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JANUARY 28, 2015
God Loves the
Penitents
Salaam dear young friends. Hopefully you are all well by the
Grace of God.
This year Tehran has been without its usual share of snows. Even
the majestic mountain range on the northern side of the capital has
had a sparse snowfall. It means the water reservoirs that supply
the city’s burgeoning population would continue to dwindle, unless
God the All-Merciful forgives our faults and sins to send showers
of rain and snow to fill them up.
Do not be despaired of the Mercy of the Loving Creator dear
youngsters, He has promised us in the holy Qur’an of forgiving all
our sins, provided we turn to him penitently. You do have a pure
heart and your sincerity would certainly help Tehran and its residents from any natural catastrophe.
Of course, to err is human, but this doesn’t mean that we continue
to indulge in errors which we could have well avoided. Remember, it is only piety and self-control against the temptations of the
ever-scheming Satan, coupled with repentance that will avail us of
Divine Favours, to which unfortunately, many of us are ungrateful.
O the All-Forgiving Lord! Nothing is hidden from You; not even
the wrongs done in privacy; so forgive us for the sake of the Mercy
unto the whole creation, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and his Infallible Progeny; You are the Most Merciful; and a tiny drop from
the boundless ocean of Your Mercy is enough to cleanse all Your
creation of their sins and faults. Amen
Yes young friends, we are on the eve of the auspicious birth anniversary of the 11th Infallible Heir of the Prophet of Peace. It was
on the 8th of Rabi al-Akher (falling this year on Thursday January
29) that Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) was born in Medina in the
year 232 AH.
He spent most of his brief life of 28 years under imprisonment or
house arrest, since as the penultimate of the Twelve Infallible Heirs
foretold by the Prophet, he was kept under constant watch by the
tyrannical Abbasid regime, which fearful of the appearance of the
Promised Saviour of mankind, Imam Mahdi (AS), tried every trick
to deprive him of having any issue.
But the terrorist regime failed, as miserably as the Pharaoh had
failed to prevent the birth of Prophet Moses by ordering the massacre of all newborn males. The 12th Imam was born in secrecy and
raised in the privacy of the cellar, with only the closest associates
knowing of his birth.
Thus, Imam Askari (AS), during his 6-year imamate never missed
an opportunity to promote the pure and pristine teachings of Islam
to awaken minds, enlighten hearts, cleanse consciences, uplift spirits, and purify souls. He saved many a person from errors, sins,
deviation and self-destruction including the famous philosopher,
al-Kindi, who would have fallen into the abyss of disbelief, if the
11th Imam through a disciple had not instilled in his heart the flawless wisdom of God’s Revealed Word, the holy Qur’an.
So friends, let us turn towards Samarra in Iraq, where the father
and the grandfather of the Imam of the Age, rest in peace in the
golden-domed shrine – that was twice the target of dastardly terrorists – to salute the Chosen of God and to supplicate to God for
forgiveness of all our faults.
Before we bid you goodbye, we condole you on the martyrdom
anniversary of our Innocent Lady of Qom, Hazrat Fatema alMa’souma (SA), who left for the ethereal heavens on the 10th of
Rabi al-Akher after a brief 17-day sojourn in Qom,
RIDDLES
Dear youngsters, could you answer the following questions.
1. You have three stoves: a gas stove, a wood stove, and a coal stove, but only
one match. Which should you light first?
2. What has numbers on the outside and letters on the inside?
3.I am a nation. All lazy undergraduates hate me and the ambitious ones
stress over me. What am I?
4.I always point in the right direction. My instructions are written in black
and white. Disobey me and pay the consequences. I will never say more
than two words at a time. What am I?
5. I am always on top of things yet I can reach the bottom of the ocean. I feel good
yet I hurt and sting. You can capture me but you can’t hold me. With too much
of me you can’t see and with not enough of me you can’t see. What am I?
6. Life accepts me, death rejects me. Families know me. A burden I shall be,
but in time, life will come forth from me. What am I?
Answers to last week questions:
1. A candle
2.Clock
3.Chess
Send your jokes. Heard any jokes lately? Well, try and make us
laugh too!
Don’t hesitate! Mail it to us.
Kayhan International address: Ferdowsi St., Shahid Shahcheraghi
Alley, Tehran.
Email:[email protected]
4.Shoe
5. A bird’s shadow
6.Skin
JOKES
Little Johnny’s teacher asks him, “If I gave you two cats, then two
more, and two more cats; how many would you have?”
Little Johnny replies, “Seven!”
His teacher asks him again more slowly, “If I gave you two cats,
then two more, and two more cats; how many would you have?”
But again Little Johnny replies, “Seven!”
Next she asks, “If I get two cats, then two more, and two more cats;
how many would I have?”
Little Johnny replies, “Six!”
“Good Job Johnny! Now if I gave you two cats, then two more, and
two more cats; how many would you have?”
Johnny thinks for a second, “Seven.”
His teacher gets mad, “Johnny, where do you get seven?!”
Johnny replies, “You gave me six cats, and I already have a freaking cat!”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------A man was telling me he was thinking about opening several underground water storage facilities.
I replied, “Well, well, well.”
Easy way to change ourselves
There was a king a long time ago and he had a vast kingdom. Though he had
tremendous amount of wealth, but he didn’t have peace of heart. So he decided
to be a good Muslim. He heard that there is a very pious man who stays in a
jungle and that many people go to visit him for advice. The king decided to visit
him for some advice also. When he got there, he asked the pious man “How can
I become pious like you?” The pious man replied that remember death 40 times
a day for 40 days. The king thought that it was very easy and he thanked him
and left for his palace. He remembered death 40 times a day for 40 days but no
change came to his life. He was same as before.
The king became angry and called that pious man to his court. The king told
him that he is nothing but a liar and that he should be killed before he fools
other people. It was decided that he will be beheaded the next day. But the
pious man had a request. He asked if he could become the king for a day. He
promised that after getting the command, he will not kill the previous king or
do any harm to him. So, the king agreed and made the pious man the king for a
day. As soon as the pious man became the king, he went to the market and saw
a man selling peanuts. He told the soldiers to catch that man and bring him to
the palace. So, the peanut salesman was brought to the court. The pious man
told the peanut salesman that he will be killed tomorrow. The peanut sales man
became frightened and dropped all his peanuts. He started crying and asked
what he did. But the pious man said that he will be killed tomorrow and locked
up in jail for today.
Now, as the peanut salesman knew that he is going to die, he forgot about everything else and started asking forgiveness from Allah. He started praying and
doing excessive dhikir (remembrance of Allah). The pious man ordered that the
most beautiful woman in the city should be brought and placed in the jail with
peanut salesman. She was brought and she asked the man to commit sin with
her. Now the pious man brought the previous king and told him to watch. The
peanut salesman started yelling at the woman to get away because he is going
to die tomorrow and this evil deed will surely cause him problems with Allah.
Then the pious man asked the previous king if he understood what is going on. The pious man explained that when you really know that you will die, then you will surely stay
away from all evil deeds and engage yourself into the worship of Allah. So, remembering death once properly would be enough to change the life of a human being.
Of course, the peanut salesman was released afterwards.
In this regard here is a hadith from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (AS):
“The remembrance of death kills desires in the soul, cuts off the sources of
heedlessness and strengthens the heart through God’s promises; it softens the
temperament, breaks the sign-posts of whims, puts out the fire of greed and
makes the world appear miserable and worthless.”