Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Ramadhan stories.

I'm losing the feeling of Ramadhan spirit- it's slowly creeping away from me. I've only fasted 2 out of these 11 days. Alhamdulillah I fasted on the first day. On monday, tuesday, wednesday, friday& saturday, my throat couldn't cope with the dryness. Then the bizzare thing happened on Saturday night, while we were having Iftar @ Tempe mosque. My menstruational cycle had begun, hahha! Far out!! InhsAllah it's ending soon, and I get to fast & catch up with qur'an-reading! Honestly, I can't wait.

I was cruising through
dealsdirect and I contemplating on getting a new watch. This time I wanted a different style. I'm sick of the analog-style watches and dug deep for those digital display ones. A 'Funky Casio Baby G Digital Watch'. What possessed me into buying it? Somehting, I guess. I just felt like a change whenever I look at my wrist.

Going for a watch like that is beyond me. I usually prefer to wear analog watches with the date displaying on the side, so I won't have to bug anyone with the day's date. These days i'm fed up with them. My uncle gave me a Rolex watch as a wedding gift. Later on I realised it was fake; because the date toggle didn't work properly. The same uncle who bought me an "original", white gold Guess watch when I was in year 10, which later on the watch started to rust. I thought, white gold don't rust, you tight-ass! I'M FED UP WITH THEM, I NEED A CHANGE IN WATCHES, DAMMIT!

On a much brighter note, I want to share some Ramadhan stories while we are in this special month. I've been getting these insightful stories in my email, from a brother Firdaus, jazakallah brother. I will try to post them here everyday (*rolls eyes* yeahhh ...riiiight).

True Story....

There was once a man who was an enemy to Islam. He had three famous questions that no person could answer. No Islamic scholar in Baghdad could answer his three questions...thus he made fun of Islam in public. He constantly ridiculed Islam and the Muslims. One day a small boy, who`s age was 10, came along and heard the man yelling and screaming at Muslims in the street. He was challenging people openly to answer the three questions.

The boy stood quietly and watched. He then decided that he would challenge the man. He walked up and told the man, "I will accept your challenge".

The man laughed at the boy and ridiculed the Muslims even more by saying, "A ten year old boy challenges me. Is this all you people have to offer!"

But the boy patiently reiterated his stance. He would challenge the man, and with Allah`s help and guidance, he would put this to an end. The man finally accepted.

The entire city gathered around a small "hill" where open addresses were usually made. The man climbed to the top, and in a loud voice asked his first question.

"What is your God doing right now?"

The small boy thought for a little while and then told the man to climb down the hill and to allow him to go up in order to address the question.

The man says "What? You want me to come down?"

The boy says, "Yes. I need to reply, right?"

The man made his way down and the small boy, age 10, with his little feet made his way up.

This small child`s reply was "Oh Allah Almighty! You be my witness in front of all these people. You have just willed that a Kafir be brought down to a low level, and that a Muslim be brought to a high level!"

The crowd cheered and screamed "Takbir"...."Allah-hu-akbar!!!"

The man was humiliated, but he boldly asked his Second question... "What existed before your God?"

The small child thought and thought.

Then he asked the man to count backwards. "Count from 10 backwards."

The man counted..."10, 9 ,8 , 7 , 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,0"

The boy asked, "What comes before 0 ?"

The man: "I don`t know...nothing."

The boy: "Exactly. Nothing was before Allah, for He is eternal and absolute."

The crowd cheered again...."Takbir!"...."Allah-hu-akbar!!!!"

The man, now completely frustrated, asked his final question. "In which direction is your Allah facing?"

The boy thought and thought.

He then asked for a candle. A candle was brought to him. The blessed child handed it to the man and asked him to light it.

The man did so and remarked, "What is this supposed to prove?"

The young boy asked, "In which direction is light from the candle going?"

The man responded, "It is going in all directions."

The boy: "You have answered your own question. Allah`s light (noor) goes in all directions. He is everywhere. There is no where that He cannot be found.

The crowd cheered again...."Takbir!"...."Allah-hu-akbar!!!"

The man was so impressed and so moved by the boy`s knowledge and spirituality, that he embraced Islam and became a student of the young boy.

So ended the debate.

Who was the young boy?

The young boy was one of our leaders and one of the greatest scholars, Imam Abu Hanîfa (May Allah bless him).

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