Bundle of Sticks

A MAN had four sons who were always quarrelling amongst themselves. He continuously tried to show them the error of their ways, but they refused to listen.
One day, he got a bundle of thick sticks and asked each son to try individually to break the sticks. All four failed.
The man then got them to do it together, and they made short work of the lot.
With unity comes strength. The Holy Qur’aan says, "And hold fast, all of you, to the Rope of Allah (ie this Qur’an), and be not divided among yourselves.."
In these times, when every Muslim is a target, there is all the more reason to set aside our differences, no matter how strongly we feel about them.
Infighting breeds weakness.

Law of the Seeds

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree, but each apple has ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds! We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more apple trees?"
Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow. So if you really want to make something happen, you had better try more than once."
This might mean:You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job. You'll interview forty people to find one good employee. You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, one car, one vacuum cleaner, or a business idea. And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.
When we understand the ‘Law of the Seeds’, we don't get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims. We learn how to deal with things that happen to us.

Nail it!

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail in the fence.

THE FIRST DAY he drove 37 nails into it. The amount gradually lessened. He discovered that it was easier to check his temper than hammer the nails.

A DAY CAME when he didn’t lose his temper at all. His father suggested that he pull out a nail for every day he held down his temper. After days the boy was able to report that all the nails were gone.

HIS FATHER TOOK him to the fence and said, "Well done. But look at the fence. It will never be the same again. Things said in anger leave a scar like these holes. You can put a knife into a man and draw it out. No matter how many times you say sorry, the wound is still there. Verbal wounds are just as bad."

Cliffhanger: Do You Trust Allah?

A man wanted to climb this very high mountain, covered in snow. However, he wanted to do it by himself as he wanted all the fame and glory so he started to climb very early one morning. He climbed and the entire day passed and night began to fall and he still kept on climbing.
Just as he was about to reach the top he slipped and started falling. He fell until he reached a metre from the ground at the bottom and the rope caught him. In the dark, hanging on for dear life, not knowing how high up he was, he was terrified and screamed out loud: ‘Allah please help me!’ An Angel came down and said to him: ‘Do you really think that Allah can help you? Do you trust Him’ ‘Yes,’ replied the man, ‘I do.’ The Angel said: ‘Allah commands you to cut the rope.’
The man was very suprised and shocked. The Angel repeated himself: ‘Allah commands you to cut the rope.’ The man was terrified and tied the rope tighter around his waist. He hung there in the bitter cold, eventually freezing to death, being too terrified to move and keep his blood circulating. A rescue team found the man dead, hanging just one metre from the ground.
How tight are your ropes? Do you trust Allah when He promises rewards for different deeds in the Qur’aan? Would you cut your ropes if Allah commanded you to? Place your trust I the formula for success outlined by Allah Ta’ala in the Qur’aan.

Stay Sharp

ONCE UPON A time, a strong woodcutter got a job with a timber merchant. The pay was good, so he determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe. The first day he brought 18 trees. He tried harder, but only managed 15 the second day. The third day saw him bring only 10.
Day by day the amount decreased. The woodcutter thought he was losing his strength and went to the boss and apologized.
"When last did you sharpen your axe?" asked the timber merchant. "Sharpen? I had no time for that. I was very busy trying to cut trees," replied the woodcutter.
Our lives are like this. We get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen our axe. Everyone is busier, but less happy than ever. Why? We have forgotten how to stay sharp.
There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things like taking time to pray and worship Allah Ta’ala.
If we don’t sharpen our axes, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

From the Heart

THE FATHER HAD been told that his son was smoking. Now he had caught him in the act and found porn magazines with him.

Anger welled up within him and he lashed out at his son, beating him. Through the tears, the son sobbed defiantly, "Father, you are hitting me for something I know is wrong. But tell me whether it’s wrong for me only or also for your customers to whom you sell cigarettes daily?" He continued, "And are the pictures I was looking at any different from those in the magazines and newspapers you sell and display in your shop?"

The words struck home and the father meditated over them.

PROPAGATION of values is only truly effective if one practices what one preaches. It is hypocrisy to want our children to be on the straight while our shops speak otherwise.

Chicken Feathers

A man repeated gossip about a neighbour. Within a few days the whole community knew the story. The person it concerned was deeply hurt. The man responsible for spreading the rumour learned that it was untrue.
He was sad and went to a wise man to find out how to repair the damage. "Buy a chicken and kill it. On your way home pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road," he said. Although surprised by this advice, the man did as he was told.
The next day the wise man said, "Bring all those feathers to me." The man followed the same road but the wind had blown all away. After searching for hours, he got only three.
"You see," said the sage, "It’s easy to drop them but impossible to get back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a rumour, but once done you can never completely undo the wrong."

The Garden

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING

PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be patient
Lettuce love one another

NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip to help one another

WATER WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

(Taken from Al Misbaah Vol. 1 No. 5)

The Apple Tree

A LONG TIME ago there was an apple tree. A little boy played around it everyday. He climbed the tree, ate its apples, slept in its shade.
The boy grew up and didn’t play at the tree anymore. One day he came back. "Come and play," said the tree. "I don’t play with trees," said the boy, "I need toys." The tree told him to pick its apples, sell them and use the money for toys. He did so and didn’t come back a long time.
When he was a man he returned. This time he told the tree, "I have a family and we need a house." "Chop off my branches and use them," said the tree. The man did so and left the tree sad and lonely.
Years later he was old and wanted a boat to relax. The tree told him to use its trunk.
Now only roots were left. The old man came to rest on them. This is our story. The tree is our parents. We played with them when we were young. As we grew, we only went to them when we needed them. They were our anchors.
Parents are taken for granted and left lonely like the tree. Only as we get older do we realize we need them, and sometimes it’s too late.

Divorce: Brilliant Advice

When divorce is inevitable, bear in mind this lesson. Others can also learn:

A learned man wanted to divorce his wife. People asked him the reason. He replied, "Why should I disclose my wife’s faults?" After divorce, people asked why he had divorced. He replied, "Why should I disclose the faults of a strange woman?"

The Man and the Bear

A MAN ONCE saved a bear from death. The bear then became his devoted protector and companion.

One day, the man was resting under a tree. The bear stood guard. He chased away the flies from the man’s face. They persisted in coming so the bear, getting frustrated, picked up a rock and threw it at the flies.

It got rid of the flies, but as they were sitting on the man’s face at the time, it got rid of him as well.

What’s the moral? Do not take fools as friends. They might sincerely wish to do you good but ultimately could end up bringing you disaster.

Best Stain Remover

A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE mentioned that alcohol removes stains from clothing. This is correct and proves the amazing power of alcohol.

It also removes winter clothes, spring clothes and autumn clothes from a man, his wife and children if used in sufficient quantity.

Alcohol will remove furniture from the home, rugs from the floor, food from the table, lining from the stomach, vision from the eyes and judgement from the mind.

Alcohol will also remove reputations, good jobs, good friends and even life itself.
As a remover of things alcohol has no equal, the article concluded.

Selling Alcohol
The world's largest alcohol companies are facing a US lawsuit from parents worried that adverts are aimed at luring teenagers.

Seven producers were named in a lawsuit that accuses them of deliberately targeting youngsters.

Health groups link a surge in underage drinking to aggressive advertising.

One of the greatest concerns is that many youth turn from sweet, fizzy, alcopops to stronger tipples such as cider, beers, wines and vodka.

The Australian Drug Foundation is protesting the launch of cookies flavoured with alcoholic drinks. Another way to turn out younger drunkards!

Drinking is aggressively promoted on the one hand. Then an attempt is made to control its disastrous after effects!

Three Questions

There was once an enemy of Islam who had three questions that no one could answer. One day a 10 year old boy walked up and said, "I accept your challenge".
The man laughed. But the boy reiterated his stance and the man accepted.
The city gathered. The man climbed to the top of a hill and asked, "What is your God doing now?"
The small boy thought then told the man to climb down and allow him to go up to answer. The man made his way down and the boy went up.
The child's reply was "Oh Allah. You have just willed that a Kafir be brought low, and a Muslim be brought high!"
The crowd cheered. The man asked his Second question... What existed before your God?"
The small child asked the man to count backwards from 10. The man counted..."10, 9, 8...0" The boy asked, "What comes before 0?" The man: "Nothing."
The boy: "Nothing was before Allah, for He is eternal."
The crowd cheered. The man, now frustrated, asked his final question. "In which direction is your Allah facing?"
The boy asked for a candle which was brought. He handed it to the man and asked him to light it. The man did so. The boy asked, "In which direction is light from the candle going?" The man responded, "It is going in all directions."
The boy: "You have answered your own question. Allah's light (noor) goes in all directions. He is everywhere. There is no where that He cannot be found.
The crowd cheered. The man was so impressed by the boy's knowledge that he embraced Islam.
Who was the young boy? He was one of our leaders Imam Abu Hanîfa (May Allah bless him).

Two Women and a Child

ONCE, LONG AGO, two women were walking together, each with her child. A wolf came up and snatched one of the children away.

The women started arguing, each claiming the remaining child as hers. They took their case up to Prophet Dawood (alaihis salaam). On hearing the arguments, he gave the decision in favour of the elder woman.

They then came upon Prophet Sulaimaan (alaihis salaam). He called for a knife when he heard the circumstances and said that he wished to solve the problem by cutting the child in two and thus divide him equally between the women.

Immediately the younger woman said, "Do not do so. The child belongs to the elder lady." Sulaimaan (alaihis salaam) ruled in favour of the younger lady.

A mother’s love cannot bear any harm befalling her children and the younger woman would rather have her child living with someone else and alive, than dead.

[Adapted from Bukaari Shareef]

Awesome Azaan

AT DAWN, Azaan (call to prayer) is given in Indonesia. The process continues till, one and a half hours later, it reaches Jakarta.

Then it starts in Malaysia. Burma is next in line. On to India and then Pakistan. Before it ends in Pakistan, Azaan is being heard in Afghanistan.

Next stop is Arabia where it rolls across in an hour. Egypt, Somalia and Sudan share the next hour. Nine and a half hours after starting in Indonesia, Azaan, having been called non-stop, reaches the Eastern shore of the Atlantic. Already Zuhr Azaan is starting in Indonesia!

24 hours a day Azaan is being called somewhere on this earth, even as you are reading these words!

AWESOME!

Twenty Dollars

A man came home from work tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting. "Daddy, may I ask a question?" "What is it?" replied the man. "How much money do you make an hour?""Why?" the man said angrily. "I just want to know. Please tell me." pleaded the boy. "I make $20.00 an hour." The little boy said, "May I borrow $10.00 please?" The man was furious. "If you only want to know how much I make to buy a silly toy, then go to bed. Think about why you're so selfish.!" The boy quietly went to his room. The man calmed down and thought he’d been hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed. He went to the boy's room. "Are you asleep?" he asked. "No," replied the boy. "Here's $10.00," said the man. The little boy beamed. "Thank you!". He reached under his pillow, pulling out more crumpled bills. The man, seeing the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The boy counted out his money. "Why did you want money if you already had some?" the man grumbled. "Because I didn't have enough," the little boy replied."Daddy, I have $20.00. Can I buy an hour of your time?"

The Cracked Pot

A WOMAN had two pots, one perfect, the other was cracked and used to leak.
She used to carry water everyday with these two pots. The sound pot used to boast to the imperfect one: "I am better than you. I carry more water because I don’t leak."

The cracked pot endured this in silence. Then one day he said to the good pot, "Look along the path that our mistress carries us. The side on which you are carried is dry and bare. Whereas the side on which she carries me is lush with greenery due to the water that drips from me."

Every person has good to contribute. Do not look down on anyone.

Cow Colours

Allah Ta’ala’s Creation cannot be imitated. One example is the cow.

WHAT GOES IN
On the one end, green grass and water enters the cow via its mouth.

WHAT COMES OUT
At the other end we get a multitude of different products of various colours:

• White milk
• Red blood
• Delicious beef
• Dung
• Luxurious leather

A MACHINE
Can scientists ever invent a machine that produces all the above from grass and water alone?

Club 99

A KING OF olden times envied one of his servants. Despite having very little, he was more content than the King who, with all his wealth, was discontent.
The King asked his adviser, "Why is it that my servant is more content than I?" The adviser replied, "He has not been introduced to Club 99." "What is this Club?" asked the King.
The adviser told the King to leave a bag of 99 gold coins outside the servant’s house. Thinking this strange, the King nevertheless complied.
The servant found the bag of coins. He counted it and found it to contain 99 coins. The fact that there were only 99 and not 100 perturbed him. He resolved to work harder to make up that one more coin.
From that day on, his life was not content as he worked ever harder, disrupting his peace of mind and family life. All in pursuit of one more gold coin.
IF MAN has one mountain of gold, he will not rest until he gets another and another and so on.

IF YOU HAVE...

• If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back and a place to sleep … you are richer than 75% of this world.
• If you have money in the bank, wallet, and spare change in a dish … you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
• If you have never experienced battle, imprisonment, torture, or starvation … you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
• Have a good day, count your blessings to thank

Allah Ta’ala, and pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we are.

(courtesy: Al-Balaagh, Karachi)

Jojo, the Donkey

A man was one day traveling along a farm road with his car. Taking a bend, the car lost control and landed up in a ditch.

He looked around for help to pull the car out. A man with a donkey cart happened along. He tied a rope to the car and shouted at his donkey Jojo: "Nelly, pull!" The donkey did not move. He then shouted: "Ranger, pull!" Again the donkey stood motionless. A third time he shouted: "Jojo, pull!" and the donkey strained, dragging the car out of the ditch.

The grateful driver thanked the farmer, but asked out of curiosity: "Why did you call the donkey by the wrong name twice?" "Well," replied the farmer, "Jojo is lazy. He’s also a bit blind in his eyes. If he thought that two other donkeys were helping him pull, he would also do so. But if he thought that he was working alone, he would have refused to budge an inch."

Morals: To get the most out of people, especially our kids, we need to use wisdom. We need to work out strategies to help them realize their true and full potential.

Likewise, many of us are worshipping Allah Ta’ala well below our best. We need a wise guide who can harness our full potential and help us soar in Allah Ta’ala’s obedience and worship.