Did You Know?

Sadaqah is an Arabic term for charity, the spirit of giving
• It is an integral part of Islam
• Sadaqah stands in the way of calamity and miserliness
• Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: “The believer’s shade on the
Day of Resurrection will be his charity.” (Al-Tirmidhi)
• Sadaqah teaches compassion while staying away from greed and selfishness
• This could be monetary help or non-monetary simple acts of
kindness towards others
• Smiling for your brother/sister is an act of charity
• Removing stones, thorns or bones from the paths of people is a form of charity
• Guiding a person who is lost is a way of charity

The Arabic Tongue Twister Challenge!

How many were you able to say?

مَنْ مَنَّ مِنْ مَنٍّ مُنَّ مِنَ المَنَّان

Whoever gives from the gifts (of God) shall be
rewarded from the Ever Giving
بَابُ بَابٍ، بَابِي بَابٌ، بُوَّابَةٌ بَابَاً
The door of a door, my door, a gate with a door
سَمَعَتْ سَمِيعَةٌ سَمَاعَةً فَسَمِعَتْ سَمِيعَتَهَا
She heard a hearing and then she heard its hearing
كَتَبَتْ كَاتِبَتَيْنِ كِتَابَةً، فَقَرَأَتْ كِتَابَتَيْنِ قِرَاءَةً
She wrote two writings, then she read the two writings

The Food Puzzle

Story of the Lumberjack

Once upon a time, there was a really strong lumberjack who started a new job at a timber company. The pay and working conditions were excellent, so the lumberjack was determined to do his very best. The boss gave him a sharp axe and showed him the part of the forest where he needed to work.
On the first day, the lumberjack managed to cut down and bring back 18 trees. The boss congratulated him and encouraged him to keep it up. Feeling motivated by the boss’s praise, the lumberjack worked even harder the next day, but he could only bring back 15 trees. Despite his efforts, on the third day, he could only manage to cut and bring back 10 trees. Each day that followed, he brought back fewer and fewer trees.
The lumberjack began to think that he was losing his strength. He decided to talk to the boss and explained that he was confused about what was happening. The boss asked him a crucial question, “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” The lumberjack realized that he hadn’t sharpened his axe since he started because he was so busy trying to cut down trees.
What do we understand? Our lives are similar to this story. Sometimes, we become so busy that we forget to take care of ourselves. Just like the lumberjack needed to sharpen his axe to work effectively, we need to nourish our souls to stay strong in our faith. If we become too preoccupied with our daily tasks and neglect feeding our souls, our faith can weaken, and we might lose our motivation to do good deeds. Therefore, it’s important to set aside time every day to “sharpen” our souls by some good practices.