Making the Difference

A Pond full of Milk

Once there was a king who told some of his workers to dig a pond. Once the pond was dug, the king made an announcement to his people saying that one person from each household has to bring a glass of milk during the night and pour it into the pond. So, the pond should be full of milk by the morning. After receiving the order, everyone went home.

One man prepared to take the milk during the night. He thought that since everyone will bring milk, he could just hide a glass of water and pour inside the pond. Because it will be dark at night, no one will notice. So he quickly went and poured the water in the pond and came back. In the morning, the king came to visit the pond and to his surprise the pond was only filled with water!

What happened was that everyone was thinking like the other man that “I don’t have to pour the milk, someone else will do it.”

When it comes to spreading the word of Islam, do not think that others will take care of it. Rather, it must starts from you as an individual. Set an example, by changing yourself to follow the practices of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) and serve Allah (S.W.T). This will make the real difference.

The Carpenter

A highly skilled carpenter who had grown old was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his family. He would miss the pay cheque, but he needed to retire.

The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter agreed to this proposal but made sure that this will be his last project. Being in a mood to retire, the carpenter was not paying much attention to building this house. His heart was not in his work. He resorted to poor workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the job was done, the carpenter called his employer and showed him the house. The employer handed over some papers and the front door key to the carpenter and said “This is your house, my gift to you.” The carpenter was in a shock! What a shame! If he had only known that he was building his own house, he would have made it better than any other house that he ever built!

Our situation can be compared to this carpenter. Allah (S.W.T) has sent us to this world to build our homes in Paradise by obeying His (S.W.T) commands. Now, we have to decide how well we wish to build the homes where we will live forever.