Story - The Foolish Brahmin

Birbal was always very famous for his generosity and his will tohelp
people as a service to them and the country. His fame reached out to a
simple but a foolish Brahmin, who wanted tobe called a Pandit. This
man reached Birbal and presented his query to him. Birbal was
completely surprised and couldn't understand why this foolish Brahmin
wants to be a pandit. The Brahmin was an uneducated man. Birbal
explained it to him that Pandits are educated and learned people, and
hence the title cannot be given to Brahmin, butthe foolish man kept
arguing about it that he wants Birbal to convince the rest of the
community to call him Pandit.
Birbal , being the witty man that he always was, came up with a unique
idea. He suggested Brahmin to pretend to be angry at anyone who
callshim Pandit. In fact he told him to throw stones at such people
and swear at them. Brahmin, who didn't even understand thebasis of it,
agreed to the solution. Birbal called upon his workers and guards, and
instructed them to call this foolish Brahmin, a Pandit. As Birbal's
workers had no option but to obey his instructions, they started
calling the man a Pandit. In a matter of moments,Brahmin reacted in a
very explosive manner. He not only started swearing at those people
but as directed by Birbal,threw stones at them and kept calling them
bad names.
Soon, the crowd started gathering as a result of this sudden burst of
angry shouts. It appeared to everyone that the Brahmin got irritated
by this very term, Pandit, and thus theystarted calling him the same
to tease him. Within few days the whole city had started to call him
Pandit, without even realizing the wit behind it. As a result, the
foolish Brahmin became extremely delighted and thanked Birbal again
and again for his generosity and intelligence.

Story - The Three Questions

Akbar and Birbal's relationship was exemplary in the kingdom at the
time of Akbar's rule. It was evident to the whole court that Akbar was
extremely impressed with Birbal. People would always have their eye
onBirbal's activities and behavior so they might find a glitch and
thus bring him down in king's eyes. Amongst these jealous souls,
remained a specific courtier who hated whenever Akbar encouraged and
praised Birbal. He always wanted to be the chief minister but sadly
enough; the seat was occupied by Akbar's very own Birbal.
The courtier finally expressed his anger to Akbar and challenged him
with three questions. He demanded that if Birbal could not answer
these questions, he should be demoted from the position, as he didn't
deserve to be the chief minister. Akbar, who always believed Birbal,
but yet, wanted to test his wit and intelligence agreed to the
challenge. He informed Birbal that if he didn't answer these
questions, he would be requiredto step off the seat.
The courtier asked the followingquestions:
How many stars span across thesky?
Where does the centre of earth exist?
The number of males and females in the world?
Birbal brought back his version of answers.
For the first question, he presented a sheep, and replied that the
number of hair on this sheep exactly equals the number of stars
spanning the sky, and to be sure, the courtier has full right to count
them.
For the second question, he drew couple of straight lines on ground
and stuck a metal rod inbetween them. He claimed thatit was in fact
the centre of the earth, and the courtier can measure it, to his own
precision.
The third answer was the most witty and humorous. He replied that the
number of males and females cannot be determined nor counted as there
are peoplelike the courtier who can neither be termed males nor
females and in order to know the exact number, such people would have
to be killed.
Akbar was surprisingly proud of his choice. As a result, Birbal
continued being the chief minister.

Indian short story - Birbal’s Khichdi

Once upon a time, Birbal and Akbar decided to take a stroll alongside
a beautiful lake. When thoughts took a turn, a simple question
occurred to Birbal: How far a man can go to have money? He expressed
it to Akbar, who while listening to Birbal sat downand touched the
water in the lake. He at once took his hand outas he realized the
stabbing cold in his hand. He exclaimed that no one would ever spend a
night in this cold water for any amount ofmoney. Birbal believed that
someone could. Akbar as determined on his belief as ever challenged
Birbal to bring one such being, and he would grant that man a total of
one thousand coins made of pure gold.
Birbal started his search, and kept looking for this one man
everywhere until he found one. This happened to be a poor guy who was
desperate enough to risk a whole night of severe cold to have the gold
coins reward.
Akbar when heard the news, appointed his trusty guards to make sure
that the poor guy stays in water for the whole night. Surprisingly,
the next morning, the poor man came to Akbar after completing his
challenge, all sound and healthy, and demanded his much awaitedreward.
Akbar couldn't believe it and asked that how he managed to spend the
whole night out there. The poor man talked abouta light post that he
saw around the lake which he kept in focus allnight. He believed that
by keepinghis attention focused on lamp, hemanaged to avoid thinking
aboutcold. To his surprise, Akbar refused to give him the gold coins
as he used lamp's energy tokeep himself warm.
The poor man all disappointed and hurt, informed Birbal. Birbal didn't
make it to the court next day. When Akbar inquired, Birbal conveyed
the message that he can't make it unless his Khichdi is ready. After
waiting for several hours, Akbar along with his guards went to visit
Birbal. Birbal had a pot of khichdi hanging from the roof of the room
severalfeet away from the fire. Akbar asked Birbal that how he expects
for a fire to cook khichdi from such a distance. Birbal very
intelligently replied that the same way the poor man received warmth
from a lamp post so far away from himself. Akbar once left speechless
and had to pay thepoor man at the end.

6b] Ramadan 2012, The 28th Day

not evident today: A capacity to replicate without the helpof proteins
and an ability to catalyze every step of protein synthesis.(Leslie
E.Orgel, "The Origin of Life on the Earth", Scientific American,
October 1994, Vol. 271, p. 78)
It is of course impossible for such a RNA to exist.
Hazrat Mahdi (as) Will Be Born In A BigCity And Then Come To Istanbul
The Messenger of Allah(saas) said: " … a man [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] of
the people of Medina (a big city) will come forth to Mecca. People
will bring him out against his will and swear allegiance to him
between the Corner and the Maqam. … (Mari' bin Yusuf Karami Hanbali,
Fawaid Fawaid al-Fikr fil Mahdi al-Montazar)
And on 69th page of Risalat al-Khuruj al-Mahdi,it is mentioned that
Hazrat Mahdi (as) "will come from the village ofKara." (Risalat
al-Khuruj al-Mahdi, p. 69)
The word "medina" is used in a metaphorical sense in the hadiths
handed down from the Prophet (saas). In other words, our Prophet
(saas) uses the word medina to mean very different things. There are
many large cities or "medinas" in the Islamic world. For that reason,
one can only tell in what sense the word medina is being used by
looking at other accounts on the subject.
In the hadith cited above, our Prophet (saas) says that Hazrat Mahdi
(as) willcome from medina, whereas in another hadith he says that
HazratMahdi (as) "will come from the village of Kara." Imam
al-Qurtubi's at-Tazkirah refers to Hazrat Mahdi (as) coming from the
western part of the Islamic countries . This statement shows that the
large city in which Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be born is in the western
part of the Islamic nations.
In another hadith, our Prophet (saas) tells his interlocutor that
Hazrat Mahdi (as) will perform the spiritual capture of medina, in
other words, a big city. In the account, because there were many
medinas (or big cities), theperson speaking to the Prophet (saas) was
uncertain which medina, in other words which big city, Hazrat Mahdi
(as) would achieve the spiritual conquest of. He therefore asked the
Prophet (saas) which medina (or big city) he meant.
The Prophet (saas) answered that this medina (city) was Constantinople
(Istanbul).
Narrated by ibn Amr, who said: "… The Messenger of Allah (saas) said,
'Six things will happen to this community: … The sixth isthe conquest
of medina.' Iasked, 'O Messenger of Allah, which medina?' He said,
'Constantinople [Istanbul].'" [This is the spiritual conquest of
Istanbul by Hazrat Mahdi (as).]
(Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ali-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 204; Ahmad Diya ad-Din
al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith 1/296)
Therefore, the word medina is used by the Prophet (saas) in this
hadith in the sense of a great city in order to referto Istanbul.
Another hadith reveals that HazratMahdi (as) will emerge from the city
that contains the sacred relics, including the sacred banner of our
Prophet (saas). The banner and other sacred relics of the Prophet
(saas) are currently kept in a special section of Istanbul's Topkapi
Palace.
It is related from Abdullah ibn Shurafa that:Hazrat Mahdi (as) will
have the banner of our Prophet (saas) with him. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi,
Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 65)
He [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] willappear with the camel hair banner of the
Prophet (saas). That banner has four corners, isunstitched and black
in color. There is a halo on it.It has not been unfurled since the
death of the Messenger of Allah (saas), but it will be opened when
Hazrat Mahdi (as) appears. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat
al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 23)
As for signs, he [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will have with him the shirt, the
sword, and the banner of the Messenger of Allah (saas). That banner
has never been unfurled since the death of the Prophet (saas). And, it
will not be unfurled until the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as).
(Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 164)
It appears from the abovehadiths that the sacred relics of our Prophet
(saas) are where Hazrat Mahdi (as) is, and that the banner will be
opened up when he appears. Since the sacred relics are in Istanbul, it
is clear that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be in Istanbul, too.
However, one can also seefrom looking at other accounts that the city
of Hazrat Mahdi's (as) birth and the city in the west ofthe Islamic
world is a different medina or city from the one that he will
spiritually conquer. For example, it can be seen from the description
in this hadith that the city that Hazrat Mahdi (as) willcapture,
Istanbul, is one inwhich a dry path will be opened up in the sea, in
other words, in which a bridge system will be used.
During the conquest of Constantinople he [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will
plant a standard when he goes to make ablution for the morning
prayer,.../