The hands rebellion

One fine day, out of the blue, the hands suddenly decided that they were not satisfied with their lot. They compared themselves with the feet, the body parts that were most similar to themselves, and they questioned the different treatment meted out to each of them.

"Why do the feet get to do all the hard walking and we are pampered up here", the right hand questioned. "Is our strength being looked down upon? Does everyone think that we can't support the body like the feet? We want to do rough and tough jobs, we want to prove that we are just as strong as the feet"

"We want to lead like the feet!", the left hand proclaimed. "We hands are similar to the feet, what they can do, we should be able to do just as well. We too can walk and lead the body as they do"

And the list goes on with their rebellious demands to things like wanting coarse hair, demanding to enter (the smelly insides of) shoes, and refusing to hold a pen ("let the feet write for a change"). 

The other organs refused vehemently - which is understandable.  "Are you nuts!?" the brain exclaimed. "If we stood on you two, all the blood would pool in the head and suffocate me". 

"Do you want me to regurgitate all the food and acid inside me!?", the stomach disagreed. 

"Yeah, and give me reflux disease, and cause oesophageal cancer!?", the oesophagus continued.

Only the feet didn't say anything. Having the weight of the whole body lifted from them was not exactly a problem, even if they think that it will be weird switching places with the hands.

As a result of the hands rebellious and loud 'Brachio-ism' (brachio- denotes the arm) movement, the whole body had to suffer the hands' outlandish demands. The body stood on the hands.

The hand managed to support the body with some effort, and got in a few steps before fatigue set in. Despite that, they were persistent and they would have continued their misadventure if the whole body hadn't suddenly shut down.

As a result of their abnormal posture - the head being below - all the blood pooling into the brain caused a loss of consciousness. Everyone (or rather body parts/organs) was affected. The hands buckled and the body fell, comatose. Result of the hands rebellion against its nature.

Lessons:

1. Man and woman are similar, but not the same. We are equal in the eyes of Allah. The only thing differing each of us is our taqwa.

2. The one saying that there is a difference between men and women are the feminists, and the male chauvinists. Nowhere in Islam is a difference in status dogmatised.

3. The BURDEN of leadership is a B.U.R.D.E.N, not a source of pride. Men who wear it like a mantle of pride are those male chauvinists who mistreat women. And those women who view it as a pre-requisite for respect are those feminists who degrade the value and honor of women, inherently Granted to them by Allah.

4. Indeed men are given a position 'a level above women' - they are inherently given the ability and the will to lead and to protect. But then women are honored three levels above men - thrice our mother, then our father. 

5. Those who wish to be what they are not do not seek justice. They are the ones perpetrating injustice on themselves. They degrade their inherent value, they throw away their honor and seek disgrace and Divine retribution.

Playing with life and death

In the middle of a busy day at work, Hassan suddenly thought about his good friend Rahim. After work, he called up Rahim, and their other good friend Faris to plan a get together. The three of them went to university together, and although they were from different educational backgrounds, and had never stayed in the same hostel, they were the best of friends that best friends could have. Allah Brought them together with the bond of Islam. After graduating, they each went their separate ways. Hassan and Faris worked in Kuala Lumpur and often hung out together even after getting married. Rahim moved to Kelantan, and it has been a while since they last met, all three of them together. They planned to meet in Kelantan.

On the day that they were supposed to meet Rahim, Faris got a call from his cousin telling him that his uncle was sick. His uncle lives in Terengganu and his house was on the way to Rahim’s place. Hassan suggested they postpone their get together for one day, and visit Faris’ uncle before meeting up at Rahims place. It’s just one day after all they thought. Visiting Faris’ sick uncle was their responsibility as Muslims, and as blood relations.  

Hassan and Faris visited Faris’ uncle and stayed at his house for the night. They went to Kelantan early the next day. When they arrived at Rahims house, it was full of people.

With tears in her eyes, Nabilah, Rahims wife told his friends that Rahim was no longer with them. He passed away just that morning after performing the Subuh prayers.

And they thought a one day detour would make no difference.

Lessons:

1. Death can come for us at any moment.
2. We often act as though we know that this and that person will not be dying anytime soon. Unintentionally maybe, and certainly not being presumptuous, but we do tend to act so, inadvertently. We do NOT know when death will come!
3. We should always be prepared to meet death. When our time comes, there will not be a moments postponing for us to make last minute preparations.  

Quack wants to be a doctor

Quack wanted to be a doctor. He was a very smart student, and always got straight A’s in all his exams, so it was no problem for him to get into a good medical school. But the funny thing is, when he got into medical school, Quack never once passed an exam. He wouldn’t just fail the exams, he would fail them terribly and horribly. And it’s not that he wasn’t hard working, certainly not! Day and night Quack read his medical books. When his friends were still dreaming, he would wake up to read, and when they slept at night, he would continue to stay awake reading.

However, no matter how hard he tried, however many times he read and re-read his books - even memorizing them by heart! - and despite his naturally extraordinary mind, he could never pass an exam.

This is because his books were in Japanese, and Quack didn’t understand a word of Japanese. 

Lesson:

1.       Just reading the Quran without understanding it is not going to make you a Muslim, no matter how many times you repeat it, or how beautifully you can recite it - even if you memorize every word of it and know how many letters it contains and whatnots. 

2.        The purpose of the Quran is to shape us (mankind) into Muslims…Just as the purpose of medical books is to shape doctor wannabes into doctors. If you just blindly read, but not understand a word of what you read, then the purpose is lost.

3.       Read, understand, and practice the (teachings in the) Quran.