Islam and Struggle: Struggle Stories, Parable of the Pencil

 The Pencil Maker took the Pencil aside, just before putting it into

the box.

"There are five things you need to know," the Pencil Maker told the Pencil, "Before I send you out into the World. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best Pencil you can be."

1. "You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand."

2. "You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you will need it to become a better Pencil."

3. "You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

4. "The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

5. "On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The Pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the Pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

1. "You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Allah's (SWT) hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess."

2. "You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you will need it to become a stronger person."

3. "You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

4. "The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside."

5. "On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties."

Moral: Allow this parable on the Pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.

Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.

An Analysis of Hardship in Life: Obstacle in our Path, Struggle and Emerge

A fact of human life is that from time to time we face difficulties. These can be small day to day annoyances or calamities that push our patience and will power to their limits. Sometimes it is hard for a person to understand the reasons behind these horrible events, especially when he/she knows that there is a God maintaining order in the universe and Who is merciful. In such a situation a person may even resent God and ask why He is making life so difficult, especially when He is supposed to love His devoted servants.

It is important to remember that when making a judgment about a situation we should think about whether or not we have enough knowledge to do so. Something that is bad in our minds may actually be good, and we may only think it is bad because of our limited perception and knowledge. For example, imagine a person who has lived all his life in a rain forest. He has no knowledge of technology or civilizations and only knows what he has learned from experience and from those around him. If we were to take him and bring him to the city and showed him skyscrapers, cars, and computers, he would be overwhelmed and overawed by the extravagance. Now, if he were to be taken past a construction site where cranes and bulldozers were demolishing a building, he would think that something bad was being done. In his mind the construction workers would be destroying a perfectly good building for no reason at all, and this act would be considered senseless by him. But he is not aware that the old building is being torn down so that a better one can be erected in its place, and if he knew this, he would not think badly of the construction workers for tearing down the old building. He would be happy that they are bringing something better and would now consider the destruction of the old building as something good and necessary. The hardship that the people living around the site must bear by having to look at the ugly torn down building for months, having their streets closed down and traffic tied up, is only something temporary. Some people may actually curse the construction workers for bringing this hardship on them but they are not keeping in mind that these hardships will be followed by ease and improvement. Instead of viewing these things as hardship and becoming annoyed and angry, one could see them as a sign that soon there will be ease and progress.

An artist can relate to having people look at his work in its beginning or middle stages, and without knowing what the end product will be, they give unwarranted criticism. That is when he asks them to wait for when it is finished. In the beginning or in the middle the work may not be pleasing or have much meaning, but once it is completed then everyone can see what he was working towards. We humans can only attain such a limited amount of knowledge in our lives. So how can we look at a hurricane, tornado, flood, Tsunami or volcano and blame God that He is doing something cruel and unjust? How can we know what His ultimate purpose is for all of these happenings? In the same way that the man from the rain forest would be unjustified in viewing the demolition of old buildings as wrong, we would be unjustified to view the calamities of nature as cruel acts of God.

There was once a king who put his subjects through a test. He went out onto the main road of his kingdom and he had a large stone placed in the middle, thereby making the road difficult to cross. After having placed the large stone he hid himself nearby to watch the reaction of the people. He saw the dignitaries of his court and the wealthy cross by, and as they did so they managed it only with great difficulty. While they did so, they cursed the rock and said to each other, why doesn't the King move this rock? All of the wealthy aristocrats went along in the same manner, cursing the rock and wondering in amazement at the incompetence of the King to have placed such an obstacle in their path, because it only brought them hardship. Then along came a poor old man carrying a heavy load on his back, and the King watched him intently. The old man stopped in his tracks and looked at how the stone was blocking the road. He put down his load and began, with great difficulty and tremendous effort, to move the stone off of the road. Using all his strength and ability he finally accomplished his task. When he went back to the road and looked at the spot where the stone had been, he saw a bag, picked it up, opened it, and found it to be full of jewels and a note from the King indicating that the jewels was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The old man learned what many others never understand. He placed his load on his back along with his new treasure and went on his way. This story illustrates a fact of life, that there is no ease or success or progress or elevation without some sacrifice and hardship along the way. But once the end is reached that hardship would no longer be seen as unbearable.

Moral: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

Islam and Struggle: Eagle Story, Changes for Survival

Eagle has the longest life-span of its' species. Eagle can live up to 70 years, but to reach this age, the Eagle must make a hard decision in it's' 40's

Its' long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey which serves as food, its' long and sharp beak becomes bent.

Its' old-aged and heavy wings, due to their thick feathers, become stuck to its' chest and make it difficult to fly.

Then Eagle is left with only 2 options: die or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150 days for survival.

The process requires that Eagle fly to a mountain top and sit on its' nest. There the Eagle knocks its' beak against a rock until it plucks it out. After plucking it out, Eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back. When its' new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking its' old-aged feathers and after 5 months, eagle can take its' flight of rebirth and lives for 30 more years.

Moral: Many times, in order to survive, we have to start a change process. We sometimes need to get rid of old memories, habits and other past traditions. Only freed from past burdens, we can take advantage of the present and future.

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn to let go. Release the hurt and fear, refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang on to that part is holding you back from a new life. If we stay imprisoned by fear and judgement of our human nature, we will miss out on the whole reason for being here!

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results. Let's change to make a change!!!

"If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results."

Islam and Struggle: Survival Story, Changes for Survival, Eagle Story

Eagle Story is about a wounded Eaglet who was rescued by a kind farmer. Farmer found Eaglet in one of his fields, and so took him home, tended to his wounds, and then placed him outside in the barnyard to recover.

Strangely enough, Eaglet soon adapted to the habits of all the barnyard chickens. Eaglet learned to walk and cluck like chickens. Eaglet learned to drink from a trough and peck the dirt for food, and for many years Eaglet peacefully resigned himself to this new life on the farm and grow up to become beautiful Eagle.

But then one day, one of the farmer's friends spotted the Eagle and asked, "Why in the world is that Eagle acting like a Chicken?" The farmer told him what had happened, yet the friend could hardly accept the situation.

"It's just not right," said the friend. "The Almighty Creator made that Eagle to soar in the sky, not scavenge in the barnyard!" So he picked up the unsuspecting Eagle, climbed onto a nearby fence post, and tossed him into the air. But the confused Eagle just fell back to earth and scurried off in search of his feathered friends.

Undaunted, the friend then grabbed the Eagle and climbed to the top of the barn. As he heaved him off the roof, the Eagle made a few halfhearted squawks and flaps before falling into a bale of hay. After shaking his head a few times, the Eagle then made himself comfortable and began mindlessly pecking at pieces of straw.

The friend went home that night dejected, and could barely sleep as he remembered the sight of those powerful talons caked with barnyard mud. He couldn't bear the thought, so the very next day, he headed back to the farm for another try. This time he carried the Eagle to the top of a nearby mountain where the sky unfolded in a limitless horizon.

He looked into the Eagle's eyes and cried out, "Don't you understand? You weren't made to live like a Chicken! Why would you want to stay down here when you were born for the sky?" As the man held the confused Eagle aloft, he made sure the Eagle was facing into the brilliant light of the setting sun. Then he powerfully heaved the bird into the sky, and this time the Eagle opened his wings, looked at the sun, caught the updraft rising from the valley, and disappeared into the clouds of sky.

Moral: Do you know that we, too, were born for some high purpose in this life? The Almighty Creator has called us to live in the heights, yet too many of us have huddled together in the barnyard, not struggling to search for our own Islamic identity and the purpose of Islamic life?

Islam and Jihad: Elephant Story, Changes for Survival, Survival Story

As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free."

I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

It has been said throughout history that what ever you believe, with conviction, you can achieve. Don't be like the poor elephant and go through your life stuck because of a limiting belief you were given or developed years ago. Take charge of your life and live it to the fullest. You deserve the best!

Moral: Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.