Month: September 2020

A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see

and asked the students, “How much do you think this glass weighs?”

‘50 gms!’…. ‘100 gms!’…… ‘125 gms’ the students answered.

“I really don’t know unless I weigh it,” said the professor, “but, my question

is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?”

“Nothing” the students said.

“Ok! What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?” the professor

asked. “Your arm would begin to ache,” said one of the students.

“You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?”

“Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress and paralysis and have to go to

hospital for sure!” ventured another student; and all the students laughed.

“Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” asked the professor.

“No” the students said.

“Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?” The students were puzzled.

“Put the glass down!” said one of the students.

“Exactly!” said the professor. “Life’s problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in

your head and they seem okay. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even

longer and they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.”

“It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is

to have trust in Allah (swt) and to ‘put them down’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep.

That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can handle any issue,

any challenge that comes your way!”

So, as it becomes time for you to leave office today, Remember friend to “PUT THE GLASS DOWN

TODAY” and have tranquility by putting trust in Almighty Allah (swt).

Holy Quran (48:4) says: “He it is who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers that

they might have more faith added to their faith.”  Tranquility is sign of strong faith while worries

and stress is sign of weak faith. Tell to your mind every day before you go to sleep: “YAA

AYYATUHAN NAFSUL MUTMAINNAH, IRJI’II ILAA RABBIKI RADHIYATAN MARDHIYYAH,

FADKHULII FII IBAADII WADKHULII JANNATII”. (Al-Fajr 89:27-30)

“O soul that is at rest satisfied. Return to your Lord well-pleased (with Him), well-pleasing (Him).

So, enter among My servants, and enter into my Paradise.”

By worrying so much, do not turn your life to hell. Good luck.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to

judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go

and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son

went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and

the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to

describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly,

bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green

buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled

so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son

disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only

one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one

season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that

life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your

summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don’t judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are

sure to come some time or later.

THE ROSE WITHIN

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed,

he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns

upon the stem and he thought, “How can any beautiful flower come from a

plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?” Saddened by this thought, he

neglected to water the rose, and just before it was ready to bloom… it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The good qualities planted in us at

birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns,

the defects.

We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good

within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the

greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns of another, and find the

rose within them.

This is one of the characteristic of love… to look at a person, know their true faults and accepting

that person into your life… all the while recognizing the nobility in their soul. Help others to realize

they can overcome their faults. If we show them the “rose” within themselves, they will conquer

their thorns. Only then will they blossom many times over.

The most favorable friend to me is that who shows me my flaws. Imam Sadiq (AS)

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS. From world over, he received

letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: “Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad

disease?”

To this Arthur Ashe replied: The world over

5 Crore children start playing tennis,

50 Lakh learn to play tennis,

5 Lakh learn professional tennis,

50,000 come to the circuit,

5000 reach the grand slam,

50 reach Wimbledon,

4 to semi final,

2 to the finals,

When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD “Why me?”.

And today in pain I should not be asking GOD “Why me?”

Be thankful to GOD for 98% of good things in life.

Sikaki was a skilled artist an artisan. With great expertise and interest, he made such a nice and

beautiful ink pot that it could be presented to the king. He expected that, appreciating his artistic

skill, the king would encourage him as far as possible. So, with countless hopes and thousand of

desires, he presented that ink pot to the king. In the beginning the king was very impressed by his

artistic skill but afterwards an unpleasant event occurred that caused an extraordinary change in

Sikaki’ s life and way of thinking.

When the king was observing the skilled artistry of the beautiful inkpot and Sikaki was lost in the

world of thoughts, the people informed that a scholar-literary person or jury is about to enter the

court. As soon as the scholar entered, the king got so much absorbed in welcoming and talking to

him that he forgot Sikaki and his skilled artistry. This incident caused an adverse and deep effect

on the heart of Sikaki.

He realized that now he would not receive the encouragement he had expected and all his desires

and hopes are useless now. But Sikaki’s high spirited mind did not allow him to be in peace, so he

started thinking as to what should he do. He decided to do what the others have done and go on the

same way that the others have gone (up till now). Therefore, he decided to search for his lost hopes

in the world of knowledge, literature and books. Although for a wise man who has passed the days

of his young age, it was not easy to study with young children and to start right from the

preliminary stage. But he did not have a choice After all whenever the fish is taken out of water,

it is fresh.

Worse than that, in the beginning he did not find any sort of interest in himself regarding reading

and writing. Perhaps spending a long time in artistic works and handicraft was the reason for

stagnancy in his scientific and literary talent. But neither his advanced age nor lack of capability,

none of these could change his decision. With great enthusiasm and zeal for attaining knowledge,

he strictly got busy with his studies, until another incident occurred:

The teacher who was teaching him Shafi’e jurisprudence (fiqh Shafi’e), taught him this lesson:

“The teacher believes that the skin of a dog becomes clean (tahir) after tanning.” Sikaki repeated

this sentence a lot of times so that at the time of examination he should be able to succeed. But

when he was asked to answer this question, he said: “The dog believes that the skin of a teacher

becomes clean after tanning.”

The audience upon hearing this answer started laughing. It was clear for everybody that this old

man is absolutely incapable of reading and writing. After this incident Sikaki not only left the

school , but he left the town and went towards the Jungle. By chance, he reached the

foot of a mountain, where he saw that the water is falling drop by drop from the top

and due to the continuous falling of water, a hole had been formed in that hard stone.

He reflected for sometime, a good idea crossed his mind like lightning. And he said:

“Maybe my heart is not ready to accept (knowledge) but it is not harder than this

stone. It is impossible that continuous studying and hard work would be ineffective.”

Therefore, he came back and with hard work, he got busy in the attainment of

knowledge. As a result he was reckoned as one of the popular scholars of his time.

You never be too old to learn something new.

Ghulamhusein was a popular social figure and a keen host of guests coming to him from distant

lands. He lived in Moshi, a beautiful small town at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He was

generous and hospitable to one and all. One of his hobbies during leisure hours particularly on

Saturdays and Sundays was to play the game of cards with his friends. For hours they used to get

together where they enjoyed the game. It was not with the aim of gambling but rather just for

pleasure and pass time.

Once in the midst of a lively game of cards, his servant came to inform him that a guest of his was

seriously ill at the guest house and needed his immediate attention. He sent the servant back saying

he would come soon. But he was so much engrossed to withdraw from it. So he continued to play

with keen interest.

After a while, his servant came again to report that the condition of the guest was

deteriorating and needed his urgent attention as there was no one else to attend.

But Ghulamhusein was so deeply engrossed in the game that he did not want to be

disturbed. As such, again he sent the servant back promising to come soon.

By the time he could be free from the very mind captivating game of cards, the

servant came for the third time. But this time he reported that the guest of his a

poor traveler from distant lands had already died. This news gave a shock of his life to

Ghulamhusein. It convinced him of the evil and harmful effect of such an indoor game. There and

then he vowed never to indulge himself in such a game.

Is this not an eye-opening example of an intoxicating and mentally distracting game of cards,

commonly played today either as a pass-time or for gambling purposes? Perhaps it also explains

the philosophy behind absolute Islamic forbiddance to play or watch such a game, even without

the chance of gaining or losing money. It is meant to be prevention than a cure, lest man is one day

tempted to use the game for gambling purpose.

“Abstention from sins is better than

seeking help afterward.” Imam Ali (AS)

The following scene took place on a BA flight between Johannesburg and

London. A white woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a black

man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air Hostess. Madam,

what is the matter, the hostess asked you obviously do not see it then?

She responded. You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such

a repugnant group. Give me an alternative seat. Be calm please, the hostess replied.

Almost all the places on this flight are taken. I will go to see if another place is available. The

Hostess went away and then came back a few minutes later. Madam, just as I thought, there are no

other available seats in the economy class. I spoke to the captain and he informed me that there is

also no seat in the business class. All the same, we still have one place in the first class.

Before the woman could say anything, the hostess continued. It is not usual for our company to

permit someone from the economy class to sit in the first class However, given the circumstances;

the captain feels that it would be scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting.

She turned to the black guy, and said. Therefore, Sir, if you would like to, please take your hand

luggage because a seat awaits you in the first class. At the moment, the other passengers who were

shocked by what they had just witnessed stood up and applauded.

This is a true story against racism, which is not usually told. All mankind is from Adam and Eve; an

Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a

white has no superiority over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over white except by

piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is the brother of another Muslim, and that Muslims

constitute one brotherhood.