Thursday, May 1, 2008
THE SMILE
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Daddy - Can I have $10?
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A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
"Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man.
"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?"
"That's none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy.
"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."
"Oh, " the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"
The father was furious. "If the only reason you want to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you're being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money. After an hour or so , the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. May be there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep son?" he asked.
"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.
"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.
"Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $20.00 now... Can I buy an hour of your time?"
Woman of piety
Hazrat Maulana Masihullah (ra) said: I take oath by Allah and say: Give women Deeni education and then see their superiority. You will then witness in them intelligence, understanding and even accomplishment in such worldly affairs which pertain to them. Women who possess degrees of B.A. and M.A. cannot compete in understanding and intelligence with women who have acquired Deeni knowledge. Yes, in deception and schemes the Western educated woman may be ahead. But, remember that words of intelligence will only come from a woman of piety.”
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Good books
- Rights in Islam - Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi Rahmatullah Alaihi
- Nikah (Marriage) in Islam - Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi Rahmatullah Alaihi
- Masail of Hairs - Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi Rahmatullah Alaihi
- Post-Emigration, Islamic Conduct with Enemy - Mufti Shabbir Ahmed Qasmi
- Who are Qadyane's - Maulana Yusuf Ludhyanvi Rahmatullah Alaihi
- What Islam is? - Maulana Muhammad Manzoor Nomani
Friday, April 25, 2008
COOKING TIP
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanwi's sincerity and honesty
After I had written Tafsir Bayan ul-Quran (his unique Urdu exegesis of the Noble Quran) an Englishman met me very eagerly. He asked, “How much money did you get for this work?” I informed him that I had obtained nothing. Expressing surprise, he said “Then what benefit did you get?” I replied, “Here in this world my Muslim brethren benefit from this work and in the hereafter is the pleasure of the true Lord.”
Hakīm ul-Ummah Mawlānā Ashraf Ali Thānwi was the most prolific author of his time. Some onethousand or so works are attributed to him but he did not use any of his books as a means of income.
Our State of Salah
People were praying Asr with jamaat at one masjid when the Imam forgot the number of raka'ats he'd led. After finishing the namaz, he turned around and asked the muqtadi's if they could tell him but no-one had any idea. The Imam was obviously angered at the chronic inattentiveness of his congregation and was chiding them when one man stood up to say that he remembered, and it was three rakaats that had been read. 'Ah! One true servant of Allah we have here' said the Imam, pleased 'how did you know?'
'err...' the man began 'You see, I have four shops and for Asr, I go over the days dealing of each one in each rakaat. This time, I'd only done three when you sat down and finished the namaz. I still have one more shop's accounting to do!'
After this Maulana Thanvi offers a solution for the problem that blights the salah of nearly all of us - lack of khushoo'.
He says that when a hafiz is forgetful in his recitation, you will find that he reads with full concentration whenever he is called to relay from memory. Nothing is on his mind apart from the actual words he is reciting because he is so careful to avoid a mistake. We can apply this to ourselves in salah and read the words as if we have just newly learnt them, and may make a mistake. When our mind is occupied with this, all other thoughts will not enter, and slowly khushoo will be attained.
Another method is to memorise the meanings of each word we read, and keep them in mind as we say each sentence, keeping a medium pace (as opposed to the sprinting that our tongues are accustomed to). We will realise that we are actually addressing Allah in the words that we use and this thought should be enough to rectify our waywardness.
Maulana Thanvi mentions a friend of his who went to Turkey to visit the then Sultan of the Ottoman dynasty. When he entered the compound he saw that the window of the Sultan's room opened out to where he was walking, and it struck him that the Sultan could be watching. This thought compelled him so much that he was unable to lift his gaze again, nor start looking around and taking in the beautiful scenery. All he thought of was to look respectable in front of the Sultan, in case he was watching.
Maulana comments that at the mere possibilty of a King watching us, we are so awestruck and yet we know for sure that Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, is watching us in Salah, but we still indulge our minds in frivolous thoughts and fiddle and scratch and do whatnot during it.
One last thing, nobody is pretending it's easy, but we should not stop trying. If a thought comes to our head, we expel it and if it comes again we expel it and again the same. Even if we do not achieve a thought-free salah, as long as you don't succumb to them, Allah will reward you insha Allah .
HANDY HINT
Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken pieces of glass – the fibers catch the ones you cannot see!
HEALTH TIP
Health is not something the doctor can apply to you like calamine lotion. Health is something you do on a daily basis, and making wise decisions at the dinner table is one of the best things you can do to assure your health." - Ml Klaper, M.D.
HANDY HINT
Add a dash of water to your sugar prior to pouring your coffee so you don't give it a burnt flavour.