A Story of Mother & Son

I want to tell you a story that was told by one of our contemporary Muslim scholars.  I swear by Allah it is very moving.

This is the story of man who said to his wife: “How about we go eat in a restaurant?”

She replied: “No, I rather suggest you go ask another woman. I’m not going to eat at the restaurant with you, go with another woman.”

He was surprised and said: “I invite you to eat and you tell me to go out with another woman? but… what? I’m not that kind of man! And what woman are you talking about?”

She said: “Your mother.”

Imagine..Imagine the scene.

Sammy’s big Catch

Sammy was a good-looking young boy who lived in the deep south. His summer days were filled with times of walking through the woods, playing with friends, and fishing in the pond down the dirt road. Fishing was by far his favorite thing to do. Just about every day during his summer vacation, he would dig up some worms and head off, pole in hand, for a day of fishing.

This steamy hot day was like most others during Sammy’s summer break. Waking early, he could hear as though the pond was calling him to come fish. Sammy quietly walked out the front door, grabbed his pitchfork and worm pail from the porch,and walked into the woods to search for bait. He turned over old stumps and dug under leaves hoping to find worms. Under one old stump he hit the jackpot. The ground was writhing. In two minutes he had all the bait he needed, and in 15 minutes he was at the pond.

Reaching into his bait bucket, Sammy pulled out a big worm. He double hooked it and tossed it into the water. He noticed a stinging in his hand, but filled with the excitement of the moment, he paid no attention to it. Within 30 seconds, Sammy had a strike and pulled in a nice catfish. Wow, he thought, a fish in the first minute. This is unbelievable!

He put the catch on his stringer, hurried to re-bait his hook, and tried his luck again. Once again he felt a stinging sensation in his hand as he threw his hook into the pond. He didn’t have time to worry about it. Within just a few seconds, he had another huge fish. He fumbled the next time he baited his hook–his hand felt numb and stiff. But Sammy was too excited about catching another fish to give it much thought.

The Old Sock

A wise and saintly rich man, sensing his approaching death, called his son to his side and gave him these instructions: “My son, I shall be leaving you very shortly, on the day when I die and they have washed my body and come to wrap it in the shroud, I want you to put one of my socks on my foot. This is my final request of you.”

Soon after this, the old man did indeed die, leaving behind his goods and property, his children and his dependents. Family, friends, acquaintances and neighbours attended his funeral. The body had been washed and was almost completely wrapped in the shroud, when the son remembered his father’s wish. Finding one of his old socks, he handed it to the washer of the dead, saying, “In accordance with my father’s last request, please put this sock on his foot.”

“That is quite impossible,” said the man, “Such a thing is utterly impermissible in Islam, I cannot act against the Sacred Law.” Despite this valid objection, the son insisted, “That was my father’s final request; it must certainly be carried out.”

The washer of the dead was unmoved. “If you won’t take my word for it,” he said, “go and ask the mufti. He will confirm what I tell you, that it is not permissible.” Holding up the funeral they consulted the mufti, preachers and scholars, all of whom declared that this was not permissible in Islam. Just then, an aged friend of the deceased interrupted the debate with these words to the son: “My boy, your late father entrusted me with a letter which I was to hand over to you after his departure. Here, this letter belongs to you.” So saying this he gave him an envelope. Taken by surprise, the boy opened the envelope and read out the contents of his father’s letter.

“My son, all this wealth and property I have left to you. Now you see: at the last moment, they won’t even let you give me an old sock to wear. When you yourself come one day to be in my condition they will also refuse to let you keep anything but your shroud. Eight yards of shroud are all you will be able to carry over from this fleeting world into the Hereafter. So pull yourself together and be prepared. Spend the fortune I have left you, not for the satisfaction of vain desires, but in ways pleasing to Allah, that you may achieve honor in both worlds.”

What beautiful advice and guidance for those who can understand!

Lipstick in School

According to a news report, a certain private school in Sydney was recently faced with a unique problem.

A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back. Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.

Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers … and then there are educators.