When everything seems togo wrong ............... ............... .... just P.U.S.H! When the job gets you down ............... ............... ............... .. just P.U.S.H!

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled
with light, and the Angel told the man he had work for him to do, and
showed him a large rock in front ofhis cabin.
The Angel explained that the man was to push against the rock with all
his might. So, this the man did, day after day.
For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down; his shoulders set
squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock,
pushing with all of his might.
Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling
that his whole day had been spent in vain.Since the man was showing
discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by
placing thoughts into the weary mind: "you have been pushing against
that rock for a long time, and it hasn't moved."
Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and
that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the
man. Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this?
"Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will
be good enough."
That's what he planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of
prayer and take his troubled thoughtsto the Lord. "Lord," he said,"I
have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to
do that which Angel have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not
even budged that rock by half a millimeter.
What is wrong? Why am I failing?" The Angel responded compassionately
, "My Servant, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told
you that your task was to push against the rock with all ofyour
strength, which you have done.
Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your
task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent,
thinking that you have failed. But, isthat really so? Look at
yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and
brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have
become massive and hard.
Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass
that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your
calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and
trust in My wisdom. This you have done. Now I, my servant, will move
the rock."
At times, when we hear a word from Angel, we tend to use our own
intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is
just a simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means,exercise the
faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves
mountains.

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is the kingdom today?

When the Samanid ruler, Nasr bin Ahmad ( 301 - 331 A.H), entered
Nishapur, he held a court. After ascending the throne, he wanted the
proceedings to be started with the recitation from the Holy Qur'an. At
this anelderly pious man came forward and recited a section of the
surah Al- Mu'min. When he came tothe verse (On that Day it will be
asked:) "Whose is the Kingdom today?"
Nasr was struck with awe;he descended the throne trembling, took off
the crown and fell down in prostration, saying: "O myLord, Kingdom is
Yours, not mine!"

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Description of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)

The following is an excerpt from the book entitled "The Message of
Mohammad", by Athar Husain . Among other things, it talks about some
of the personal characteristics of the prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon
Him), the final messenger of Allah (God). It has been edited slightly
in order to reduce it's length. Care has been taken not to change the
content inshallah. The topics include:
Appearance
Muhammad (pbuh) was of a height a little above the average. He was of
sturdy build with long muscular limbs and tapering fingers.The hair of
his head was long and thick with some waves in them. His forehead was
large and prominent, his eyelashes were long and thick, his nose was
sloping, his mouth was somewhat large and his teeth were well set. His
cheeks were spare and he had a pleasant smile. His eyes were large and
black with a touch of brown. His beard was thick and at thetime of his
death, he had seventeen gray hairs in it. He had a thin line of fine
hair over his neck and chest. He was fair of complexion and
altogetherwas so handsome that AbuBakr composed this couplet on him:
"as there is no darkness in the moonlit night so is Mustafa, the
well-wisher, bright." His gait was firm and he walked so fast that
others found it difficult to keep pace with him. His face was genial
but at times, when he was deep in thought, there there were long
periods of silence, yethe always kept himself busy with something. He
did not speak unnecessarily and what hesaid was always to the point
and without any padding. At times he would make his meaning clear by
slowly repeating what he had said. His laugh was mostly a smile. He
kept his feelings under firm control - when annoyed, he would turn
aside or keep silent, when pleased he would lower his eyes (Shamail
Tirmizi).
Dress
His dress generally consisted of a shirt, tamad (trousers), a sheet
thrown round the sholders and a turban. On rare occasions, he would
put on costly robes presented to him by foreign emissaries in the
later part of his life (Ahmed, Musnad, Hafiz Bin Qaiyyam).
His blanket had several patches (Tirmizi). He had very few spare
clothes, buthe kept them spotlessy clean (Bukhari). He wantedothers
also to put on simple but clean clothes. Once he saw a person putting
on dirty clothes and remarked,
"Why can't this man wash them." (Abu Dawud, Chapter "Dress"). On
another occasion he enquired of a person in dirty clothes whether he
had any income. Upon getting a reply in the affirmative, he observed,
"When Allah has blessed you with His bounty, your appearence should
reflect it." (Abu Dawud) He used to observe:
"Cleanliness is piety".
Mode of living
His house was but a hut with walls of unbaked clayand a thatched roof
of palm leaves covered by camel skin. He had separate apartments for
his wives, a small room foreach made of similar materials. His own
apartment contained a rope cot, a pillow stuffed with palm leaves ,
the skinof some animal spread on the floor and a water bag of leather
and some weapons. These were all his earthly belongings, besides a
camel, a horse, and an ass and some land which he had aquired in the
later part of his life (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud). Once a few of his
disciples, noticing the imprint of his mattress on his body, wished to
give him a softer bed but he politely declined the offer saying,
"What have I to do with worldly things. My connection with the world
is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade of
a tree and then moving on." Amr Ibn Al-Harith, a brother in law of the
prophet (pbuh), says that when the prophet died, hedid not leave a
cent, a slave man or woman, or any property except his white mule, his
weapons and a piece of land which he had dedicated for the good of the
community (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari).
He advised the people to live simple lives and himself practised great
austerities. Even when he had become the virtual king of arabia, he
lived an austere life bordering on privation. His wife Aiysha (ra)
says that there was hardly a day in his life when he had two square
meals (Muslim, Sahih Muslim, Vol.2, pg 198). When he died there was
nothing in his house except a few seeds of barley left from a mound of
the grain obtained froma Jew by pawning his armour (Bukhari, Sahih
Bukhari, Chapter "Aljihad").
He had declared unlawful for himself and his family anything given by
the people by way of zakat or sadaqa (types of charity). He was so
particular aboutthis that he would not appoint any member of hisfamily
as a zakat collector (Sahah-Kitab Sadqat).
His manners and disposition
"By the grace of Allah, you are gentle towards the people; if you had
been stern and ill-tempered, they would have dispersed from round
about you" (translation of Quran 3:159)

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A bird's nest

Recently, we attended a speech given by a scholar from USA. The speech
wasmainly about the Greatness of Allah. Here is one interesting
excerpt from the lecture: A poet said "Who has taught the birds how to
make their nests? The birds make their nests in such a way as if a
king is building his palace according to his desires." The birds
create beautiful houses with the help of their beaks. They do not use
a single stone or brick. They collect straws one at a time and puts
them in their place. Within a short time, the birds make a comfortable
nest for them to live in. The nest that the birds make using their
beaks are so dynamic that we can't even make them using our hands.
Indeed, Allah has given the birds this knowledge from His infinite
bounties.

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