SHARING THE JOY OF GIVING

CELEBRATE OUR DIFFERENCES_FROM ‘BOOK’ LIFE IS AN OPEN SECRET: YOU, ME AND WE BY ZABRINA A.BAKAR

We, human are made from the same flesh and blood (milk) and take the shape of the genetic (mini cups) given by our Lord. The only thing that makes us different from one another is our personality (flavour) and external appearance (colour).
See the similarity? Amazing, eh? subhanALLAH....
Miguel Cerbantes had something amused once: It takes all sorts to make a world

Totally! I am a sort, and so are you. And so are they, them, us and we. And only by being different from one another, we are able to have an interesting world filled with all types of sort, right? In fact, Allah our Lord has told us this:
“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other. (Not that ye may despise each other).”(Al-Hujurat 49:13)

subhanALLAH...When I read this verse, I couldn’t help but feel that Allah has given us all one simple but important task, a task that I personally felt that I must put more effort into. He, our Lord, has said despite us being different from one another, there is one thing that we should do-it is to get know one another or in other words to NETWORK.

Yup. Absolutely! Isn’t getting to know one another a means to create NETWORK between us? Seems that NETWORKING is not something new, eh? And to throw in more fun while we NETWORK, the Almighty has also made us linguistically different from one another.
“and among His Sign in the creation of heavens and the earth, and the variation in your languages and your colours: verify in that are Signs for those who know”
(Al-Rum 30:22)

The classic business case study when Coca-Cola pronounced as “Kekoukela” which means “Bite the wax tadpole” when it first entered China! It was only after researchers went through about 40 000 Chinese characters to find a phonetic equivalent, they found “kokou kole” which carries the meaning “happiness in the mouth”.

Phew! Aren’t they glad that their customers have no need to bite the tadpoles? I could just imagine the Happy Feet of those researchers when they finally got it right! M. Scott Peck once said something that made so much sense:
Share our similarities, celebrate our differences

I totally agree with him! Wouldn’t it be great if we could enjoy how different others are from us? Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could see that by being different and unique, each and every one of us is so special? Absolutely, are you agree? I sometimes wonder if we truly understand how important it is for us to be special and different from one another. Then, I remembered the Aesop fable of the tiger and the mouse. Maybe this parable could help us, yes?

Well, it was said that one day, a mouse had accidentally run over the face of the tiger while the tiger was sleeping. Of course, that woke him up and he became angry. But the mouse pleaded that the tiger forgive him and promised to repay the tiger’s kindness one day. The tiger, being a proud animal (typical) laughed hysterically (imagination required) and said that he could not think of how such a little mouse would be able to help him.

Nevertheless, he let the poor mouse go (awww...) shortly after that, the tiger was chased and captured by the hunter (oh no!). The hunter then tied a strong rope around the leg of the tiger. Panicked, the tiger roared, seeking help, as loud as he could. The mouse heard him and follow the trail of voice. And with his tiny teeth, the mouse gnawed the rope and set the tiger free! (clap,clap,clap)

Didn’t we just say that we should celebrate our differences? What if all mice have teeth like the tiger? Do you think the big teeth of the tiger could chew those ropes? Absolutely not!

It was then I remembered how much our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) reminded us of the importance of supporting one another just like the tiger and mouse:
“ the Muslims in their mutual love, kindness and compassion are like the human body where when one of its parts is in agony the entire body feels the pain, both in sleeplessness and fever”
(Al Bukhari and Muslim)

I totally love the parable of the human body used in this hadith.
Let us just imagine we had a diarrhea, agree? What actually happens when we have diarrhea? According to Dr. Abd Hamid Mat Sain, a gastrointestinal surgeon, one of the causes of diarrhea is a bacterial infection in the stomach area. This would cause the stomach to react adversely. And in its effort to flush out the bacteria from our body, we would sometimes experience cramp, abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, or an urgent need t use the bathroom.

When this happens, the water that was supposed to carry and allow blood cells to float in the blood stream would leave the blood stream to “assist” the stomach in flushing the bacteria out. This would result in the blood becoming concentrated and it would have difficulty to transport oxygen to vital organ like the brain, heart and kidneys, causing them to fail in extreme cases.

So, the originally affected body organ is only Mr. Tummy, right? But, because of this one, affected organ, the other organs wouldn’t be able to function properly either. So, when our Mr. Tummy is aching, would the other Misters feel the agony?
This was when I started asking myself- do I feel the pain and agony of my brothers and sisters as how the Prophet (peace be upon him) told me to? Do I behave as a body part that would feel the pain experienced by another part? Do I rush to assist my brothers and sisters, just like the WATER rushing towards the tummy to help flushed out the bacteria?

Like if I saw another brother ill, did I help to ease his burden? When I saw them being bullied at school, did I come to their rescue? When I saw them hungry during recess, did I share my food? When I saw natural disasters strike them on the news, did I send some aid to help them? When I saw their children need education , did I bother to school them? When I saw them lost their husbands, did I assist them to get back on their feet? When I saw them depressed, did I offer kind words?

And when I saw they needed prayers from me, did I put up my hands and pray to Allah to protect them, to save them from harm, to defend them, to release them from difficulties and to shower them with His Abundance, Guidance, Mercy and Love?
Ya Allah...I don’t think I could even breathe right now...continue...
Continue reading this book with another 18 inspirational stories from ordinary life experiences...buy one, yup brothers and sisters, sharing the joy of giving...