An Orphan's Eid

It was the day of celebration and a day of rejoicing. There was an air
of festivity in the streets ofMadinah. All the people, both young and
old were dressed in their best clothes, especially for this special
day of Eid.
As it was time for early morning Eid prayers everyone made their way
to an open piece of land on the outskirts of the city.The Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) arrived and led the prayers. After they had finished
they all greeted each other and everyone was walking back home. The
children running and playing in excitement, smiling and laughing,
without a care in the world. As the Prophet (pbuh) walked back home,he
suddenly became aware of a little boy (Zuhair Bin Saghir) sitting by
himself on the side of the path. The little boy was crying and looked
very sad. The Prophet (pbuh) bent down and patted him on the shoulders
and asked 'why are you crying?' 'Please leave me alone' sobbed the
little boy. The boy didn't even see who was talking to him. The
Prophet (pbuh) ran his fingers through the boy's hair and very gently
and kindly asked him again why he was crying. This time the boy said,
'My father was martyred fighting, and now my mother has married again
and my stepfather does not want me to live at home any more. Today is
Eid and everyone is happy.All the children have new clothes and nice
things to eat, but I don't have any clothes except what I am wearing.
I have no food and I don't even have a place to live.'
The Prophet (pbuh) said tohim, 'I know how you feel,I lost both my
mother andfather when I was a little boy.' The boy was surprised to
hear that it was an orphan who was comforting him, and whenhe looked
up to his great surprise it was the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and he
immediately jumped up tohis feet out of love and respect.
The Prophet (pbuh) said tohim 'If I were to become your new father and
Ayesha you new mother, and Fatima your new sister, would that make you
feel better?' 'Oh yes, that would be the best thing in the world!' The
boy started smiling. The Prophet took him home and gave him new
clothes and good food on this beautiful day of Eid. The boy indeed had
a wonderful Eid that day.
We should think of others that are less fortunate than ourselves on
this beautiful day of Eid. Not everyone has such a wonderful day. It
is a day of celebration, but take a moment to stop and thinkof those
who are less fortunate than ourselves.

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Empty Hands of a Rich Man

An Arabian brother from Montreal, Canada narrated the following heart
softening story about his friend's father who was very rich. He owned
many buildings and lot's of properties. When he attained old age, he
became very sick and was counting his last days. Fewdays before his
death, the old man kept on saying"Ana faqir, Ana faqir" which means,
"I am poor, Iam poor." When his visiting children saw this, they took
him around and showed him all his properties to assure him that he
wasn�t poor at all. But the old man kept on saying, "I am poor, I am
poor." His children becameconfused and brought a local Muslim Scholar
to seetheir father. After spending some time with the old man, the
Scholar understood that the man is saying he is poor not regarding his
wealth but regarding his good �amal (deeds). This is because most of
his life was spent only in acquiring wealth and now that he was on his
death bed, he realized that he should�ve given more time to Allah.
When that person was dieing, hewas still saying Ana faqir.
So much time has gone from our lives in useless matters. From now on,
weshould not even waste one minute without remembering Allah as every
remembrance of Allah will increase our position in the hereafter. So,
why not be rich in the everlasting life?Empty Hands of a Rich Man
Tell a Friend
An Arabian brother from Montreal, Canada narrated the following heart
softening story about his friend's father who was very rich. He owned
many buildings and lot's of properties. When he attained old age, he
became very sick and was counting his last days. Fewdays before his
death, the old man kept on saying"Ana faqir, Ana faqir" which means,
"I am poor, Iam poor." When his visiting children saw this, they took
him around and showed him all his properties to assure him that he
wasn�t poor at all. But the old man kept on saying, "I am poor, I am
poor." His children becameconfused and brought a local Muslim Scholar
to seetheir father. After spending some time with the old man, the
Scholar understood that the man is saying he is poor not regarding his
wealth but regarding his good �amal (deeds). This is because most of
his life was spent only in acquiring wealth and now that he was on his
death bed, he realized that he should�ve given more time to Allah.
When that person was dieing, hewas still saying Ana faqir.
So much time has gone from our lives in useless matters. From now on,
weshould not even waste one minute without remembering Allah as every
remembrance of Allah will increase our position in the hereafter. So,
why not be rich in the everlasting life?

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Splitting of the Moon an Amazing Story

In a TV interview with the Egyptian Geologist Dr. Zaghloul Annajar,
the anchor asked him about the verse:
"The Hour has drawn near,and the moon has been cleft asunder (the
people of Makkah requested Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] to show them a
miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the moon)." (Quran 54:1)
whether it contains any Quranic scientific astounding facts?
Dr. Zaghloul answered saying that he has a story to tell about this verse.
He started explaining that at a time he delivered a lecture at Cardiff
University in the West of Britain. The attendees included both Muslims
andnon-Muslims. A vital dialogue was taking place around scientific
facts included in the Noble Quran. During the course of the lecture, a
Muslim young man stood asking me, Sir Do you see in the Saying of Al
Haq Tabarak wa Ta`ala (Allah the Truth)may He be Exalted - and he
referred to the above mentioned verse - any indication to the
scientific facts included in the Quran? Dr. Najjar answered: No
because scientific astounding discoveries are interpretedthrough
science whereas amiracle is something supernatural, which may not be
interpreted through the usual. The splitting of the moon is a miracle,
which happened to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in order to prove his
prophecy. Tangible miracles are only a testimony of truth for those
who witnessed it. It is only that the incident was mentioned in Quran
and Prophet's Sunnah thatmade us believe other wise we Muslims of this
era would have never believed in it. In addition that we know for sure
that Allah is most capable of anything. At that point Dr. Zaghloul
narrated the story of moon splitting as included in Sunnah books.
He said, Sunnah books tell that five years before the immigration of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from Mecca to Medina, a group of people from
the tribe ofQuraish came challenging him saying: Oh Muhammad if you
were really a Prophet and a Messenger bring to us a miracle to
establish this fact. So he asked them what do you want? They said in
an effort to complicate matters for him: split the moon for us.The
Messenger of ALLAH (PBUH) stood supplicating to Allah to support him
and grant him victory in this hard situation. Allah may He be Exalted
inspired him to sign towards the moon with his finger. Immediately,
the moon cleft into two parts standing far from each other for several
hours then cling back together. The pagans started claiming: Oh
Muhammad (PBUH) practiced witchcraft on us.
At this point some of the wise men explained that magic would only
affect the attendees whereas it can not maintain influenceon everybody
in general. They waited for travelers who were coming back from their
journeys. The pagans harried up to the borders of Mecca in
anticipation to meet the travelers. When the first arrivals appeared,
they asked them did you see anything extraordinary happened to the
moon? The travelers answered yes on the night (X) we saw the moon
splitting into two parts which remained asunder for sometime then
reattached. Upon this statement, a number of the group believed while
the rest remained pagans. Therefore, the verse explains "The Hour has
drawn near, and the moonhas been cleft asunder (the people of Makkah
requested Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to show them a miracle, so he showed
them the splitting of the moon). * And if they see a sign, theyturn
away, and say: This is continuous magic. *They belied the Verses of
Allah -this Quran), and followed their own lusts. And every matter
will be settled according to the kind of deeds: good deeds will take
their doers to Paradise and similarly evil deeds will take their
doersto Hell." (Quran 54:1-3) until the end of the verses which were
revealed in this regard.
Dr. Najjar continued that at this point a British Muslim young man
introduced himself as Daoud Moussa Peetcock head of the British
Islamic Party. He carried on sayingsir if you allow me I wouldlike to
add on this issue? I said please do. He explained saying: At the time
when I was searchingin religions (before he embraced Islam), a
Muslimstudent gave me as a present the translation of the meaning of
Quran. I thanked him and took it home. The first Surat I came across
when I opened the book, it was Chapter of the Moon I read"has drawn
near, and the moon has been cleft asunder". I said to myself, is this
statement logical? Is it possible for the moon to split and then
reattach what kind of power may cause this? The man explained that
this verse made me reluctant to continue reading. I became busy with
my life,yet ALLAH of course Knows how sincere I was about finding the
truth.
So,one day ALLAH made me sit to watch TV....

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Anything for Allah

Khabaab (Radiallaho Anho)is one of those fortunate persons who offered
themselves for sacrifice and suffering for the causeof Allah
(Subhanahu wa Taala). He was the sixth or seventh person to embrace
Islam and therefore, he suffered long. He was made to put on steel
armor and lie in the sun to sweat. Very often he was made to lie flat
on burning sand, which caused the flesh on his back to dissolve. He
was the slave of a woman.When she came to know that he was visiting
Rasulullah (Sallallaho Alaihi Wassallam), she used to brand his head
with a hot iron rod. Umar (Radiallaho Anho) during his Caliph once
asked him about the details of his suffering after embracing Islam.
He showed him his back, seeing which Umar (Radiallaho Anho) said, "I
have never seen such a back before."
He said, "My body was dragged over heaps of burning coal and the blood
and fat coming out of my back put out the fire."
When Islam spread and the Muslims conquered all the surrounding
territory, he used to weep and say,"Allah (Subhanahu wa Taala) seems
to be compensating us in this world for all our sufferingsand perhaps
nothing would be left for us as reward in the Akhirah".
Source: From the Book"Stories of the Sahabah" by Shaikh Muhammad
Zakariyya Kandhalvi.
Such were the followers ofthe Prophet (peace be upon him) who were
ready to give anything buttheir faith in Allah. On the other hand, we
Muslims today are ready to sell ouriman for little material gains!

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