Short Stories

[- IqRa -]

Re: The Man and the Snake

A young man had been to Wednesday Night Class of Quranic Studies..........

A man returns home from his shop on a winter night and finds his wife and children sitting in the veranda. He asks them surprizingly, "why are you sitting in the veranda in this cold weather?" His wife replies, a long black snake has entered the room in the evening.
............

SubhanAllah these 2 are amazing

 

[Sarahd]

A neighbor who Nasruddin didn't like very much came over to his compound one day. The neighbor asked Nasruddin if he could borrow his donkey. Nasruddin not wanting to lend his donkey to the neighbor he didn't like told him, "I would love to loan you my donkey but only yesterday my brother came from the next town to use it to carry his wheat to the mill to be grounded. The donkey sadly is not here." The neighbor was disappointed. But he thanked Nasruddin and began to walk away. Just as he got a few steps away, Mullah Nasruddin's donkey, which was in the back of his compound all the time, let out a big bray. The neighbor turned to Nasruddin and said, "Mullah Sahib, I thought you told me that your donkey was not here. Mullah Nasruddin turned to the neighbor and said, "My friend, who are you going to believe? Me or the donkey?


The wit and wisdom of Mullah Nasruddin never leaves him tongue-tied. One day an illiterate man came to Mullah Nasruddin with a letter he had received. "Mullah Nasruddin, please read this letter to me." Mullah Nasruddin looked at the letter, but could not make out a single word. So he told the man. "I am sorry, but I cannot read this." The man cried: "For shame, Mullah Nasruddin ! You must be ashamed before the turban you wear (i.e. the sign of education)" Mullah Nasruddin removed the turban from his own head and placed it on the head of the illiterate man, said: "There, now you wear the turban. If it gives some knowledge, read the letter yourself."



Nasruddin was cooking up some things. He went to his neighbor and asked for a pot and promised to return it the next day. A knock, knock came on the neighbor's door the next day. Nasruddin had come to return the pot. The neighbor looks at his pot and inside was one smaller. The neighbors said, "There is a small pot inside the one I loaned you." Nasruddin told him, "The pot gave birth." The neighbor was quite pleased to hear this and accepted the two pots. The very next morning, Nasruddin knocks on the neighbor's door to borrow a larger pot than the previous one. The neighbor happily abides his the request. A week goes past, without Nasruddin knocking to return the pot. The neighbor and Nasrudding bump into each other at the bazaar a few days latter. Nasruddin's neighbor asked, "Where is my pot?" "It's dead," says Nasruddin. "But how can that be?" queries the neighbor. Nasruddin points out, "If a pot can give birth, then a pot can also die."

 

[Duhaa786M]

jAZAKALLAH I REALLY ENJOYED READING THESE!

 

[Proud of Islam]

The thread is really interesting & I'll participate by this story:

Umar bin Abdul Aziz was a president for the Islamic world in the eighth century; he was (Ameer Al Momeneen) the prince of the believers as it was called before..

One night, a messenger of him arrived from a remote Islamic country. So, Umar lighted a candle and discuss with him the cases of the Muslims there. Umar asked his messenger whether people are satisfied, whether there is misjudging, and whether there are requests or complaints from the citizens there..
When they finished discussing that, the messenger asked Umar about his family; his wife & his children. Then Umar immediately blown the candle and asked for another one to be lightened..
When the messenger asked him about this strange & quick action, Umar replied: “The first candle was from the money of the country & we were talking about the citizens’ issues for their behalf, but when you started talking about my family, I wanted a candle from my own money.”

How fair Umar was!
Sure this is because he was a true Muslim who knows that Allah will judge him & ask him about every single thing in his country..

What about our presidents, administrators & officials nowadays?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Longing for the Paradise (Al-Jannah) where the endless happiness…

 

[Sampharo]

The snarling lion and the hissing snake

A man was walking in lush foliage and beautiful laid out greenery in a safari park in Africa, enjoying a particularly clear day with perfect weather around.

As he is taking in the scenery, he hears the paw patter that could only be caused by one of the big wild cats Africa is known for, and upon looking,he sees a snarling lion roaring at him.

Adrenaline pumping, the man runs for his life, ever more hearing the roar and the running beast getting closer and closer. He sees an old well, and he cannot react faster as he leaps into it.

as he ducks inside, he catches a dangling rope that he grabs onto it for dear life, and waits there as he hears the lion stopping outside and roaring into the well. As he finally calms down a bit, he hears a hissing snake from below and sees the meanest snake he ever imagined.

So there he is on the rope between a lion and a snake, thinking of how to get out of this, only to find a couple of mice, one white, and one black, scurrying from the wall of the well onto his shoulders and begin eating away at the rope.

The man is aghast with horror and does everything from shaking the rope to shooing them and they just don't go anywhere. As he is swinging about he hits the wall next to him and his face contacts something sticky. A drop touching the side of his mouth tastes... sweet! Sweetest thing ever!

He takes a look and finds an overflow from a bee hive apparently outside and it is seeping through to the wall of the well. The man couldn't help himself and takes another lick and starts... going at it, forgetting all about the snake, the lion, and the two rats.

The two rats!! Before he knows it ....

the rope is eaten through and SNAPS!! He falls, and falls, and falls right into his bed as he wakes up from a nasty dream

Next day he decides to go to someone to interpret this vision.

He goes to a great Sheikh, and tells him the whole dream from beginning to end and asks that explain this strange dream he had

The sheikh laughed and asked him "You couldn't figure it out on your own?"

Then he says:



.


.


.


As for the lion, it is the Angel of Death, will chase you down no matter what.

As for the well with the hissing snake, it was your grave full of your punishment for your transgressions.

As for the rope it is your lifetime, and the two black and white mice are the night and day that alternately take a piece out of it every day.

The man asks: "What about the honey?"


The sheikh told him:


"It is this entire World and what's in it, from its sweetness you forgot what you were really in and for a few licks of sweet enjoyment forgot about your hereafter and your reckoning!"
​

​

May God provide us all with the prayers and deeds that save us from torture in the grave.


Lost your car, job, or a big investment? Why does it matter? Do you see the poor man's grave any worse than the rich man's? If you are being tested and are drowning in trials and hardship, thank Allah, for he is cleansing you and giving you rewards that you can use in the afterlife when it really matters.

Ibn Omar said the Prophet -pbuh- took him by the shoulders and said: "Be in this life like you're a stranger, just travelling through" [Sahih Al-Bukhary]

Wassalamг Alaikom

 

[Snowflake]

Re: The snarling lion and the hissing snake

wow mashaAllah! JazakAllahu khayr for a very important reminder akhi.

 

[imam bukhari]

500 Years of Worship

Angel Jibrail (as) told Rasulullah (peace be upon him) the follwing incident about a man in the past who worshipped Allah Ta'ala continuously for 500 years. He was granted a shelter on top of a mountain that was surrounded by salty water. However, Allah caused a stream of sweet water to flow through the mountain for that individual. The man would drink from this water and use it to make ablution. Allah Ta'ala also raised a pomegranate tree from which the man would eat one fruit every day.

One day, this person supplicated to Allah that, "Oh Allah, bring my death while I am in the state of prostration." Allah accepted this dua of his. Whenever Jibrail (as) came down to the Earth, he found this man prostrating to Allah. Jibrail (as) said that on the day of Judgement, Allah will tell the angels to take this individual to Paradise through His mercy. However, this man will insist that he should enter paradise through the good deeds that he had performed.

Then, Allah will tell the angels to compare his good deeds with the blessings that were given to him in the world. It will be seen that 500 years of his worship does not even equal to the gift of eye sight that was given to him by Allah. The angels will be asked to take him towards the hell fire. Then the man will plead, "Oh Allah! Enter me into Paradise only through Your mercy." At that point, the following discussion will take place between Allah and that man.

Allah: Oh my servant, who created you?

The worshipper: Oh Allah, You have created me.

Allah: Were you created because of the good deeds you have done or because of My mercy?

The worshipper: Because of Your mercy.

Allah: Who granted you the ability to worship for 500 years?

The worshipper: Oh the Almighty! You have granted me that ability.

Allah: Who placed you on the mountain surrounded by the ocean? Who caused a stream of sweet water to flow in between the salty water? Who caused a pomegranate tree to grow for you? Who granted you death while in the state of prostration?

The worshipper: Oh the Sustainer of the Worlds! You have done all of these.

Then Allah will say, "All these have happened due to My mercy and you too will enter Paradise only through My Mercy."

Source: Obtained from the book "Tambihul Ghafileen" by Shaikh Abul Laith Samarkandi.

We can never thank Allah for the blessings that He has given us. Let us use these blessings to recognize Allah before our death.

is this authentic?

i remember someone saying it wasnt...

cant remember now...

 

[Sawdah]

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

“Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?”

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face.

“A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.”

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday,Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?”

“Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you.”

“Then give me your pearls.”

“Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She’s my very favorite.”

“That’s okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night.” And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny’s daddy asked again, “Do you love me?”

“Daddy, you know I love you.”

“Then give me your pearls.”

“Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.”

“That’s okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you.”

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style.

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. “What is it, Jenny? What’s the matter?”

Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, “Here, daddy; this is for you.”

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time… He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So it is, with God. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of?

Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing.

God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.
http://www.haqislam.org/the-necklace/

 

[Misz_Muslimah]

^ Mashallah, beautiful story..Jazaakalahu khayran for sharing sis

By Dan Ephron - NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Mar 30, 2009

Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks had been a guard at Guantanamo for about six months the night he had his life-altering conversation with detainee 590, a Moroccan also known as "the General." This was early 2004, about halfway through Holdbrooks's stint at Guantanamo with the 463rd Military Police Company. Until then, he'd spent most of his day shifts just doing his duty. He'd escort prisoners to interrogations or walk up and down the cellblock making sure they weren't passing notes. But the midnight shifts were slow. "The only thing you really had to do was mop the center floor," he says. So Holdbrooks began spending part of the night sitting cross-legged on the ground, talking to detainees through the metal mesh of their cell doors.

He developed a strong relationship with the General, whose real name is Ahmed Errachidi. Their late-night conversations led Holdbrooks to be more skeptical about the prison, he says, and made him think harder about his own life. Soon, Holdbrooks was ordering books on Arabic and Islam. During an evening talk with Errachidi in early 2004, the conversation turned to the shahada, the one-line statement of faith that marks the single requirement for converting to Islam ("There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet"). Holdbrooks pushed a pen and an index card through the mesh, and asked Errachidi to write out the shahada in English and transliterated Arabic. He then uttered the words aloud and, there on the floor of Guantanamo's Camp Delta, became a Muslim.

Subhanallah!!
Jazaakalahu khayran for sharing..

 

['Aleena]

Parable

My Prophet(SAWS)​

A Jew lost his invaluable ring and accidentally a poor Muslim man found it.
When this Muslim came to know that it belonged to the Jew he went to return
it to him. The Jew smiled and asked him: "Do you know its value?"
The muslim replied: "Yes"
"You found this and you are also poor and needy!" said the Jew.
"Yes you are right." The muslim replied.
The jew asked "Did it not come to your mind that by selling this ring you can
live a comfortable life as you had an excuse that it belonged to a jew?"
The Muslim asked him, "why should I have thought that way?"
The Jew continued to ask,"Why did you return this ring to me when I was not
knowing that you had found it?"
The poor Muslim replied:
"We believe in the Day of Judgement. I told myself that if I do not give this
ring to the owner, then during the accounting of the deeds of the people on the
Day of Judgement my Prophet Muhammed(SAWS) and your Prophet Moosa(AS) would be sitting
together and you will be complaining about this to your Prophet Moosa(AS)
and then your Prophat Moosa(AS) would complain to my Prophet(SAWS) that a person
from your Ummah has done such an act. And at that movement my Prophet Muhammed(SAWS)
would not be able to answer. I have returned this ring so thet on the Day of Judgement,
My Prophet Muhammed(SAWS) is not put in an awkward situation."​

THINK LIKE MUSLiM, ACT LIKE A MUSLIM AND LOVE ALLAH(SWT) AND PROPHET MUHAMMED(SAWS)
LIKE A TRUE MUSLIM.​

 

[ardianto]

Let me bump this thread to makes it appear in General Section.






Edit : Oops, this is sticky thread. That's why I didn't found it in 'non-sticky' thread list.

 

['Aleena]

Source: The Islamic Message

GOD EXIST

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair and his beard cut as always. He started to have a good conversation with the barber who attended him. They talked about so many things on various subjects.

Suddenly, they touched the subject of God. The barber said: "Look man, I don't believe that God exists as you say so."

"Why do you say that?" Asked the client

Well, it's so easy; you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Oh, tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. "I can't think of a God who permits all of these things." The client stopped for a moment thinking but he didn't want to respond so as to prevent an argument.

The barber finished his job and the client went out of the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with a long hair and beard (it seems that it had been a long time since he had his cut and he looked so untidy). Then the client again entered the barbershop and he said to the barber: know what? Barbers do not exist.

"How come they don't exist?" asked the barber. "Well I am here and I am a barber."

"No!" - The client exclaimed. "They don't exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair and beard like that man who walks in the street."

"Ah, barbers do exist, what happens is that people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" - Affirmed the client. "That's the point. God does exist, what happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him that's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

 

[abdussattar]

Hadhrat Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says:

"After the passing away of the Prophet (peace be upon him), I said to an Ansari friend of mine: The Prophet is not now with us. But a large number of Sahabah are still among us. Let us go to them and get knowledge of the Islamic practices. He said: ' Who is going to approach you for learning a regulation in the presence of these eminent Sahabah?' I was not discouraged. I kept up my quest for knowledge and approached every person who was supposed to have heard something from the Prophet. I managed to gather substantial information from the Ansar. If on my visit to someone of the Sahabah, I found him asleep, I spread my shawl at the gate and sat waiting. Sometimes my face and body would get covered with dust, but I kept sitting till they woke and I was able to contact them. Some of them said: 'Abdullah you are the cousin of the Prophet; you could have sent for us. Why did you take the trouble of coming to our places?' I said to them: 'I must come to you, for I am a student and you are my teachers.' Some people for whom I had waited said: 'Since when have you been waiting for us?' I informed them that I had been sitting there for a pretty long time. They said: 'What a pity! You could have awakened us from our sleep.' I said: 'I did not like to disturb you for my own sake.' I thus carried on my pursuits, till there came a time when people began to flock to me for learning. My Ansari friend realized this at that time and remarked: 'This boy has surely proved himself more sensible than us.'"

Source: From the book "Stories of the Sahabah" by Shaikh Muhammad Zakariyya Kaandhlawi.

Besides our quest for knowledge to earn a livelihood in this world, we must as well gain sufficient knowledge of Islam. No matter what age group we belong to at this moment, we should atleast have that much Islamic knowledge with which we can turn our 24 hours life into worship. Those with knowledge and practice will be exalted in this world and in the hereafter.

 

[abdussattar]

The Emperor and the Seed

The Emperor and the Seed​

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different. He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."

The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"

One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by-still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.

Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But honest about what happened, Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful-in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!" All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor? Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

The Prophet taught, "Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur (i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur (wickedness) leads to the (Hell) Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar." [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 8:116]

 

[Flower1111]

This is a story from a man i found on a particular page..it was beautyful to read

Story: Two years ago before the offensive Israel did on Gaza, I took a trip to Jerusalem. I wanted to visit Masjid al Aqsa and The Dome of the Rock so I went to Jerusalem.
I was staying in a hotel in Jerusalem. This hotel had a view of the Dome of the Rock. It’s a really old hotel. The building was made of like stone.
It was like 5o in the morning and Fajr was at 5:40 in the morning that day. I was so shocked by what I was hearing. I was hearing the most beautiful adhan I had ever heard. It sounded like an angel was doing the adhan. Then when I look down the window I see a whole bunch of tall guys walking down the street towards Masjid al Aqsa. Then I realized that the Adhan was coming from Masjid al Aqsa and the guys in white were angels. They all had white turbans and where wearing long white thobes.
Then I was just looking at the angels walk to the masjid. I listened to their whole salah. It was the most beautiful qira’a I had ever heard. I was literally sitting at the window listening to their amazing qira’a. I sometimes wish I could go back to that window and just listen to that qira’a again.
What seemed strange was that no one else seemed to notice that their was an angels salah going on.

 

[tango92]

This is a story from a man i found on a particular page..it was beautyful to read

Story: Two years ago before the offensive Israel did on Gaza, I took a trip to Jerusalem. I wanted to visit Masjid al Aqsa and The Dome of the Rock so I went to Jerusalem.
I was staying in a hotel in Jerusalem. This hotel had a view of the Dome of the Rock. It’s a really old hotel. The building was made of like stone.
It was like 5o in the morning and Fajr was at 5:40 in the morning that day. I was so shocked by what I was hearing. I was hearing the most beautiful adhan I had ever heard. It sounded like an angel was doing the adhan. Then when I look down the window I see a whole bunch of tall guys walking down the street towards Masjid al Aqsa. Then I realized that the Adhan was coming from Masjid al Aqsa and the guys in white were angels. They all had white turbans and where wearing long white thobes.
Then I was just looking at the angels walk to the masjid. I listened to their whole salah. It was the most beautiful qira’a I had ever heard. I was literally sitting at the window listening to their amazing qira’a. I sometimes wish I could go back to that window and just listen to that qira’a again.
What seemed strange was that no one else seemed to notice that their was an angels salah going on.

SubhanAllah.

 

[Ummu Sufyaan]

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke.

"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone', but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'

Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'

Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'

'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you'.


Moral?
This is a great story that we could all benefit from. It is a simple reminder of how "Allah" is the potter of our life and we are the clay. Allah is the shaper of each of our lives and when struggles seem overwhelming, we need to remind ourselves that these struggles serve a purpose in making us stronger and wiser.

 

['Aleena]

It is related that a noted Muslim scholar Abdullah bin Mubarak, had a dream while he was sleeping near the Holy Kaaba in Makkah.

Abdullah bin Mubarak saw two angels' descend from the sky, and start talking to each other.

One of the angels asked the other: "Do you know how many people have come for Hajj this year?"

The other angel replied: "Six hundred thousand have come for Hajj."

Abdullah bin Mubarak had also gone for Hajj that year.

The first angel asked: "How many people's Hajj has been accepted?"

The second angel replied: "I wonder if anyone's Hajj has been accepted at all."

Abdullah bin Mubarak was grieved to hear that. He thought, "So many people have come from all over the world, crossing so many obstacles like rivers, jungles, desert and mountains, suffered so many hardships, and meeting so many expenses. Would their effort be wasted? Allah (SWT) does not let anyone's effort go to waste."

Abdullah bin Mubarak had thought only so far when he heard the other angel speak: "There is a cobbler in Damascus. His name is Ali bin al-Mufiq. He could not come for Hajj, but Allah (SWT) has accepted his intention of Hajj. Not only will he get the reward for Hajj, but because of him, all the Hajjis will be rewarded."

When Abdullah bin Mubarak woke up, he decided he would go to Damascus and meet that cobbler whose Hajj intentions carried such a lot of weight.

On reaching Damascus, Abdullah bin Mubarak inquired if anyone knew a cobbler named Ali bin al-Mufiq. The town people directed him to a house. When a man appeared from the house Abdullah bin Mubarak greeted him and asked his name. The man replied "Ali bin al-Mufiq."

Abdullah bin Mubarak asked: "What do you do for a living?"

Ali bin al-Mufiq replied: "I am a cobbler." Then Ali bin al-Mufiq asked the stranger's name that had come looking for him.

Abdullah bin Mubarak was a very well-known scholar of Islam, when Abdullah bin Mubarak introduced him self, the cobbler was anxious to find out why such a well known scholar was seeking him out.

When Abdullah bin Mubarak asked Ali bin al-Mufiq to tell him if he had made any plans to go for Hajj. Ali bin al-Mufiq replied, "For thirty years I have lived in the hope of performing the Hajj. This year I had saved enough to go for Hajj, but Allah (SWT) did not will it, so I couldn't make my intention translate into action."

Abdullah bin Mubarak was eager to find out how could this man's Hajj be accepted and blessed for all the people who went for Hajj that year when he didn't go for Hajj in the first place. While talking to the cobbler he could feel certain purity in his heart. Islam regards greatness not in wealth or in power, but in civility, in good manners and the goodness of heart.

Abdullah bin Mubarak further asked: "why could you not go on Hajj?" In order not to disclose the reason, Ali bin al-Mufiq again replied "it was Allah's (SWT) will."

When Abdullah bin Mubarak persisted, Ali bin al-Mufiq revealed: "Once I went to see my neighbour's house. His family was just sitting down for dinner. Although I was not hungry I thought my neighbour would invite me to sit down for dinner out of courtesy but I could see that my neighbour was grieved about something and wanted to avoid inviting me for dinner."

After some hesitation the neighbour told me: "I am sorry I cannot invite you for food. We were without food for three days and I could not bear to see the pain of hunger of my children. I went out looking for food today and found a dead donkey. In my desperation I cut out some meat from the dead animal, and brought it home so that my wife could cook this meat. It is Halal (lawful or permitted) for us because of our extreme condition of hunger, but I cannot offer it to you."

Ali bin al-Mufiq continued: "On hearing this, my heart bled with tears. I got up and went home, collected the three thousand dinars I had saved for Hajj, and gave my neighbour the money. I too had to go hungry but that was to save money for Hajj, but I thought helping my neighbour during his difficult times was more important. Although I still desire to go for Hajj if Allah (SWT) wills."

Abdullah bin Mubarak was greatly inspired by the cobbler's story and told the cobbler of his dream.

Allah (SWT) is merciful and shows mercy to those who do likewise to his creatures. This act of compassion on the part of the cobbler was so pleasing to Allah (SWT) that it not only earned him the reward of Hajj but was extended to all the people who came for Hajj.

 

[Innocent Soul]

Sand And Stone - A Beautiful Story On Forgiveness



A story tells that two friends were walking through

the desert. During some point of the journey, they

had an argument, and one friend slapped the other

one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt,

but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand:



Today my best friend slapped me in the face.



They kept on walking, until they found an oasis,

where they decided to take a bath. The one who had

been slapped got stuck in the mire and started

drowning, but his friend saved him. After he

recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:



Today my best friend saved my life.



The friend, who had slapped and saved his best

friend, asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in

the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?"



The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us,

we should write it down in sand, where the winds of

forgiveness can erase it away, but when someone

does something good for us, we must engrave it in

stone where no wind can ever erase it."



Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve

your blessings in stone.

 

[Reflections]

Masha'Allah such a nice and meaningful story, Jazakallahukheir for sharing