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February 5, 2010 | 5:10 PM Comments  0 comments

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GREATEST TEASERS OF ALL TIMES
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic


TEASERS
Politics

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: Im the breadwinner of the family, so lets call me capitalism. Your Mom, shes the administrator of the money, so well call her the Government. Were here to take care of your needs, so well call you the people. The nanny, well consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, well call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense,"

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad had said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nannys room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I thin k I Understand the concept of politics now." The father says, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about." The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit."

Job Descriptions

1. A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

2. An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didnt happen today.

3. A statistician is someone who is good with numbers but lacks the personality to be an accountant.

4. An actuary is someone who brings a fake bomb on a plane, because that decreases the chances that there will be another bomb on the plane.

5. A programmer is someone who solves a problem you didnt know you had in a way you dont understand.

6. A mathematician is like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isnt there.

7. A topologist is a someone who doesnt know the difference between a coffee cup and doughnut.

8. A lawyer is a person who writes a 10,000 word document and calls it a "brief."

9. A psychologist is someone who watches everyone else when a beautiful girl enters the room.

10. A professor is one who talks in someone elses sleep.

11. A consultant is someone who takes the watch off your wrist and tells you the time.

12. A committee is a body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.



COMA


A woman's husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several
months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day. One day, when
he finally woke, he motioned for her to come closer.

As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears, "You know what? You
have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were
there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got
shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed right here.
When my health started failing, you were still by my side. You know what?"

"What dear?" She gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with
warmth.

"I think you're bad luck."

Confession

A man is on his deathbed, and his wife is sitting by his side.

The man says to the wife: "Hon, I have to tell you something."

The wife replies: "Yes, you can tell me anything."

Man: "I slept with your sister"

Wife: "I know"

Man: "And your mom"

Wife: "I know"

Man: "I also slept with your secretary, Mary"

The wife puts a finger to his mouth and says "I know, my darling, now just relax and let the poison work".



Stupid Questions

1. Why does your gynecologist leave the room when you undress?

2. If a person owns a piece of land, do they own it all the way down to the center of the earth?

3. Why cant woman put their mascara on with their mouth closed?

4. Why is it called alcoholics anonymous when the first thing you do is stand up and say
"hi, my names Bob. Im an alcoholic"?

5. If you mated a Bulldog with a Shitsu would you get a Bullshit?

6. Why are they called stairs inside but steps outside?

7. Why is there a light in the fridge but not in the freezer?

8. Why does mineral water that has trickled through mountains for centuries
have a use by date?

9. Why do toasters always have a setting on them which burns your toast to a
horrible crisp no one would eat?

10. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say "I think ill squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"?

11. What do people in China call their good plates?

12. If the professor on Gilligans Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why cant he fix a hole in a boat?

13. Why does Goofy stand on two legs when Pluto remains on four? Theyre both dogs.

14. What do you call male ballerinas?

15. Can blind people see their dreams and do they dream?

16. If Wile E coyote has enough money to by all that Acme crap why doesnt he buy his dinner?

17. Why is a person who handles money called a broker?

18. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

19. If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables. What is baby oil made from?

20. If a man is walking in a forest and no women is there to hear him is he still wrong?

21. Why is it that when someone tells you that theres billions of stars in the universe,
you believe them. But if they tell you theres wet paint somewhere you have to touch it?

22. Why do you call it an asteroid when its outside the hemisphere, yet call it hemorrhoid when its in your ass?

23. Did you ever notice that if you blow in a dogs face it goes mad, yet when you take him on a car ride he sticks his head straight out the window?


THE WINNING JOKE


After much careful scrutiny, we (the Laughlab.com) are proud to announce our winning joke. This joke received higher ratings than any other gag.

Drum roll…..

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: “Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.” There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: “OK, now what?"



The Husband Store!

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City , where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE !

There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch . . .. you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband . .

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead good looking and help with the housework.

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!" Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 4, 363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

Please send this to all men for a good laugh and to all the women who can handle the truth!

******************************************************

YOU HAVE TWO COWS....................

TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies and the economy grows.
You retire on the income.

INDIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You worship them.

PAKISTANI ECONOMICS
You don't have any cows.
You claim that the Indian cows belong to you.
You ask the US for financial aid, China for military
aid, British for Warplanes, Italy for machines,
Germany for technology,
French for submarines,
Switzerland for loans, Russia for drugs Japan for
equipment.
You buy the cows with all this and claim
exploitation by the world.

AMERICAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other to produce the milk
of four cows.
You profess surprise when the cow drops dead.
You put the blame on some nation with cows &
naturally that nation will be a danger to mankind.
you wage war to save the world and grab the cows.

FRENCH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.

GERMAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You reengineer them so that they live for 100 years,
eat once a month and milk themselves.

BRAZILIAN COW
You have two cows.
Whenver they breed the third, you
arrange for soccer tournament and
the winning team gets it.

BRITISH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
They are both mad cows.

ITALIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.

JAMAICAN COW
You have two cows.
You feed them with the same weed
that you smoke. Listen to Reggae
music and wonder when the number will
turn to three

SWISS ECONOMICS
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.
You charge others for storing them.

JAPANESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You redesign them so that they are one-tenth the
size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create cute cartoon cow images called
Cowkimon and market them
worldwide.

RUSSIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 17 cows.
You give up counting and open another bottle of
vodka.

CHINESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim full employment, high bovine productivity
and arrest anyone reporting the actual numbers.


NIGERIAN ECONOMICS: {FEDERAL}
You have two cows
You eat one and claim it was stolen
Call in the Police to investigate
Police arrested everyone living within 100km
Torture them thoroughly until someone admitted
kidnapping the cow
The police instead collected one cow each from
everybody arrested
You have your cow back and the Police now owns a
cattle farm.
{TRIBES}

YORUBA ECONOMICS
You have two cows
U kill them both
And throw an owambe party!

IBO ECONOMICS
You have two cows
U make very good counterfeits of them
And sell for the price of the real cows!

HAUSA ECONOMICS
You have two cows
You rear them till they are four
Make sure ur kids rear cows too
And just maintain!


It's only a joke folks !


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*A man was out walking when he fell over the edge of a cliff. As he hurtled towards the ground, he just managed to hang on to a protruding tree branch. Staring down at a 200-foot drop to almost certain dearth, he cried out: “Help me, please! Is anybody up there?”
A deep voice came back: “Yes, my son, I am up here.”
“Who is it?” called the man.
“Its is the Lord.”
“Can you help me?”
“Certainly, my son. Just let go of the branch and I will catch you”
The man thought for a moment, then shouted: “Is anybody else up there?”
(This is an oldie but a goodie)

A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against fire among other things. Within a month having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason: that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued ... and won!

In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire, and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."

NOW FOR THE BEST PART....

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine

We dey too!

After digging to a depth of 100 meters last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had telephone network 1000 years ago.
So not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed, American scientists dug 200 metres and headlines in the US papers read: "US scientists have found traces of 2000 year old optical fibres, and concluded that their ancestors already had advanced high-tech digital telephone 1000 years earlier than the Russians."
One week later, the Nigerian newspapers reported the following: "After digging as deep as 500 metres, Nigerian scientists have found absolutely nothing. They have concluded that 5000 years ago, their ancestors were already using wireless!!

**************************************************************************

A TEASER - the NIGERIAN POLICE!
Forwarded by A.B.Barkindo

In an effort to determine the top crime fighting agency in Nigeria, The president narrowed the field to three finalists: the SSS, the Army, and the Nigerian Police force. The three contenders were given the task of catching a rabbit which was released into the forest. The SSS went into the forest. They placed animal informants throughout. They questioned all plant and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigation they concluded that rabbits do not exist The Army went into the forest. After two weeks without a capture, they burned the forest killing everything in it, including the rabbit. They made no apologies. The rabbit deserved it. The Nigerian police went into the forest. They came out two hours later with a badly beaten bear. The bear was yelling " Okay, Okay, I agree, I'm a rabbit, I'm a rabbit". >---------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read About the The Queen, Clinton and Obasanjo!!

Queen Elizabeth, Bill Clinton & Olusegun Obasanjo died & went
straight to hell.

Queen Elizabeth said "I miss England; I want to call England and
see how everybody is doing there". She called and talked for about 5
minutes, and then she asked
"Well, Devil, how much do I owe you????
The devil says "Five million pounds". She wrote him a cheque and
went to sit back on her chair.

Bill Clinton was so jealous, he starts screaming, "My turn! I
wanna call the United States, I want to see how everybody is doing there
too. He called and talked for about 2 minutes, and then he asked
"Well, Devil, how much do I owe you????
The devil says "Ten million dollars".
With a smug look on his face, he made a cheque and went to sit back on
his chair.

Obasanjo was even more jealous & starts screaming, me go call
Nigeria too jare, I go see how everybody is doing there too. I
go to talk to the ministers, to the deputies, to the PDP, everybody.....
He calls Nigeria and he talks for about twenty hours, he talked & talked
& talked, then he asked,
"Well, Devil, how much do I owe you????
The devil says "One dollar".
Obasanjo is stunned & says "One dollar??? Only one freaking dollar??"
The Devil says "Well if you make a call from one hell to another hell,
it's local !

Ike Ofoche


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



WRONG WIFE (be careful with your e-mails)

After being nearly snowbound for two weeks last winter, a Seattle man departed for his vacation in Miami Beach, where he was to meet
his wife the next day at the conclusion of her business trip to Minneapolis.

They were looking forward to pleasant weather and a nice time together. Unfortunately, there was some sort of mix up at the boarding
gate, and the man was told he would have to wait for a later flight. He tried to appeal to a supervisor but was told the airline was not responsible for the problem and it would do no good to complain.

Upon arrival at the hotel the next day, he discovered that Miami Beach was having a heat wave, and its weather was almost as uncomfortably hot as Seattle's was cold. The desk clerk gave him a message that his wife would arrive as planned. He could hardly wait to get to the pool area to cool off, and quickly sent his wife an e-mail, but due to his haste, he made an error in the e-mail address.

His message therefore arrived at the home of an elderly preacher's wife whose even older husband had died only the day before! When the grieving widow opened her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out an anguished scream, and fell to the floor dead. Her family rushed to her room where they saw this message on the screen:

Dearest wife,

Departed yesterday as you know. Just now got checked in. Some
confusion at the gate. Appeal was denied. Received confirmation of your arrival tomorrow.

Your loving husband.

P.S. Things are not as we thought. You're going to be surprised
at how hot it is down here.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with
technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00
cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon".

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release
stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be
driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy anew car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would
have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut
off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue.
For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your
car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to
reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable,
five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five
percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be
replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and
refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned
the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to
drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same
manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Everyone needs this list to live by

The most destructive habit..............................Worry
The greatest Joy.............................................Giving
The greatest loss......................Loss of self-respect
>>
The most satisfying work....................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait....................Selfishness
The most endangered species........Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource....................Our youth
The greatest "shot in the arm"........Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome......................Fear
>>
The most effective sleeping pill.........Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease................Excuses
The most powerful force in life..........................Love
>>
The most dangerous pariah......................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer.......The brain
The worst thing to be without......................... Hope
>>
The deadliest weapon.............................The tongue
The two most power-filled words................."I Can"
The greatest asset.........................................Faith
>>
The most worthless emotion......................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire................................SMILE!
The most prized possession....................... Integrity
>>
The most powerful channel of communication.......Prayer
The most contagious spirit....................Enthusiasm


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brainteaser

Suicide? Or Murder? Or Suicide?
At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS resident
Dr. Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a
bizarre death. Here is the story:


On March 23, 1994, the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald
Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. The
decedent had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide.

He left a note to that effect indicating his despondency. As he fell
past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing
through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the
decedent was aware that a safety net had been installed just below at the
eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus
would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

Ordinarily, Dr. Mills continued, "a person who sets out to commit
suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be
what he intended" is still defined as committing suicide. Mr. Opus was shot
on the way to certain death nine stories below at street level, but his
suicide attempt probably would not have been successful because of the
safety net. This caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide
on his hands.

The room on the ninth floor from whence the shotgun blast emanated
was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously,
and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when
he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went
through the window striking Mr. Opus.

When one intends to kill subject A, but kills subject B in the
attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject B. When confronted with the
murder charge, the old man and his wife were both adamant. They both said
they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was his long
standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no
intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be
an accident, that is, the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old
couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal
accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial
support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the
shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father
would shoot his mother.

The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist.

Further investigation revealed that the son was in fact Ronald Opus.
He had become increasingly despondent over both the loss of his financial
support and the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder.
This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be shot by his father.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ahuwa’s Interview

Ahuwa was short listed for interview for the position of secretary in a company. She was the last candidate in a long list and the Manager was tired. When he saw her he did not like her but decided to still go ahead with the interview. It proceeded as follows.

After asking her to sit down she was asked to make a sentence with the following colours. Pink, green, yellow, black, purple and white. She hesitated for a second and then started. When I get this job and the phone rings green, green, green, I will pink it and say yellow. White are you saying? You are purpley disturbing. Please don’t call black. Upon hearing that, the manager collapsed and passed out.
-------------
From Ameena Abbas, Minna.Nigeria.

ameena.isah@lycos.co.uk



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THIS IS WHAT A GUY WROTE TO A SYSTEM ANALYST;
Dear Systems Department,
I am desperate for some help!
I recently upgraded my program from Girlfriend 7.0 to
Wife 1.0 and found that the new program began
unexpected child Processing and also took up a lot of
space and valuable resources.
This wasn't mentioned in the product brochure. In
addition Wife 1.0 Installs itself into all other
programs and launches during systems Initialization
and then it monitors all other system
activities.
Applications such as "Boys' Night out 2.5" and "Golf
5.3" no longer Run, and crashes the system whenever
selected. Attempting to operate Selected "Saturday
Rugby 6.3" always fails and "Saturday Shopping 7.1"
runs instead.
I cannot seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background
whilst attempting to run any of my favourite
applications. Be it online or offline.
I am thinking of going back to "Girlfriend7.0", but
uninstall doesn't work on this program.
Can you please help?
...... AND THIS WHAT THE ANALYST SAID;
Dear Customer,
This is a very common problem resulting from a basic
misunderstanding of the functions of the "wife1.0
"program. Many customers upgrade from "Girlfriend 7.0"
to "Wife 1.0 " thinking that "Wife 1.0" is merely a
UTILITY AND ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM.
Actually, "Wife 1.0 " is an OPERATING SYSTEM designed
by it's Creator to Run everything.
You are unlikely to be able to purge "Wife 1.0 "and
still convert back to "Girlfriend 7.0 ", as "Wife 1.0
" was not designed to do this and it is Impossible to
uninstall, delete or purge the program files from the
System once it is installed. Some people have tried to
install "Girlfriend 8.0 "or
"Wife 2.0 " but have ended up with even more
problems. (See manual under Alimony/Child Support and
Solicitors' Fees).
Having " Wife 1.0 " installed, I recommend you keep it
installed And deal with the difficulties as best as
you can. When any faults or problems Occur, whatever
you think has caused them, you must run the
C:APOLOGIZEFORGIVE ME Program and avoid attempting
to use the *Esc-Key for it will freeze the entire
system.
It may be necessary to run C:APOLOGIZEFORGIVE ME
for a number of times, and eventually hope that the
operating system will return to normal.
"Wife 1.0 ", although a very high maintenance program,
can be very rewarding. To get the most out of it,
consider buying additional Software such as "Flowers
2.0" and "Chocolates 5.0" or "HUGSKISSES 600.0" or
"TENDERNESS UNDERSTANDING 1000.0", or even "Eating
Out Without the Kids 7.2.1" (if child processing has
already started).
DO NOT under any circumstances install "Secretary 2.1"
(Short Skirt Version) or "One Nightstand 3.2" (Any
Mood Version), as this is not a supported Application
for "Wife 1.0 "and the system will almost certainly
CRASH.
BEST OF LUCK!
Your Systems Analyst,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

3. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?

4. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?

5. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

6. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any coaching!
send your answer to
the mallamibro@gmail.com


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God Bless Blondes at Football Games
A guy took his blonde girlfriend to her first football (American not Soccer)game. They had great
seats right behind the bench. After the game, he asked her how she liked
the experience. "Oh, I really liked it," she said, "especially the really
tight pants and all of the big muscles, but I just couldn't
understand why
they were killing each other for 25 cents."
Dumbfounded, her date asked, "What on earth do you mean?"
"Well, I saw them flip a coin and one team got it and then for the rest of
the game, all they kept screaming was: "Get the quarter back!


Ponderables

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic wins lottery"?

Why is it that to stop windows 98, you have to click on "Start"?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavors and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the time of day with slowest traffic called the rush hour?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A letter from an Indian mother to her daughter

My dear Jagjit,

I am in a well here and hoping you are also in a well there. I'm writing
this letter slowly because I know you cannot read fast. We don't live where
we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most
accidents happen 20 miles from home, so we moved 20 miles. I won't be able
to send the address as the last Sardar who stayed here took the house
numbers with them for their new house so they would not have to change their
address. Hopefully by next week we will be able to take our earlier address
plate here, so that our address will remain same too.

This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine, situated right
above the toilet. I'm not sure it works too well. Last week I put in 3
shirts, pulled the chain and haven't seen them since. The weather here isn't
too bad. It rained only twice last week. The first time it rained for 3 days
and second time for 4 days. The coat you wanted me to send you, your Aunt
said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with all the metal
buttons, so we cut them off and put them in the pocket. Your father has
another job. He has 500 men under him. He is cutting the grass at the
cemetery.

By the way I took Bahu to our club's poolside. The manager is Badmash. He
told her that two-piece swimming suit is not allowed in his club. We were
confused as to which piece should we remove? Your sister had a baby this
morning. I haven't found out whether it
is a girl or a boy, so I don't know whether you are an Aunt or Uncle. Your
uncle Jetinder fell in the nearby well. Some men tried to pull him out, but
he fought them off bravely and drowned. We cremated him and he burned for
three days.

Your best friend, Balwinder, is no more. He died trying to fulfill his
father's last wishes. His father had wished to be buried in the sea after he
died. And your friend died while in the process of digging a grave for his
father.

There isn't much more news this time. Nothing much has happened.

Love Mom.

PS: Jagjit, I was going to send you some money but by the time I realised,
I had already sealed off this letter.




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Joke of the Day


Ok 3 guys are looking for a place to stay so they find this motel... when they get in the clerk says there's one room left but he's not sure how much it costs and the men will have to wait for the manager to get back.... the clerk then says or you guys could leave 30 dollars here with me and either I'll bring back change or I'll come collect the rest in the morning.
The 3 guys leave 10 dollars each.......the manager comes and the room turns out to be 25 dollars so the manager gives the clerk 5 dollars to return to the 3 guys, the clerk then says but there's 3 guys how should I split it and the manager said well give each guy a dollar and keep 2 for yourself.

NOW!.....each guy spent 10 dollars, but got one back...which means they spent 9 dollars each, so 9x3=27 so the 27 dollars the guys spent plus the 2 the clerk kept equals 29 but the guys left 30....so where's the other dollar?

email your answer to the mallamibro@gmail.com




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Joke of the Day


The Magician

There was this magician on a ship performing every night. Not noticing, the captain's parrot watches him every night as he performs the same tricks. After watching him, the parrot finds out how he does it and started to tell the audience.

After the parrot told the audience, the ship hit an iceberg and started to sink. Everyone ran to the life boats. It so happened that the magician went overboard and managed to hold on to a flat piece of board that the parrot was on. After three days of staring at each other the parrot finally says, "Ok, what did you do with the ship?"

This joke submitted by: Lionhart724




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Joke of the Day

One fine June day a snake met his old friend, the skunk, in the forest. "How are you doing?" asked the skunk. "I haven't seen you in a long time."

"All right, I guess," the snake replied, "except that I can hardly see. I'm going to get contact lenses."

The snake did just that, & several days later he met up with the skunk again.

"Not only can I see perfectly now," he told his friend, "but my love life's improved."

"How can contact lenses improve your love life?"

"Simple," said the snake. "I just found out I've been living with a garden hose."

This joke submitted by: SallyBSunshine


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1. Men like to barbecue. Men will cook if danger is involved.

2. Men who have pierced ears are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.

3. Marrying a divorced man is ecologically responsible. In a world where there are more women than men, it pays to recycle.

4. Men are very confident people. My husband is so confident that when he watches sports on television, he thinks that if he concentrates he can help his team. If the team is in trouble, he coaches the players from our living room, and if they're really in trouble, I have to get off the phone in case they call him.

5. Men like phones with lots of buttons. It makes them feel important.

6. Men love to be the first to read the newspaper in the morning. Not being the first is upsetting to their psyches.

7. All men are afraid of eyelash curlers. I sleep with one under my pillow, instead of a gun.

8. A good place to meet a man is at the dry cleaners. These men usually have jobs and bathe.

9. All men hate to hear "We need to talk about our relationship." These seven words strike fear in the heart of even General Schwarzkopf.

10. Men are sensitive in strange ways. If a man has built a fire and the last log does not burn, he will take it personally.

11. Men have an easier time buying bathing suits. Women have two types: depressing and more depressing. Men have two types: nerdy and not nerdy.

12. Men have higher body temperatures than women. If your heating goes out in winter, I recommend sleeping next to a man. Men are like portable heaters that snore.

13. Women take clothing much more seriously than men. I've never seen a man walk into a party and say "Oh, my God, I'm so embarrassed; get me out of here. There's another man wearing a black tuxedo."

14. Most men hate to shop. That's why the men's department is usually on the first floor of a department store, two inches from the door.

15. If a man prepares dinner for you and the salad contains three or more types of lettuce, he is serious.

16. If you're dating a man who you think might be "Mr. Right," and if he a) got older, b) got a new job, or c) visited a psychiatrist, you are in for a nasty surprise. The cocoon-to- butterfly theory only works on cocoons and butterflies.

17. No man is charming all of the time. Even Cary Grant is on record as saying he wished he could be Cary Grant.

18. When four or more men get together, they talk about sports.

19. When four or more women get together, they talk about men.

20. Men are less sentimental than women. No man has ever seen the movie THE WAY WE WERE twice, voluntarily.

21. Most women are introspective: "Am I in love? Am I emotionally and creatively fulfilled?" Most men are outrospective: "Did my team win? How's my car?"

22. If a man says, "I'll call you," and he doesn't, he didn't forget... he didn't lose your number... he didn't die. He just didn't want to call you.

23. Getting rid of a man without hurting his masculinity is a problem. "Get out" and "I never want to see you again" might sound like a challenge. If you want to get rid of a man, I suggest saying, "I love you... I want to marry you... I want to have your children." Sometimes they leave skid marks.

24. Men are self-confident because they grow up identifying with super-heroes. Women have bad self-images because they grow up identifying with Barbie.

25. Male menopause is a lot more fun than female menopause. With female menopause you gain weight and get hot flashes. Male menopause - you get to date young girls and drive motorcycles.

26. Men forget everything; women remember everything.

27. That's why men need instant replays in sports. They've already forgotten what happened.

Woman Author Unknown


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Back Up?

Computer user on the phone to Technical Support:

"My files are gone! The hard drive crashed! What should I do!"

Technical Support:

"Did you back up?"

Computer user sincerely alarmed:

"Why? Is my computer going to blow up?"


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Break In!

A man went to the Police Station wishing to speak with the burglar who had broken into his house the night before.

"You'll get your chance in court," said the Desk Sergeant.

"No, no, no!" said the man. "I want to know how he got into the house without waking my wife. I've been trying to do that for years!"


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No Parking Zone !

A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses."

When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation."


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The Mexican Border !

Juan comes up to the Mexican border on his bicycle. He has two large bags over his shoulders. The guard stops him and says, "What's in the bags?"

"Sand," answered Juan.

The guard says, "We'll just see about that. Get off the bike."

The guard takes the bags and rips them apart; he empties them out and finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Juan overnight and has the sand analyzed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in the bags The guard releases Juan, puts the sand into new bags, hefts them onto the man's shoulders, and lets him cross the border.

A week later, the same thing happens. The guard asks, "What have you got?"

"Sand," says Juan.

The guard does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Juan, and Juan crosses the border on his bicycle.

This sequence of events if repeated every day for three years. Finally, Juan doesn't show up one day and the guard meets him in a Cantina in Mexico.

"Hey, Buddy," says the guard, "I know you are smuggling something. It's driving me crazy. It's all I think about..... I can't sleep. Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?"

Juan sips his drink and says, "Bicycles."


December 25, 2007 | 11:37 AM Comments  0 comments

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Guidelines to Conduct a Self-Assessment

Produced by Ibn Al-Qayyim (d.751H) who said,



"And mankind, with regard to their performance of prayer are in five levels:

The First: The level of the one who is negligent and wrongs his soul. He is the one who falls short in performing ablution properly, performing the prayer upon its time and within its specified limits, and in fulfilling its essential pillars.

The Second: The one who guards his prayers upon their proper times and within their specified limits, fulfils their essential pillars and performs his ablution with care. However, his striving (in achieving the above) is wasted due to whisperings in his prayer so he is taken away by thoughts and ideas.

The Third: The one who guards his prayers within the specified limits, fulfils their essential pillars and strives with himself to repel the whisperings, thoughts and ideas. He is busy struggling against his enemy (shaytaan) so that he does not steal from the prayer. On account of this he is engaged in (both) prayer and jihaad.

The Fourth: The one who stands for the prayer, completes and perfects its due rights, its essential pillars, performs it within its specified limits and his heart becomes engrossed in safeguarding its rights and specified limits, so that nothing is wasted from it. His whole concern is directed towards its establishment, its completion and perfection, as it should be. His heart is immersed in the prayer and in enslavement to his Lord, the Exalted.

The Fifth: The one who stands for the prayer like the one mentioned above. However, on top of this, he has taken and placed his heart in front of his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, looking towards Him with his heart with anticipation, (his heart) filled with His love and His might, as if he sees and witnesses Allaah. The whisperings, thoughts and ideas have vanished and the coverings which are between him and his Lord are raised. What is between this person and others with respect to the prayer, is superior and greater than what is between the heavens and the earth. This person is busy with his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, delighted with Him.

The first type will be punished, the second type will be held to account, the third will have his sins and shortcomings expiated, the fourth will be rewarded and the fifth will be close to his Lord, because he will receive the portion of one who makes his prayer the delight and pleasure of his eye. Whoever makes the prayer the delight and pleasure of his eye, will have the nearness to his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, made the delight and pleasure of his eye in the hereafter. He will also be made a pleasure to the eye in this world since whoever makes Allaah the pleasure of his eye in this world, every other eye will become delighted and pleased with him."

Source: Al-Waabilus-Sayyib pp.23-24.

From: The Path to Guidance, trans. by Amjad Rafiq

October 16, 2007 | 4:33 PM Comments  0 comments

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KNOWLEDGE AND RELIGION


‘Until recently, the history of science was a story of success. The triumphs of science represented a cumulative process of increasing knowledge and a sequence of victories over ignorance and superstition; and from science flowed a stream of inventions for the improvement of human life. The recent realization of deep moral problems within science of external forces and constraints on its development, and of dangers in uncontrolled technological change has challenged historians to a critical reassessment of this earlier simple faith." - Encyclopaedia Britannia (1984)


The Return to Religion
The nineteenth century was the century of atheism. But with the arrival of the twentieth century, the whole course of history changed, with religion again becoming a major force in human life. Although more in potential than in reality. The obvious causes are discontent with science and the continuing existence of religion as an inherent part of human nature.
A hundred years ago even thinking against science was considered a sign of ignorance. At the end of the 19th century a well-known scientist said that he was not able to understand anything unless he could make a scientific model of it. But now, at least at the academic level, man’s conviction of the usefulness of science has been shaken. The whole spate of books on this subject, which came out after the Second World War, was an indication of the extent of the human dilemma. The article on the history of science in the Encyclopaedia Britannia (1984) begins with these words: ‘Until recently, the history of science was a story of success. The triumphs of science represented a cumulative process of increasing knowledge and a sequence of victories over ignorance and superstition; and from science flowed a stream of inventions for the improvement of human life. The recent realization of deep moral problems within science of external forces and constraints on its development, and of dangers in uncontrolled technological change has challenged historians to a critical reassessment of this earlier simple faith." (16:366)
Modern science has offered man innumerable facilities, but along with this it has brought in its wake such great dangers as have rendered all its gifts meaningless. The greatest menace is that of a third world war. In the event of this happening, it will be a nuclear war which will reduce most of the big cities to ruins in a matter of hours. Moreover, the whole atmosphere will be engulfed in thick smoke which will prevent sunlight from reaching the earth. This will in turn produce a terrible nuclear winter, which will bring all human, animal and vegetable existence to the verge of the most tragic annihilation.
One of the most serious problems produced by science is that of air pollution. Science produced technology, which in turn produced machines. Initially, when people saw cars running on the streets and so many items being produced in factories, they were thrilled. But soon they learned the hard reality that all that progress and development had been achieved at the cost of harmful gases pervading the atmosphere rendering it impossible for man to breathe in beneficially. A western thinker has written that the greatest danger facing modern man is air pollution. According to him the human race is advancing towards a future where all humans will find themselves enclosed in a polluted cage produced by the industrial civilization. According to an AP report based on American government statistics: "US industrial plants are spouting 163 million kg. of suspected cancer-causing chemicals into the air annually, with releases from each of the 30 biggest polluters exceeding 450,000 kilograms" (Times of India, June 22, 1989).
The Clean Air Act was passed in the U.S.A. in 1970 but after twenty years of this the air pollution has further increased. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. is spending 30 thousand million dollars in controlling air pollution, yet all the present efforts have failed to check the pollution. Now the suggestion is being made to double the amount in order to adopt more effective methods. (Span, August, 1989)
The progress of science has not only produced material problems, but has also created intellectual and spiritual problems of a very grave nature.
Science and scientific resources had vastly expanded human knowledge. It not only gave man microscopes and telescopes to observe things which had till then remained unseen, but it also opened up innumerable new ways and means of making it possible to add greatly to information in every field.
All this gave man the self-confidence to feel certain that he could arrive at the final reality through science alone. But the only thing that the increase in knowledge has told man is that he has how entered into a new phase of ignorance. In the words of a scientist: "We know more and more about less and less."
By the end of the 19th century scientists believed that with the increase in knowledge they had been heading towards the final reality. But new research by the end of the first half of the 20th century proved that man cannot reach the ultimate reality unaided. His limitations are decisively obstacles in his path. It is now an accepted fact among the scientific community that science gives us but a partial knowledge of reality.
With the emergence of modern science it had become fashionable among intellectuals to hold that the universe could be explained without God. Therefore, every fact that came to light was explained in a way that would prove that there was no mind or consciousness behind the universe. But this bid to explain the universe atheistically failed.
The Indian scientist, Dr Subramaniam Chandar Shekhar, who won the Nobel prize in Physics (jointly) in 1983, is a self-avowed atheist. He has briefly stated the present position of science on this subject:
There are aspects which are extremely difficult to understand. A famous remark of Einstein—and other people have said similar things, Schrodinger in particular—that the most incomprehensible thing about nature is that it is comprehensible. How is it that the human mind, extremely small compared to the universe and living over a time span microscopic in terms of astronomical time, comprehends reality in ideas which spring from the human mind?
This question has puzzled many people from Kepler on. Why should mathematical description be accurate? Mathematical description is something the human mind has evolved. Why should it fit external nature? We don’t have answers to these questions. One is not saying the world is orderly and therefore must be ordered. But why should we understand the world in terms of the concepts we have developed?
(The Hindustan Times, May 31, 1987)
T.S. Eliot has said:
Where is the wisdom that we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge that we have lost in information?
A book called Wisdom, Information and Wonder, by Dr Mary Midgley, elaborates—as its title suggests—on the above rhetorical questions, and makes a significant contribution to the new thinking of the latter half of the 20th century.
In his book, The Secular City, Professor Harvey R. Cox showed that people had lost interest in religion. But the same writer in another book titled, Religion in the Secular City, published in 1984, has shown that religion in the U.S.A. has seen a revival. The same has been found to be true of the western countries.
God wants the message of His religion to be communicated to all human beings; Islam being the final religion, He has taken special care to safeguard it from all human additions and interpolations. Islam is thus the only totally preserved and genuinely historical of all the religions; as such, it deserves pride of place as the sole reliable guide to pious living.
This attribute of Islam has rendered its communication very easy. If believers in Islam do not, by their own foolishness, create problems unnecessarily, they can continue the work of Islamic da‘wah without any hindrance. And then, no intellectual hurdles have to be surmounted to understand Islam. That is one of the qualities that has made Islam such an acceptable religion. The only task now is to introduce Islam to people in a purely positive way, so that on their own they will feel attracted to it, and will adopt it in response to their own desires.
The return to religion, in respect of its potential, is a return to Islam. Who will arise to convert this potential to reality? Who will join us in this Plan of God?

October 16, 2007 | 4:31 PM Comments  0 comments

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Models for Humanity

Mahatma Gandhi used to advise Congressmen to follow the example of the Muslim Caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar. Once Gandhiji wrote in his journal ‘Harijan’:Simplicity is not the monopoly of Congressites. I am not going to mention the names of Rama and Krishna because they were not historic personalities. I am compelled to mention the names of Abu Bakr and Umar. Though they were masters of a vast empire, yet they lived the life of paupers (Harijan, July 27, 1937).

It is a fact that the influence wrought on history by Islamic figures in their pursuance of Islamic ideals has been a source of inspiration for all humanity. Islam has demonstrated the finest examples of human qualities. Anyone may base a code of ethics on stories that are mere fictions but if real characters are to serve as models, these are no better examples than those set by personalities from the world of Islam. Such individuals are the common moral assets of all mankind. The relevant aspects of their lives being a matter of historical record. We shall now look at a number of incidents, which will serve to illustrate their moral excellence.

Trust and Confidence:
The first twelve years of his Prophethood were spent in Makkah by the Prophet (Pbuh), his hometown. In those days Makkah was completely under the domination of the idolaters, who inflicted all kinds of torments on him. Finally, they decided to rid themselves of his presence altogether by assassinating him. When the matter had deteriorated to this point, the Prophet (Pbuh) left Makkah for Madinah. Those were hard times and the journey from Makkah to Madinah by the normal routes was fraught with danger. Therefore, after leaving Makkah, the Prophet (Pbuh) had to hide out for three days along with his companion, Abu Bakr, in a cave called Thawr. This cave was situated at a narrow point on a hill which was difficult to traverse. Yet his enemies, managed to reach this point in their search. They stood so near the cave mouth, wielding their swords, that the Prophet (Pbuh) could see their footprints. Everything pointed to the Prophet (Pbuh) having reached the end of his journey. Abu Bakr was greatly disturbed at this turn of events. He said to the Prophet (Pbuh), "They have come even to this place." The Prophet (Pbuh), calm and composed replied, "Abu Bakr, what do you think of the two who have God as their third." These words are a perfect example of the Prophet (Pbuh)’s trust and confidence in God—the best of human quality.

Being Patient in the Face of Unpleasantness:
Once, in order to help a famine-stricken people, the Prophet (Pbuh) of Islam borrowed some money from a Jewish merchant, by the name of Zayd ibn Saana. A date was fixed for its repayment, which was to take the form of dates (80 misqal). Then, three days before the stipulated date, Zayd ibn Saana suddenly appeared and harshly demanded that the debt be honored. Catching hold of a sheet which the Prophet (Pbuh) had draped around his shoulders, he gave it a sharp tug and said: ‘Oh Muhammad! Why don’t you pay your debt? By God, the descendants of Abdul Muttalib keep putting off paying their debts.’ Along with the Prophet (Pbuh) at that time was Umar ibn al-Khattab, who became enraged and said, ‘O, enemy of God, what are you saying? Aren’t you afraid of having your head chopped off?’ At that time the Prophet (Pbuh) of Islam was the ruler of Arabia and had full authority to take any strong measure he pleased against ibn Saana. Even so, he tolerated Zayd’s insolence, showing no sign of anger and keeping his composure in the face of provocation. He did not even ask why the man was demanding that the debt be discharged before the stipulated time. Instead, he reprimanded Umar, saying that what he and Zayd were in need of was not an outburst from him, but a simple request for the better fulfilment of dues on his (the Prophet’s part) and better behavior on the part of Zayd when demanding repayment. Then he commanded that Zayd ibn Saana should be given the dates according to the agreement, in addition to which he should be given an extra twenty kilos of dates for having been subjected to the scolding of Umar. On seeing this exemplary behavior, Zaid ibn Saana entered into the fold of Islam.

A Matter not of Honour, but of Responsibility:
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Qahafa, the first Caliph of Islam, ruled from 632 to 634. When after the death of the Prophet (Pbuh), he was selected for the Caliphate, he did not regard this as an office, but as a matter of responsibility. Instead of being happy over his elevation to the highest of positions, he was plunged into the deepest anxiety. After the bay‘a (oath of allegiance), when he stood at the pulpit, he was so overwhelmed at this great burden of responsibility that he was in tears. He addressed the gathering in these words: "O People, I have been appointed your administrator, although I am not better than you. If the steps which I take are good, give me your cooperation. If I go wrong, set me right. Truth is a public trust (amanah) and falsehood is breach of trust. Your weak to me are powerful, unless I have given them their rights. Your strong are weak to me, unless I have received from them what is due from them."

Ibn Sad narrates that after Abu Bakr had been elected Caliph, he was to be seen the next day, going about his business as usual, with a sheet around his shoulders. When Umar Faruq asked him where he was going. He said, "To the market." Umar Faruq asked him if he did know he was the leader of Muslims. Abu Bakr replied that if he did not earn anything, he would feed his family. Umar then suggested that they go to Abu Ubaydah, who would determine what allowance he should have. And so Abu Bakr had an allowance fixed for him by Abu Ubaydah just as if he was an ordinary person. This included two suits of clothing, one for summer and one for winter. When the time came for him to depart from this world, he had no money at home. In his will, he stated that the one piece of land which he owned should be sold so that all of the allowance he had taken as Caliph from Bait al-Mal (Treasury) could be returned to it.

For Abu Bakr, a high government position was not so much as honor as responsibility. The same example was set by other Caliphs as well. This is an example which all rulers should follow. It tells them that they too must consider government posts as a matter not of pride and popularity but of strict personal duty. It is only if rulers adopt such an attitude that their governance becomes a source of goodness and well-being for the people.

Simple living:
During the period of pious Caliphs, a kingdom had become an empire, and there had been tremendous increases in wealth and power, yet the Caliphs still led extremely simple lives—a fact that has been generally acknowledged by historians. Montgomery Watt writes: "The ruler of what was now a vast empire still lived a very simple life in Medina, and had not so much as a body guard (The Majesty that was Islam; 1984).The second Caliph, Umar Faruq, ruled over a large part of Asia and Africa, but continued to wear very ordinary clothes which often had patches. He would carry water bags over his shoulders. He would sleep on the ground with a stone as a pillow. He ate simple food and lived in an ordinary house.
Once Ahnaf ibn Qays came to see him in Medina. He found him walking hither and thither clad in ordinary clothes. When Ahnaf asked Umar what was the matter, he replied, that a camel belonging to Bait al-Mal (public Treasury) had gone astray and that he was looking for it. Ahnaf said, "You are Amirul-Muminin (leader of the believers) why are you taking all this trouble? You should have asked a Servant to do this for you." Caliph Umar replied, "Who is a greater servant than I am?" Considering oneself a common man, while in actuality being the ruler of an empire, gave a practical example of the humility expected of a ruler who obeyed the Islamic code of ethics. Instead, nowhere, except in Islam, does there exist such a code of ethics for rulers.The Caliphate of Umar Faruq lasted from 634 to 644. It was during his rule that Palestine was conquered. On the occasion of this conquest, Christian priests of Palestine demanded that Caliph Umar come in person to negotiate the treaty. This journey, undertaken by the ruler of a vast empire, was marked by a simplicity so spartan as to be almost unimaginable. Umar’s entry into Palestine in this way is testified to by a manuscript written in Greek by a Christian during Umar’s lifetime. The was found in a Church in Palestine by Abdullah Uttal (a veteran of the Palestine war of 1948) who published a book containing an Arabic translation of it in 1964 from Dar al-Qalam (Cairo) in 1964. The following is a summary of the manuscript’s contents:
When the Muslims tightened their siege around Bait al-Maqdis (The Holy House) in 636, the Patriarch climbed up the city wall of the city of al-Quds (Jerusalem) and addressed the Muslim army. He told them that they wanted enter into a peace settlement with them on the condition that it would be personally drawn up by their Caliph. Therefore, a letter was sent to the Caliph explaining this proviso and requesting him to come to Palestine.
On receiving this letter, Umar Faruq left Madinah for Bait al-Maqdis with only one slave and one mount. As he left the city, he said to his servant, "We are two and the mount is one. If I ride and you go on foot, I shall be doing you an injustice. And if we both ride, we shall break the camel’s back. So we had better take it in turns to ride. So they alternately rode and went on foot, then they would both go on foot for some time to give the camel some respite. They went on in this way until they were approaching al-Quds, when, by chance, it was the servatn’s turn to ride. The servant declined to sit on the camel’s back so that the Caliph may be on the mount while entering the city. But Umar Faruq did not agree to this. And so the Caliph reached the gates of al-Quds with the servant on the camel’s back and himself on foot. Witnessing this sight, the priests opened the gates and directly made peace with Umar Faruq.
After the completion of the peace treaty, Caliph Umar made a short speech in which he said: ‘O People of Palestine, what is for us is for you. What is not for us is not for you as either."
Caliph Umar’s journey indubitably serves as the most perfect example for all the rulers of the world.

Respect for Humanity:
Amr ibn al-As was the governor of Egypt during the Caliphate of Umar Faruq. One day the governor organized a horse race in which his own son Muhammad ibn Amr ibn al-As, also took part. But in the race, the horse of the governor’s son was beaten by the horse of a Copt, a non-Muslim. The Copt expressed his jubilation and this hurt the governor’s son. He lashed the Copt with his whip, saying, "Take that! I am the son of a nobleman!"
As narrated by Anas ibn Malik, the Copt came from Egypt to Medina and complained to Umar Faruq that the governor’s son had whipped him. Umar asked him to stay in Medina and immediately sent a special emissary to Egypt to bring Amr ibn al-As and his son without delay to Medina, the capital. When they arrived, they were both brought before the Caliph. Then the latter sent for the young Copt and asked him if this was the man who had beaten him. When the Copt replied in the affirmative, the Caliph handed him a whip and asked him to flog his ‘son of a nobleman.’ The Copt did so, and went on flogging him till he felt that justice had been done. Then the Caliph asked him also to flog Amr ibn al-As, the father of the young wrongdoer, as it had been his high status—as Umar explained—which had encouraged the son to take his whip to him. But then the Copt said, "No, I have whipped the person who whipped me, and I wish no more than that."

Umar Faruq said to the Copt: ‘By God! if you had beaten him (the governor) we would not have intervened, until you yourself had stopped beating him. Then Umar Faruq turned to Amr ibn al-As and said: ‘O Amr, since when have you enslaved people who were born free?’ (Ibn Jauzi, Seerah Umar ibn al-Khattab)
This incident serves as the highest example of respect for the ideal of equality. It had the practical effect of ending all kinds of differences between one man and another. It set such an example in human justice as is to date unparalleled.

Selflessness:
As narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas, when a famine struck Arabia during Abu Bakr’s caliphate, the people were in great distress. Abu Bakr asked them not to become overwrought and told them that God would soon come to their assistance. Sometime later, Uthman’s caravan, consisting of one thousand camels all laden with cereals and other foods, came to Medina, whereupon the merchants came knocking at Uthman’s door. He came out with a shawl on his shoulders.

Uthman (later to becom the third caliph) asked them: "Why have you come here and what do you want from me"" The merchants said, "It has come to our knowledge that one thousand of your camels have arrived here laden with wheat and other foods. We want to buy the goods. If you sell them to us, we shall be able to help the people of Medina who are in dire need of foodstuffs. Uthman told them to come inside his home to talk about it. When they entered, they saw that one thousand bags full of foodstuffs were stacked in his house.

Now the negotiations began. Uthman asked, ‘How much profit will you give me on my merchandise from Syria?" They said, "Twelve dirhams on ten dirhams. Uthman said, "I am getting more profit than this." Then the merchants said, "We will pay fourteen dirhams on ten dirhams. Uthman again said that he was getting a higher price than that. They said, Well, we shall pay fifteen dirhams on ten dirhams. Uthman again replied that he was getting more profit than that. The merchants became curious and asked Uthman, who it was that was giving him more than this since all the merchants of Medina had already gathered there." Then Uthman said to them, "I am getting ten dirhams for one dirham, so can you give me more than this?" They replied in the negative. Then Uthman said to them that God had promised in His Book that "he that does a good deed shall be repaid tenfold" (Q6:160); "so, O merchants of Medina be witness to it that I have given my entire merchandise in charity to the needy people of Medina for the sake of Allah. (Al-Abqariat Islamia, p. 572).

This incident serves as an example of total faith in the promises made by Allah. Belief in Allah produces in man this kind of conviction and trust. And when such confidence and conviction are born within a person, he rises above all worldly interests and considerations. His ambitions become so high that even the greatest of sacrifice is not difficult for him.

Legal equality between the ruler and the ruled:
Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth Caliph), wielded great power, being the ruler of a vast empire. But he lived among the people like a common man. Neither was his standard of living different from that of other people nor had he any special legal rights. According to Tirmidhi, Hakim and Abu Nuaym narrated this incident in these words: Hazrat Ali had a zira (coat of armor) which he had lost. One day he went to the market in Kufa, where he found that a non-Muslim was selling a coat of armor. On closer inspection it turned out to be the same coat of armor which he had lost.
Hazrat Ali was at that time ruler of the Muslim empire. If he had so desired, he could have taken possession of that coat of armor right there and then. But he did not consider himself above the law, and merely said to the person concerned that the coat of armor belonged to him and then asked him and in their actions.

The truth is that to come to the Qadi (judge), who would decide between them. At that time Shuraih was the Qadi for Muslims. Shuraih in the capacity of Qadi addressed Ali ibn Abi Talib, "O leader of the believers, what you have to say?" He replied, "This coat of armor is mine, so this should be returned to me. Shuraih then asked the non-Muslim what he had to say. He said that the leader of the believers (Amirul-Muminin) was not telling the truth for the coat of armor was his. Shuraih then said to Ali, "I cannot order the coat of armor to be given to you just because of your claim. You must fetch two witnesses in support of your claim. Ali said that Shuraih’s demand was proper. Then he presented two witnesses, one his slave Qambar and the other, his son, Hasan. The Qadi said that he would accept the testimony of Qambar, but that he would not accept that of Hasan. Ali asked, ‘How is it that you will not accept Hasan as a witness, although according to a hadith the Prophet (Pbuh) said, "Hasan and Husain are leaders of the youths of paradise." Qadi Shuraih said: "That is a different thing. In worldly matters the principle of Islam is that evidence given by children in favor of their fathers is not reliable."

Ali, being the Caliph, had the power to dismiss the Qadi. But he surrendered before the judgement of the Qadi and withdrew his demand with regard to the coat of armor. On seeing this, the Christian was astonished. He exclaimed and made the following declaration: "I bear witness it is by God’s commandments that the leader of the believers (Caliph) comes to the court like a common man and the Qadi may give a verdict against him. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship save Him; and that Muhammad is the messenger of the Lord. Then he said that the coat of armor really belonged to Ali and that once when it had fallen off Ali’s camel, he I had picked it up. Having heard his admission, Ali gave the coat of armor back to him and also gave him seven hundred dirhams. After embracing Islam, the man remained with Ali until at the battle of Siffin he was martyred (Hayat as-Sahaba, part 1, p. 234-35).
This incident is a telling illustration of the principle that the ruler and the ruled are equal in the eyes of the law. In a court of law both must appear on an equal footing and the legal verdict must be equally binding on them.

Realism:
Hasan ibn Ali) was appointed Caliph after Ali was martyred. Hasan was the fifth caliph of Islamic history. He had all the ethical, moral and Shariah right to remain on the seat of the Caliphate. But as soon as he was appointed, Amir Muawiya, the governor of Syria, revolted against him. On the plea of seeking compensation for the blood of Uthman, he managed to rally a large group of Muslims around him. When Hasan made a review of the situation, he found that he had forty thousand Muslims at his command ready to do battle with Muawiya. But Amir Muawiya also had similar number of Muslims ready to fight to the finish. Hasan then concluded that both sides being Muslims, an outbreak of war meant Muslims fighting Muslims. That is, those precious souls who had gathered under the banner of Islam in order to extirpate idolatry from the face of the world, were on the contrary, bent on extirpating themselves along with the history of Islam as well. Hasan’s position was that of a rightful caliph of Islam, while Muawiya’s was one of rebellion, but Hasan aptly surmised that Amir Muawiya was not willing to surrender at any cost. He would continue to do battle even if it resulted in the large-scale slaughter of Muslim soldiers. Therefore, Hasan himself surrendered in order to save the Muslims from a general massacre. Taking a unilateral decision, he abdicated the caliphate in favor of Muawiya.

This is a high example of realism. Here we find a man on the highest pedestal of realism, a level from where he can think dispassionately, in the real sense of the word. Hasan took this decision objectively, rising above his own self. That is why he was able to take such a momentous decision, which has perhaps no parallel in history. (Due to his abdication, Muslims who were at war with one another, gathered under one flag once again under Muawiya and made progress in many ways which greatly contributed to human advancement.

Justice:
There used to be one hundred security guards placed at the service of the Caliphs preceding Umar ibn Abdul Aziz. However, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz sent them off on various other official assignments and remarked: ‘Destiny will suffice for my security.’ This was the style of living of one whose empire extended from Sindh in India to France in Europe. Once during his caliphate a delegation came to him from Samarqand. They complained of a military general, Qutaybah ibn Muslim al-Bahili, who in total disregard of Islamic principle, and without giving any prior warning, had marched his armies into their city. They had therefore come to seek justice from him. Although the conquest of Samarqand had taken place seven years before, long before he had become caliph, he still considered it necessary to meet the demands of justice.

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz wrote to the governor of Iraq to appoint a special Qadi (judge) to hear the case of the people of Samarqand. The governor carried out his orders without delay and appointed Jami ibn Hazir al-Balili as Qadi. The case was brought to his court. Both the parties freely presented their arguments. After hearing them, the Qadi discovered that the people of Samarqand were justified in their complaints. He therefore gave the verdict that the Muslim army must leave Samarqand, and the fort and all other things must be returned to the local people. Afterwards, following the Islamic principle, the army general would lay before them all the conditions, and only on their refusal to accept these conditions, would the Muslims be allowed to do battle with them.

At that time the Muslim army enjoyed a victorious position. It had even brought the ruler of China to the point of surrender. But when the Qadi gave his verdict, the Muslim army general accepted it without any argument He immediately order the entire army to leave Samarqand. When the people of Samarqand saw how principled and just the Muslims were, they were taken aback for they had never experienced such fair and impartial justice. They felt that the coming of the Muslim army was akin to a divine blessing. And so, before this order could be carried out, they accepted Muslim rule of their own free will and of their own pleasure. They exclaimed: "Welcome, we are your obedient and loyal servants" (Futuhul Buldan lil Belazuri).

This incident presents an example of the Islamic reverence for justice and fair play—the highest of human values—the equal of which is hard to find in the entire human history.



October 16, 2007 | 4:30 PM Comments  0 comments

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