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First Quarter 2000

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The Bird In You!

The heart of every human being can be likened to an egg – a newly laid egg – apparently fresh and innocent. The egg contains its potential for future growth. But first it has to get incubated, after which the hatching will take place at precisely the right moment. For sure, if we can tell who or what laid the egg, we can guess what it can or will hatch. Simply put, an egg laid by a hen can never hatch an ostrich! So what about an egg laid by you, a human? It will hatch whatever your thoughts are, fertilized by what you see, what you hear, what you read, and even what your friends look like.

Let us examine just a few of the kinds of bird people’s hearts hatch:

A Vulture. With the vulture, nothing anyone does or say is good enough. Pick, pick, pick, he’s a habitual critic, earnestly searching for people’s faults. Nag, nag, nag, he enjoys arguing about everything. His happiness in life is in winning arguments. He feeds on unworthiness and his droppings are doubts, disagreement and altercations. Doom and gloom fly with the vulture. Allah already warns him in the Qur’an (49:11-12), if only he will listen.

An Eagle. He is a praiser. He generously praises the personality, the accomplishments, and activities of others. He is the one whose actions let people know they are worthy no matter what, and that their worth does not need to be proven, earned, or defended. He flies on the wings of grace and gratitude. Allah praises his generosity, kindness and consideration of others. He has been promised a heavenly prize (Q75:5-22), if only he will continue.

A Turkey. He is a real twit. He is the one who answers quickly and loudly, "I don’t know", to almost any question. He is ignorant and never ready to learn. Mr. Turkey has large wings, but he will never learn to fly. He has no time to read the Qur’an and too busy to browse through 'religious' literature. Busy? Yes, busy standing still – neither moving forward, nor going backwards in matters of intellectual, spiritual and moral self-improvement. Mr. Turkey’s attitude reminds one of the sayings of the scholars:

" …A man that knows not, but knows not that he knows not; that is a fool. Ignore him and keep away from him!"

As a Muslim, therefore, you should always remember that your actions, behaviors and attitudes are hatchings from your heart, which eventually bring out the bird in you!

 

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