaykh was blessed with a wonderful idea, he had just been entrusted with a very large sum of money that could be used to feed the starving families so he spent all the money in the Name of Allah to buy food.
After the last dirham had been spent, the shaykh supplicated to Allah saying: "O Allah, he asked me to buy a house for him, but did not say whether it was to be in this world or the next, so I have bought from You a house in Paradise for him."
Several months passed, the man returned from his pilgrimage then went to visit the shaykh and inquired what he had done with the money. The shaykh told the man that he had bought a house for him, and so the man asked him for the deed.
The shaykh got up and fetched a piece of paper and a quill began to write:
Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim
This deed bears witness that Muhammad, the son of Wasi,
has purchased from Allah, the Exalted,
on behalf of this man,
a house in Paradise.
Then he signed the deed, gave it to the man, and told him what he had done with his money and the man returned to Khurasan.
Twenty days later, as the shaykh was praying in the mosque, a piece of paper floated down into his hands. The paper was none other than the deed he had given to the man from Khurasan. He turned the paper over and on the back there was a message which read:
"Know and pay attention.
This buyer has returned to Us
and We have given him that which you bought for him
and We have relieved you of its obligation."
Needless to say, the shaykh was greatly moved and felt very humble so he decided to go to Khurasan and visit the man's family.
When the shaykh reached the city he inquired about the man and was told that he had died a few days before so he asked to be taken to his son's house.
The son welcomed the shaykh and he stayed with him for three days. During that time he asked about his father then inquired if he had made a last request. His son told him that his father had indeed made a last request which was that a certain deed be pinned to his shroud. The shaykh nodded his head then asked if he would recognize the deed if he saw it again and the son replied that he would.
When the shaykh showed him the deed that had floated down to him from the heavens, the man's son fainted. When he regained consciousness he told the shaykh that he, himself, had pinned the deed to the shroud with his own two hands just before his father's burial. The shaykh just smiled and said: "Allah has power over all things!"
When the man died, his son had been very sad, but now he knew his father had a house in Paradise so he was very happy and although he missed him he was no longer sad.

THE FATHER AND HIS SON
One day as Prophet Jesus was out walking he happened to pass by a grave and became aware that the man buried in it was being punished on account of the sins he had committed during his life.
Some time later, Prophet Jesus passed by the same grave but this time it appeared to him like a garden in Paradise, so he supplicated to Allah to ask Him to explain how the grave had changed to be so beautiful.
In answer to Prophet Jesus' supplication, Allah sent Angel Gabriel to him bearing greetings of peace and told him to tell Jesus that when the man died his wife was expecting a baby boy. As soon as his son was old enough his mother placed him in the care of a teacher who taught him to say: "Bismillah Ir Rahman Ir Rahim, SubanAllah" which means in the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful, Exalted is Allah, and it was because of this good deed that Allah had forgiven not only the boy's father, but the teacher, his mother and the son himself.
So now you know how important it is to say "Bismillah Ir Rahman Ir Rahim" before you start to do anything. Isn't it a wonderful to know that Allah will forgive us!

THE COBBLER AND THE WORSHIPER
Before Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, was sent to us there lived by himself in a hermitage an Israelite who had devoted himself entirely to worshiping Allah for sixty years.
One night the Israelite saw a vision in which he was told that a cobbler who lived nearby was better than him, now this puzzled the Israelite. The next day the Israelite went to pay the cobbler a visit but did not tell him why he had come.
When the Israelite entered the cobbler's shop, the cobbler was very surprised but delighted to see him. He stopped what he was doing, bent down and kissed his feet and hands on account of the very high respect he had for him. Then the cobbler asked: "What has caused you to leave your hermitage to come and visit me?" The Israelite did not answer the cobbler, but instead asked: "Tell me about your work."
The cobbler told he that he was a simple cobbler and that he spent half of his earnings providing for his wife and family and gave the remaining half away in charity.
Then the Israelite left and returned to his hermitage.
That night, the Israelite had another vision in which he was told: "Go and ask him why his face is so full of light." The next day the Israelite did as he was told and made his way down the hillside to the cobbler's shop and asked him why his face was so full of light. The cobbler felt very humble and replied: "Whenever I see anyone
I always say to myself, 'he is better than me, he will go to Paradise, but I will not.'"
Then the Israelite understood that the cobbler was better than he because he was mindful of his sins and not a proud man.

THE WORSHIPER AND THE YOUTH
Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, taught his companions not to call those in their service, slaves. He told them that they should be respectfully referred to as "youths" rather than the degrading word "slave".
He also taught his followers to treat the youths in their charge with kindness -- just as if they were members of their own family. Over time, the youths were able to see the teachings and justice of Islam in action so many became Muslims and were freed.
The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, was given many youths. However, when they were offered their freedom many choose to remain in the Prophet's household because they loved him so much and wanted to be of service to him.
This short story is about a very pious man who lived during the early days of Islam.
There was once a very pious man who had a sheep and sold its milk to pay for food.
One day when he went to milk the sheep he noticed that one of its poor legs was broken and asked his youth: "Do you know who did this?" Now the youth was ungrateful and replied: "I did it. I did it on purpose just to make you sad!"
The man remembered well the warnings of our beloved Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. He knew that satan was always on the look out to trick us into doing something evil and the Prophet had also warned his companions not to be angry, so he turned to the youth and said: "By Allah, I will make satan, the one who commanded you to do this -- go, you are a free man."

THE MAN WHO LOOKED FOR GOODNESS IN EVERYTHING
There was once a tribe of Bedouins that lived in the desert and amongst them dwelt a kindly, trusting old man. No matter what happened he knew Allah had decreed it and would always say: "There is good in it!"
Now the kindly old Bedouin had nothing in the world except for his watchdog, a donkey and a rooster. One day a hungry wolf spotted the old man's tent which was pitched far from the others of his tribe and before the watchdog had chance to raise the alarm the wolf pounced upon it and killed it, then killed the donkey and the rooster.
When the old man saw what had happened he exclaimed: "There is good in it!" Now his wife was upset and said: "You always say there is good in everything, but what good is there in this -- everything we own has been destroyed!" But her husband replied: "It may well be that there is good in it."
A few days later a band of robbers passed by and heard the braying of the donkeys and the sounds of the other animals that belonged to the rest of the tribe so they decided to attack and steal their valuables. One by one the tents were set upon and the people inside were all killed. The only people to survive were the kindly old Bedouin and his wife.
When the kindly old Bedouin saw what had happened he turned to his wife and said:
"You see, there was good in the loss of our animals. If the wolf had not killed them, then their sounds would have attracted the attention of the robbers and they would have found us!"

THE DRINK FROM PARADISE
One day a water carrier happened to pass by the door of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and heard him reciting the verse:
"There is not a creature on the earth
whose sustenance is not by Allah ..."
Koran, Chapter 11 verse 6
Now the water carrier thought to himself: "I am one of those creatures; why have I brought upon myself all this pain and suffering." So, trusting in Allah, he returned to his home and gave it away in charity as well as everything else he owned then he went to live in the Mosque.
He stayed in the Mosque for three days but no food came to him. Then, on the fourth day satan came and said: "You have ruined yourself! Allah has killed seven thousand people in the desert, and does not care -- why should He give you food?" The water carrier replied with the verse he heard the Prophet recite and satan left.
Just as the water carrier had finished the recitation of the verse, an angel came to him bringing a goblet full of the drink of Paradise whereupon the water carrier drank from it.
From that day onwards the water carrier had no desire for either food or water until he died twenty years later.

IN LOVE OF THE PROPHET
raise and peace be upon him
There was once a very devout shaykh by the name of Sufyan Thawri who told the story of a man he once met; a man who would not take a single step without supplicating to Allah for praise and peace upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad.
One day the shaykh decided to ask the man why he supplicated so much. The man told him: "If you were not the most important shaykh of this age, I would not tell you my story. My father and I decided to make the pilgrimage to Mecca so we prepared ourselves for the long journey ahead of us.
On the journey the my father was taken very ill, and died. Not long after my father's faced turned black so I covered it with a piece of cloth. Then, suddenly I became very tired and drifted off into sleep. As I slept I had a vision in which a man with the most beautiful appearance and pleasing manner appeared and removed the veil from my father's face. After he had removed the veil from my father's face the man reached out and passed his hands over my father's body and his face began to shine with a dazzling brightness. Then, the man turned to me and asked: 'Don't you recognize me? I am Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. Your father sinned a lot, but he loved me and would supplicate to Allah in abundance for praise and peace upon me. When he died he called upon me for help so I came to help him.' Then I awoke and saw that my father's face was no longer black but clean and bright; from that time onward I have always supplicated to Allah for peace and blessings upon our Prophet."
May praise and peace be showered in abundance upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad continually throughout all eternity.

THE MAN AND THE SIEVE
One day Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, noticed a man deep in prayer with his hands outstretched to Allah. Moses felt compassion towards the man and asked Allah saying: "O Allah, Your worshiper is supplicating to You, will You please answer his prayer?" Allah replied: "Moses, by My Might, even if he supplicated to Me until both his hands fell off I would not grant his supplication until he returned the straw sieve he wrongfully took to its owner. Don't you know that I do not grant the prayers of the unjust?"

THE DOG THAT TALKED
Adapted for Children by the Mosque of the Internet from a hadith reported by Anas, the son of Malik
Anas, Malik's son, was a companion of Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him. He tells us that one day as he was sitting with the Prophet a man with a torn robe came to them protesting: "O Messenger of Allah, there was a dog sitting outside the door of a certain Jew; it seized my cloak and tore it!" The Prophet asked the Jew to come to him so that he might ask him about it.
When the Jew arrived the Prophet asked him what had happened, but the Jew said: "I know nothing about it at all. However, the Torah says that animals speak to prophets, so if you are a prophet, call the dog and ask it why it did such a thing."
The dog was brought before the Prophet and he asked: "Dog, by Allah who created you, speak, and speak truthfully." The dog looked at the Prophet and said: "I swear that there is no god except Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet." Then the Prophet asked the dog: "Why did you tear this man's cloak?" "O Messenger of Allah", replied the dog, "that man is not worthy of you. He is the enemy of your companions Abu Bakr and Omar." When the Jew heard this he embraced Islam and the man with the torn cloak said he was really sorry and repented.

THE VISION
Prophet Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, tells us that there was once a prophet who saw in a vision that the next day he should get up and leave the city.
In the vision he was told to eat the first thing he saw, cover and hide the second, not kill the third, and flee from the fourth and fifth things he saw.
The next day the prophet left the city and the first thing he saw was a huge black mountain. He was awe struck and said to himself: "Allah has commanded me to eat this black mountain, how can I do this, but I must obey the command of Allah!" As he journeyed toward the mountain, the mountain grew smaller and smaller. When at last he reached it, it had shrunk and become just bite-size, so he ate it and it tasted
sweeter than dates. After he had finished eating it he thanked Allah and continued on his journey.
The next thing he saw was a golden basin, so he dug a hole and buried it and started to walk away. Then he looked back and saw that the basin had risen up on top of the ground and he thought to himself: "This is very strange", so he went back and buried it again and the same thing happened seven times.
Then a bird came to him and said: "O Prophet of Allah, save me!" So he hid it under his cloak. Then an eagle came and said: "O Prophet of Allah, do not disappoint me!"
So the Prophet gave the eagle all of his food.
The next thing he saw was a rotting carcass so he ran away from it as quickly as possible.
When he returned home he supplicated to Allah saying: "O Allah, I have done as You commanded; by Your Might, explain the meanings to me." Allah replied: "The mountain is human anger. At first it is a great mountain but when it is swallowed it becomes like a drink of honey. The basin is as the likeness of good deeds, it cannot be concealed. The likeness of the bird is that of a person seeking refuge with you -- do not abandon him or deliver him to anyone. The meaning of the eagle is that if someone comes to you with a need, you should not disappoint him, even if you have nothing other than that which he needs. As for the fifth -- backbiting and slander are as a foul carcass -- flee from them."

THE GRATEFUL LADY
Allah told Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him: "There is a woman in such-and-such a city who will be your companion in Paradise tomorrow." Jesus replied: "Lord, command me so that I may go and visit her."
When Jesus reached the city he found the lady and observed that she was not only blind but had neither hands nor feet. Jesus greeted her and asked: "How do you live?"
"With thousands of blessings and in debt of many thanks. If I had hands I would have gathered both lawful and unlawful things, then they would have borne witness against me on the Day of Judgement. If I had eyes I would have been attracted to the ornaments and beauties of this world and on the day of Judgement I would have remained attached to them. If I had feet I would have walked in disobedience and then on the Day of Judgement they would have testified against me" she replied.
Just then, Jesus turned and saw a group of people weeping so he went to them and asked what the matter was whereupon they told him that the son of the poor woman had been eaten by a lion. Jesus returned to the lady and broke the news to her whereupon she replied: "Praise be to Allah, every obstacle to my shrouding and burial has been removed," and she accepted the will of Allah. Jesus spoke gently to her and told her: "You are worthy to be the companion of the prophets in Paradise." The lady was surprised and asked: "What makes you say that?" "Allah has told me so," replied Jesus whereupon the lady cried out and passed away.

THE RUNAWAY COW
In the time of Prophet David, peace be upon him, there lived a poor but pious man who prayed everyday and would supplicate: "O Allah, send me food that is lawful."
One day a cow, intended for butchering, escaped and made its way to the house of the poor man. The man was pleased and exclaimed: "My supplication has been answered; there is nothing more lawful than this!" He took the cow into his back yard and slaughtered it, then, he prepared a fire and arranged the cooking pots over it and started to cook the meat.
As the meat was cooking a villager ran past the houses crying out: "Has anyone seen a cow on the loose?" whereupon he was directed to the house of the poor man. Upon reaching the poor man's house he saw what had happened then cried out in protest and so the matter was taken to Prophet David who asked the poor man: "Why did you kill this man's cow? You must pay him for it."
Just then, the Angel Gabriel appeared to him and said: "Allah commands you to take whatever belongs to the owner of the cow and give it all to the poor man."
Prophet David was surprised but he knew that Allah knew things he did not know, so he told those around him to go to the owner of the cow's house and bring everything he possessed and place it before him. After all his possessions had been gathered he gave them to the poor man whilst everyone looked on in bewilderment and muttered: "He was searching for his cow but now he has lost everything!"
Gabriel appeared to the Prophet again, but this time he instructed him: "Allah commands you to deliver the owner of the cow to the poor man, so that he may kill him." When the people heard the news they cried out and asked Prophet David:
"O Prophet of Allah, ask Allah to clarify this to us!" So David supplicated and Gabriel appeared once more and told Prophet David: "This man killed the poor man's father, stole his property then ran away. The property belongs to him. Allah has given it to him, and delivered this man to him so that he might avenge his father -- know that Allah is Wise, the Knower of Secrets."

THE UNJUST RULER
A very long time ago there lived a ruler called Bahram. He was not a kind ruler at all, in fact he was a tyrant and governed without justice. He thought nothing of doing whatever he wanted to do and did not care about the welfare of his people and refused to listened to his advisors who tried to guide him.
One day, things became so bad that his citizens sought the counsel of a wise vizier, who had often tried to advise the king but failed, to ask him what they should do. The vizier thought for a minute then said: "My advice to you is that you all leave the city for ten days." And so all the people packed the things they needed and left the city.
The next day when Bahram got up everything was so quiet, so he went to the window and looked down upon the market place and to his surprise found there was no one there. He could not understand why there was no one about so he called for the vizier who told him: "A ruler can only be a ruler if he has subjects, if he has none, then, he will be miserable." Bahram had never thought about this before so he asked his vizier: "Well, what would you advise me to do?" "Change your ways" replied the vizier." And for the first time Bahram took the advise of his vizier and said: "I swear that from now on I am going to be a just ruler, and I am sorry for what I have done."
When the people heard the good news, they gathered their belongings and returned to the city. Bahram kept his word and from that time onwards everyone was happy.

STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL
This is a true story about a girl who lived in Oman, and was Omani. The people who told her story are her best friend and some members of her family.
The story starts when a young Omani man married a western woman. The woman stayed on her Christian religion, but she came to live in Oman with her husband. The man had a good job and was wealthy. They had some children, but they lacked a family.
This story is very sad because it talks about THE TRUTH; The truth that was so bitter for one of their daughters. I will call her Malak, it means angel. That is what she turned out to be later, so there is no better name to call her.
Malak lived a life of luxury and wealth. She had whatever anyone would dream to have.The only thing that this young girl lacked was a family.
Malak wanted someone there for her to spend time with, and to confide in.The only people who she could turn to were the other rich girls who led a life similar to hers. They spent their time with friends basically having fun, as it would be called. There was no one to interfere with them, they could do whatever they please. In one of the vacations they decided to go to Salalah for a couple of days.
There was Malak and her best friend and six boys that went with them. They took two rooms, one, which the boys slept in, and the other where she and her friend slept in. They would all stay together in one room, or in the clubs then they would go to sleep around two in the morning. This is how much freedom these girls had. At least that is what they considered freedom.
Malak and her best friend both had boyfriends, so once they wanted to hang around somewhere without being disturbed by the others. They decided to go to her friend's house because there was no one there.
So they sat together in the living room for sometime, then her friend wanted to go into one of the rooms with her boyfriend, and she told Malak that she could also go into any of the rooms if she wanted to.
Malak preferred to stay in the living room and talk to her boyfriend. After some time her friend called her, so she and her boyfriend both went.When they did they were astonished to see their two friends in such a shameful way. Malak was so furious that she slapped her friend and told her, " How dare you?" Then she stormed out of the house, full of feelings that she had felt for the first time in her life. For the first time she felt that her life was worthless. She just needed somewhere to run to be comforted.
She went to her house,only to hear the loud music playing and the voices of her siblings with their friends. Oh how she hated all those things that happened in that house. She ran to her room for comfort, only to find all those horrible paintings and posters staring at her. She pulled them all down and broke them. She felt very tired after that, but relieved.
Now she needed to pray, she went to their living room, because it was quiet so that she can pray. She wanted to pray, she needed to pray, but she didn't know how! She went into the toilet and got her whole body wet,because she had no idea how to perform wudhu. Then she found her grandmother's prayer mat and she stood on it, not knowing what to do.
Then she just did what her heart told her to do, she prostrated ( did sujood) and just talked to God. She stayed like that for one whole hour. She just poured her heart out to her Creator. She felt much better after that,but there was more that she wanted to do now. She remembered her uncle, whom she hadn't seen for a very long time, because he was not on good terms with her father. He was the person who could help her. She planned to go to his house, but she absolutely couldn't go there dressed the way she was. She tried to find something suitable to wear, she couldn't. All her clothes exposed her body. Then she remembered that her aunt had once given her an abaya and veil and the holy Quran. She went and got them all out, wore the Abaya and veil, then she called her grandmother's driver to take her to her uncle's house.
When she got there, her uncle's wife opened the door. Malak threw herself into her arms and cried her heart out. The aunt understood what happened, so she called her husband. When Malak saw her uncle, she did the same, she just hugged him tight and cried. The uncle didn't even recognize his niece at first because he hardly sees her. When he understood who she was, he comforted her and sat with her and talked to her. Malak had later said that this was the first time that she ever felt love and care. Then she asked to see one of her cousins. When her cousin came, she asked her to teach her how to pray. After she learned the prayers, she said I don't want anyone to come in this room, I want to be alone for three days.
Then she asked her uncle, "Howlong would it take me to memorize the holy Quran." The uncle said that she would need at least five years to do that. She was not happy, she said," I could die before five years had passed."
So she started her mission,she started memorizing the Quran. Malak was so much happier and at peace with herself in this new lifestyle. After about two months her father finally realized that his daughter was not in the house and started to inquire about her! He was infuriated to discover that she was in his brother's house. He went to take her from there, but she refused to go back to their house. Finally Malak decided to go live in her grandfather's house, so as to solve the problem.
What's important is that Malak did reach her goal, she memorized the holy Quran in three months only!
Now she called her uncle and his family to come over so that they could celebrate the occasion. She told them to hurry. They were all so happy and excited and they went quickly. When they got there, they were told that she was praying. A long time passed and she still didn't come, so her cousins decided to go see her. They saw her on the prayer mat holding the holy Quran in her arms, lying dead. Yes you all read that sentence correctly, she had died holding the holy book in her arms near the heart that memorized it.
The whole family was devastated at her death, but now they had to bury her quickly. They called her father, but she had told her grandfather that she doesn't want her mother to come if she had not converted to Islam. Her sister and brother also came. Then they started washing her. It was the first time for her cousins to wash someone, but they did it anyway, because they were the closest people to her. They said that they felt other people helping them, people that they couldn't see. They had prepared the Kafan (the white cloth that the dead person is wrapped in), but it had disappeared.
They started looking for it everywhere, but they couldn't find it. Then to their surprise in one of the corners of the house they found another Kafan that had the most beautiful smell. So they had no choice but to use this Kafan. When the men went to pray for her, there were six men, dressed in green.
These six men also prayed for her, then they carried her to the graveyard and they buried her. These six men were not members of the family, they were strangers. After the burial, these men disappeared and no one knew who they were or where they came from. There is no doubt about whom they are and where they came from. They were angels and they came from up above to take the body of the pure Malak and treat it the way God wants. Malak deserved to be buried by angels not humans, because she had reached a higher standard than most other humans had.
The sad thing is that there are many like Malak in Oman and in other Islamic communities. I just hope that everyone spreads this story so that we could learn from this live example. To all the men and women, when it comes to marriage don't just think of love and lust, think of the children that are going to come.
Choose good parents for you children before you bear them. Remember that there is death and judgement
and then heaven or hell. Take good care of your families and nurture them with love and care,and sow
faith in their hearts. Like Malak, with all that she had, she never really felt happy until she found her path
back to Allah. Without faith there is no happiness or contentment.

Taken from: http://playandlearn.org/
Knowledge
The Mosque in Medina was not only a place of worship. The believers assembled here to learn. When the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) was present, they heard his words of wisdom, his elucidation on the verses of Quran and benefited by his counsel. And when he was not there, other faithful companions taught what they had heard from the Prophet of Allah
Once the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) entered the mosque before the prayer time and found two groups of people. One was busy in acts of worship while the other group in a corner was learning. They learnt how to read and write and discussed the teachings of Islam and their application to their daily lives.
Looking at both, the Prophet said: "They are both engaged in useful pursuits. But I am a teacher. I shall join the group assembled to learn..

Junaid and Behlool
Behlool simulated madness, though he was not mad. Junaid a scholar and Sufi of repute, knew him very well. One day as they met, Junaid requested him to give him some counsel and admonition.
"You do not need any advice. You are a well known scholar," Behlool said.
But Junaid insisted. Behlool gave in and said: "Well, I shall ask you three questions. If you answer them correctly, you will be advised."
Do you know how to talk?"
"Do you know how to eat?"
"Do you know how to sleep?"
Junaid found these simple. He said:
"I know how to talk. I talk with a low voice, politely and to the point, so that the listeners are not at all offended. I eat after having washed my hands, say Bismillah before I commence, and chew the food properly. When I finish, I thank Allah. Before I go to sleep, I do my wudhu and retire to a clean bed. Then I bear witness to my faith and sleep."
Behlool stood up and started walking away. He said: "I thought you were quite learned. You do not know the most elementary things of Islam." But Junaid would not let him go. "Please guide me," he said.
"Well," Behlool said, "It is no use talking softly if it is a lie, remembering Allah before eating has no meaning if the food you eat is forbidden or usurped or that the food has been bought from the money of an orphan, a widow or a fellowman. And what is the use of sleeping with wudhu and all the recitations if your heart is full of malice, jealousy and enmity towards your brother in faith."

Behlool
Behlool liked to visit the graveyards. "People here are good friends," he used to say "They do not backbite".
Once, he sat in a corner of a graveyard and with a long stick. He started probing at some of the old skulls which lay scattered about. Harun Rashid, the king, passed by and saw him and asked, "O Behlool! What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing very important', said Behlool. 'I am just trying to find out whether the skulls belong to kings or paupers. They are all the same."
"Oh, nothing very important", said Behlool. "I am just trying to find out whether the skulls belong to kings or paupers. They are all the same."
"And what is the stick for?" Harun asked.
"Well, I'm measuring the earth", Behlool replied.
"Measuring the earth? What are your findings?" Harun joked.
"It is equal and the same, O King", Behlool retorted. "Three armlengths for me, in spite of my poverty and three armlengths for you, in spite of your pomp and wealth."
"And what is the stick for?" Harun asked. "Well, I'm measuring the earth", Behlool replied.
"Measuring the earth? What are your findings?" Harun joked.
"It is equal and the same, O King", Behlool retorted. "Three armlengths for me, in spite of my poverty and three armlengths for you, in spite of your pomp and wealth."

Imam Ali (a.s.) and the Candle
A candle burnt by his side, as he sat down meticulously recording all the revenue and the expenses of the treasury.
Just then Talha and Zubair appeared.
They aspired to some positions of authority in Ali's (a.s.) rule and had come to strike a deal. If Ali (a.s.) gave them a place of distinction, they would in turn pledge their full support. Ali (a.s.) knew of this.
Just as they sat down, Ali (a.s.) put out the candle and lit another one.
"That was a candle bought of Treasury funds. As long as I worked for the Treasury, I used it. Now you have come for some personal work, so I use the candle bought of my personal fund."
Talha and Zubair exchanged a glance of surprise and then one of them said:
"O Ali, we have come on some important business. But why did you extinguish the first candle?"
Imam Ali (a.s.) replied: "That was a candle bought of Treasury funds. As long as I worked for the Treasury, I used it. Now you have come for some personal work, so I use the candle bought of my personal fund."
Talha and Zubair left him without saying another word.

Death - The Leveller
Sulaiman b. Dawood was a Prophet and a King. In the Bible, he is named Solomon. The Holy Qur'an says that the kingdom given to Prophet Sulaiman had no equal in the history of mankind. He ruled over the wind and the waves. All men, jinn and animals were made subservient to his rule.
'And to Solomon (We made) the Wind (obedient): Its early morning (stride) was a month's (journey) and its evening (stride) was a month's (journey); and We made a Font of molten brass to flow for him; and there were Jinns that worked in front o f him by the leave of his Lord and if any of them turned aside from our command We made him taste of the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.' (Quran 34:12)

Once Sulaiman decided to survey his rule. He ordered his subjects to arrange themselves in a manner that would enable him to view them. He went to his palace and there from a loft he stood alone to inspect. None was permitted to come nearby. Right then, a person appeared.
"Who are you? Don't you know that none is supposed to enter here?" Sulaiman said.
"I need no permission for entry. It is your Lord's command that your time on earth is fulfilled," answered the angel.
So Sulaiman was dead. But his subjects did not know. They thought Sulaiman was still making an appraisal. Then Allah sent some worms who ate through the staff against which Sulaiman was reclining.
The staff broke and Sulaiman's corpse fell to the ground.
'Then when We decreed (Solomon's) death nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down the Jinns saw plainly that if they had known the unseen they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task).' (Quran 34:14)

Thus died an absolute monarch of all he surveyed.
"Scepter and crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made,
With poor scythe and spade."

Self Reliance
It was a long journey. At one place, they all decided to rest. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and his companions alighted from their horses and loosened their luggage. Then they decided to slaughter an animal and prepare a meal.
One companion said: "I will slaughter the animal."
Another said: "And I will skin it."
The third one volunteered to cook the meat. And so everyone volunteered to help in one way or the other.
The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: "I will go to find the fuel."
Immediately the companions rose to say: "No, O Prophet of Allah, let it be our pride to serve you while you rest. We are here to do the work for you."
The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: "I know that you could all do that. But Allah hates a person who enjoys such a privilege among his friends and companions. He hates a man who arrogates himself any preferential position."
Then he went towards the woods and brought back with him twigs and thorns which he had gleaned.

Ghazali and The Robbers
Ghazali, the renowned Muslim scholar, was born in Tus, a small village near Mashhad. He lived in the fifth century hijrah.
In those days, students wishing to acquire higher knowledge of Islam travelled to Nishapur, which boasted several centres of learning and many teachers of repute. Ghazall, after completing his preliminary education at home, arrived in Nishapur to pursue further studies. He was brilliant and was soon acclaimed by his tutors as the most studious and painstaking student. In order not to forget any finer points of erudition, he formed the habit of noting down all that he heard and learnt from his teachers. And then he meticulously rewrote them under various headings and chapters. He treasured these notes as dearly as his life, or perhaps more.
Years later, he decided to return to his village. He tied all his prepared notes into a neat bundle and set forth in the company of a caravan. On the way, they were held up by a gang of highway thieves who robbed each traveller of all his valuables. And then it was Ghazali's turn. They searched him thoroughly, snatching away all that they wanted, and then laid hands on the tied bundle of notes.
"Take all that you want, but please do not touch this bundle," Ghazali pleaded. And the waylayers thought that there must be something very precious hidden in the bundle which Ghazali was trying to save. So they untied the bundle and ransacked the pages. What did they find? Nothing but a few written papers.
They asked: "What are these? Of what use are they?"
"Well, they may be of no use to you, but they are of
great use to me," Ghazali answered.
"But of what use are they?" the robbers insisted.
"These are the fruits of my labour. If you destroy them, I am also ruinously destroyed. All the years of my attainment go down the drain," Ghazali replied.
"So whatever you know is in here, isn't it?" one of them said.
"Yes," Ghazali replied.
"Well, knowledge confined in a few papers, vulnerable to theft, is no knowledge at all. Go and think about it and about yourself"
This casual but pungent remark by a commoner shook Ghazali to the core. He realised that he had studied as a parrot, jotted down all that he learned and crammed in into his mind. He found that he knew more, but he thought less. If he wanted to be a true student and a good scholar, he had to assimilate knowledge, think, ponder, deduce and then form his own judgement.
He set out seriously to learn the way he should, and became one of the greatest ulema in Islam. But in his advanced age, when he summarised his achievements, he said:
"The best counsel and admonition which changed my thinking, came to me from a highway robber."

Time
Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the records of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back.
There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".

You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health,
happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today..
To realize the value of ONE YEAR
Ask a student who has failed his exam.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY
Ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet or . . .
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE
Ask a person who has missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND
Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in Olympic.
Treasure every moment that you have!
And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special.. special enough to have your time...and remember time waits for no one ...

The Creator
Saeed is a very promising boy. He is very fond of studies. He also takes part in games and sports. Sometimes he and his father went out for a walk.
One day both of them went to the riverside. The scene all around was very beautiful. The riverbed was full of water. On the banks of the river it was all green. Ducks, swans, and other water birds were gliding in the water. Melodious birds were chirping in the trees. The sun was peeping through the branches.
This charming scene pleased Saeed very much. All of a sudden an idea crossed his mind and he asked his father: "Dear father! Who has made all these lovely things?"
Father: "Allah has made them".
Saeed: "Can we see Allah? "
Father: "No, my son, we can't see Him".
Saeed: "Then how do we know that He exists and He has made everything?"
Thereupon his father pointed to a building surrounded by trees and said, "Just look at that building. Do you know who has built it?" "Surely masons have built it", Saeed replied. Then his father said, "Dear son! When we see that building we guess that masons have built it, although we can't see them. Similarly, when we see some footsteps on sand we know that someone has passed from there. Now look at the Universe. It is very big and must also have a creator, although we can't see Him. That great Creator is Allah. This world and all things in it are a proof of His existence."
Saeed understood the point and thanked his father for explaining it to him.

Belief in Allah
One day Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and a group of his followers were passing by a place. They saw an old woman working with her spinning wheel.
Prophet Muhammad went up to her. After saying 'Salam Alaikum,' (Islamic greeting which means Peace be with you) and asking her how she was feeling, he asked her, 'How did you come to believe in Allah?'
The old woman let her spinning wheel stop. She thought for a while, then replied, 'Do you see this small wheel? It does not spin unless I move it. How could it be possible for a universe this big to spin by itself?
Who changes the night into day? Who changes the four seasons? There must be someone doing all these things.
The One who preserves and controls the whole universe is Allah who is All-Knowing and Almighty.'
Prophet Muhammad turned to his followers and said, 'Consider how this old woman has come to know of the existence of Allah. You, also, should have as strong a belief in Allah as this old lady.'

My Grandfather: The Muezzin by: Shawqui Baghdadi
Adapted from Ahmad, September 1993
My grandfather on my mother's side used to serve the "Ghazi Mosque" in Tripoli. He also acted as the mosque's Imam and Muezzin.
He was trusted with the mosque's keys and he used to open its doors at dawn and close them late at night; he was the first to come in and the last to leave. He was so punctual and so persistent in his work that I used to hear words of praise everywhere I went. People grew to love his voice, even the Christians living nearby used to get up early at dawn to listen to him.
I remember that I asked him when I was ten years old to take me with him to the Mosque, where I could listen to him.
I still recall everything I saw that day as if it happened yesterday.
How could I ever forget climbing the minaret's spiral stairs with my grandpa behind me to make sure that I wouldn't fall down. Reaching the top, I stood on what looked like a round balcony, with a view that showed the whole beautiful city.
But happy as I was, once my grandpa started his call for prayers, I forgot everything and sat to watch his face: How his throat used to tighten, and how he opened and closed his mouth. His voice used to charm me and carry me to magical worlds, which I still picture in my mind whenever I remember his great voice.
I asked my grandfather once: "Is it true what they say that in the thirty years you called for prayers, you have never, not even once, missed any call?"
"Yes, it is true, I have never failed to perform my duty in all that time".
"But how? Weren't you ever sick? Didn't you ever leave the city?"
"No, thank Allah, I was never sick and never traveled anywhere".
But he was to fall sick on a very cold winter day. And once again I happened to be visiting him at that time.
"Tell me, grandpa, who will call for the Morning Prayer if you do not get well by tomorrow?"
Grandpa looked at me with a smile on his face:
"Do not worry. Allah willing, I will not be sick tomorrow. When we love our work and believe in it, we can overcome our illness quickly". Even though I had a feeling that he wasn't that serious, I asked him to wake me up in the morning and take me with him to the Mosque.
To my surprise, early in the morning the following day, I woke up on my grandpa's voice telling me to get ready. I opened my eyes, and there he was with his heavy winter coat, and his woolen scarf.
"Salamun Alaikum grandpa. How do you feel today. I hope that you are better".
"Not quite, but I am well enough to go to work".
Out on the street, I held my grandpa's arm. It was so hot that it almost burnt my hand. But we went on to the top of the Minaret. I noticed that he was breathing heavily, and that his voice wasn't as strong as it used to be.
Later, many people came to grandpa and said. "We knew that you were sick and we were worried".
"Let's perform our dawn prayers together and ask Allah to heal all those who are sick…", he answered them smiling.
By the end of the day, my grandfather was much better. A lot of people came up and sat behind him as if they were trying to protect him from a danger that would deny them the chance to listen to his moving voice, which they so loved.
Grandpa lived for more than eighty years, and in all those years, not even once, did he miss the call for prayers.
May Allah bless you, and bestow His mercy on you, my grandfather, for you have taught me a valuable and unforgettable lesson…..

The Elderly's Resort by: Abdallah Ahmad
Adapted from Ahmad, September 1993
Some of the villagers of the Marj and the other villages nearby held their annual meeting recently, to discuss how to improve their social conditions.
Everybody came to the meeting with a clear idea about what kind of welfare projects could improve their villages.
They studied all the proposals, but they chose the one they considered urgent: Building a resort for the elderly. It gained their full approval, and they decided to prepare a field construction study and to organise a contribution campaign. This meant that they had to pay visits to the village's very rich men who lived in the city, especially Abu-Ma'rouf, who was probably the richest among them. They formed a delegation, which included representatives of the Marj and all the nearby villages.
They went to visit Abu-Ma'rouf with a detailed description of their project, hoping that they would come back with a generous contribution as a token of appreciation for their noble efforts.
Abu-Ma'rouf listened carefully to what they had to say. He nodded his head in a way no one was able to make anything of. In the end, he promised that he would look into the matter, and send whatever money he could afford to donate to the village.
A few days later, the people in charge of "the Aged" project were shocked by the modest sum Abu-Ma'rouf had sent. Many of the low income villagers had had donated about the same amount money if not more. Rumours had it that Abu- Ma'rouf was not impressed, and that he believed that the project was useless, and that it was not worth all the money that it was supposed to cost. More importantly, he did not believe that the problem of the old people was an important issue.
Yet, none of those who were striving to carry out the project were discouraged. They went on with their campaign as planned.

A few years later, the modest project began to emerge as a "concrete" fact between the oak and poplar trees. People came to the village of the Marj from all the nearby villages to help in the construction work or to learn about the resort.
Then finally the work was completed, and the resort opened its doors to the elderly.. to those who found in it comfort and happiness. Allah blessed this work, and the donations increased. As a result, it developed, gaining a wide reputation as the best sanctuary in the region.
Meanwhile, another kind of development was going on at Abu- Ma'rouf 's house. All the members of his family were insisting that he should live in a house for the elderly. He had lost nearly all his money and his physical condition was no better. He grew weak and feeble. His children and grandchildren turned away from him and pursued their own interests and pleasures.
They all insisted that the old man should live in a home for the elderly, having heard what kind of care and love old people found there.
Abu-Ma'rouf felt that everybody around him was irritated by his presence, and he had no alternative, but to live in a home for the elderly in the village. Abu Ma'rouf went to the village with some of his relatives who wished to see him off. When they got there, Abu-Ma'rouf looked at the building and saw how big it was.
An image of the past swept through his memory when he was visited, many years ago, by the villagers to ask him to donate. He remembered how he did not care about the project and how little of his money he paid; the same money that had faded away.
The sweet sound of the recitation of the Quran interrupted his thoughts. The words were coming from the nearby mosque, in preparation for the call to prayer, and he felt as if they were talking directly to him.
Bism Allah! AL Rahman AL Raheem
Behold! You are those who are called upon to spend in Allah's way, but among whoever is niggardly against his own soul; and Allah is Self-sufficient and you have need (of Him).

Allah, the Most Exalted speaks the truth.
Tears began to fall from the old man's eyes. "We are poor and Allah is rich" he said. He refused to go in before he signed some papers in which he donated all what was left of his property to be used in the further development of the project. What happened that day had a profound impact on the large crowd that witnessed the incident. The story of Abu- Ma'rouf became a moral lesson which they took care to convey to their children and grandchildren.

Kicking the fallen ones
From: Anecdotes of the Pious Ones, # 74, v.1
Abdul Malik bin Marwan died in 86 Hijri, after 21 years of tyranny. His son Waleed succeeded him. He decided to bring about some justice to please the populus. He tried hard to please the people of Medina, in particular, as it was one of the two sacred Muslim cities where some decendants of the Prophet's companions, and some famous narrators lived.
That is why he fired Hisham bin Ismail Makhzooni, the father-in-law of Abdul Malik, who was the cruel and unjust governor of Medina.
Hisham bin Ismail had reached the extreme cruelty and offense to the people of Medina. Saeed bin Museeb, who was a respectable and famous narrator was beaten sixty lashes, was made to wear a coarse robe, while sitting on a camel and being walked through the streets of Medina, because he had refused to give allegience. He had commited numerous offenses towards the family of the Prophet (pbuh&hf), specially Imam Zainul 'Abideen.
Walid fired Hisham and instead hired Umar bin 'Abdul 'Aziz, his young cousin who was popular for his sincerity and his justice.
Umar ordered that Hisham bin Ismail be brought in front of Marwan's house and whoever has any complaint against him, get his right. People would come, in groups, and offered him curses, and harsh words.
Hisham was afraid of Imam Zainul 'Abideen's revenge. He thought to himeself that Imam will bring him nothing less than death due to the cruelty done to his family.
But the Imam (as) had told his followers: "Our character isn't one of kicking the fallen ones. Neither do we avenge the enemy when he has fallen and weak. Our character is that of assisting the poor and the needy."
As the Imam and his followers approached him, Hisham turned pale and expected a cold blooded murder at any moment.
But just apposite to his expectation, Imam (as), in his usual manner of a Muslim must aid a Muslim, called on him: "Salaamun 'Alaikum."
After greeting him, the Imam (as) offered: "If there is anything I could do for you, I am ready to do."
The people of Medina, also, stopped punishing Hisham after that moment. [1]

[1] Bihar v. 11, p. 17 & 27. And "Al Imam Sadiq Sayyed al Ahl" translated by Husayn Wijdani, p. 92.

The Effort of the Frog
From: In the Presence of the Wise
There is a moment of uncertainty, a moment of unrest. I have just poured my restless heart about the concerns about the community, about the state of the Ummah, about the confused random directions that each one goes instead of aligning energies as a unified force.
The moment of silence grows heavy on my mind which is stopped as a steaming hurricane by a wall of patience and reflection.
Then the words of wisdom pour out of my friend's mouth, a soft and thoughtful voice reads in my ear:
"You know, when the fire of Nimrood had engulfed Prophet Ibrahim (as), there was a little frog. This little frog used to full its mouth with water, and pour it on the fire. Others laughed at this 'mindless, random act of kindness', and told him that your mouthfuls of water won't stop the fire of Nimrood. You know what the frog said? It said, on the judgement day, I will be asked of what I did within my capacity, just a frog's mouthful of water."
I remember the words of Imam (ra), that we are responsible for the duty, and not for the result. A warm smile washes away the tension of confusion, as I thank Allah for the presence of my friend, whom Allah may protect, and guide.

Growing Pains
From: In the Presence of the Wise
Her sharp glance pierces through one's soul as she focuses. I have been listening to her for hours now. As if a hungry being having seen a feast of wonderful, healthy food, my starving soul is overwhelmed with this discourse. And now she is saturating me with everything that could be contained in her eloquent words that draw subtle realities in the most tangible form.
It is strange. A question comes in my mind, and I wonder through a few moments of silence, and then her voice echoes in the silence of the night addressing the very same question I had in mind. It is not accidental, but I choose not to ask her why, and how.
And she tells me of the realities no one ever spoke of. Every book I had opened would keep it a secret, or wrapped into layers of metaphors that I struggled to imagine through. There is no hush in this visit. It is all open, as open as my vulnerable soul.
As I am thinking about this very tragedy of being shoved away from realities that should be common knowledge, a smile brightens her round face. Then her crystal clear voice echoes:
"Imagine you are a fetus. You are trapped in a warm, dark, and perhaps spacious and comfortable environment. All of a sudden you notice you are growing large. You complain: No, I like it to be spacious. But no one listens, and you keep on growing. Then you notice a painful process of getting these extra things called eyes. Water goes in them, and you hurt. You scream: What is this? I don't need this. Stop it now. But no one listens and your eyes grow to completion. Then you notice this lengthy process of getting these things called arms and legs. What a discomfort, you think to yourself. I don't need these accessories which get trapped and stop me from freely floating around. But no one listens, and your extremities grow to completion. But all along one voice keeps on reading to you: Hush. You don't know. But trust me you will need this someday. You see that voice doesn't tell you of a world outside the womb, for you can't imagine it. You can't imagine what light is, so it doesn't bother telling you how you will need eyes. It just tells you why you need them. You can't imagine walking, and talking, and smelling, and feeling. So it doesn't bother tell you how.
But, one day you come out, needing the same capacities that you hated to see grow in you.
Imagine, somebody listening to this fetus, and stopping the growth of its eyes. It will never see, thus will never grasp that part of the reality, which manifests itself in a manner that can be seen. Never will it know the beauty of the ocean of colors in a garden, nor the glory of a sunset. If it stopped growing ears, it shall never hear the melody of waves crashing against the coast, nor the horror of the thunder.
So is the hidden process of growing invisible parts of our souls, which are often gained with pain, through losses, failures, humiliations, and sufferings. Some growth comes with ease, comfort, joy, and peace. Yet those capacities you need the most are earned painfully. So your soul must grow eyes through which it could see those manifestation of Reality that can be only seen with the vision of soul. To have vision of soul, you must be ready for the pain that it will require to grow eyes. The choice is yours, eternal blindness, or a pain of growing eyes.
And as to the concern of why so much delay in the process: well, every organ of your soul must grow in the time slot it is allowed to. Otherwise it will have a shape with organs that are under or over developed, incapable of performing the duties they are created for.
Be patient, and have trust in the Source of all.

Bismillah Hir Rahmanir Rahim as-salaamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu.
safia@f...
$20 an Hour
A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
"Yeah sure, what is it?"
"Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
"That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy.
"If you must know, I make $20 an hour."
"Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may please borrow $10?"
The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. This about why you are being so selfish. I work long hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish behaviour."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions.
How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. May be there was something he really needed to buy with that 10, and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" he asked
"No Daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy
"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on your earlier," said the man.
"It's been a long day, and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's that $10 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling, "Oh, thank you Daddy!" he yelled.
Then reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
Share this story with someone you like . but even better, share $20 worth of time with someone you love. It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts

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