Let's Get Back To Islam

[umm Zachariah]

Miss Moppy- I'll see ya'



Miss Moppy and her brother Samy, have their first confrontation with death.


"Come on and put your shoes on Moppy. We have to give this food to Roy," said Samy.


"I'm trying to, but my foot is stuck," replied six year old Moppy.


"Give me your foot and I'll help you," offered her brother.


Samy tried to push Moppy's little foot into her shoe but it wouldn't go.


"You're hurting my toes. I'm not in a cartoon! I'm real you know!"


"I know you're real Mops. Looks like you need some new shoes," commented Samy.


"Got it!" said Moppy. "These one will do for another day, Inshaa Allah," she said happily.


"What do you have for Roy today?" asked Moppy.


"Oh just the usual bits of leftovers," said Samy.


"Isn't it funny that dogs eat all the things that we don't even like to touch," remarked Moppy.


"Allah made every creature for a purpose," said Samy thoughtfully.


"Maybe He made Roy and the other dogs to clean up all the garbage," said Moppy.


"And to be my friend too," added Samy.


"Are you friends with a dog, Samy?" asked Moppy curiously. "Aren't dogs dirty?"


"Yes, dogs are dirty but that doesn't mean we have to be cruel to them. I'm nice to Roy and I love watching him play. There's a lot of times he has come to my rescue when another dog was chasing me," said Samy lovingly.


"And he always meets you at the bus stop after school," added Moppy with a smile.


"And walks with me to the bus stop in the mornings," said Samy. "He knows when I feel sad," observed Samy.


"How does he know that?" asked Moppy.


"I don't know. He just knows and he walks behind me quietly. He lives in this garden and it's his home. We're neighbours," said Samy.


"That reminds me of Molly," said Moppy.


"How can Molly remind you of a big, strong, clever dog like Roy?" asked Samy surprised.


"Well, she's big and strong umm for a guinea pig," said Moppy proudly. "And Allah made her for a purpose too and she's my friend."


"She looks like a rat!" said Samy laughing.


"No, she doesn't! She's more like a rabbit with small ears and no tail," said Moppy defensively.


"Wait here Moppy," said Samy, "I want to speak to my friend for a minute."


Samy left Moppy standing underneath a beautiful palm tree. Its leaves fanned the little girl, as it moved in time with the breeze while she waited for her brother to return.


One look at Samy's face and Moppy knew something was wrong.


Samy quietly brushed a tear from his face and sat down on the grass under the palm tree.


"What's the matter?" asked Moppy gently.


Samy stared intently at a little yellow flower growing out of the bottom of a rock.


"Roy's dead," he said, with such a look of such sadness that Moppy reached out her little, chubby hand to touch him gently.


"Inna lillahi wa ina illahi ragioon. From Allah we come, and to Allah we return," said Moppy, her big brown eyes full of sadness.


"Most of the dogs in the area were shot last night," said Samy.


"With guns?" asked Moppy surprised. "Who's going to clean up all the garbage now?" she asked.


"And who's going to meet me at the bus stop?" added Samy. Tears fell again and he put his head on his knees.


"I'll meet you Samy! Me and Molly will come and meet you everyday. Don't you worry. I'll put her in the little, red, shopping basket. She'll like going for a walk."


"Thanks Moppy but I really miss Roy. There aren't many dogs like him. Now he's gone."


Moppy sat up straight and looked firmly at Samy.


"Well he belongs to Allah and it's up to Him to decide when He wants him back. Right?!"


"Right Moppy," said Samy starting to sit up straight.


"So, you're lucky to have had a friend for three whole years and other kids never had a friend like Roy at all!"Samy looked at Moppy and listened.


"And he'll wake up again you know! Mum told me all about it. I know he'll wake up again!!" said Moppy.


"When?" asked Samy.


"On the Day of Judgment, you know 'Yaum al Qiyamah! That's when everything and everyone will wake up again," said Moppy with certainty.


"And Allah will judge everyone for what they did in this life," added Samy.


"Allah will ask us how we treated Roy," added Samy.


"And Molly," added Moppy. "And we treat them nicely, don't we Samy?"


"I hope Allah will be pleased with us. And maybe we get to see Roy again then."


"Inshaa Allah," said Moppy.


"You're getting bigger all the time," said Samy, wiping his face again.


Moppy reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet.


"Come on Samy, let's see if we can find another cat or dog who'll eat these scraps. Guinea pigs don't like chicken bones!"

[umm Zachariah]

TELLING THE TRUTH



Telling the truth is a very good habit. If you always speak the truth, you can save yourself from a lot of trouble! Here is a story of a man who did a lot of bad things, but his promise to tell the truth saved him.


Once a man came to the prophet Muhammad (S) and said, "Oh prophet of Allah, I have many bad habits. Which one of them should I give up first?" The prophet said, "Give up telling lies first and always speak the truth." The man promised to do so and went home.


At night the man was about to go out to steal. Before setting out, he thought for a moment about the promise he made with the prophet. "If tomorrow the prophet asks me where have I been, what shall I say? Shall I say that I went out stealing? No, I cannot say that. But nor can I lie. If I tell the truth, everyone will start hating me and call me a thief. I would be punished for stealing."


So the man decided not to steal that night, and gave up this bad habit.


Next day, he felt like drinking wine, when he was about to do so, he said to himself, "What shall I say to the prophet if he asks me what did I do during the day? I cannot tell a lie, and if I speak the truth people will hate me, because a Muslim is not allowed to drink wine." And so he gave up the idea of drinking wine.


In this way, whenever the man thought of doing something bad, he remembered his promise to tell the truth at all times. One by one, he gave up all his bad habits and became a good Muslim and a very good person.


If you always speak the truth, you can be a good person, a good Muslim whom Allah likes and favors. If Allah - our Creator - is pleased with us, He will reward us with PARADISE, which is a place of happiness and joy.


MAKE A PROMISE: I SHALL ALWAYS SPEAK THE TRUTH.

[umm Zachariah]

The Elephant Mahmud



Have you ever seen an elephant in the zoo? And have you ever ridden on its back? Or I guess you were so frightened from its huge size? And have you seen its trunk? What does it do with it, and how does it move it? What is its use to elephants?


Do you know the origin of this huge animal, and does it reproduce? Or what does it eat? Do you know what the name of its female is, and how long it lives? Do you know whether it is a friendly or a ravenous animal?


All of these are questions that you would certainly like to know their answers.


In the next few lines Insha-Allah- (if Allah wills) - I will answer all these questions, and I will tell you a story about a great believer elephant called "Mahmud" that had an honorable situation in the "Elephant Battle" which was mentioned in the Qur'an.


The original countries of elephants are mainly India and Ethiopia, then, they moved from their original lands to many Places like Persia where Man managed to take them to many places on earth.


In fact, there is another main home for elephants, which is the southern American forests where there are so many dense jungles. Elephants were then moved from Persia to some Arab countries where they were trained and they became after training one of the very close and friendly type of animals to man.


Elephants, therefore, are either wild that live in the jungles, or domestic that live with people, or in the zoo.


A female elephant carries its baby in its womb seven years before it gives birth to a well-grown elephant baby with full teeth, non-missing organs although it is small in size.


The young elephant walks just behind its mother and it sucks its mother's milk until it can manage to get its food which is usually green grass just like the other beasts as cows and buffaloes.


The elephant is one of the long-life animals, which lives as an average from eighty to a hundred years, and the wild lives more than the domestic one. It is really an intelligent animal, which is tamable and capable of training.


Moreover, it was recorded that Indians and Persians used to train elephants to fight by swords: they simply used to tie a heavy big sharp sword by their trunk and release them during the battles where they swat here and there severely aided by their flexible strong fast trunks.


The elephant is one of the biggest animals, but in spite of its size, it moves swiftly and runs quickly. Moreover, it has a clear mind and a sense of humor, and it is capable of carrying very large weights.


The elephant is also capable of wading into deep water, but while doing this; it should let its trunk stay out in the air in order to breathe, that is because its nose is at the end of its trunk.


If we suppose that a quarrel occurred between a wild elephant and a lion, then the elephant usually would be the winner.


Zoologists say that whenever you cut the trunk of an elephant, it dies. This was really confirmed by what 'Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) did at the Qadissiyah battle: he ordered his army to cut the elephants' trunks by swords, and indeed they all died.


It is time now to narrate to you a story, which happened a long time ago and was mentioned in the history books and in the Noble Qur'an. It is the story of "the Owners of the Elephant" and the Surah (chapter) is Surat Al-Fil (The Elephant), and the main character of this story was the elephant "Mahmud."


The story of the army of the elephant (Qur'an 105:1-5)



This incident happened in the birth year of Prophet Muhammad [sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam (SAWS) / peace be upon him]. Abrahah Al-Ashram was the governor of Yemen on behalf of the king of Ethiopia (as Yemen was a part of the Ethiopian kingdom).


Abrahah thought to build a house (like the Ka'bah at Makkah) in San'a' (the capital of Yemen) and to call the Arabs to perform the pilgrimage there in San'a' instead of the Ka'bah (Al-Bait Al-Haram) in Makkah, with the intention of diverting the trade and benefits from Makkah to Yemen.


Abrahah presented his idea to the king of Ethiopia who agreed to this idea. So a church was built and named Al-Qullais; there was no church of its like at that time. Then a man from the Quraish tribe of Makkah came there and was infuriated by it, so he relieved his nature (stools and urine) in it, soiled its walls and went away.


When Abrahah Al-Ashram saw that, he could not control his anger. He decided to make sure that the man who did that was one of the Arabs. So, he sent one of his men to a tribe called "Kinanah" but they killed that man. Therefore, Abrahah became very angry and raised an army to invade Makkah and demolish the Ka'bah. He used in that army, thirteen elephants and amongst them was an elephant called Mahmud, which was the biggest of them.


So that army proceeded and none amongst the Arab tribes fought against them but was killed and defeated.


One of the honorable men in the Arab tribes in Yemen called Dhou Nafar came to Abrahah and asked him to stop his invasion to Makkah, but Abrahah arrested him and took him as prisoner to show him the way to Makkah.


On his way, he passed by a place called Khath'am and he was interrupted by a man called Nufail Ibn Habib in order to protect the House of Allah with his army. Abrahah defeated them as usual and took Nufail as a prisoner. When he reached At-Ta'if, the chief of a Banu Thaqif who was called Masud Ibn Mu'tib did not fight him but rather behaved friendly for the sake of their statue 'Al-Latt idol, which was in Makkah.


Massud offered Abrahah a man called Abu Rughal in order to show him the way to Makkah. But before they reached, Abu Rughal had died and he was buried in a place near Makkah called Al-Mughammis, and his grave is still known till now. The Arabs used to stone his grave and some Muslims today stone his cursed grave.


Abrahah took some camels in his way, which were owned by the chief of Makkah 'Abdul-Muttalib Ibn Hashim, the grandfather of the Prophet (SAWS) and they were two hundred camels. 'Abdul-Muttalib knew that, but he was brave and had a good speech, so he asked Abrahah to return his camels.


In fact, Abrahah admired 'Abdul-Muttalib for his bravery, but he asked him with wonder: "How do you ask for your camels while you know that I am coming to destroy the Ka'bah?" 'Abdul-Muttalib then said: "I am the owner of the camels, and I will protect them, but Allah is the Rabb (Lord) of His House and He shall protect it. Then negotiations started between Abrahah Al-Ashram and 'Abdul-Muttalib, and it was concluded that Abrahah would restore the camels of 'Abdul-Muttalib which he had taken away, and then Abrahah Al-Ashram would decide as regard the Ka'bah.


'Abdul-Muttalib ordered the men of Makkah to evacuate the city and go to the top of the mountains along with their wives and their children lest some harm should come to them from the invading oppressors. Then that army moved towards Makkah till they reached Muhassir Valley.


The elephant Mahmud refused to walk towards the Ka'bah, so the army decided that they had to destroy it using their hammers.


While the army was marching towards Makkah, in the middle of the valley, suddenly it was overtaken by heavenly flocks of birds, flocks after flocks, air-raiding that army with small stones slightly bigger than a lentil seed. There never fell a stone on a soldier except it dissolved his flesh and burst it into pieces. So they perished with a total destruction.


Abrahah Al-Ashram fled away while his flesh was bursting into pieces till he died on the way to Yemen. Such was the victory bestowed by Allah the All-Majestic, All-Powerful on the people of Makkah and such was the protection provided by Him for His House, The Ka'bah in Makkah.