The weed and the Great Oak tree

A weed, seeing a field of deforestation spread its seeds until its offsprings covered the field. The weeds grew wide and tall in the absence of better flora until they covered the stumps of once great oaks that have been cut down. 

When it and its offsprings covered the field, the weed pronounced: "Truly we are the chosen, the best of plants prefered by the heavens and the Earth"

The heavens and the Earth on the other hand thought different. In the absence of the great oaks though, they are forced to make do with mere weeds. However, they continued to foster the hope that the great oaks would one day return. 

Although the great oaks, once mighty and propitious have all but disappeared, the Earth continued to nurse the seeds they left behind, and the heavens continued to provide for them. 

The weeds, useless and damaging as they are, sapped the Earth of its nutrients and despoiled the gifts of the heaven. 

In the presence of the weeds, the young seedlings of the great oaks were hard put to bloom. Many were desiccated for lack of nutrition. Despite all that, a few seedlings survived, they were the best of the greatest tree. While the heavens and Earth provided for the weak and useless weeds, they prefered the great oak seedlings and provided even more for them. 

Then one day, from the swaying field of weeds, the first shoots of great oak seedlings broke through. Another followed shortly after the first, and then a third, and then there was nothing the weeds could do to stop the return of the great oaks. 

Once the great oaks beloved to the heaven and the Earth returned, they provided for them in abundance and with eagerness. The weeds for whom the heaven and the Earth provided for only with reluctance quickly died out once the true chosen children returned. 

Lessons: 

1. The world, by Allahs Mercy prefers the good over the evil doers. However, when the good servants of Allah vacate their seat of power for a lesser existence, the world is left with no choice but to provide for the evil doers that usurp the seat of power. But even though it must provide for the evil doers, the world only does so with reluctance, and when the righteous servants of Allah return once more, the world in its entirety will provide for them and turn against the malignant evil doers.
2. Zionist terrorists and their stooges, the iron fisted dictators of Syria, Myanmar, and other unsung heroes of maleficence; they appear to be blessed with power over their apparently weaker victims. Their illusory powers are but the result of the absence of Allahs true servants - the true chosen children. When they return once more to reclaim their rightful place, at that time the whole world will turn against the enemies of Allah that it has had to unwillingly sustain. 

HUDA: Preparing for Ramadhan

The 4 brothers

There were once 4 brothers who were learned in the sciences. Their knowledge was unmatched in each of their fields and one day they proclaimed that they will challenge death itself.

The first brother who was versed in the apothecary sciences made medicine for every conceivable illness. One day a new illness the nature of which was yet unknown appeared. While searching for the cure, the first brother caught the illness and succumbed to death.

The second brother was learned in the arts of carpentry. He sought to make replacements for every part of the human body so that should a man fall ill or injure his body, all he has to do is replace it. One day the second brother got involved in a motor vehicle accident. His head and brain were crushed with no time to go into surgery, and so the second brother lost to death. 

The 3rd brother, seeing the profitless outcome of his brothers' travails sought to specialise in the science of prevention. For every aspect of life, he made preventive measures against illness. He worked, slept, ate and even bathed in the most scientifically 'correct' way. He eschewed all risks and always took the safest path. And for himself he built a sterile fortress that would protect him from both illness and the dangers of the world. Unfortunately, for all his preventive science, this brother was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer and died within six months of the diagnosis.

The 4^th brother was learned in the science of Truth. He sought not to challenge death by attempting to outrun it, but by accepting it and preparing for it. He lived a fulfilling life serving Allah, preparing for his time so that when death finally came to him, he willingly returned his life to its true Owner.  And so the 4th brother defeated death, not by trying to escape it, but by accepting it for what it truly is. 

The lion, the hyena and the ass

An ass entered into an alliance with a pack of hyenas to overthrow the Lion.

"We shall tie you to a branch below which we will dig a hole for the lion to fall into" the prime hyena said. "After we are rid of the lion, we will free you and all the grazing grounds will be yours".

As a token of their alliance, the hyenas gifted the ass and his family with a patch of grazing ground. "Much more will be yours once our deed is done" the prime hyena promised. The ass was so delighted that he moved his family to their new grazing ground immediately. 

Just get tied up and sit still, and all that is mine, the ass thought. What an easy life. 

And so tied he was to the branch of a tree to be a bait for the lion.

The lion, king though he was, could not resist the temptation of a free meal served on a silver platter. He stepped right into the hyenas trap, and for all his might, was rendered helpless at the bottom of the hyenas pit.


With the lion gone, the hyenas rose to the top of the food chain.


Seeing their success, the ass cheered jovially. 


"Now untie me as you promised and let us celebrate the victory of our alliance", the ass said with ignorant confidence. 


"Untie you?" the hyenas began to circle the ass, salivating with a wicked look in their eyes. "Now why would we want to let go of a nice, foolish lump of meat that came to surrender itself to our stomachs?" the prime hyena said. The other hyenas cackled. 


Only then did the foolish ass realise his stupidity, but then it was already too late.


"B...But you promised", the ass said in a small begging-for-mercy voice.


"We lied", the hyena replied without the slightest hesitation or remorse, as though lying was something as normal as breathing.


The hyenas tore the ass to shreds before going for his family which the foolish ass put in an all too obvious place.


Lessons:


1. Gentiles are nothing but fodder to the eyes of zionist terrorists. There is no such thing as an alliance with them. Fodder is just fodder, gentiles are just gentiles. 
2. To ally oneself with zionist terrorists is to surrender ones neck to their blades...and the necks of our loved ones.
3. Lying, conniving, backstabbing, breaking oaths. These are the basic components that make up a zionist terrorist. DON'T trust them. Period. Trust you your neck into the maw of a great white. Very smart.
4. Don't be an ass.

The archer

A young archer, hoping to improve his skills decided to enter an archery competition. In preparation for that day, he trained meticulously and prepared his best bow and arrow.

 

Although he had done everything he could, the young archer couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the more established archers. They were so confident, their shots so precise, and their names were etched on the wall of fame.

 

When his turn came, he went to the field heads down, his hand and feet trembling. But still, the young archer raised his bow, knocked an arrow took aim, and shoot. His first shot went wide and missed the target altogether. The spectators laughed.

 

The young archer ignored them. He knocked another arrow, took aim and shot his second arrow. THUD his shot struck the target. A good shot, but not perfect. Again he aimed and shot, and this time his shot hit the bulls-eye. Again and again, until the last arrow, he aimed and he shot. Sometimes his shots were good, sometimes not so much, but aim and shoot he did to the best of his abilities.

 

The reigning champion came up after the young archer, proud and confident. He took his stance, aimed…but he never took the shot. Overcome by anxiety borne from his expectation to achieve perfection, the champion forfeited; and he didn’t even take the shot.

 

Our novice young archer didn’t get first spot, but he did much better than the forfeit-er who didn't even try.

 

Lesson:

 

1. It is not enough to prepare, and aim – you must shoot!
2. It is not enough to have a goal, and prepare yourself for it. After doing all that, REALLY go for it! If you don’t ‘shoot’, you will never know what you can achieve.
3. We have a goal, and we have prepared ourselves all we can. We take aim, and we shoot. Our shot may be good, it may be not-so-good, or it may be totally horrible. If it is horrible then try again. Again and again, relentlessly without giving up, and maybe eventually we will hit the bulls-eye. If we don’t try, we won’t find out no?
4. Sometimes we may get what we aim for – we may hit the bulls-eye. But we won’t be hitting a bulls-eye every time, because we are HUMANS. Imperfect, and not infallible. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don’t. We will get to feel all that experience if we take the shot – if we DO.
5. Don’t be afraid to do something that you THINK you may do badly in. Doing badly is better than doing nothing I think, no? Maybe if you continue to try, you will hit something. If you don’t even try, you won’t EVER achieve anything.    

The story of two mountaineers

Two mountaineers wanted to conquer the ‘Peak of the World’. The first mountaineer began his training many months before the real climb. He started off by climbing easier mountains and when he had conquered those, he moved on to more difficult ones. One mountain after the other, he improved his stamina, strength and mental endurance, until finally he was as prepared as ever could be to try for the ultimate challenge.

As for the second mountaineer, well, he could hardly be called that. He had read articles and watched documentaries about men and women who have succeeded in reaching the peak of Everest, and he thought to himself that seems kinda cool, I think I’m gonna try for it myself. He didn’t bother training for it like the first mountaineer. Maybe he read a bit about mountaineering here and there, liked a few related facebook pages and blogs, talked about it with a few friends, dreamed and imagined himself on the front cover of National Geographic, a picture of him at the Peak of the World and then – poof he thought that he was a mountaineer able enough to scale the highest mountain in the world.

The two mountaineers met at the base of Mount Everest… They met and parted there, because the second mountaineer didn’t have the strength to go more than a few steps before he gave up. So much for sweet dreams and feisty imaginations.

Lessons:

1.       If you want to go high, you are going to have to be able to go lower first. If you want to conquer a mountain, you are going to have to be able to conquer easier mountains before going for the harder ones. If you want to reach a grand ambition, you are going to have to be able to reach lesser things first…If you want to have the strength to give your life to Allah, you are going to have to at least be able to sacrifice lesser things for Him first.

2.       The hardships we face in life are out training; building on our patience, our willingness to sacrifice for Allah. Perchance, maybe when He Deems us ready and worthy, Allah Most Benevolent will offer us the opportunity to give our lives to Him. And then – by His Will – we will have the ‘strength’, ‘stamina’ and ‘mental endurance’ to climb that mountain and reach its peak. To die in the cause of Allah is our greatest ambition.

3.       Be patient in facing the trials of life. Know that every hardship – as is every enjoyment – is from Allah. Everything that He Does has a purpose, and if we are true to Him, He will not forsake us.

“Fighting is prescribed upon you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah Knoweth, and ye know not”

[Surah al-Baqarah 2 : 216]     

The Curious Hunter

 Once there lived a hunter who loved to collect weapons. Long distance, short distance weapons, swords, daggers, maces, guns, machine guns, bazookas, tanks and jets. ‘All the more efficient to take down the hunt’, he would say, and collect weapons he did. The sight of his collection would make any animal tremble, and he was not poorly trained in their use either.

One fine day, the hunter decided that he wanted to hunt wolves. Winter was fast approaching and their pelts would keep him warm during the long nights. So off into the wilderness he went with a good many rifles, machine guns and a few bazookas just in case. Indeed he was a sight to be feared (or laughed at?).

His hunt though were not ones to fear men for they too were haunted by the long winter ahead, and a lone man with but his steels was game enough for their winter supply.

As the pack closed in on him, the hunter raised a rifle, took aim and…shot himself in the foot.

The wolves stopped their advance as the hunter cried out in pain; not because of the racket but because of the absurdity they just witnessed.

Next the hunter took out a hunting knife and…chopped off one of his own limbs. The wolves sat on their haunches and whined with puzzlement. What a weird human this one is, they thought.

As if that wasn’t enough, the hunter armed a machine gun and…maimed both of his legs.

Crippled and helpless, the hunter lay in a pool of his own blood and gore surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves – all the doings of his own hands.

The wolves stared at the hunter with bewilderment and curiosity. Then the alpha shrugged and resumed the hunt - massacre more likely. The wolves had a feast that night.

Lessons:

1. Knowledge is useless unless you use it. If you collect and possess a lot of weapons, but you do not use them when they are needed, then it would be as if you do not have them – worse in fact because you actually DO have them. Similarly if you possess all the knowledge in the world but you do not practice and apply them, then they are but useless baggage. What use is having a gun in your hands if you do not pull the trigger when a wolf comes for your throat…
2. Worse than useless is folly, and this is when one uses the resources at his disposal not for his own betterment but for his destruction. The Muslim Ummah is not short of resources – whether knowledge, funds or produces from the Earth. It would be almost impossible to deny the latter two, though the first may be contended. Our problem is that we use those very resources to destroy ourselves as the hunter maimed himself with his own weapons. And with that we present ourselves very nicely on silver platters to our enemies.
3. The Muslim Ummah is as a single body. When one part is hurt, the whole body feels the pain. Being heedless of the pain is still within the realm of logic – the work of the anaesthetist mayhap – but to willingly harm oneself, that is inanity manifest. We (the Muslim Ummah) are hurt: in Palestine, in Somalia…even in ‘peaceful’ and ‘prosperous’ Malaysia. Our bellies and our enemies anaesthetise us from those pains so we do not notice as the injuries fester and spread. But the really weird one is that we willingly maim ourselves: in Syria, in Palestine, in Egypt and…even here at home (no?). While wolves come for our throat, we use our own guns to cripple ourselves (rather than shoot the obvious threat). What logic explains that!?
4. Friend and foe. We mistake one for the other when we lose sight of our true GOAL. When we have veered off the straight, clear path that Rasulullah has shown us. Not an uncommon human error verily, yet one best corrected fast less our new crooked path destroys us – as the hunter shaped his own sorry end – and leads us to hellfire. Recall our original goal – ‘we seek naught but Allah’s Love and eternal Jannah by His Leave’.