THE PRAYER THAT WAS GRANTED

He was lame in one foot and like other multi-theists, he worshipped
idols. He had also once been the custodian of one of the idol temples
ofthe city of Medina.
With the spread of Islam, people gave up idolatry and came to believe
in the Oneness of God. However, he continued to believe in idols. With
complete sincerity, he worshipped the idol he himself hadmade. He
prayed to it for his needs.
The young children of hiscity stole his idol many times and threw it
among the rubbish so that he would stop worshipping idols. However he
continued toworship the idols. He would take a great deal of trouble
finding it and then he would take it home, clean and scent it and
start worshipping the idol again.
He used to say to the idol:"If I only knew who takesyou, I would make
him pay for it. But believe me,I do not know who he is!"
He continued in this way worshipping idols until one day he was faced
with a strange scene - he saw that someone had tied his idol to the
corpseof an animal and had thrown it in the middle of a pit!
Upon seeing this, he was taken aback. In fact, he could not believe
such aninsult had been made to his idol. He decided to take the idol
to his home again and apologize when suddenly an idea occurred to him.
He asked himself, "Really, what sort of a god is this idol? Why is it
so helpless and miserable? Why is it unable to defend itself? How can
such a weak thing be my protector?"..and thus he came to realize the
truth and to hate such a weak god who was unable to do anything. He
then reproached himself for having been an idolater. It was then that
the sparkof faith lit up his heart so that while shedding tearsof
remorse, he started repenting. In this way he came to believe in the
unique God and he became one of the most devoted Muslim.
A few years later, when the multi-theists attempted to fight and
destroy Islam, he hurried to help God's religion and thereby left a
splendid reminiscence.
The city of Medina was over-excited. People were getting themselves
ready for a great war with the infidels and multi-theists of the
Quraish in order to give them the punishment they deserved and to
prevent their further oppression.
Each of the Muslim hurriedly tried to be the first to announce his
readiness to help the Holy Prophet of Islam in fighting against the
enemies of Islam.
Amr bin Jamuh, the lame man whom we have already mentioned was, like
other Muslims, desirous of defending Islam alongside the Holy Leader
of Islam. But each time he remembered thathe was lame in one leg, he
became rather annoyed and worried lest the Holy Prophet should not
allow him to go to war.
Amr had three sons who were all ready to go to the battlefield.
However, he himself was sad and said, "Today I must stay at home and
not go to the jihad (religious and spiritual struggle in the way of
God) on account of my lame leg! It will be a dishonor if I die in bed
while I know my jihad is necessary and useful for the cause of Islam.
Why should I not fight for the cause of God and achievethe sublime
honor of martyrdom?"
As Amr was thus talking to himself, a thought occurred to him, which
made his heart tremble with joy and his eyes flash with eagerness. He
seemed to have found the solution to his problem. Limping, he
rantowards his house and called his wife, Hind, in a loud voice.
Hind went to her husband rather amazed and asked, "Amr what is the matter?"
"Hurry up. Hurry up. Bring me whatever is left over from my son's war
equipment. I want to take part in this battle. Hurry up..."
"What are you saying, Amr. God has exempted people like you from fighting..."
"Stop saying that. Do you want your husband to stay at home while your
sons acquire the glorious blessing of martyrdom? I swear by God that
I, too, am longing for martyrdom and wish to defend Islam as my sons
do. Of course, I love you, but I cannot prefer my love for you to my
love for meeting my God. Moreover, though God has exempted me from
fighting, He has not prohibited me from doing so. Now please prepare
my things quickly."
Think over it that by simply granting you the privilege of praying for
His favors and mercy, He has handed over the keysof His treasures to
you. Whenever you are in need, pray, and He gives His favors and
blessings. Imam Ali [A.S.] Seeing that her husband was so determined
to take part in the battle and would by no means change his mind, Hind
did not say anything more and hurriedly got his things together.
However, as she was worried about her husband, she quickly went to the
chief of the tribe and her family to see if they might be able to
convince him from going to the battlefront. She then returned to her
home with them.
Amr was quite ready. He had put on his chain, put his helmet on his
head, drawn his sword out of its sheath and was looking at them.
When Amr observed that his wife had gathered the chief of the tribe to
prevent his going to war,he turned to him with a determined face and
said, "Do not insist. It is useless. I will not change my decision!"
But the chief of the tribe went on insisting that he should not go to
the battlefront. Their reasoning was that it wasimpossible for a lame
man to fight.
The old man was not ableto make them understand that his love for God
and for martyrdom could not easily be driven out of the heart of a
Muslim. Finally, he had no choice but to go to the Holy Prophet with
his family and with the chief of the tribe and to obey whatever
command he would give him.
When they were in the presence of the Prophet, Amr said, "Oh Prophet
of God, my relatives want toprevent me from going to the jihad. They
want to imprison me at home while I am so eagerly desirous of jihad
and fighting for God's sake with this very lame leg."
The Holy Prophet answered, "Oh Amr! God has exempted you from jihad.
Fighting is not a duty of yours."
"I know oh Messenger of God, but I ask that you allow me to fight
against the enemies of Islam alongside you. I beg of you not to
disappoint me..."
When the great Prophet saw that the fire of faith was so enflaming in
Amr's pure heart, he gavehim an affectionate look and then addressing
his relatives and the chief of his tribe, said, "Do not disturb him.
Let him go to the battlefield. Martyrdom is his heart's desire.
Perhaps God will grant him this blessing." And thus Amr went to
thewarfront.
As the battle broke out, all saw Amr attacking the core of the enemy's
army like a powerful, angry lion and shouting,"Where are you, enemies
of God? I challenge you all because I desire to meet my God."
His sons, too, were busy fighting and creating memorable legends on
the battlefield. God witnessed the combat of the brave fighters who
were defending their divine faith. Amr and oneof his sons fought and
fought and were so severely wounded that they finally fell to the
ground while their bodies were covered with blood. Thus they
sacrificed their lives for their truthful faith. Like afaded tulip,
Amr was resting in the middle of the battlefield.
And after a while, the battle ended. The womenof Medina hurried to the
battlefield to see what had happened to their combatant men.
Some had spread the rumor that the Prophet had been martyred. They
were all anxious to knowwhether that heart-rending news was true.
Ayesha, the Holy Prophet's wife, was among these women. As she, was
going towards the battlefield, she saw that Hind, Amr's wife, hadput
the corpses of her martyred husband and son on a camel and was holding
its halter in her hands, but the camel refused to move on!
Ayesha asked her, "What news can you give me?"
Hind answered, "Many thanks to the Gracious God for the Holy Prophet
is safe and sound. I feel no sorrow as long as God's Prophet is
healthy and safe."
Ayesha asked her,"Whose corpses are these?"
"These are the corpses of my husband, my son and my brother and I want
to bury them in Medina. ButI wonder why the camel does not go ahead
and seems to be inclined to return to the battlefield."
No matter how hard Hindtried to make the camel go to Medina, she
failed and instead she observedthat the camel started going towards
Uhud in which place the battle had taken place.
Hind had no choice but to follow the camel and when she reached Uhud
she went straight to the Holy Prophet and told him the whole matter.
The Holy Prophet of Islamasked, "Did Amr not say anything when he was
leaving Medina for the battlefield?"
"Yes, he did, oh Prophet of God. He begged God not to return him to Medina."
"Then his prayers have been heard by Almighty God. Now we will bury
the three of them in Uhud."
After the three bloody bodies had been buried, the Holy Prophet said
to Hind, "In the next world, too, they will be together. How blessed
they are!"
While shedding tears of love for God and for the believers, Hind asked
the Holy Prophet, "Oh Prophet of God, please pray for me so I too
might join them and share in their blessings." And the Holy Prophet
prayed for all of them.

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Story |- A TRUE LIFE STORY SHARED BY PASTOR EA ADEBOYE AND WRITTEN BY INSPIRATIONAL TOUCH ADMIN.

There was a woman, his son was epileptic,anywhere she goes with his
son, people chase her away, because they believe if the son falls down
due to the epilepsy, and get up, anybody that sees him get up will
contact the epilepsy [ Superstitous believe]
There came a time, when the woman was going to the market with his
son, his son fell down dueto the epilepsy, everybody in the market ran
away, leaving the woman and his son alone, the woman carried his son
and cried out to God saying, " God do something now since the people
ran away leaving only me and my son here, you are the only one i have
now" Miraculously his son got up and was totally healed from epilepsy
starting from that day.
...
Beloved There is nothing difficult that God cannot do, have people
mock and laught at you? Have your family given up on you? Have people
rejected you? Have people layed false allegation on you? Have people
call you barren woman?
I have a goodnews for you the Lord is going to wipe your tears
tonight, he's the God of Impossibility, there's no problem our God
cannot handle.
Now by the name that is above all other names, receive solutions to
your problems now, you shall never be frustrated by the devil, that
devil is a liar, you shall sing a new song of Joy before the end of
this month in Jesus name.
Say an Amen to claimthis prayer and see miracles happening for you.

Story |- WHOM TO BLAME

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a
Loving couple and the boy was the gem of their eyes.
When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a
medicine bottle open. He was late for office so he asked his wife to
cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in
the kitchen totally forgot about the open medicinebottle.
The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle fascinated by
its color and drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine
Meant for adults in small dosages. When the child collapsed, mother
hurried him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was stunned.She
was terrified how to face her husband.
When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead
child, he looked at his wife and uttered just five words.
The husband just said "I am with you Darling." The husband's totally
unexpected reaction is a proactive behavior.
The Child is dead. He can never be brought back tolife.
There is no point in finding fault with the mother. Besides, if only
he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not have
happened.
No one is to be blamed. She had also lost her onlychild. What she
needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband.
That is what he gave her.
If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there
would be much fewer problems in the world. "A journey of a thousand
miles Begins with a single step." Take off all your envies,
jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears. Andyou will find
things are actually not as difficult asyou think.
Moral of the Story:
Sometimes we spend time in asking who is responsible or whom to blame,
whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we know. By
this way we miss out some warmth in human relationship.

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Tawaf of Kaaba: in line with the Cosmic Law

Allah Almighty says: "And He it is Who created the night and the day,
and the sun and the moon, each in an orbit floating." (Al-Anbiya, 21:
33)
This glorious verse refers to a scientific fact concerning the system
of the universe. Scientific discoveries have proved that we live in a
huge universe that depends onrevolution. The earth revolves round the
sun once a year, the moon revolves around the earth once per lunar
month, and the other planets of the solar system also revolve round
the sun, each in itsown orbit. Besides, most of these planets have
moons that revolve around them, each, also in its own orbit.
Astronomers have discovered more than 60 of these moons so far.
The solar system, likewise, orbits a center of our galaxy, the Milky
Way. This galaxy consists of more than 130 billion stars. Galaxies, in
turn, revolve round a center that only Almighty Allah knows.
The law of revolution applies also to atoms, thesmallest units of
elementsthat cannot be seen even by microscopes. An atom is composed
of a nucleus whose diameter is less than a millionth of a millimeter.
An atom is surrounded by electrons that move round the atom in an
orbit. Since allmatter in the universe-whether solid, liquid, or
gaseous consists of atoms, this means that the law of revolution
applies to everything: stars, planets, moons, animals, plants, sand,
seas, air, and so on.
This includes cells as well.The cytoplasm in the cell moves around the nucleus.
There is a common factorbetween the orbital movements of all the
objects referred to above, this is, and their revolution is
anti-clockwise.
Contemplating the above lines, we come to realize that revolution is a
cosmic law.
With a believer's meditation upon such a scientific fact, another
image of revolution is brought to one s mind: the pilgrim's
circumambulation of the Kaaba, which is a basic ritual of Hajj in
Islam.
Circumambulating the Kaaba is a symbolic act ofworship, whose wisdom
may be hidden from some. It indicates the believer's utter submission
to Almighty Allah alone. The pilgrims go to Hajj in response to the
divine order that Prophet Ibrahim or Prophet Abraham (peace be upon
him) conveyed to people.
Allah Almighty says: "And (remember) when We showed Ibrahim the site
of the (Sacred) House (the Kaaba at Makkah), saying: Ascribe not
anything (in worship) with Me, and sanctify My House for those who
circumambulate it, and those who stand up (for prayer), and those who
bow (submit themselves with humility and obedience to Allah), and make
prostration (in prayer). And proclaim to mankind the Hajj
(pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel,
theywill come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (to
perform Hajj)." (Al-Hajj, 22:26-27).
This signifies that the Kaaba is the spiritual center of the
believers. It refers to the close bond that should be between
abeliever and his Lord. A believer turns toward theKaaba five times a
day during the prescribed ritual Prayers.
A pilgrim circumambulates the Kaaba as if he or she is a celestial
body orbiting another greater body. Circumambulation of the Kaaba is
to be performedanti-clockwise. This indicates that there is a joint
factor between a pilgrim's expressing his ultimate faith in
AlmightyAllah by circumambulating the Kaaba in that way and between
the cosmic laws of revolution discussed above. This indicates
thatthere is consistency between the obligations of worship in Islam
and the natural laws that govern the universe, which indicates that
theyall belong to only one source, that is, Almighty Allah.
This proves the truthfulness of the call of Islam that there is no
godbut Almighty Allah. Thus, Islam is the true religion that provides
humankindwith a comprehensive view in conformity with the divine truth
that is apparent in the natural laws of the universe.
Tawaf: Utmost degree of love
Circumambulation meansto go round something. This act shows the
utmostdegree of love to the extent that a lover wishesto sacrifice
himself for the beloved. A real pilgrim who has thirst formeeting his
Beloved has been detached from everything. By going round the House of
the Beloved, he wishes to prove that he desires nothing but God.
The planets circumambulate the sun, for they take everything from it.
Inside an atom, the electrons circumambulate the protons. The whole
universe ranging from the invisible particles to the planets and
galaxies circumambulate. Man, being a part of the universe, should
circumambulate, too, with the difference that the planets
circumambulate in a compulsory way according to the laws of nature,
but man, the rational being and possessor of free will,
circumambulates with hislogic and will a House God has appointed to
honor human beings. Hence, it is natural for Muslims to offer their
prayers, to sit, to stand, to recite the Holy Quran, to sleep, to lie
down at the moment of death, to be put in grave, and finally to be in
that direction during their lifetimes and death.
"Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are
all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds." (Al-Anaam, 6:162)
Survival of the Kaaba, a wonder
It is a wonder that all the royal palaces built throughout history
have been demolished but the Kaaba, a house built of mud and stone
about four thousand years ago by Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and his son
Prophet Ismail (AS) in a parched land is still upright and will
continue to be loved by human beings until the Day of Judgment.
What is more wonderful is the attraction of this House. So many
glorious and majestic buildings in the world are found in areas of
good climate, but the Kaaba attracts people to itself without having
means of entertainment or being satisfying people's pleasure. The
reason however is natural. It is God Himself Who has created this
attraction in people's hearts through Prophet Ibrahim's supplication:
"And proclaim among men the pilgrimage: theywill come to you on foot
and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path." (The Holy
Quran, 22:27)
Kaaba Size and History
The small, cubed buildingknown as the kaaba may not rival skyscrapers
in height or mansions in width, but its impact on history and human
beings is unmatched. Thekaaba is the building towards which Muslims
face five times a day, everyday, in prayer. This has been the case
since the time of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) over
1400 years ago.
The Size of Kaaba:
The current height of the kaaba is 39 feet, 6 inches and total size
comes to 627 square feet. The inside room of the kaaba is 13x9 meters.
The kaaba's walls are one meter wide. The floor inside is 2.2 meters
higher than the place where people perform Tawaf.
The ceiling and roof are two levels made out of wood. They were
reconstructed with teak which is capped with stainless steel. The
walls are all made of stone. Thestones inside are unpolished, while
the ones outside are polished.
This small building has been constructed and reconstructed by Prophets
Adam, Ibrahim, Ismail and Muhammad (peace be upon them all).No other
building has had this honor. Yet, not very much is known about the
details of this small but significant building.
Holy Kaaba: The House of Allah (SWT) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The
Kaaba is covered by a black cloth known as 'Kiswa', which is produced
and changed every year. Special factory designed for the making of
Kiswa in Makkah. It costs approx. SR 17million.The cloth is made of
670kgs of Silver dyed black, about 120kgs of pure Gold and 50kgs of
Silver used in writing the Qur'anic verses over the cloth. The total
area of the cloth is 658sqr meter.
The Other Names of Kaaba:
Literally, kaaba in Arabic means a high place with respect and
prestige. The word kaaba may also be derivative of a word meaning a
cube. Some ofthese other names include:
1. Baitul Ateeq - which means, according to one meaning, the earliest
andancient. According to the second meaning, it means independent and
liberating. Both meanings could be taken.
2. Baitul Haram - the honorable house.
Scholars and historians say that kaaba has been reconstructed between
5 to 12 times. The very first construction of the kaabawas done by
Prophet Adam (peace be upon him). Allah says in Holy Quran that this
was the first house that was built for humanity to worship Allah.
After this, Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail (peace be upon them) rebuilt
kaaba.
The measurements of thekaaba's foundation by Prophet Ibrahim are as follows:
Eastern wall was 48 feet and 6 inches
Hateem side wall was 33 feet
Side between the black stone and the Yemeni corner was 30 feet
Western side was 46.5 feet
Following this, there were several constructions before the Prophet
Muhammad's (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) time.
Reconstruction of kaaba by Quraish:
Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) participated in one of
its reconstructions before he announced a Prophet.After a flash flood,
the kaaba was damaged and its walls cracked. It needed rebuilding.
This responsibility was divided among the Quraish's four tribes.
Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) helped with this
reconstruction.
Once the walls were erected, it was time to place the Black Stone,
(Hajar al-Aswad) on the eastern wall of the kaaba. Arguments erupted
about who would have the honor of putting the Black Stone in its
place. A fight was about to break out over the issue, when Abu
Umayyah, Makkah's oldest man, proposed that the first man to enter the
gate of the mosque the following morning would decide the matter. That
man wasthe Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam). The
Makkans were ecstatic. "This is the trustworthy one (Al-Ameen)" they
shoutedin a chorus. "This is Muhammad." He came to them and they asked
himto decide on the matter. He agreed.
Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) proposed a solution
that all agreed to - putting the Black Stone on a cloak, the elders of
each of the clans held on to one edgeof the cloak and carried the
stone to its place. TheProphet Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam)
then picked up the stone and placed it on the wall of kaaba.
Since the tribe of Quraishdid not have sufficient funds, this
reconstructiondid not include the entirefoundation of kaaba as built
by Prophet Ibrahim. This is the first time kaaba acquired the cubical
shape it has now, unlike the rectangle shape which it had earlier. The
portion of the kaaba left out is called Hateem now.

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