12 July 2008

The mouse and the trap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

“What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the lamb and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The lamb sympathised, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the lamb.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember — when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Each one of us is a vital thread in another person's tapestry. Our lives are woven together for a reason.


Narrated Ibn Umar (radiAllahu anhu) that Allah’s Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,

"A Muslim is a brother of Muslim, he neither wrongs him nor does hand him over to one who does him wrong. If anyone fulfils his brother’s needs, Allah will fulfil his needs; if one relieves a Muslim of his troubles, Allah will relieve his troubles on the Day of Resurrection."
[sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Narrated Ibn Umar (radiAllahu anhu) that Allah’s Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
"A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. So he should not oppress him nor should he hand him over to (his satan or to his self which is inclined to evil). Whoever fulfils the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfil his needs; whoever removes the troubles of his brother, Allah will remove one of his troubles on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever covers up the fault of a Muslim, Allah will cover up his fault on the Day of Resurrection."
[sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Abu Hurairah (radiAllahu anhu) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said,
"He who removes from a believer one of his difficulties of this world, Allah will remove one of his troubles on the Day of Judgement; and he who finds relief for a hard-pressed person, Allah will make things easy for him on the Day of Judgement; he who covers up (the faults) of a Muslim, Allah will cover up (his faults) in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah supports His slave as long as the slave is supportive of his brother; and he who treads the path in search of knowledge, Allah makes that path easy, leading to Paradise for him; The people who assemble in a house from the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah, learning it and teaching, there descends upon them the tranquillity, and mercy covers them, the angels flock around them, and Allah mentions them in the presence of those near Him; and he who lags behind in doing good deeds, his high descent will not make him go ahead."
[Muslim]