Caliph Umar Al-Khattab R.A

Once Hadhrat Umar Al-Khattab r.a, during his caliphate, was going on his usual rounds towards 
Harrah (a suburb of Madinah) with his slave Aslam, when he saw a distant fire in the desert. 


He said, "There seems to be a camp. Perhaps, it is a caravan that could not enter the town due to night fall. Let's go and look after them and arrange for their protection during the night."


When he reached there, he found a woman and some children. The children were crying. The woman had a pan of water over the fire. Hadhrat Umar r.a greeted her with salaam and, with her permission, went near her. The woman however didn't recognize that it was Umar, their Caliph.


Umar asked, "Why are these children crying?"


The woman sadly replied to him, "Because they are hungry."


Umar asked further, "What is in the pan?"


The woman said, "Only water to soothe the children, so that they may go to sleep in the belief that food is being prepared for them. Oh ! Allah S.W.T will judge between Umar r.a and me, on the Day of Judgment, for neglecting me in my distress."


Umar started to cry, "May Allah have mercy on you! How can Umar know of your distress?"


The woman, "When he is our Amir (Leader) , he must keep himself informed about us."


Hadhrat Umar r.a returned to the town and straight away went to the BaitulMal (House of Charity) to fill a sack with flour, dates, fat, and clothes, and also drew some money. When the sack was ready, he said to Aslam, "Now put this sack on my back, Aslam."


Aslam, "No please, Amirulmu'mineen! I shall carry this sack."


Umar refused to listen to Aslam, even on his persistent requests to allow him to carry the sack, and remarked, "What! Will you carry my load (sins and deeds) on the Day of Judgment? I must carry this bag, because it is I who would be questioned (in the Hereafter) about this woman."


Aslam most reluctantly placed the bag on Umar's r.a back, who carried it with a swift pace right to the woman's tent. Aslam followed at his heels. He put a little flour and some dates and fat in the pan and began to stir. He blew (with his mouth) into the fire to kindle it.


Aslam said, "I saw the smoke passing through his thick beard."


After some time, the pottage was ready. He himself served it to the family. When they had eaten until they were full, he made over to them the little that was left for their next meal. The children were very happy after their meal and began to play about merrily.


The woman felt very grateful and remarked, "May Allah reward you for your kindness! In fact you deserve to take the place of Khalifah instead of Umar."


Umar consoled her and said, "When you come to see the Khalifah, you will find me there."


He sat for a while at a place close by and kept on watching the children. He then returned to Madinah. On his way back, he said to Aslam, "Do you know why I sat there, Aslam? I had seen them weeping in distress. I liked to see them laughing and happy for some time."

The Story Of A Fisherman

There once lived a fisherman, he only caught one fish at a time. One day, as his wife was chopping up the fish, she discovered something amazing. She found a pearl inside the fish. She was astonished, a pearl inside a fish?? 


SubhanAllah (Praise be to Allah). 


She exclaimed, "Husband! Look what I’ve found!" 


"What have you found?" he asked? "


I have found a pearl inside the fish!" she answered.” 


He became happy said: ”Bring me the pearl, perhaps we will benefit from it and eat food other than fish!"


The fisherman took the pearl to a pearl trader. The trader took a look at the pearl "This pearl is so precious, but unfortunately I cannot afford it even if I were to sell my shop and my house! Go to the wholesaler in the nearby town, perhaps he can buy it from you."


The fisherman took the pearl to the wholesaler in the nearby town and showed him the pearl. "By Allah, what a priceless possession! I cannot buy it from you, but I’ve a solution for you; go to the governor of this town, as only he his able to buy this pearl.” At the door of the governor's palace the fisherman awaited permission to enter.


“Oh God! It is a pearl that I’ve been searching for! I do not know how to value it for you, but I will allow you to enter into my private treasure chamber. You have six hours to remain in it and take what you please, and this is the value of your pearl. "Sir, can you just give me two hours, as six hours is far too long for a fisherman like me.” 


“No, six hours is what is fair for you take from the chamber what you like"


The fisherman entered the governor's treasure chamber to behold a tremendous sight. It was a very large room divided into to three sections. The first section was filled with jewels, gold and pearls. The second section had a huge and very comfortable bed. The third section was filled with all the delicious food and drink that one can imagine.


"What will I do in six hours? Six hours is such a long time for a simple fisherman like me" the fisherman asked himself. 


"Ok, I guess I should start with the food in the third section" "I will eat until my stomach is full so that I will gain the necessary energy required to accumulate as much gold as possible."


The fisherman went to the food and spent a whole two hours eating. He then made his way to the first section. “I ate until I became full, so why not sleep for a bit and wake up fresh so that I can carry the greatest amount of gold?" he asked himself. "This is a once in a life time opportunity, and what foolishness will prevent me from wasting it"


The fisherman went to the bed and fell into a deep sleep. After a while the fisherman was awoken by these words "Wake up, ignorant fisherman, your time is up"


"Huh! What?" "Yes, come on get out!" "Please I did not get the chance." "Huh! You have been in here for six hours and only now you have woken up from your sleep, yet you still want to take some gems?" 


"You had the time and opportunity to take away all of this treasure and then you could have bought with it the best food and you could have made yourself the most comfortable bed! But you are an ignorant fool and can only think in the background, which you are in!"


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


The story has ended, however the lesson does not end here.


The pearl in the story represents your soul, a priceless treasure, and you don’t know the true value of your soul.


The treasure chamber represents the life of this world (dunya), how great it looks; yet we exploit it.


The jewels in the chamber represent our good deeds 


The comfortable bed represents our carelessness.


The food and drink represent our desires.


And now, you should decide; should you wake up and get out of the comfortable bed and collect as many jewels available to you before your time is up. The time in this world is for winning your lifetime. Otherwise you will feel great regret when leaving this world.

Story # 2 ~Dhuha~

The soft, hazy daylight slanting through his bedroom window aimed directly at his face. The window pane was partly opened, and the lazy morning breeze found it way in, brushing against his soft hair.

Slowly, he closed the Holy Quran as he watched a couple of colourful butterflies settled slowly on a huge and attractive sunflower through the clear window. 

He pulled himself together, mustering his strength to get up and had a quick shower. Then, he headed downstairs to the kitchen to see Rush was having breakfast. The sweet smell of freshly grounded coffee evoked his mood not the mention the hot pancakes and honey syrup was more than enough to make his mouth water.

He looked up to his housemate in front of him who was reading a book; his other hand was holding a cup of coffee.

“Morning Rush. Wahhhh…my favourite! Thanks a lot.” He uttered, before he smiled softly. 

“Morning.” Rush briefly replied, his eyes were still glued to the book, afraid if the book would disappear any second. He poured some coffee for his friend into an empty cup without even looking at it as if he had been practicing for years.

“J-jazakallah.” Chakir was totally impressed. He helped himself to a seat next to Rush after he prepared Reiichi’s breakfast near the table. The small kitty quickly appeared from the living room, scurrying over to his milk.

After breakfast both of them washed the dishes, and once they said goodbye to Reiichi, Rush and Chakir went out to college. Taking one look back, he saw Reiichi was standing in front of the door, wiggling his tail as if the little kitten would wait for them to come back home soon and to play together. Chakir would tell Rei about his day, and Rei would somehow react to his story, showing that he understands.

On their way, they met with an elderly woman, sitting at the bus stop with her small son, probably around 4 years old. Their clothes were tattered, and from their look it was obvious that they haven’t been in a great care for a long time. Her mien was sorrow and forlorn as she watched her son writing and scribbling something in a book. As the little boy picked up his book and showed it to her mother, she immediately faked a soft smile, before slowly ruffling the boy’s hair. When her son wasn’t looking, she wiped out her eyes with her sleeve, and then averted her look to us.

At that time Rush quickly pulled Chakir’s arm and scuttled to a nearby shop.

“How much do you have?” He asked before Chakir could draw his breath.

“Um…Why…? Not much, but it’ll be enough until this weekend.” Chakir replied, and his hand was counting a few notes he had taken from his wallet. He looked up to see Rush was looking at him, his eyes were warm and sincere.

“Me too. But I think I’ll be fasting tomorrow.” He said it after he took a few notes from his wallet.

“I understand. Count me in.” Chakir smiled as he gave some money to his friends.

 About 5 minutes later both of them accosted the old woman and her son.

“Assalamualaikum w.b.t” Both of them said at the same time.

“Waalaikumussalam w.b.t” The woman slowly replied, and her son quickly hugged his mother’s arm, covering his face behind the woman’s shoulder.

“Mommy…” The little boy whined, afraid something might happen.

“Urm…we have some bread and milk, and we would be really glad if you could have some.” Chakir casted 

his charming smile, before he handed over few bread and two boxes of milk.

“Thanks…but we…” She reached her arm out, before she stopped as she hesitated.

“Please.” Rush added before the woman could have any other thought. His voice was more than enough to 

prove and show their sincerity, which made her eyes started to water. He softly patted the little boy’s head.

“May Allah S.W.T bless both of you.” She finally reached out to accept the bread and milk from Chakir, but she couldn’t hold back. Warm tears fell onto her laps but she immediately concealed them.

“Ameen…” Rush and Chakir replied.

After saying goodbye both of them went on.

When they arrived Rush looked at his watch to see it read precisely 8.15a.m.

“We still have time because our first lecture starts at 8.45. Come on.” He nudged Chakir lightly on his shoulder. Chakir nodded, following him.

Both of them went to Musolla, performed ablutions and then they stood on the marbled floor, performing 2 Rakaat of Dhuha prayers.

“Oh Allah, verily the time of Dhuha is but Your time of Dhuha, all beauty is but Your beauty, all strength is but Your strength, all power is but Your power and all protection is but Your protection.”

”Oh Allah, if my rezeqi is still in the the skies, please let if down and if it’s still in the ground, please let it out. Please make it easier if it is hard, if it is haraam please make it halal and please make it nearer if it is still far away. The blessings of the time of Dhuha, Your greatness, Your beauty, Your strength and Your power; bestow upon us all that you have bestowed unto Your righteous servants.”

~Reiichi Kawaii~

Do Visit : Inspector Saahab and Rush Sina

What's Your Priority?

There was a successful engineer, named Reiichi. >_<"

Being a senior officer of a big company, his daily schedule was crammed with meetings, conference and discussion not to mention sometimes he has to travel overseas to get new projects.

As muslim, his 5-times a day prayers are often completed, but not in Jamaah. When asked, his answer will be standard, "I'm BUSY, from the moment I wake up till I go to bed".

So one day while having a meeting with Board of Trustees, he had a minor heart attack. He was rushed to the nearby hospital and treated by a cardiologist. The doctor advised him to exercise regularly as there're blockages at the chambers of Reiichi's heart. X_X"

After he was discharged, he made it compulsory to his schedule to go for a short jogging every day, despite the fact still having the same work as before. He also bought a new treadmill machine to put in his office so that he can exercise whenever he can steal some time. 

The problem is.. where did he find the time? He said earlier he was busy and couldn't even perform his prayers in Jamaah. 

Lets look at ourselves on how we put our PRIORITIES. T_T"

As Meaningful as You Want It to Be

There was a man who devoted his life just to find the meaning of life.


After years of searching, a man was told to go to a cave, in which he would find a well. 'Ask the well what is truth', he was advised, 'and the well will reveal it to you'. When he had found the well, the man asked that most fundamental question. And from the depths came the answer, 'Go to the village crossroad: there you shall find what you are seeking'.

With his heart full of hope and anticipation the man ran to the crossroad but disappointed to find only three rather uninteresting shops. One shop was selling pieces of metal, another sold wood, and thin wires were for sale in the third. Nothing and no one there seemed to have much to do with the revelation of truth.

Disappointed, the man returned to the well to demand an explanation, but he was told only, 'You will understand in the future.' When the man protested, all he got in return were the echoes of his own shouts. Indignant for having been made a fool of - or so he thought at the time - the seeker continued his wanderings in search of truth. 

As years went by, the memory of his experience at the well gradually faded until one night, while he was walking in the moonlight, the sound of guitar music caught his attention. It was wonderful music and it was played with great mastery and inspiration.

Profoundly moved, the truth which the man felt drawn towards the player. He looked at the fingers dancing over the strings. He became aware of the guitar itself. And then suddenly he exploded in a cry of joyous recognition: the guitar was made out of wires and pieces of metal and wood just like those he had once seen in the three stores and had thought it to be without any particular significance.

At last he understood the message of the well: we have already been given everything we need: our task is to assemble and use it in the appropriate way. 

Nothing is meaningful so long as we perceive only separate fragments. But as soon as the fragments come together into a synthesis, a new entity emerges, whose nature we could not have foreseen by considering the fragments alone.

Open your eyes and see what God (ALLAH) has given you.