The Good, the Bald and the Ugly

The Good, the Bald and the Ugly
Dr. Mouhamed N. Tarazi

Based on a narration in Muslim & Bukhari

   Abas was a poor leper living by himself. He was ashamed of his looks and could not mingle with others in his village. He would have loved to get married but no women would marry him. He couldn’t get a job and was living off the charity offered to him by the village. One day an angel came to visit him in a form of a man.

   “Assalamu alaykum Brother Abas,” said the angel.

   “Waalykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu,” replied Abas.

   “How’re you doing?” asked the angel.

   “Just fine. Who’re you? What do you need?” Abas asked with a frown.”

   “What is the one thing you would like most, Abas?” The angel asked.

   “Don’t you see me? I’m just an ugly man. I wish I had normal heathy good looking skin like you, so I could get out and mix with the people of my village, get a job, get married and have children. The way I am everybody hates me,” angrily replied the leper. 

The angel caressed him and suddenly, by the power of God, his illness was cured, and he was given beautiful healthy skin. Abas, stunned, became extremely happy and he did not expect what would come next.

The angel then asked him:

   “What kind of animal do you like best?”

   “Camels,” he replied with a smile.

So the angel gave him a pregnant she-camel, and prayed for him: May Allah bless you through it.”

The angel then left.

   Next the angel visited a bald man named Sammy. Sammy was depressed with his baldness. He tried all known recipes to get some hair back on his head but nothing worked.  The angel asked Sammy

   “Why don’t you make a wish?”

   “I wish I had a nice looking hair.”

The angel touched Sammy’s head and told him to feel his head. He was given nice curly brown hair. Then the angel asked Sammy about his favorite animal. Sammy liked cows. The angel offered him a pregnant cow and prayed that Allah blessed him through it.

   Finally, the angel visited Kareem, a blind man.

   “Assalamu alaykum Brother Kareem,” greeted the angel.

   “Waalykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu,” welcomed Kareem.

   “How’re you doing today?” asked the angel.

   “Alhamdulillah!” replied Kareem with a smile.

Then the angel asked him what he would like the most in this world.

   “I wish that Allah would give me back my sight, so I can see and admire the beauty of the creations of God.”

The angel gently touched Kareem’s eyes and voilà, his sight came back to him.

Kareem stared weeping and kept on repeating Alhamdulillah! Alhamdulillah! Alhamdulillah!

   “What property do you like best?” asked the angel.

   “Sheep.”

The angel gave him a pregnant sheep, prayed for him and departed.

   After a while the three pregnant animal gave birth to young ones, and they multiplied so much that soon Abas had a herd of camels filling a valley, Sammy had a herd of cows filling a valley, and Kareem had a flock of sheep filling a valley.

   The time for a trial had come. Disguised in the shape and look of the original miserable poor Abas the leper, the angel visited the new cured leper Abas. The angel-leper said:

   “I am a poor man, I lost everything while travelling.  In the Name of Him Who has given you such a nice color and beautiful skin, and so much property, I ask you to give me just one camel to help me reach my destination.”

   Abas repelled him, “I can’t afford that. I have a lot of obligations.”  

[Credit cards debts? House mortgage?  Cars payments? Private schools for children’s tuition. There are many reasons some people give to avoid donating.]

The angel said, “Wait a minute! I think I know you; were you not a leper people hated? Weren’t you a poor man and then Allah blessed you with all this property?”

   “Nonsense, this is not true. I inherited all of this from my powerful fore-fathers,” Abas replied.

The angel said,

    “If you are lying, May God return you as you were before.”  

And he left.

   Next the angel, disguised this time in the shape and appearance of a bald man, visited Sammy and said to him the same as he told Abas. Sammy, too, used the same excuses to avoid giving charity and helping the bald man.

The angel said,

“If you are telling a lie, may God return you bald as you were before.” 

   Disguised as blind man, the angel went to Kareem and said,

    “I am a poor man and a traveler, I lost all my means of livelihood during my journey. I have nobody to help me except God, and after Him, you yourself. I ask you in the Name of He Who has given you back your eye-sight to give me just one sheep. That would help me complete my journey and reach my destination.”

Kareem quickly replied, “Indeed, I was blind and God restored my eye-sight; and I was poor and God made me rich; so take anything you want from my property. For God’s sake, I will not stop you for taking anything you wish from my property.”

   “You are just a good man,” the angel replied, “keep your property with you. You have been tested and God is pleased with you.”

  

Be kind to others as Allah has been kind to you.

How to Protect your Passwords

How to Protect your Passwords

A Useful Tip

Dr. Mouhamed N. Tarazi

 

Monday my wife called me. She interrupted my work and with a frustrated tone she informed me, “I cannot access our bank account online. Did you change the password?"

"Nope! I didn't," I calmly responded.

"I keep getting a message, 'We're sorry, but you used a User ID and/or password that doesn't match our records. Please try again.’ Or, click ‘Forgot your User ID and Password ‘to restore your access. ‘This is very frustrating. I don’t want to change the password."

I told her to hold on for a moment while I accessed my passwords’ file in my Dropbox. In fact I have a file called "Passwords" on my Dropbox. This may sound crazy. How can anyone with sound mind leave his valuable passwords on his computer, knowing that hackers are everywhere? Not only that, I’m also making their hacking job too easy by providing them with a file called “Passwords”.

“All right, what password are you using?” I inquired.

She Replied, “Asusual at 15, capital ‘a’, then, all small letters s,u,---“

As soon as she begun spelling the password, I started chuckling. She heard me and stopped. Then, embarrassingly exclaimed “Okay, okay. I remember!  I know now what I was doing wrong. Sorry! Forget it! I’m good! I got it. I know what to do now. Assalamu Alaykum” 

I have close to forty passwords on my computer and I’m not afraid to share the file with hackers. They won’t be able to do anything with it. Unless they can hack my own brain.

Here is simply how you can do it and protect your passwords. Chose one or two passwords that you like, don’t write them anywhere and just share them with your wife (recommended) if they are not a business related password. Assign a code word for each, like ‘asusual’ and ‘letmein’. Then make all your other passwords variations that include one of these two passwords, but use the code word in place of the password in your record of passwords.

Chose, for example, “Shoraba1” as password. It has a capital letter and a number as commonly required today.  Now only you and your wife know it. On your computer, in the file called “passwords,” you write the passwords of different websites, using “Asusual” instead of your true password, “Shoraba1” So if I access your passwords’ file I might see:

Checking Account: www.abcbank.com

User ID: johnsmith

Password: Asusual@123 (this means to you Shoraba1@123)

Yahoo: www.yahoo.com

User ID: johnsmith@yahoo.com

Password: MyAsusual$7 (this means to you MyShoraba1$7)

Medical Records: www.link.com

User ID: jsmith

Password: 12@Letmein (this means 12@ (whatever your second favorite secret password)

Of course all the added letters, as explained, are part of the required passwords. You only need to replace “Asusual” or “Letmein” with the memorized (not written anywhere) passwords.

You see, you can have more than one true password.

This technique can also be used for all sorts of codes (Security system at home, combination used to open your safe, etc...)

But please don’t use your own or any of your children birth dates. Don’t use the obvious common passwords like ‘Password’, 123456, 111122,112358 (Fibonacci), 4321 or your children’s names separate or conjointly or your telephone number or your social.

If you have a trick to make or remember passwords that might help me or others, I’d really like to hear it and share it around too.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Expect The Best From God!

Expect The Best From God!

Dr. Mouhamed N. Tarazi

 

The Prophet instructed us to make things easy and not to make them difficult, to cheer the people up by conveying glad tidings to them and not to repulse them.

He promised that he who dies associating nobody with Allah, will enter Paradise.

He conveyed to us, yet, a stronger hope. He promised that he who testifies sincerely that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, Allah would prohibit the fire of Hell for him.

In what follows, I will put before you more glad tidings to cheer you up. I will include two narrations. One is a conversation between Aisha (r.a.a) and the Prophet (s.a.a.w) and the other is about a ruling by Allah (s.w.t) on the Day of Judgment, in a case involving an aggressor and his victim.  

Aish’s Demand

Aisha (r.a.a) is sitting facing her beloved husband, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w). She notices that he is cheerful and in a very good mood. She seizes this golden moment and demands a favor from him.    

This is a smart move on the part of Aisha. Men, in general, are easier to deal with and more receptive to demands (particularly from the wives and children) when they are cheerful and happy.  

“Make dua’ for me! Oh Messenger of Allah.” Aisha asks the Prophet just to pray for her.

Is that all that you want Aisha?  

The prophet then supplicates:

“O Allah! Forgive Aisha’s sins, past and future.”

Wow! What an amazing response! Aisha feels so happy and starts to chuckle to the point where her head drops onto his lap.

 “Did you like my dua’ for you, Oh Aisha? He asks.

“Of course, what a wonderful dua’, oh Messenger of Allah,” she replies.

Then he looks at her and says:

 “By Allah, I repeat this dua’ for my umma (nation) in every salah (prayer).

Allahuakbar! He (s.a.a.w), in every prayer he performed (tens of thousands of times), asked Allah to forgive our sins, past and future. He, as Allah says, was forgiven his sins past and future, and he wanted this to apply to his followers as well.

The Mother of All Intercessions

 When Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w) read what Abraham (a.s) supplicated:

 “He who follows me is one of mine and he who disobeys me (is going astray) - But You are indeed oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”.

And what Jesus (a.s) prayed: “If you punish them, they are your servants, and if you forgive them, verily You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise”

He, Muhammad, understood that the two great messengers, Abraham and Jesus, were asking forgiveness even for those who chose not to follow them. He then raised his hands, cried and pleaded,

 “My nation, My nation!”

Then Allah sent Angel Gabriel to comfort him and assure him that he would be pleased in regards to his ummah and would not be sorrowful. Let’s not forget that every prophet was given a special wish and every prophet used up his wish except Muhammad. He saved his wish as a shafa’a  (intercession) for his ummah on the Day of Judgment. It will be honored for everyone who dies without associating anything with Allah.

That day, his intercession will help those from his ummah, whose good deeds are equal to their bad deeds, to enter Paradise. People ordered to go to Hell will be pardoned, by his intercession, before even entering Hell. Those who end up in Hell will be released to go to Paradise, as a result of his continued intercession.

In fact, that day the door of intercession will be open. All prophets, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the rest and the angels, the righteous people, and martyrs will be called to intercede. Children will intercede for their parents and will refuse to enter Paradise without then. Parents will intercede for their children. Spouses will intercede for each other. Believers will intercede for their friends. Then the mother of all intersessions comes: Allah’s mercy, when He orders to take out of Hell all those who have faith in their hearts, equal to the weight of a barley grain!

A High Court Ruling

On the Day of Judgment, two men sit side by side before Allah (s.w.t), in a court of law. The wrongdoer and his victim.

“Oh Allah! He had wronged me in the worldly life and I want justice,” the victim starts, pointing at the other man.  

The wrongdoer may have stolen money from the victim, or may have slandered him, or may have beat him. And now is the time for restitution.

“Pay him back!” Allah orders the wrongdoer.

“I don’t have any more good deeds to give him.” The wrongdoer sadly replies. With no more good deeds he is doomed and headed to Hell he thinks.

Then Allah asks the victim what he would like to do since the wrongdoer is completely out of good deeds to give him.

“Okay! Let him bear some of my bad deeds!” the victim insists.

In the Hereafter this will be the way restitutions will take place. The wrongdoer will give his victims from his own good deeds and when he is out of them he, the wrongdoer, will receive from his victims bad deeds until justice is served.

Suddenly the victim raises his head and glances around and says, “Oh my Lord!  I see golden cities and golden portraits engulfed with pearls. To which prophet, truthful person, or martyr do they belong?”

“To he who could buy it and pay for it,” Allah responds.

“Oh my Lord! Who can afford the price?” The victim wonders.

“You can pay for it,” Allah adds.

“How come?” The victim now very surprised.

Allah says, “It’s yours if you forgive your brother (The wrongdoer)”

“Oh Allah! I forgave him,” the victim quickly says.

Then Allah announces the formidable verdict, addressing the victim:

“Hold your brother’s hand and take him with you to Paradise”

The Most Cheerful Verse

One short verse in the Quran contains three thrilling glad tidings. Each one of the three, alone, should cheer you up.

“Say, Oh My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah.”

Subhanaallah! Do not despair of the mercy of Allah! This is the first glad tiding.  Then Allah mentions the second glad tiding:

 “Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.”

Allah forgives all sins! What a great news. Lastly Allah seals the verse with the third glad tiding:

 “Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." 

So look forward to your rendezvous with God in Paradise, Ishaallah. And remember to always expect the best from God until you meet Him.

School Principal Position

 

School Principal Position

 Sunrise Academy, central Ohio's only fulltime private chartered Islamic School currently has a position open as a School Principal  

Job requirements for the position are as follows: 

 

- Master's in Education or higher, Ohio Teaching License or Equivalent, Principal License Preferred

- At least 2 years of experience in an American classroom setting and/or American school administration 

- Strong verbal and written communication skills in English

- Strong knowledge in the use of technology in the classrooms

- Must be able to work within the USA

Qualified candidate should be able to work in a multicultural environment and be interested in fostering a climate of high academic achievement. 

Qualified candidates are encouraged to e-mail their resume to the School Board Human Resources Committee at

   board@sunriseacademy.net

For more information about Sunrise Academy, please refer to the website at www.sunriseacademy.net.

Terrorists don’t represent Muslim beliefs

Letter to The Dispatch

January  13, 2015

 

Dr. Mouhamed N. Tarazi

 

 

 

   As president of the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus, I would like to publicly express the outrage and horror of our community about the murders conducted by three terrorists in France who claimed to be acting in the name of Islam. They were no more good Muslims than the terrorists of the Ku Klux Klan were good Christians, lynching people and burning crosses to silence protest to their social-order ideas.

   The Prophet Muhammad was scoffed at and ridiculed many times. He was called a liar, a magician and a lunatic, among other things by people openly trying to dissuade people from his message. He never responded to these people with violence and he stopped some among his followers who wanted to defend him using violence. Poets mocked him and he asked some other poets to respond in kind. He insisted on a code of conduct that had three points of consideration.

• You are allowed to defend yourself when others attack you, but not to exceed the level of force brought against you. (i.e., If someone defames you with words you can respond in words, not with guns.)

• Your defense should not allow you to respond in a way that will debase you and corrupt your soul (i.e., Don’t torture others even if their group has tortured yours, because this behavior is immoral.)

• If you have the power to be forgiving, God loves those who forgive.
The tactics of al-Qaida and Islamic State, like those of the Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and others, are generally robe themselves in religious rhetoric to rationalize their behavior, while they betray the basic tenets of their faith.

   As a leader in the local Muslim community, I have been in meetings between the FBI, Homeland Security and other government officials and our local Muslim organizations. We look to continue protecting our community from those who would try to subvert our members.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2015/01/13/1-terrorists-dont-represent-muslim-beliefs.html