The Sheikh and the Parrot

There was a Sheikh who was teaching his students Aqeedah (faith), He taught them ‘la ilaha illa Allah’ and explained it to them.
The Sheikh loved keeping pets, so he was given a parrot by one of the students as a gift.
And with days the Sheikh started to like the parrot.
He used to take it in his lessons, until the parrot knew how to say la ilaha illa Allah, He would utter it day and night.

One day the students found their Sheikh crying and sobbing.
When they asked him the reason, he told them that a cat attacked the parrot and killed it.
They said: Is this the reason you are crying!
If you wish we will bring you another parrot better than that one.
The Sheikh said: I am not crying because of this…

But it made me cry when the cat attacked the parrot.
It was shouting and screaming until it died.
He used to say la ilaha illa Allah a lot.
However, when he was attacked by a cat he forgot to say it.
He did nothing but scream!
Because he used to say it with his tongue only, and his heart did not learn it, so it didn’t feel it!

Then the Sheikh said: I am afraid to be like this parrot, we live our lives repeating la ilaha illa Allah with our tongues, but when death comes we forget it because our hearts did not know it.
When he told his students, they started crying in fear of lack of honesty in saying “La ilaha illa Allah”.


May Allah grant us ” ﻻ ﺍﻟﻪ ﺍﻻًﺍﻟﻠﻪ” in our hearts and on our tongues.

Self Discipline

Self Discipline is the key to success in Life…

This post is about what happened in a typical middle-class household.

The son didn’t like living in his house.
“You are leaving the room without switching off the fan”
“The TV on in the room where there is no one. Switch it off!”
“Keep the pen in the stand; it has fallen down”

The son didn’t like his father nagging him for these minor things.
He had to tolerate these things till yesterday since he was with them in the same house.

But today, however, he has an invitation for a job interview.
“As soon as I get the job, I should leave this town. There won’t be any nagging from my father” were his thoughts.

He left for the interview.

Father advised: “Answer the questions put to you without any hesitation. Even if you don’t know the answer, mention that confidently.” Father gave him more money than he actually needed to attend the interview.

The son reached the interview centre.

There was no security outside near the gate. Even though the door was open, the latch was protruding out probably hitting the people entering through the door. He put the latch properly, closed the door and entered the office.

On both sides of the pathway he could see beautiful flower plants. The gardener had kept the water running in the hose-pipe and was not to be seen anywhere. The water was overflowing on the pathway. He kept the hosepipe near the plant and went further.

There was no one in the reception area. However, there was a notice saying that the interview was on the first floor. He slowly climbed the stairs.

The light that was switched on last night was still burning at 10 am in the morning. He remembered his father’s admonition, “Why are you leaving the room without switching off the light?” and thought he could still hear that now. Even though he felt irritated by that thought, he sought out the switch and switched the light off.

Upstairs in a large hall he could see many aspirants sitting waiting for their turn. He looked at the number of people and wondered if he had any chance of getting the job.

He entered the hall with some trepidation and stepped on the “Welcome” mat placed near the door. He noticed that the mat was upside down. He straightened out the mat with some irritation. Habits die hard.

He saw that in a few rows in the front there were many people waiting for their turn, whereas the back rows were empty, but a number of fans were running over those rows of seats.

He heard his father’s voice again, “Why are the fans running in the room where there is no one?” He switched off the fans that were not needed and sat at one of the empty chairs.

He could see many men entering the interview room and immediately leave from another door. There was thus no way anyone could guess what was being asked in the interview.

He went and stood before the interviewer with some trepidation and concern.

The officer took the certificates from him and without looking at them asked, “When can you start work?”

He thought ,”is this a trick question being asked in the interview, or is this a signal that I have been offered the job?” He was confused.

“What are you thinking?” asked the boss. “We didn’t ask anyone any question here. By asking a few questions we won’t be able to assess the skills of anyone. So our test was to assess the attitude of the person. We kept certain tests based on the behaviour of the candidates and we observed everyone through CCTV. No one who came today did anything to set right the hose pipe, the welcome mat, the uselessly running fans or lights. You were the only one who did that. That’s why we have decided to select you for the job”, said the boss.

He always used to get irritated at his father’s discipline and remonstrations. Now he realized that it is only the discipline that has got him his job. His irritation and anger at his father vanished completely.

He decided that he would bring his father to to his workplace and left for home happily.

Whatever our father tells us is only for our bright future!

A rock doesn’t become a beautiful sculpture if it resists the pain of the chisel chipping it away.

For us to become a beautiful sculpture and a human being we need to chisel out the bad habits and behaviour from ourselves. Those are what our father does when he disciplines us.

The mother lifts the child up on her waist to feed her, to cuddle her, and to put her to sleep. But the father is not like that. He lifts the child up on his shoulders to make her see the world that he couldn’t see.

We can realize the pain the mother undergoes by listening to her; but the father’s pain can be realized only when others tell us about it.

Our father is our teacher when we are five years old; a villain when we are twenty, but a guidepost when he is no more in our midst.

The mother can go to her daughter’s or son’s home when she is old; but the father doesn’t know how to do that. He is always independent and alone.

Hence there is no use in hurting our parents when they are alive and remembering about them when they have passed away.

May Allah grant us the ability to value our parent whilst they are alive, and remember them in our prayers when they have passed on, ameen.

Poor Frog

Once upon a time, there was a mouse, which, whilst passing a pond witnessed a frog emerge from the depth of the pond. Astonished by this unusual sight, the mouse began to converse with the frog and through this, a very warm and friendly conversation took place. A very close friendship grew between the two of them, until it developed into a love relationship.

By mutual arrangement, they appointed a specific time at which they could meet each other in the mornings daily and converse with each other for a long time. At these special meetings they use to enlighten each other with their own opinions regarding certain topics or they use to entertain each other with exciting stories regarding their past. Their hearts opened up to each other and were joy filled at the sight of one another.

One day the mouse said to the frog “You are swimming around in the water while I am left all alone on the dry earth. I suffer the pangs of sorrow over being parted from you. When lonely, I come to the edge of the water to call to you, but while you are in the water, even the voice of a lover cannot be heard. I cannot be at peace by meeting you for such a short time each day.”

The mouse replied, “O beloved frog: I cannot live a moment of my life peacefully without seeing your face. By day, the sight of you is my life: by night the thought of you is my tranquillity and sleep. It will be very courteous on your part that you will permit me the pleasure of meeting you time upon time at every opportunity possible.”
The mouse carried on by saying “My respected friend, I am a creature that can live on land alone, whereas you can live on land and in water. But how is it possible for you to know inside the water that I have the desire to meet you?”

For quite a while they pondered upon this and consulted each other until finally, the mouse put an opinion forward. This opinion was that one end of a piece of string is to be tied to the foot of the frog and the other end is to be tied to the foot of the mouse. Thus, when the mouse has a desire to meet the frog he will just need to pull the string and the frog will respond by returning to the surface of the water.

The frog considered the mouse’s suggestion to be a bad one and said in his heart, “This evil one, wishes to tie me up and make me live like a prisoner.”
Despite disliking the mouse’s suggestion, the frog found an inclination within himself to accept to the request.

The two of them, by pulling the string were able to meet each other repeatedly each day until destruction struck them one morning. A vulture seeing it’s pray i.e. the mouse, from high above soared down upon the mouse, it also unknowingly, lifted the frog out of the water where until now he was safe and comfortable. This was due to the fact that the string held the mouse and the frog together. Unfortunately, what fate awaited the mouse befell the frog as well. The vulture killed them both and devoured them. If the frog remained in the water and had not formed a friendship with the evil mouse, nothing would have happened to him and he would not have been the prey of the vulture.

Hadrat Rumi Rahmatullahe alayhi uses this story as an example to draw our attention to the harms and effects of having bad company. It is a very good story with a powerful moral lesson.

Hadrat Rumi Rahmatullahe alayhi says:
“In this story we see the soul, the self and the shaytaan. The self represents the mouse, the soul represents the frog and the vulture represents the shaytaan.
The self, in order to satisfy its desires engages the soul in evil practises, endeavours to tie it with a string so that the soul indulges in these evil practises as well. When the soul reluctantly obeys the desires of the self and befriends the self, it allows the shaytaan to pull it whenever it wishes. In this way the soul is also humiliated because of the contact with the self. Hence, when shaytaan will go to hell, the self, who was in its beak, will also go to hell and so will the soul which was tied to the self.

In this day and age, we live in the midst of bad people and evil company. By befriending these evildoers, we will eventually be affected by their foul doings and will also indulge in these sins. By indulging in things that are wrong, we will only become more and more sinful and we will be dragged with the evildoers into Jahannam, which is the totally the opposite direction to where we should be heading.

Whereas if we are to befriend the pious, we will be affected by their good deeds and we will eventually get in to Jannat.

My dear respected readers, we have been given two choices only, but the big question is, which one will we choose? In this world we are not forced to do anything, we act upon our desires.

May Allah Ta’ala grant us the ability to choose what is right and may he the Almighty grant us protection from one’s self and from shaytaan.
Ameen.

Let me hug you

*Come, let me hug you on my chest:*

A true story which happened in Saudi Arabia.
Saeed bin Jumaan was an old father whose job was being a teacher. After the death of his wife, may Allah Have Mercy on her, he lived with his sons so they could serve him. Allah blessed him with four sons, and Alhamdulillah all of them were obedient.

Their father was known for his strength, prestige and words. If someone said Saeed bin Jumaan has arrived in the school, the principal and the teachers would get afraid, so how would the students be?

He used to hit his sons very hard, and hung his bamboo stick at the door.
When he became old, he realized his weakness and felt ashamed about how he hit his sons.

This story was told by one of his sons.

He said that their father sent them a message saying: “Habits often drive us to do wrong. Sorry my sons for what I did to you when you were young. I was cruel on you, not because I didn’t love you, but because you were more precious than my breath. Our tradition was saying that the cruel father is the only one who can raise his children properly, but a compassionate father is a one who failed, one who drives his sons to failure. I pretended to be tough and used force expecting that it will benefit you and thinking it was best for you. I was satisfied with our tradition, so as to please the society more than anything else, as if their satisfaction will make us enter Jannah! I tried to please the society even though deep inside I knew it wasn’t right.

My sons, don’t turn against me. When I see you kissing your children and befriending them, my heart breaks apart from pain, and I want to scream and tell you I also loved you, and I still love you.

So why is it, that when one of you kisses your children, you look at me in such a way that I feel like a sharp blade is stabbing my heart? It is as if you are telling me to learn how to love my children and be tender to them.

I understand how parents should deal with their children. But this wasn’t our time, and I can’t bring back what I’ve lost a long time ago. So don’t teach me anything unless it’s useful.  I ask for your forgiveness.  You can do anything you want to me, but don’t torture me with that look.”

This story was told by his youngest son, Yaser, who is now the father of three sons and a daughter.

“We were all touched by his message and we went and kissed his head, hands and feet, and we told him if it wasn’t for the way he raised us, we wouldn’t have been successful men.  When I went to bed to sleep, my father’s words kept ringing in my ears, and my heart ached and I turned over on my bed but it didn’t help.

Then I cried bitterly and I wrote to my father saying:
My beloved father, You may have thought that our looks to you when we embrace our children is a punishment, but this is the proof of our innocence, and only Allah Knows. When I embrace my children and look at you, it’s like I am saying ‘what if my father embraces me now?’ Because even though I’ve grown up and I’ve become a father, it doesn’t mean that I don’t need your warm hug and kisses. So can I have a hug and a kiss?”
Then he sent it to his father’s mobile phone and slept.

At dawn, Yaser went out of his room to pray and found his father standing on his crutches at the door, saying: “Come my son, let me hug you on my chest, I didn’t realize that beating you would hurt my heart so much now. If I did good then Allah Knows, If I was wrong then forgive me. You don’t know how precious you are to me. You are my soul, my liver and my everything.”

He brought Yaser to his chest and kissed him, and both of them started to cry.

After a few minutes, the father fell to the ground. His sons took him to the hospital and they tried to help him, but his time had come, he had departed from this world. May Allah have mercy on him.

So be gentle to your parents, because they might have wanted so much to be tender to you but they didn’t get the chance to.

Forget any painful past and remember that they have a great value, even if they didn’t raise you up with love.

Who stood up for your interests until you became an adult man, or woman and active member of society?

O Allah forgive our parents and have mercy on them, as they brought me up when I was little. Ameen!

Please share this story with those you love, because many need this.

The Story of Barseesa

There was a man who lived amongst the children of Israel named Barseesa. His worship and devotion to Allah was so great that we call him ‘aabid bani Isra’eel’: the great worshipper from the Children of Israel.

During his time, the King of the land made a call for men to join the army to fight in a jihad against an enemy. Amongst those who wanted to sign up were three brothers, but there was one problem. They had one sister and no other family to look after her. So they decided to go to Barseesa, the righteous man, and ask him to look after her in their absence, as they feared no evil from him.

Barseesa immediately refused their request: he would rather devote his time to worship of Allah. But when the three brothers went away, shaitan came to Barseesa and whispered to him “If you don’t look after the sister, then they will leave her in the hands of someone else, and then her safety isn’t guaranteed.”

So Barseesa changed his mind and took responsibility for the sister while the three brothers left. He left her in a house next to the building in which he prayed and each day he would prepare her some food and leave it outside his house for her, and then she would come and pick it up.

After some time, shaitan again came to Barseesa and suggested “why don’t you go and deliver the food to her doorstep. As it is, she is coming out of the house and everyone sees her, and you can see her inconvenience.”

So Barseesa accepted this suggestion and started taking the food right to the doorstep of where she was staying.

This continued for a while until shaitan came to him again and said “how can you leave the food at her doorstep? She still has to open the door and people see her.” Barseesa again changed his plan and decided to take the food into the house. But that was it, he decide. No further.

So this continued for a while until shaitan came and whispered to him “why dont you ever ask her how she is, at the moment she lives like a prisoner no one ever talks to her.” So now Barseesa started to talk to her, and soon they were smiling and laughing with each other and then passions flared, and then they fell in love, and then Barseesa, `aabid Bani Israeel, committed zina.

The story doesn’t end there because she became pregnant.

Shaitan now came to Barseesa and said “What have you done? If those three brothers come back and find their sister with a child, they will know that you betrayed their trust and committed zina with their sister, and then they are going to kill you. The only way to get out of this situation is to kill the child.” So Barseesa killed the child.

Shaitan came back to him again and warned “Do you think that the woman is going to keep quiet about the fact that you killed her child? The only way you can save yourself from this situation is to kill her too.” So Barseesa killed her as well.

Time passed, and the three brothers returned from jihad and asked for their sister. Barseesa merely pointed to a fake grave in which he had buried some animal bones. So the brothers cried and returned to their home.

However, shaitan came to each of them in a dream and said “that man Barseesa is a liar. When you were away he committed zina with your sister and then he killed her and their child and buried her in such-and-such place. And the grave you were shown is a fake grave with animal bones in it.”

When these three brothers woke up, they were shocked that they had all shared the same dream. So they checked the false grave to find the animal bones, and found the real grave of their sister and her child. When they interrogated Barseesa about it he confessed to everything, so they chained him up and dragged him to the King so that he could be executed. On the way there, shaitan appeared to Barseesa in a physical form and said “O Barseesa, do you know who i am? I am shaitan, and i am the one who has led you along this path. And now i am the only one who can save you.” Barseesa begged for help, so shaitaan instructed “If you prostrate to me i will save you.” So Barseesa prostrated to shaitan and … shaitan disappeared.

Barseesa ex-`aabid Bani Israeel was led away and executed. The once best of people died as the worst of poeple.
The point of the story is, you might think at the beginning that what you are doing is fine and that you can keep check on your emotions and everything, but you don’t know where this will lead to. Shaitan didn’t come to Barseesa directly and tell him to commit zina or murder, rather he took the softly-softly approach, and Barseesa fell for it. Shaitan doesn’t come to us guys and say “go and sleep with that girl.” He starts off by saying “hey, check her out, isn’t she pretty.” And then, “why don’t you just pop over there and say hello to her?”* and then … i guess you know what i’m saying. This excellent story was shared by a brother, may Allah (SWT) reward him. AMEEN.

When Allah has said that shaytan is an awoved enemy to you and we dont understand all his little ways that he uses to trap us, why open the door for him…

Say Thanks to Allah

A man reached 70 years of age and he faced a disease; he could not urinate. The doctors informed him that he was in need of an operation to cure this disease. He agreed to have the operation done as the problem was giving him much pain for days.

When the operation was completed, his doctor gave him the bill which covered all the costs. The old man looked at the bill and started to cry. Upon seeing this the doctor told him that if the cost was too high then they could make some other arrangements. The old man said “I am not crying because of the money but I am crying because Allah let me urinate for 70 years and He never sent me a bill.”

…and if you try to count the blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them… Surah Ibrahim

Allah states that the servants are never able to count His blessings, let alone thank Him duly for them. In Sahih Al-Bukhari it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah( Peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate;

«اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ غَيْرَ مَكْفِيَ وَلَا مُوَدَّعٍ وَلَا مُسْتَغْنًى عَنْهُ رَبَّنَا»

O Allah ! All praise is due to You, without being able to sufficiently thank You, nor ever wish to be cutoff from You, nor ever feeling rich from relying on You; our Lord!

It was reported that Prophet Dawud peace be upon him, used to say in his supplication, “O Lord! How can I ever duly thank You, when my thanking You is also a favor from You to me’’
Allah the Exalted answered him, “Now, you have thanked Me sufficiently, O Dawud,’’ meaning, `when you admitted that you will never be able to duly thank Me.’

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Thanks to Allah

3 Pieces of Advice Vs 20 Years of Salary

A very poor newly wedded, young couple lived in a small farm. One day the husband made the following proposal to his wife:
Honey, I will leave the house: I will travel faraway, get a job and work hard in order to come back and give you the comfortable life that you deserve. I do not know how long I will stay away, I only ask one thing, please wait for me, and while I am away, you should be faithful to me, because I will be faithful to you.

So the young man left. He walked many days until he found a farmer who was in need of someone to help him. The young man offered his services. He was accepted. Therefore he discussed the terms with his boss: Let me work for as long as I want and when I think I should go home, please relieve me of my duties. I do not want to receive my salary. I ask you to save it for me, until the day I leave. The day I decide to go, please give me the money and I will go my way.

They agreed on that. So, the young man worked for twenty years without holiday and without rest. After twenty years, he came to his boss and said: – Boss, I want my money, because I am returning to my home.
The boss replied:
– All right, after all, I made a deal with you and I will stick to it. However, before you go I want to offer you something new: I will give you all your money and send you away; or I will give you 3 pieces of advice and send you away. If I give you the money, I do not give you the 3 pieces of advice. And if I give you the 3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the money.
Now, go to your room and think about your answer.

He thought for two days. Then he went to the boss and told him:
– I want the 3 pieces of advice. The boss stressed again:
– If I give you the 3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the money.

And the man replied:  I want the 3 pieces of advice.
The boss then told him: No. 1: Never take shortcuts in your life, shorter and unknown paths can cost your life.
No. 2: Never be too curious, for curiosity towards evil can be deadly.
No. 3: Never make decisions in moments of anger or pain, because when you repent, it could be too late.

After giving these 3 pieces of advice, the boss said to him:  Here, you have 3 loaves of bread, 2 are for you to eat during the journey and the last is for you to eat with your wife when you get home.

So, the man went his way, after twenty years away from home and from his wife, whom he loved so much.

After the first day of travel, he found a man who greeted him and asked: Where are you going?
He replied: To a distant place which is about 20 days away if I continue walking.
The man said to him: Ol’ boy, this path is too long! I know a shortcut that is very safe and you will arrive in 5 days only.

The man began to follow the path suggested until he remembered the first piece of advice. Then, he
returned and followed the long path. Days later he learned that the shortcut led to an ambush.

After a few more days of travel, he found an inn by the roadside, where he could rest. He paid for a room and after taking a bath he lay down to sleep.  During the night he woke up as he heard a terrifying scream. He rose to his feet and went to the door to check what happened. As he was opening the door, he remembered the second piece of advice. Therefore he returned, lay down
again and slept.

At dawn, after breakfast, the owner of the lodging asked him if he had not heard the scream at night. He affirmed that he heard. Then, the host said: Were you not curious to see what happened? 
And he replied: No, I was not.
Then the host said: You are the first guest to leave this inn alive. My neighbour is completely crazy. He usually shouts at night to call someone’s attention. When some of the guests come out, he kills them and buries their bodies in the backyard.

The man continued his long journey, eager to arrive soon. After many days and nights walking, he was very tired, but he finally saw his house far away. It was night. He saw some light coming out of the window of his house and was able to see the silhouette of his wife. But he also saw that she was not alone. He came closer and saw there was a man with her. She softly caressed his hair. 

When he saw that scene, his heart was filled with hatred and bitterness. He decided to rush at and kill them both mercilessly. However, he took a deep breath and he remembered the third piece of advice. Then he stopped, reflected and decided to sleep
outside that night. He slept in the midst of the bushes, determined to make a decision the next day.

At dawn, he was calmer and thought: I will not kill my wife and her lover. I am going back to my boss to ask him to take me back. But before I go, I want to tell my wife that I have always been faithful to her.

He went to the front door and knocked. When his wife opened the door and recognized him, she cried and embraced him warmly. He tried to push her away, but he was not able. Then, with tears in his eyes he told her: I was faithful to you but you betrayed me.
She was shocked, so she replied: How did I betray you? I have never betrayed you. I waited patiently for you for twenty good
years.

Then he asked: How about the man that you were caressing yesterday?
And she said: That man is your son. When you left, I discovered I was pregnant. Today he is twenty years old.

Hearing that, the man asked her forgiveness. He met and hugged his son. Then he told them all the things he had experienced while away. Meanwhile, his wife prepared some coffee for them to eat together, the last bread given by his boss.

After a prayer of Gratitude, he broke the bread. When he looked at it, he found all his money inside. In fact, there was even more than the right payment for his twenty years of dedication and hard work.

Our Creator is like this boss. When he asks us to make a sacrifice, he wants to give us more than what we give Him. He wants us to have His unique wisdom as well as the material blessings.

The Sheikhs Parrot

There was a Sheikh who was teaching his students Aqeedah (faith), He taught them ‘la ilaha illa Allah’ and explained it to them.
The Sheikh loved keeping pets, so he was given a parrot by one of the students as a gift.

And with days the Sheikh started to like the parrot.  He used to take him in his lessons, until the parrot knew how to say la ilaha illa Allah, He would to utter it night and day.

One day the students found their Sheikh crying and sobbing.  When they asked him the reason, he told them that a cat attacked the parrot and killed it.  They said: Is this the reason you are crying! If you wish we will bring you another parrot better than that one.

The Sheikh said: I am not crying because of this… But it made me cry when the cat
attacked the parrot.  It was shouting and screaming until it died.  He use to say la ilaha illa Allah a lot.  However, when he was attacked by a cat he forgot to say it.
He did nothing but scream!  Because he used to say it with his tongue only, and his heart did not learn it, so it didn’t feel it!

Then the Sheikh said: I am afraid to be like this parrot, we live our lives repeating la ilaha illa Allah with our tongues, but when death comes we forget it because our hearts did not know it.

When he told his students, they started crying in fear of lack of honesty in saying la ilaha illa Allah.
___________
I ask Allah give us death with ” ﻻ ﺍﻟﻪ ﺍﻻًﺍﻟﻠﻪ
” in our hearts and upon our tongues,

aameen!

Secret Bags of food

“My boss drove a luxury car everyday and it was my duty to greet him and to open the gates for him, as I worked as a watchman in his villa. But he never responded back to my greetings.


One day he saw me opening the garbage bags outside the villa in search for any leftover food. But, as usual he never even looked at me, it was like as if he never saw anything!
The very next day I saw a paper bag at the same place, but it was clean and the food inside was covered well. It was fresh and good food like someone had just brought it from the supermarket. I didn’t bother as to where it came from, I just took the paper bag and I was so happy about it.
 
Every day I found this paper bag at the same place with fresh vegetables and all that we needed for home. This became my daily routine. I was eating and sharing this food with my wife and kids. I was wondering who this fool could be?! To forget his paper bag full of fresh food everyday.
One day there was a big problem in the villa and I was told that my boss has died. There were too many guests coming to the villa that day and I didn’t get any food that day, so I thought that one of the guests must have taken it. But the same thing happened the 2nd day, the 3rd day and the 4th day.
It went on like this for a few weeks and I found it difficult to provide food for my family, so I decided to ask the wife of my boss for a raise in my salary or else I would quit my job as a watchman.
 
After I told her, she was shocked, and asked me, how come you never complained about your salary for the last 2 years? And why is this salary not enough for you now? I gave her so many excuses but she was never convinced!Finally in the end, I decided to tell her the truth, I told her the entire story of the bag of groceries, and as to how it was my daily provision. She then asked me as to when this stopped? I told her after the death of her husband. And then I realized that I stopped seeing the paper bag immediately after the death of my boss. Why didn’t I ever think of this before? That it was my boss who was providing this for me? I guess it was because I never thought that a person who never replied to my greetings could ever be this generous!
 
His wife started to cry and I told her to please stop crying and that I’m really sorry that I asked for a raise, I didn’t know that it was your husband who was providing me with the meals, I’ll remain as a watchman and be happy to provide my service. His wife told me, I’m crying because I’ve finally found the 7th person my husband was giving this bag full of food. I knew my husband was giving 7 people everyday, I had already found the 6 people, and all these days I was searching for the 7th person. And today I found out.
 
From that day onwards, I started to receive the bag full of food again, but this time his son was bringing it to my house and giving it to my hand. But whenever I thanked him, he never replied! Just like his dad!
One day, I told him THANK YOU in a very loud voice! He replied back to me to please not be offended when he doesn’t reply, because he has a hearing problem, just like his dad!” Oh! We have been wrong so many times judging others without knowing the true story behind their actions. Be kind and courteous in dealing with others, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. Be careful, not everything is about you. Before you assume, there is this thing called ASKING.
 
Don’t just jump to conclusion, because that is truly not an exercise, it may cause you more harm at the end of the day. Many of our problems are caused by how we process what happens around us. Don’t judge a situation you have never been in. Be humble enough to learn. You do not know it all. Lets change the way we feel about ourselves and others.
 
There are two sides to a story. Don’t believe everything you hear.
Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
 
May Allah Ta‘ala make us from the righteous. آمــــــــــين ثـمّ آمــــــــــين  

The Spirit of Ramadan

Asad opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. His eyes fell on a huge chocolate cake and some sandwiches, the leftovers from yesterday’s tea.

“Oh God! Why am I being punished like this?” He groaned silently.

It was the first day of Ramadan and Asad was fasting. He had just returned from school and was feeling ravenous. After dropping his heavy backpack on the bedroom floor, he made a beeline for his favorite spot in the house, the kitchen. But fasting meant no food for at least four more hours. He would have to wait till sunset to break the first fast of the month.

Just for a second, Asad felt sorely tempted.

“Who would know if I eat a slice of the cake?” he mused. His parents weren’t home, his grandparents were resting and his baby sister, Fatima was too young to tell tales.

“Somebody would know, “a little voice argued inside his heart. “He, who knows everything, since He is our Creator.”

Asad slammed the fridge door shut in frustration. He was fourteen and felt ashamed of his momentary weakness. He went to the living room where a maid was spooning Cerelac into Fatima’s little mouth. Fatima gurgled and grinned at her older brother who bent down to give her a hug. Asad looked at the pale yellow concoction that was smeared across her face and swallowed hard. Even Cerelac smelled good at this hour.

He flopped down on the sofa in disgust and switched on the television.

“Maybe a nice program will take my mind off food for a while,” he thought, aggressively pressing down the channel buttons on the remote control.

He paused at BBC channel where a cute anchorperson was presenting a report. Asad stared at her for a while without registering the news but then some live images made his attention snap back at the report. Rachel Hayward was talking about intense, widespread poverty and famine in Africa where millions of children perished each year due to hunger and malnutrition.

Asad stared at the disturbing pictures of dark brown skeletal children with distended stomachs. Flies hovered around their faces and their naked bodies, as mothers listlessly tried to wave them away. Their misery was writ large on their faces and their empty eyes bore testimony to man’s inured ways.

Asad thought with a guilty pang about the uneaten pizza he had thrown away in a fit of temper last night. He had ordered his favorite Chicken Supreme but the delivery boy had brought some other pizza and would not take it back. Asad had paid for it and just to show the impertinent delivery guy what he thought of his services, had tossed the pizza into the trash can outside his house. It had felt so good at that time but now he felt like a total jerk.

He remembered how his grandmother always chided him when he left rice uneaten on his plate that was later scrapped off by the servant and dumped in trashcan. He remembered the lavish meals he and his friends ordered in college canteen and then discarded because they could not eat a bite more. If excess, extravagance and waste were crimes, then he was guilty of each one of them.

He changed the channels once again and put on MTV. He had a huge crush on Beyonce but after witnessing the BBC report, the music seemed too loud, too cheerful and even obscene. He switched the television off.

“What is wrong with me today?” He thought uneasily. “It must be the lack of food that is making me so restless.” He glanced at the stately golden clock adorning the living room wall. Only twenty minutes had passed and he still had more than three and a half hours to kill.

“I’ll go to Bilal’s house.” He decided, thinking about his friend’s house across the street. “Maybe a few rounds of computer games will improve my mood.”

When he stepped out of his house, he saw was a couple of dirty, bedraggled children foraging through the trash can. The older kid, who seemed about 5 yrs old, dragged a piece of dried chapatti out of the refuse heap and brushed away blackened mango peels from it. He broke it in two and offered the other half to his younger sister. Asad stood rooted to the spot in horror.

“Hey. Don’t eat that. It’s terribly dirty and probably mouldy too,” he shouted but the duo quickly crammed the hard chapatti into their hungry mouths and scampered off.

“Why had I never noticed such things before?” he wondered.

Asad had never been hungry in his entire life so poverty, deprivation, and hunger were concepts that he had never thought about.If the home cooked meal was not to his liking, he always ordered his favorite foods from upscale restaurants and had them delivered home. He had a credit card, a gift from his father on his fourteenth birthday and he used it for lavish meals whenever he wished.

Now hunger due to the obligatory fast was forcing him to look at the plight of the less fortunate and the more he saw, the more disturbed he felt.

He crossed the street and saw a construction crew at work. Bilals’ father was having a wing added to his already imposing residence. Asad paused to admire the skill of an old carpenter who was busy smoothing a rectangular block of wood. Wood shavings littered the floor around him.

“Are you fasting, babaji?” He asked respectfully.

The old man looked up and wiped the perspiration from his brow.

“Aye, son. Work is no excuse for not fasting,” he replied.

Asad could not imagine fasting and then working in the relentless summer afternoon heat. He looked around at the laborers, mason, and brick layers working in a rhythmic method.

“What do you eat for iftaar?” he asked out of curiosity, referring to the evening meal. He imagined the lavish food that got prepared in their kitchen everyday. It took their chef at least two hours to put together an afternoon tea.

The old man smiled,” Whatever Allah provides for us, son. He is Merciful and Most Gracious.”

“Does Mr. Haroon provide you with meals?” Asad persisted. He knew Bilal’s father was rather tight fisted. He would have insisted that the men put in whole shifts instead of cutting down their working hours in deference to Ramadan.

“What do rich men know about empty stomachs, my son,” the old carpenter replied, moving his plane over the wood in a smooth, fluid motion.

With bile rising in his throat, Asad turned back towards his house. His mind was in turmoil and his heart ached. In the living room he paced restlessly and then saw some CDs that his grandfather was fond of listening. He put on one in the magnificent stereo system that his father had recently purchased. It was recitation of the Holy Quran. As the soul stirring voice of Qari Saad Al Ghamdi reciting Surah al Baqarah filled the room, Asad felt waves of serenity hitting him. He felt engulfed in peace and tears shimmered in his eyes.

“Those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah and do not follow up their spending by stressing their benevolence and causing hurt, will find their reward secure with their Lord. They have no cause for fear and grief. ”

Asad spent some time listening and absorbing the message from Allah. Then he took a bath and said his prayers. His parents came home and the smell of iftaar being prepared filled the house.

As the entire family gathered for breaking the fast, Asad looked at the dining table laden with a variety of food ___ sandwiches, cake, fruit cocktail, tempura, triangular samosay, fried chicken pieces, dates and a variety of other dishes.

“Mom, do we need to cook so much food for one meal that no one can possibly finish?”

“What’s on your mind, son?” his father asked, surprised by his son’s unusual question.

“Dad, Mom’s on a diet, grandparents can’t eat fried and salty food as per doctor’s orders and Fatima can’t eat solid food. That leaves you and me to finish at least eight dishes. It’s pure waste.”

“Asad, what is wrong, son?” His mother asked concerned about her son’s state of mind.

“Mom there are people out there dying of hunger. There are people who have a handful of dried dates to eat and yet work all day on rich people’s mansions and then thank God for His blessings.”

“Asad, we do pay zakat and charity to help those in need. I am very happy that you are being so thoughtful and caring, but we cannot eradicate poverty on our own,” his father reasoned.

“Yes, but maybe this Ramadan we can share our food with those whose needs are greater than ours, father. May I?” Asad asked with a tilt of his head towards the food.

The grown ups looked bemused but Asad felt a gleam of pride in their eyes. He went outside and invited the laborers for iftaar. At first hesitantly and then with joy and gratitude they accepted his offer.

Asad’s servants laid out linen on the green grass of their beautifully manicured lawn and the men took off their shoes and sat cross legged waiting for the Maghrib azaan which would signal the time to break the fast.

As Asad passed out fresh dates and fruit to about two dozen men in the garden, the old carpenter said smilingly, “Didn’t I tell you that Allah is the best Provider and we eat out of His provisions.”

For the first time in the day, Asad laughed aloud in joy.

“Thank you for teaching me the true spirit of Ramadan, babaji . It is not about mindlessly abstaining from food and drink all day but understanding the needs of others and pleasing Allah to gain His blessings that Ramadan is all about. Sharing and caring, that’s the true spirit of this holy month.”

“Aye, and praying too. Now help this old man get up so that I can say my prayers, young man.”

Happy and satiated, they all went to the local mosque to offer their prayers and thank Allah for all His blessings.

By Gulrukh Tausif

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