Children’s Column

[148] Every one has a direction to which he turns. So you compete with each other in good works. Wherever you may be, Allah will gather you all. Allah has power over all things.

[149] Wherever you start from (O Prophet), turn your face in the direction of the Holy Mosque. That is the truth from your Lord. Allah is not unaware of what you do.

[150] (To repeat), wherever you start from, turn your face in the direction of the Holy Mosque. And, wherever you start from (O Muslims), you may turn your faces in the direction of the Holy Mosque. So that the people might have no argument against you, except for those among them who are unjust. But fear them not. Fear Me (alone). So that I may complete My favors to you and you may be (rightly) guided.

Allah states a rule about turning to this or that direction. Every community has a direction to which it turns. While praying, some turn towards the Sun. Some face the Fire while worshipping. Western Christians generally turn toward the East.

Also, every individual is running in his own direction. Someone is running in the direction of business. Another is running in the direction of politics. Yet another man is running after pleasures. Everyone seems to have a direction in his or her life. They call it the ‘goal’ of life.

What about Muslims? What direction should they take?

Allah tells them here what direction they should take.

He tells us: You fix good deeds as your direction. Just as others are working hard to achieve their worldly goals, you should work hard to do good deeds. That should be the ‘goal’ of your life.

Therefore, we Muslims should not forget that sooner or later, we will have to leave this world, and go in another direction. We will be brought together in one place in the Hereafter. So, let the Hereafter be our direction and goal from now itself.

As for prayers, all Muslims must turn toward the Holy Mosque at Makkah. If the direction is not known, use the Sun to fix the direction. If the Sun has set and the direction is not known, ask someone about where did the Sun set. If no one helps, then, go by guess.

If in an airplane, follow the same rule as on the ground. A little left or right won’t matter. Try to be as close as possible.

Stay on your Qiblah during the Prayer so that people might not argue with you to say, “You do not seem to stick to one direction.”

There would be some who will argue with you over your Qiblah. For example, they might say, “God is everywhere.” But actually, they do not like Ka`bah as the Qiblah. God is not everywhere. For example, God is not in your pocket. God is in no specific direction. Directions are for us human beings. All we know about God is that he is above us. We do not know where exactly He is. All we know that He is in the same direction in which good deeds are. That is, if good deeds are our goal, then Allah is in that direction.

Therefore, if you wish to find God, take up the path of good deeds.

So, if people argue and ask why we turn to Ka`bah, our answer is, “Because God has ordered us. The order came in the Qur’an. And the Qur’an is Allah’s speech.”

So, fear not them, but fear Allah. He will guide you in this world, and into Paradise.

He has fixed the new Qiblah so that He might guide us in all affairs.

Lessons:

1. People spend their lives madly running after this or that worldly thing. That is their direction.
2. The direction that Muslims take is the direction of good deeds.
3. Allah is in the same direction. That is, you find Him if you go in the direction of good deeds.
4. After all, whatever direction we take in this life, with death we all will be driven to the direction in which Hereafter is.
5. If people are unhappy today, it is because they do not turn to the right direction in their lives.
6. If anyone objects to any Islamic rule that is in the Qur’an, our answer is, prove it that the Qur’an is not from God.

Exercise:

1. What should be the direction of your life?
2. During prayers you follow the Qiblah at Makkah. What is your Qiblah in everyday life?
3. Why are people unhappy today?
4. Is God everywhere?
5. In which direction is God?

(To be continued)

This is the story of two frogs. One frog was fat and the other skinny. One day, while searching for food, they inadvertently jumped into a vat of milk. They couldn’t get out, as the sides were too slippery, so they were just swimming around.

The fat frog said to the skinny frog, “Brother frog, there’s no use paddling any longer. We’re just going to drown, so we might as well give up.” The skinny frog replied, “Hold on brother, keep paddling. Somebody will get us out.” And they continued paddling for hours.

After a while, the fat frog said, “Brother frog, there’s no use. I’m becoming very tired now. I’m just going to stop paddling and drown. It’s Sunday and nobody’s working. We’re doomed. There’s no possible way out of here.” But the skinny frog said, “Keep trying. Keep paddling. Something will happen, keep paddling.” Another couple of hours passed.

The fat frog said, “I can’t go on any longer. There’s no sense in doing it because we’re going to drown anyway. What’s the use?” And the fat frog stopped. He gave up. And he drowned in the milk. But the skinny frog kept on paddling.

Ten minutes later, the skinny frog felt something solid beneath his feet. He had churned the milk into butter and he hopped out of the vat.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Did You Know…?

• In Alaska, it is illegal to whisper in someone’s ear while they’re moose hunting.

• The bat is the only mammal that can fly.

• The leg bones of a bat are so thin that no bat can walk.

• Some male songbirds sing more than 2000 times each day.

• The chicken and fish are the only animals that are eaten before they are born and after they die.

• A tarantula spider can survive for more than two years without food.

• For every human in the world there are one million ants.