May 2003: Page 1, 2, 3, 4

Submitters Perspective

Page 3

Questions

Cont’d from page 2

We need to really stop and think about that and make sure all of our thoughts, our words and our actions clearly show that we recognize God ALONE as the Creator and the One who’s doing everything.

Since there are so many questions in the Quran this article could go on forever. It wasn’t meant to cover every single one, only to point out a few and more importantly to encourage everyone, when you read a question in the Quran, to pay attention, reflect on it and hopefully learn from it. The asking and answering of questions can be a valuable teaching tool if we let it.

Shall we treat those who believe and lead a righteous life as we treat those who commit evil on earth? Shall we treat the righteous as we treat the wicked? (38:28)

Do they not see that every day on earth, brings them closer to the end, and that God decides their life span, irrevocably? He is the most efficient Reckoner. (13:41)

Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe," without being put to the test? (29:2)

Why do they not reflect upon this scripture? Do they not realize that they have received something never attained by their ancestors? (23:68)

Do you not see that God has committed in your service everything in the heavens and the earth, and has showered you with His blessings - obvious and hidden? Yet, some people argue about God without knowledge, without guidance, and without the enlightening scripture. (31:20)

Lydia K.

ADVERSITY

A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil.

In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word. The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a mug.

Turning to her he asked. “Darling, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. She humbly asked. “What does it mean, father?”

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

How about you, my friend? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength? Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you become hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart? Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain, to its peak flavor when it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better around you. How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Parable submitted by sister Asiah

[94:6] Indeed, with pain there is gain.