A Strange Judgement
There were two women each of whom had a child with her. A wolf came and took away the child of one of them. Where upon the other said, “It has taken your child”, the first said, “but it has taken your child”. So, they both carried the case before Hazrat Dawood (David) (Peace be upon him) who judged that the living child should be given to the older lady. So both of them went to Hazrat Suleman (Peace be upon him) and informed him about the case. He said, “Bring me a knife so to cut the child into two pieces and distribute it between them. The younger lady said, `May Allah be merciful to you. Don’t do that, give the child to her, it is hers so he gave the child to the younger lady”. (Bukhari : 1/487)
Moral of the Story
Prophet Suleman (Peace be upon him) was a wise and kind king. He was endowed with a rare insight and deep sense of judgement. However Hazrat Suleman (Peace be upon him)asked Allah to grant him a great kingdom. The Holy Quran says: “He said, My lord! Forgive me and grant me a kingdom which will not belong to anyone else after me: For thou art the Grantor of Bounties (without measure). Then we subjected the wind to his power, to flow gently to his order, whithersoever he willed, as also the Satans including every kind of builder and diver. As also others bound together in fetters. “Such are our bounties whether thou bestow them (on others) or withhold them, no account will be asked. And he enjoyed indeed, A near approach to us. And a beautiful place of final return. (Quran: 38/35-40)
Hazrat Suleman (Peace be upon him) thanked his creator saying “O ye people! we have been taught the speech of birds. And we have been given everything. This indeed is a grace manifest (from Allah) (Quran : 27/16). It is obvious that such sort of Kingdom and sovereignty could not be established. Unless there be profound knowledge and sagacity. Only sophisticated, armies and well-equipped offices are not enough. Therefore, Allah granted Hazrat Suleman (Peace be upon him) a great wisdom and some other distinctive qualities. He was one of the wisest king of the world. Hazrat Suleman (Peace be upon him) possessed great power of judgement and wisdom. The Holy Quran itself makes a mention of the event which points out his ability to judge. “And remember Dawood and Suleman, when they gave judgement in the matter of the field into which the sheep of certain people had strayed by night: we did witness their judgement. To Solomon we inspired the right understanding of the matter: to each of them we gave judgement and knowledge.(Quran:21/78-79)
Allamah Ismael bin Kaseer with the reference of Hafiz bin Jareer and Ibn Abi Hatim has written a detailed of account of this event. A number of sheep ate up the whole garden of grapes, and did not leave any leaves and bunches of fruits too. The owner of the garden and the master of the sheep appeared before Hazrat Dawood (Peace be upon him). Hazrat Dawood (Peace be upon him) gave his decision that the herd of the sheep should be given to the owner of the garden as a compensation. Meanwhile, his son Hazrat Suleman (Peace be upon him) exclaimed that Hazrat Dawood (Peace be upon him) should not give such decision. The father asked his son, what he had to tell them. Then Hazrat Suleman (Peace be upon him) said, that the sheep should be given to the owner of the garden in order to get from them his livelihood. He also said that the garden should be granted to the master of the sheep and he had to work in the garden till it is restored to its previous condition and them the garden and the sheep should be returned to their rightful owners. (Ibn Kaseer : 2/156)
It is worthy to be mentioned here that the two decisions were interpretative decisions. There was a possibility of injustice in that decision. This sort of decision does not affect the right point of view as the perfect knowledge of right and wrong Allah alone knows. The Prophet (Pbuh) said, “When the ruler is sitting on judgement and he tries his level best to arrive at the truth and consequently he gives a right decision, he is entitled to double reward, and when he gives a decision after trying his utmost to do full justice, but fails to do so, he is entitled to single reward." (Muslim : 2/76)
The apostle of Allah (Pbuh) also said, “Verily, I am a human being and you come to me for decision And perhaps one of you is more eloquent to plead his case than the other one. So I gave decision in his favour on the basis of what I hear from him. Therefore, bear in mind that whom I give something out of his brother’s right (because of his glib tongue) he must not accept it since I slice for him a piece out of Hell-fire. (Bukhari : 2/1065)
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Caliph Umar's Historic Address at Jerusalem
After overseeing the surrender of Jerusalem and completing the tour of Syria when Caliph Umar was returning to Madina he led the prayer at Jabiah. On this occasion he delivered an address which is preserved in history. The major part of his address was: “O ye people I counsel you to read the Quran. Try to understand it and ponder over it. Imbibe the teachings of the Quran. Then practise what the Quran teaches. The Quran is not theoretical; it is a practical code of life. The Quran does not bring you the message of the Hereafter only; it is primarily intended to guide you in this life. Mould your life in accordance with the teachings of Islam for that is the way of your well being. By following any other way you will be inviting destruction. “Fear Allah (The One True God), and whatever you want seek from Him. All men are equal. Do not flatter those in authority. Do not seek favours from others. By such acts you demean yourself. And remember that you will get only that is ordained for you, and no one can give you anything against the will of God. Then why seek things from others over which they have no control? Only supplicate God for He alone is the sovereign.
“And speak the truth. Do not hesitate to say what you consider to be the truth. Say what you feel. Let your conscience be your guide. Let your intentions be good, for verily God is aware of your intentions. In your deeds your intentions count. Fear God, and fear no one else. Why fear others when you know that whatever sustenance ordained for you by God you will get under all circumstances? And again why fear when you know that death is ordained by God alone and will come only when He wills?
“Allah has for the time being made me your ruler. But I am one of you. No special privileges belong to ruler. I have some responsibilities to discharge, and in this I seek your cooperation. Government is a sacred trust, and it is my endeavour not to betray the trust in any way. For the fulfilment of the trust I have to be a watchman. I have to be strict. I have to enforce discipline. I have to run the administration not on the basis of personal idiosyncracies; I have to run it in public interest and for promoting the public good. For this we have the guidance in the Book of God. Whatever orders I issue in the course of day to day administration have to conform to the Quran. God has favoured us with Islam. He sent to us His Messenger Muhammad (Pbuh). He has chosen us for a mission. Let us fulfil that mission. That mission is the promotion of Islam. In Islam lies our safety; if we err we are doomed.”
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Hospitality
Zuhair bin Saghir
Islam has a glorious history comprising of such events where hospitality towards fellow beings, guests and other people takes precedence over all other aspects. In fact, Prophet Mohammad (Pbuh) had often urged people to be good hosts. He himself was an extraordinarily host.
We know that Hzt. Asma (R.A), daughter of Hzt. Abu Bakr (R.A) and the elder sister of Hzt. Ayesha (R.A) was a staunch follower of Islam in every respect. Her mother, Qela had not embraced Islam.
Once, she visited Madinah taking along some gifts for her daughter. Hzt Asma (R.A) was in a dilemma whether to accept the presents from her mother. She consulted the Holy Prophet about it. The Prophet (Pbuh) suggested to her to accept the gifts and keep her as a guest in her house.
Thereafter, she did so and was extremely cordial to her mother. Later on, her mother asked her to lend her some money. Hzt. Asma (Pbuh) wanted to help her mother, yet she began to ponder awhile knowing that her mother was a nonbeliever (Kafir). Once again, she put forth her problem before Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh). The Prophet replied, “Certainly. Go ahead and help her since Allah doesn’t want people to keep away from being generous.”
In this way, Hzt Asma (R.A) lent her mother the money she needed and behaved in an ideal manner.
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Astronomers Make Vast Map
A team of astronomers has created a map of the cosmos that covers the largest area of the universe ever charted, news reports said recently.
The three dimensional map charting 15,500 galaxies, covers and area so large that it would take 500 million years for a light shone on one side to reach the other, The Guardian newspaper said.
Superclusters gigantic structures made of clusters of galaxies are charted, and the spaces between them, called voids, offer important information about the expansion of the universe, the report said.
“It allows us to make a long-term forecast on the fundamental questions affecting our universe,’’ Professor Carlos Frenk of Furham University was quoted as saying in an interview with The Guardian.
Frenk is a member of the international research team that produced the map.
According to the Big Bang theory, gravity has kept the universe expanding since its creation. Scientists believe that to keep the universe expanding, more force is required than the gravitational power produced by the known galaxies, and that the extra force must come from invisible “dark matter,” the report said.
The new map gives researchers a way of calculating how much dark matter there is, and they have concluded there is sufficient gravitational force for expansion to continue forever, The Guardian said.
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Tala'a al-Badru 'Alayna
Tala’al-Badru ‘alayna,
min thaniyyatil-Wada’
wajaba al-shukru ‘alayna,
ma da’a lillahi da’
O the White Moon rose over us
From the Valley of Wada’
And we owe it to show gratefulness
Where the call is to Allah
Ayyuha al-mab’uthu fina
ji’ta bi-al-amri al-muta’
Ji’ta sharrafta al-Madinah
marhaban ya khayra da’
O you who were raised amongst us
coming with a work to be obeyed
You have brought to this city nobleness
Welcome! best call to God’s way
Tala’al-Badru ‘alayna,
min thaniyyatil-Wada’
wajaba al-shukru ‘alayna,
ma da’a lillahi da’
This is the song sung by girls of Madinah at the first arrival of the Prophet Muhammed (Pbuh) from Makkah.
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Eeman's story
Hello, as-salamu alaykum. My name is Eeman, I am five years old. I live in Paris which is the capital of France. It is a big city. I speak French and Arabic, and a little English. I can read in French, and I am starting to learn reading in Arabic. I have two schools. A French school: I go there on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. And an Arabic school where I go on Saturdays. There I learn Qur’an, I have got as far as “Tabbat yada’”. I learn some duas. I also learn to read and write Arabic letters and I learn words like the names of animals and fruit and vegetable and things. My teacher at the French school speaks to me in French, and my teacher at the Arabic school speaks to me in Arabic. Sometimes I go to the mosque with my daddy or my mummy when I am on holiday. My daddy has taught me many songs in Arabic. At home my daddy speaks to me in Arabic and my mummy speaks to me in French. Bye-bye, as-salamu alaykum!
From: “Umm Eeman Acid” (minou211@hotmail.com)
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Pearls of Wisdom
Great minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
God gives every bird its food,
But He does not throw it into its nest.
He who loses money, loses much;
He who loses a friend, loses more;
He who loses faith, loses all.
Beautiful young people are acts of nature,
But beautiful old people are works of art.
Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.
The tongue weighs practically nothing,
But so few people can hold it.
“Sultana Syeda”
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