Islamic stories thread

[al Furqaan]

feel free to post stories and the like...this is meant to be an educational/inspirational thread. if i or anyone else wants to talk geo-politics, foreing policy, current events, or whatever else, please open a new thread. thanks.

[al Furqaan]

i'd like to begin with a wonderful story i heard during a jumma khutbah. it stressed the importance of being truthful no matter what the circumstance. sorry but i cannot cite a source. however i will in future try to cite sources, though that will probably be rare.
_________

One day, 3 men, 2 brothers and a foreigner, approached the court of Caliph Umar bin al Khattab (ra).

"Oh leader of the believers" said the 2 brothers. "We come to you for justice. This man has killed our father."

After asking the man if the allegationw as true, and being affirmed by the defendent. Umar (ra) asked the brothers if they would like to forgive the foreign man and spare his life.

"No, we want justice. We want him to die" they replied.

Umar (ra) sent for the executioner, when suddenly the murderer spoke.

"Oh leader of the believers, please grant me 3 days leave to go to my home and inform my family of my affairs and my subsequent punishment."

Umar (ra) answered by telling him that before he would be allowed to leave, he should find a guardian who would be willing to pay the blood money to the victim's family on his behalf, in the [likely] event that he should fail to return to face execution. If he could not find a suitable guardian, he would not be allowed to go.

When all were quiet, one man spoke out amongst the crowd.

"I will vouch for this man if he does not come back." he claimed. The crowd was stunned as he was sure to lose a significant amount of money on a criminal.

"You have until sunset on the third day to return" said Umar (ra).

Three days passed. On the afternoon of the third day, people gathered at the court. The guardian waited anxiously.

Sunset had come. The time had elapsed.

Just as Umar (ra) was calling the guardian to pay the blood money, a solitary figure was seen walking towards the city on the horizon. Soon the figure approached. It was the murderer.

"I have returned to face my fate, O leader of the Believers" he declarded.

Umar (ra) was so impressed, he asked the man why, being a foreigner whose origins were unknown, he did not stay with his family especially since it would have been so easy for him to live the rest of his life undiscovered.

"I am a believer," he began. "If I were to flee than I would fear you, and if I were to return than I fear only Allah."

The crowd was absolutely touched by this statement and this man's resolve and integrity. But none were more impacted than the two brothers.

"Stop, stop. This man is a believer. Do not kill him. We forgive him for killing our father."

And so his life was spared.

[Nirjhar]

Let us not call it story, let us call it History. And history is different from people to people. So we should use from the ultimate history scale and that are

1. Sahih-Al-Bukhary
2. Muslim
3. Tirmizi
4. Abu Dawud

Moreover, all these are on the net, so why bother opening a new thread. It will only start usual bangaleee flame war

[billah]

An amusing story from Islamic History:

You will hear a lot of westerners talk about the famous "Naval Battle of Lepanto" (1571), fought between the Ottomans and combined fleet of the Christian Holy League. They often fail to talk about the aftermath of this significant battle. The Turkish navy all but lost its whole fleet in this fight.

A fortunate few of the Muslim Admirals were able to return to Turkey after the battle. Within a month, the Turkish Navy, other branches of the Turkish Military, even the Emperor's personal guard regiment dived into rebuilding their lost fleet. Within a few short months of that defeat, they were able to rebuild a fleet double the size of the lost one. As a matter of fact, the whole nation got behind the effort. Even the Emperor's own personal garden was used as a drydock.

The new flotila of 600+ strong hits the ocean and finds the formidable venetian Navy near Cyprus. The venetians were crushed and the Ottomans occupied Cyprus. For the next 3 centuries ! After losing Cyprus, the Venetians wanted to have a truce based on the results of the previously won Battle of Lepanto. At the treaty table, there was a famous quote from a Turkish Grand Vizier, where he said, (paraphrasing): "When you beat us at Lepanto, it is as if you shaved our beard off. But when we took Cyprus from you, it is as if we lopped your arms off. Our beard will grow back even stronger (i.e. the new fleet), but your arms, they will never grow back."

The Battle of Lepanto was to be the end of the Ottoman domination of Europe. But the Christian holy alliance wasn't much of an alliance (or not event that holy for that matter), and they failed to cash in on the small window of opportunity. The Turks rebuilt their fleet at such an incredible speed, that is is an unmatched feat to this date.

One more interesting trivia about the Turkish naval might: Turkish navy is the first in the world to have developed and launched an underwater torpedo from a submarine. They are one of the oldest Navy that builds its own subs.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Nirjhar
Let us not call it story, let us call it History.

qisas ul tareekh us islaam (stories of the history of islam) hows that for a thread title?

again, most of the noteworthy stories i hear, are given by khatibs who don't cite sources. but if i have them, i will post them also. also if anyone else finds the sources they can post it here or ask the author to edit their post and add it in.

[Alien]

Originally Posted by Nirjhar
Moreover, all these are on the net, so why bother opening a new thread. It will only start usual bangaleee flame war

Well, not everyone bothers to check out these facts on internet do they? There would be no civil war if certain people dont pop up and make blood boiling comments.

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Nirjhar
Moreover, all these are on the net, so why bother opening a new thread. It will only start usual bangaleee flame war

Someone could've asked you the same question when you opened this thread. And so far within your 8 posts, you opened 3 threads (unless I'm not counting a couple more by mistake)...sometimes I miss Shamz.

[Sorry al Furqaan bhai...it's off-topic, but required]

[Nirjhar]

Originally Posted by kabir
Someone could've asked you the same question when you opened this thread. And so far within your 8 posts, you opened 3 threads (unless I'm not counting a couple more by mistake)...sometimes I miss Shamz.

[Sorry al Furqaan bhai...it's off-topic, but required]

And within 2+ month you learnt exactly how to criticize other when they do not meet your taste. Heh!!!

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Nirjhar
And within 2+ month you learnt exactly how to criticize other when they do not meet your taste. Heh!!!

And in less than a month you forgot how to take criticisms while you criticise others (including the opener of this thread). If you've got a problem, send me a personal msg, and don't clutter this thread.

[Mridul]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
feel free to post stories and the like...this is meant to be an educational/inspirational thread. if i or anyone else wants to talk geo-politics, foreing policy, current events, or whatever else, please open a new thread. thanks.

Jazak Allah Kheir brother al Furqaan for openning up this thread. I surly need some reminder. Insha-Allah, I'll try to post some inspirational/educational stories. I begin with posting the following:



How Kind is Allah!
There lived an idolator in the past who made an idol out of stone and would worship it everyday. He would call it upon it by saying "Ya Sanam." For seventy years, he worshipped this idol. One day by mistake he uttered "Ya Samad" instead of Ya Sanam. Samad is a name of Allah which means The Self Sufficient Master. Allah Ta'ala immediately replied back to this idolator by saying "I am present oh My slave." The angels asked Allah why He replied to him since he didn't even call upon Him intentionally. Allah told the angels that for seventy years I have been waiting for this servant of mine to turn towards Me!

If a mother has only one child then how much would she love him? He would be the coolness of her eyes and the comfort of her heart. But if this son calls her saying "Mommy" more than four or five times, she would get irritated eventhough she loves him more than her ownself. On the other hand, when we call Allah once, He replies back to us 70 times by saying "Labbaik Ya Abdi (I am here oh My slave)." How unfortunate we are that we have not recognized our Allah who is so Kind, Merciful and Forgiving.

Source: Extracted from the lecture by Shaikh Tariq Jameel

[Tigers_eye]

Good thread. We all need reminder and inspiration every now and then. I will try my best to contribute but it has to wait till next year.

In the internet one can find lots of Islamic stories/history. We don't have time to search. So these kind of threads are necessary to increase our knowledge (the true knowledge).

[al Furqaan]

this is an interesting story i heard during the eid khutba, delivered by a blind indian sheikh. it illustrates the rahmah (graciousness) of Allah (swt) as well as the malice of Satan...
____________

There was once a blind man who wished to pray at the mosque, but he had no one to guide him there. Day after day, he prayed at home yearning for the masjid. One day, he finally gathered the courage to go to the mosque alone.

He walked down the pathway, until he reached a large hole. Not seeing it, the blind man fell down in the hole which was filled with water. His clothes became wet and dirty and the man cried all the way back home.

The next day, he again attempted to travel to the mosque alone. Just as before, he fell down the hole, and returned home failing to complete his objective.

On the third day, as the man left his house, he met a young man who called out to him.

"Where are you going?"

The blind man answered he was heading to the mosque and the youth offered to take him there. The blind man was supremely grateful and accepted his invitation.

Once they reached the mosque, the man thanked his benefactor and asked him to join him in prayer, "Salaat is much better and more acceptable to Allah in congregation."

The youth refused. The blind man insisted several times, but was refused each time.

Finally, the youth responded by informing him that he could not pray.

"Why can't you pray?"

"Because, I am Satan, the Devil," responded the youth.

The blind man was confused beyond his imagination. He asked the Devil, why of all people, would he help a blind man to pray at the mosque.

"Because," replied Satan "When you fell into that hole the first day, Allah forgave all your sins. When you fell into the same hole the very next day, Allah forgave all the sins of all the people who lived on that street. I was afraid that if you fell into the hole again, Allah would forgive the sins of the entire city. So to prevent that from happening, I brought you here safely."
___________

But I like to believe the jokes on Satan...hehe...

[chinaman]

Banglacricket is not a repository of certain kind of stories. By all means it is a discussion board. And this thread is not about discussion. Besides, we do not propagate any particular teaching or message be it religious or political. However, healthy discussions are welcome as always.

On a different note, a reasonable muslim should be careful of what is being said in the name of Allah or His prophets or religion. Authenticity and accuracy should be established before passing on messages aimed at people's belief.

This thread is now closed.