8 The Truth, Thursday, August 9TH, 2007. Vol.

2 Issue 29
Poetry
O’ GRACIOUS LORD
Vol. 2 Issue 29
The Truth
A Weekly Bulletin Thu. Aug 9th 2007
Belief The Oneness of Allah
We pray to Thee, O’ Gracious Lord In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Of heavens and of earth “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
He begets not, nor is He begotten. And there is none like Him.”
Holy Qur’an (112:1-4)
The source of virtue and of love During the time of ignorance in the pre-Islamic period (Jahiliyah),
Of dignity and worth. polytheists used to worship idols which they themselves made out of
iron, stone, wood and other materials. They believed that the idols
themselves had the ability to provide, give benefit and inflict harm. They
You are the One who nourishes would offer presents or carry out sacrifices for their idols, whom they
All things both big and small asked to meet their needs. For instance, the sick would ask to be cured,
the poor for sustenance and childless couples for a child.
The people at that time were polytheists, who worshipped other than
The Omnipotent, Loving, Kind Cont’d on Page 2
And Mighty Lord of all. Faithful To A Promise
Ethics
Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (A.S.) quoted the Messenger of Allah (P.) as
O Bountiful! We pray to Thee saying:
For health and happiness “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should keep
their promise when they make it.”
Our Holy Prophet Muhammed (P.) teaches us the best morals and the
Be pleased to grant us faith and love most useful customs, and also how to fulfill a promise and be punctual.
Good fortune and success. Imagine that one day you have an appointment with your friend and
have agreed to meet him half-an-hour before noon prayer in the mosque
Cont’d on Page 3
Be kind enough to make us tread History PROPHET - THE MODEL OF GOODNESS
The path of righteousness
The behaviour and personality of Prophet Muhammed (P.) are the
best examples to follow in life. A companion of his, who spent full ten
And let our deeds reflect the same years with him, has said:
By words what we profess. “Throughout my stay with him I never heard an indecent
word from his lips and never found him rude to anyone. He
If you want to receive yourWeekly Digital Copy (PDF Format) Please subscribe to The Truth’s spoke very politely. He was kind to everyone”.
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Although Muhammed (P.) was the Prophet of Allah (God) and had
If you want any material to be published please send us an e-mail.
Please note that we have the right to Accept, Edit or Refuse any content. been appointed by Allah to guide the people, yet he was not ashamed
Editor in Chief: Hassan Tabatabai Editor: Ahmad Al Najjar of doing his work with his own hands. He assisted the members of his
Designed by: Ahmad Haidar family in household work and performed the jobs of other deserving
Contact-Us Please send us your feedbacks, comments, and suggestions to persons with great pleasure. He mended his clothes and shoes. He also
the following e-mail: thetruth110@gmail.com Cont’d on Page 4
2 The Truth, Thursday, August 9TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 29
Cont’d from First Page
Allah; Who thus sent Prophet Muhammed (P.) to bid them to stop ador-
ing idols and tell them that these statutes were merely stones, which
could neither benefit nor harm them.
The above-mentioned Surah (chapter) of the Holy Qur’an was sent
down to explain to people that the only god whom they should worship
is the One God and there is no god save Him. It is He alone Who creates,
provides, gives life and causes death, and it is He towards Whom people
should turn for help.
Indeed Allah is not like any other creature; He has neither father nor
mother, nor wife nor children. It is people who are in need of a father,
mother and children because they themselves are created and have
needs to produce young. Some are similar to others, but Allah the Cre-
ator is One and has no equal.
None of Allah’s creatures are like Him. He, Who alone is Ever-Lasting
and All-Powerful. It is He Who creates, provides and knows everything,
no one can be characterized with such great attributes except Him. It is
He alone Who deserves praise, obedience, and thanks.
Article FAITH AND HARDWORK
One day Imam Ali (A.S.) was carrying a heavy bag filled with date
seeds to the farms near the city of Madina. Some one asked him, “What
is inside this heavy bag?” Imam Ali (A.S.) replied, “If Allah wishes, a few
date palm trees.”
As Imam Ali (A.S.) had complete faith in Allah and never shirked hard
work, he was hoping that plants would grow from the date seeds and
become trees. And that was exactly what happened. Some time after
sowing the date seeds, plants sprouted out of the earth.
Islam orders us to work hard having full confidence in Allah’s bless-
ing. We should rest assured that if our faith is perfect, Allah will not let
our efforts go in vain and will grant us success. On the other hand, we
should also remember that we shall not succeed if we shirk hard work,
and waste our time
It is not necessary that one’s efforts should be rewarded immediately.
The law of nature is that at times man has to face failures as well. How-
ever, people who are steadfast in their faith and sincerely believe in their
object are not discouraged by the temporary set-backs. On the other
hand, they continue to work hard to achieve their goal.
Remember! In the long run, every difficult task becomes easy and
profitable for them who have impregnable faith in Allah.
Greatness lies in hard work.
The Truth, Thursday, August 9TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 29 7
the ever-fighting and ignorant Arabs with his honesty, justice and noble
character.
Anecdote Haroun Asks Questions and Bohlool
Answers
Haroun Rashid was returning from his journey to Hajj, and Bohlool
was waiting for him on the side of the road. As soon as he saw Haroun,
he loudly said three times, “Haroun! Haroun! Haroun!”
The Khalifa asked, “Who is this caller?”
The people said, “It is Bohlool.”
Haroun called Bohlool. When he came near him, the Khalifa asked,
“Who am I?”
“You are that person who is responsible when other people oppress
a weak person.”
Haroun started crying at this and said, “You spoke truly. Now request
something from me.”
“My request is that you forgive my sins and permit me into Heaven.”
“This is beyond my control; on the other hand, I can pay your
debts.”
“A debt can’t be fulfilled by another debt; because you yourself are
indebted to the public. Thus, return to the public their wealth. It is not
decent or elegant of you to give me the wealth of others.”
The Khalifa then said, “I give the order to grant you some assets,
which will be guarded, as the means of your livelihood so you can pass
your life with comfort and ease.”
“We are all servants of Allah and receive salary from Him; is it pos-
sible that He may give you subsistence and forget about me?”
Anecdote Haroun Al-Rashid Gives Bohlool a
Reward
One day Haroun Rashid gave the or-
der to give Bohlool a reward. When it was
given, Bohlool didn’t take it and returned
it. He said, “Give this money to the peo-
ple whom you took it from. If you don’t
return it to their owners, then there will
certainly come a day when the Khalifa
will be demanded to repay his debt. That
day the Khalifa will be empty-handed,
and, besides being shameful and regret-
ful, there will be nothing.”
Haroun Rashid trembled from listening
to Bohlool, started crying, and affirmed
Bohlool’s statement.
6 The Truth, Thursday, August 9TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 29 The Truth, Thursday, August 9TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 29 3
Story HERE COMES AL-AMIN Cont’d from First Page
to recite the Holy Qur’an together. You arrived on time and waited until
THE TRUSTWORTHY
the prayer caller (Mu’adhin) called for the noon prayer. You performed
It had rained heavily and continuously for a long period, and the
the prayer but your friend still had not come. Certainly, you will blame
water poured down towards the Holy Ka’ba in Masjid-ul-Haram, the big
your friend for not keeping his promise and making you wait. Hopefully
mosque in Mecca, The Ka’ba was in the lower section of Mecca. It had
your friend will feel responsible and apologize to you.
become old and collapsed.
But how happy and glad you are if someone promises to do some-
So the rebuilding was started. The work progressed well enough until
thing for you and keeps his promise; keeping a promise is among the
al-Hajar-ul-Aswad, the Black Stone, was to be put back in its place.
morals of the true believer. And whoever does not fulfill their promise;
Each quarter of the Ka’ba was being built by one leading family of
no one will respect their word nor trust them.
Quraish - the big and prominent tribe of Mecca. Each family of Quraish
It is obligatory for us to be honest in making a promise and keep-
felt the honour of placing the Black Stone belonging to it.
ing an appointment we have made. It is also obligatory upon us to be
The disagreement became deeper, and led to a lot of argument,
punctual about time and not to waste it. We should be exactly on time
shouting and abuse. The members of each big family were thinking that
in school, at work, or at an agreed meeting place.
a war was going to break out, None of them was willing to change his
A Promise Fulfilled by our Prophet Muhammed (P.)
position. They regarded it as a great insult if they didn’t have that spe-
Prophet Muhammed (P.) promised a man that he would remain sitting
cial honour of putting the Black Stone back in its place.
in a certain place until the man returned. That man went away and the
One member stood up and said, “I have a suggestion, let us wait till
sun rose. Soon it became very hot but the Prophet never changed his
tomorrow and see who enters the Masjid-ul-Haram first in the morning;
place. One his companions said: “O Prophet of Allah! What difference
then let him decide”. All agreed, since that sounded like a good sugges-
does it make if you come and sit in the shade?” The Prophet replied: “I
tion.
promised to meet him here and not to change a place till he comes, in
They anxiously waited next morning to see who the first to come and
order to fulfill my promise to him. If he does not come, then it will be he
enter Ka’ba was. Suddenly they heard footsteps heading towards them.
who is breaking the promise.”
It was Muhammed (P.), the son of Abdulla. Everyone, of course, knew,
And Most Surely You Conform (Yourself) To Sublime Morality.
loved, admired and respected Muhammed (P.). So with a loud voice,
everyone said, “Here comes Al-Amin” and the voice echoed through the
place over and over again.
He was surprised to hear of that title with which they called him. He
was told about what the people of Quraish were fighting for. It was all
silent for a while. Everyone thought his family was going to be favoured.
Their hearts were beating hard and they were getting anxious and im-
patient.
Muhammed (P.) put his robe on the floor, took the sacred Black Stone
and put it in the centre of the robe and said. “The chief of each fam-
ily will take one corner of the robe and lift it together”. With that, each
understood a marvelous example of justice in sharing the honour. It
showed how Muhammed’s intelligence far exceeded those around him.
It also showed his great capacity to solve difficult problems with such
ease.
When the robe with the Black Stone was lifted to a reasonable height.
Muhammed (P.) took the Black Stone and put it in its proper place by his
own hands. None felt insulted and each had his share of the privilege
and honour.
This is how Muhammed (P.) the Prophet of Islam succeeded in uniting
4 The Truth, Thursday, August 9TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 29 The Truth, Thursday, August 9TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 29 5
Cont’d from First Page Society Successors of Prophet Muhammed (P.)
took part in the construction of Masjid al-Nabi in Madina along with his
companions. The successors of Prophet Muhammed (P.), who guided the people
His dress was always clean, though simple. He was very mindful of after him, are called Imams. We have Twelve Imams and their names
cleanliness. He washed his hands and mouth before and after taking his are as follows:
meals. 1. Imam Ali al-Murtadha
He was so kind and generous that he never refused a reasonable 2. Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba
request of any person. He often distributed edibles among others and 3. Imam Husayn al-Shaheed
went without meals himself. He always helped the needy and the poor 4. Imam Ali al-Sajjad
and went to the houses of the sick to enquire after their health. As and 5. Imam Muhammed al-Baqir
when he met anyone he said “Salamun Alaikum”. He always spoke with 6. Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq
a smiling face. 7. Imam Musa al-Kadhim
The Holy Prophet Muhammed (P.) was a model of all the virtues and 8. Imam Ali al-Ridha
qualities of a believer described in the Holy Qur’an. None can describe 9. Imam Muhammed al-Taqi
him better than Allah who has said, he possessed the noblest character. 10. Imam Ali al-Naqi
The personality of our Prophet is an excellent model to follow. 11. Imam Hassan al-Askari
Mutual Corporation 12. Imam Muhammed al-Mahdi
Society (May peace and benediction be upon them all).
“Cooperate with one another in good deeds and abstain from
Our Holy Imams acquitted themselves well of their responsibility as
evil.”
Holy Qur’an (5:2). successors of the Holy Prophet of Islam. They did their best to guide
the people and suffered great hardships to achieve this purpose. The
Every human being needs the cooperation of others to lead a pleas- role performed by Imam Hussain (A.S.)) in fighting the hypocrites and in
ant and comfortable life. Man can never acquire happiness by remaining toppling over the machine of tyranny, by Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) and Imam
aloof from others. As a matter of fact, cooperation with one another in al-Sadiq (A.S.) in spreading Islamic knowledge and other sciences, and
good deeds guarantees the progress of human society. by Imam al-Ridha (A.S.) in defending Islamic tenets and in providing
Islam also wishes that people should cooperate with one another in intellectual guidance against the invasion of foreign ideas at the time of
accomplishing good tasks, like helping the needy, building schools and the spread of Islam over vast territories of the world, are undeniable.
hospitals etc. The same is true of the role performed by other Imams in their respec-
Islam has insisted upon the Muslims, in very strong terms, to coop- tive circumstances.
erate with one another. It also wishes that, if a person is in difficulty,
others should The pure lives and instructive sayings of our Holy
help him. All Imams are beacon lights for the guidance of en-
of us should, tire mankind. They always worked for the
therefore, en- happiness and prosperity of the people.
deavour to get The sacred teachings of Islam can be
acquainted learnt only from this Household (Ahl al-
with the needs Bayt) which was selected by Allah for the
and difficulties revelation and Prophethood.
of one another,
and remove The lives of our Imams are beacon
them as far as lights for the guidance of mankind.
possible.