Be A Goose !

Next Autumn, when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying in a "V" formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way. 

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. 

People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily, because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are heading the same way we are.

When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.

It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with geese flying south.

Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

What message do we give when we honk from behind?

Finally - and this is important - when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out of the formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies; and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their own group.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.

So? Tell yourself you want to be like a goose ! How Allah created amazing creature which from our eyes look ordinary. 

-Reiichi Kawaii-

Giving than Receive

A young man, a student in one of our universities, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend, from his kindness to those who waited on his instructions. As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which they supposed to belong to a poor man who was employed in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day's work.

The student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play the man a trick: we will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them."

"My young friend," answered the professor, "we should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of the poor man. Put a coin into each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery affects him."


The student did so, and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes. 


While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes; but feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance. He gazed upon the coin, turned it round, and looked at it again and again. He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. 


He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin. His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom the timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing.


The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears. 

"Now," said the professor, "are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"

The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. I feel now the truth of those words, which I never understood before: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

The Journey !

One day of the many days, there was a man travelling with his wife and kids. On the way they met a person standing on the roadside. He asked: "Who are you?"

The man said: "I am 'the Money'."

So the man asked his wife and kids: "Should we ask him to ride with us?"

They all said together: "Yes, of course! Because 'the Money' can help us do anything we want and get anything we wished." So they took 'the Money' to ride with them. The car continued on its way until they met another person on the road. The man asked again: "Who are you?"

He said: "I am 'the high position and power'."

So the father asked his wife and kids: "Should we ask him to ride with us?"

They all answered in one voice: "Yes, of course! Because with 'the high position and power' we have the ability to do anything we want and own anything we wished." So they took 'the high position and power' with them, and the vehicle continued to finish its trip.

In this way, they met with many people who promised pleasures and desires of life, UNTIL... They met one strange person... The Father asked: "Who are you?"

He said: "I am 'the Deen' (Islam)."

So the father, the wife, and the kids; all of them said in one voice: "No, no, this isn't the time, we desire the pleasures of life and the Dunya. ‘The Deen' will prevent us and then stop us from all pleasurable things and it will take control of our lives. We will be worn-out from being loyal to it and its teachings. The Halaal and the Haraam, and this thing ‘prayer’ and that thing ‘Hijaab’, and the fasting, and; and; and; and; and; etc, It will be a burden for us!!!"

"But certainly, we will return to pick you up after we enjoy life and everything else in it."

So sadly, they left him behind and the vehicle continued on its trip.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere something appeared in the middle of the road. It was a check-point with the sign saying STOP!!! They found a man gesturing for the father to get out of the vehicle. The man said to the father: "Your trip has ended. Come with me."

The father was shocked with fear and did not say a word. The man said to him: "I am searching for ‘the DEEN’. Is he with you?"

The father answered: "No, I left him not too far back. If you could allow me to go back, I will get him for you."

The man said: "You do not have the ability to go back now. Your trip has ended and there is no returning... going back is impossible."

"But I have ‘The Money’; ‘the high position and power’; My Wife; My Kids; and; and; and; and; and; and; so on."

The man said to him: "Neither will they benefit you now nor will they protect you when you come in front of Allah. Not even one bit! You have left all of them behind. The only one that will help you now is 'The Deen' you know, the one who YOU left behind on the road."

The father asked: "And who are you exactly?"

He replied: "I AM 'the DEATH' - The one who you were heedless of - and the one who you did not think of on your trip!!!"

The father turned around and looked at his vehicle and found his wife taking control and continuing the trip along with all of the passengers besides him. And none of them had stayed behind with him. He was left all alone.....

"Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing)."   [Al-Imran:185]

The Mouse Trap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said "Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said "I am so very sorry, Mr.Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house - like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many! people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember: when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person's tapestry.

Two Frogs in a Milk

This is the story of two frogs. One frog was fat and the other skinny. One day, while searching for food, they inadvertently jumped into a vat of milk. They couldn't get out, as the sides were too slippery, so they were just swimming around.

The fat frog said to the skinny frog, "Brother frog, there's no use paddling any longer. We're just going to drown, so we might as well give up." The skinny frog replied, "Hold on brother, keep paddling. Somebody will get us out." And they continued paddling for hours.

After a while, the fat frog said, "Brother frog, there's no use. I'm becoming very tired now. I'm just going to stop paddling and drown. It's Sunday and nobody's working. We're doomed. There's no possible way out of here." But the skinny frog said, "Keep trying. Keep paddling. Something will happen, keep paddling." Another couple of hours passed.

The fat frog said, "I can't go on any longer. There's no sense in doing it because we're going to drown anyway. What's the use?" And the fat frog stopped. He gave up. And he drowned in the milk. But the skinny frog kept on paddling.

Ten minutes later, the skinny frog felt something solid beneath his feet. He had churned the milk into butter and he hopped out of the vat.

The Wooden Bowl

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. 


The old man's hands trembled,his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. 


But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. 


When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. 


We must do something about Grandfather," said the son. I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor. 


So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" 


Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.


The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. 


Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. 


For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

The Pious Man and The Shopkeeper

There lived a pious man all by himself, who spent most of his time in praying, fasting and praising Allah. Almost all his waking hours were utilised in meditation and devotions. He was very happy with his spiritual progress. No wicked thoughts came to his mind and no evil temptations entered his heart.

One night, he dreamt a rather disturbing dream. He saw that a shopkeeper in the town was far superior to him in spirituality and that he must go to him to learn the basics of true spiritual life.

In the morning, the pious man went in search of the shopkeeper. He found him busy with his customers, selling goods and collecting money with a cheerful face. He sat there in a corner of the shop and watched the shopkeeper carefully. No signs of any spiritual life at all, he said to himself. His dream could not be true. But then he saw the shopkeeper disappear to pray his Salah. When he returned, he was busy dealing with money matters again.

The shopkeeper noticed the pious man sitting in the corner and asked: "As Salamu Alaikum, would you like something, brother?"

"Wa Alaikum As Salam. Oh! No! No!" said the pious man. "I don't want to buy anything, but I want to ask you a question." He then related his dream.

"Well, that is very simple to explain," said the shopkeeper, "but you will have to do something for me before I answer your question."

"I will do anything for you," replied the pious man.

"All right! Take this saucer; there is some mercury in it. Go to the other end of the street and come back fast within half an hour. If the mercury falls out of the saucer, you will hear nothing from me. There you go now."

The pious man took the saucer and started running. The mercury nearly wobbled out of the saucer. He saved it just in time, and slowed down. Then he remembered he had to return within half an hour, so he started walking at a fast pace. At long last he returned puffing and panting. "Here is your mercury, safe and sound," he told the shopkeeper. "Now tell me the true interpretation of my dream."

The shopkeeper looked at the pious man's weary condition and asked him: "Well, friend, how many times did you remember Allah while you were going from this end of the street to the other?"

"Remember Allah!" exclaimed the pious man. "I did not remember Him at all. I was so worried about the mercury in the saucer."

"But I do remember Him all the time," said the shopkeeper. "When I am doing my business, I am also carrying mercury in a saucer. I am fair, honest and kind to my customers. I never forget Allah Ta'ala in my dealings with other men."

Thank God For Your Eyesight

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."

What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

"It is He, Who has created for you (the sense of) hearing (ears), sight (eyes), and hearts (understanding). Little thanks you give." [Al-Mu'minun; 78]

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 Rei 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.


Rei 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 Rei didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by-still nothing in Rei's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.

Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Rei 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. Rei told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But his mother told him to be honest about what happened, Rei felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. 


He took his empty pot to the palace. When Rei arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful-in all shapes and sizes. Rei 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. 


Rei 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 Rei at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Rei was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"

When Rei got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Reiichi," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. 


He looked at Rei, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Reiichi!" Rei couldn't believe it. Rei 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 Rei, 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. Rei 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]

The Power of Words

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. 

When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. 

The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. 

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. 

Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. 

When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” 

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

There is power in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day. 

On the contrary, a destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. 

Be careful of what you say — especially to yourself.

The Sweetest Strawberry

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him.

Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away at the vine.

The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other, and then eat it. It tasted so sweet.

Always seize the moment, no matter how bad the circumstance is.

Wishes of Two Trees

Take some time to cherish this story.... Like a lot of things in life, it's much easier said than done but this is where faith and perseverance comes in.

Once there were two trees on a hill in a woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees.

When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter." and he began cutting it down.

The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and women came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree.

The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe.

The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the king of kings in it's boat.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Both of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined.