Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of
owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender.

The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful
daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter.
Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the
cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter.
He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an
empty money bag.

Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her
father's debt would be forgiven.

2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's
debt would still be forgiven.

3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into
jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they
talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked
them
up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles
and
put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the
bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field.

What would you have done if you were the girl?

If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and
expose the money-lender as a cheat.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to
save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the
hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and
logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional
logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above
logical answers.

What would you recommend to the Girl to do?

Scroll down if you give up...............











Well, here is what she did ....

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without
looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path
where
it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the
bag
for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had
picked
the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty,
the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely
advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Most complex problems do have a solution.
It is only that we don't attempt to think.



As this life is a trial for man, he has to face circumstances of
varying nature designed to test the veracity of his claim that he
believes in God and also to cleanse him of undesirable immoral
characteristics. The meticulous details of this trial for each person
are undeniably prefigured. This should ensure us that the trial in
question would be carried out in the most appropriate and befitting
manner. In other words, since the scheme of this trial is designed by
the Most Wise, it can never be unfair. Being engulfed by adversities?an
essential element of this trial?man is, however, prone to forget this
indisputable reality i.e. the trial of life is fair no matter how
tremendous the adversities that befall us. He needs to know that this
trial presupposes certain immutable facts that conform to sense and
reason and accord with perfect justice. Losing sight of these facts
means to lose strength and courage to fight trying circumstances. What
follows is a brief note meant to elucidate these facts so that we
refresh our knowledge in this respect and thus consolidate our faith in
order to combat adverse circumstances.

Allah is not our Enemy
The foremost thing we must bear in mind is that Allah does not
harbor hostility against us. He does not raise obstacles in our way
because?May Allah forgive me?He bears grudges or strong resentment to
us nor is it that He despises our very existence so much as to do away
with it.
He has presented Himself as a friend of mankind; and as good
friends usually do, He warns us of our foremost enemy, Satan, lest we
should let ourselves be carried away by his illusive promises.
Similarly, it is evidently clear that Allah does not take any step
without giving respite to His servants. He has asserted the fact that
if He were to catch everyone guilty of committing sins right on the
spot, none from the progeny of Adam (sws) would remain protected. He
has indeed devised the law of giving respite to the sinners. He in fact
awards reprieve to each wrong doer in order to allow him to repent for
his sins and mend his ways. If it were not for this allowance, we
would have been punished as soon as we erred.
Allah is our well-wisher and great friend too. However, He should
not be taken as a friend who maintains unprincipled friendship and
continues to support His friends even when they do mischief. On the
contrary, He is a sincere friend; instead of helping us transgress
moral limits, He is always there to guide us to the right path. In
addition to sending us various Prophets and awarding us Divine Books,
He has designed a world of comfort and difficulty to teach us and help
us remain steadfast on the right path.
We must also know that Allah is not how the Jews endeavored to
portray Him. They suffered from the illusions that since they were the
descendents of the righteous Prophets of Allah; they were entitled to
cross the threshold of Paradise no matter how immoral life they would
lead. And if, in all probability, they were cast into Hell, they would
not stay there but for a few days. The Almighty has rebutted their
misconception and has termed this: Al-Had Fi Al-sifat (denying the
essential attributes of the Lord)?a term which implies that this is as
heinous a crime as associating partners with Him.

Allah does not burden us beyond our Capacity
The second fact we ought to always keep in view is that Allah
burdens us with only those responsibilities that we can easily
discharge; they are never of such high intensity as to make us lose our
faith. The Holy Qur'an has elucidated this fact in the words that
follow:
We task not any soul beyond its capacity. (7:152)
Obviously, if this sublime principle had been overlooked, the
entire scheme of test and trial would have become an act of tyranny and
oppression. Keeping this premise in mind about the Shari'ah, we can
safely conclude that Allah will adhere to this principle regarding
other tests of life as well. His attributes definitely negate the very
notion that He overburdens us just to shake our strength and shatter
our hopes. Therefore, the underlying purpose behind every seemingly
astronomical adversity is to test us; the Almighty never aims at
exasperating us through adversities.

Adversities are not meant to deprive us of our Faith
As an offshoot of the principle delineated above, what comes to
light is that Allah does not create troubles for us in order to divest
us of our faith. The Holy Qur'an has also shed light on this principle:
it was put forth before the Muslims and the Jews, at the time when the
directive regarding change of Qiblah (i.e. the direction toward which
Muslims stand and offer prayer) was given, that Allah did not want that
their faith should go in vain.
And it was not Allah's purpose to divest you of your faith. He is
full of pity, merciful toward mankind. (2:143)

There's a continuation... If you want it, just e-mail me at s_inter89@hotmail.com.