What was there before Allah?

Many years ago, during the time of the Taabi'een (the generation of Muslims
>after the Sahabah), Baghdad was a great city of Islam. In fact, it was the
>capital of the Islamic Empire and because of the great number of scholars
>who lived there, it was the center of Islamic knowledge. One day, the ruler
>of Rome at that time sent an envoy to Baghdad with three challenges for the
>Muslims. When the messenger reached the city, he informed the Khalifah
>that he had three questions which he challenged the Muslims to answer.
>
>The Khalifah gathered together all the scholars of the city and the Roman
>messenger climbed upon a high platform and said, "I have come with three
>questions. If you answer them, then I will leave with you a great
>amount of wealth which I have brought from the king of Rome.
>As for the questions, they were:
>
>'What was there before Allah?'
>
>'In which direction does Allah face?'
>
>'What is Allah engaged in at this moment?'"
>
>
>The great assembly of people were silent. (Can you think of answers to
>these questions?) In the midst of these brilliant scholars and students of
>Islam, there was a man looking on with his young son. "O my dear father!
>I will answer him and silence him!" said the youth.
>
>So the boy sought the permission of the Khalifah to give the answers and
>he was given the permission to do so.
>The Roman addressed the young Muslim and repeated his first question,
>"What was there before Allah?" The boy asked, "Do you know how to count?"
>"Yes," said the man.
>"Then count down from ten!" So the Roman counted down, "ten, nine,
>eight,
>.." until he reached "one" and he stopped counting. "But what comes
>before
>'one'?" asked the boy.
>"There is nothing before one- that is it!" said the man. "Well then, if
>there obviously is nothing before the arithmetic 'one', then how do you
>expect that there should be anything before the 'One' who is Absolute
>truth, All-Eternal, Everlasting the First, the Last, the Manifest, the
>Hidden?"
>
>
>Now the man was surprised by this direct answer which he could not
>dispute.
>
>So he asked, "Then tell me, in which direction is Allah facing?"
>"Bring a candle and light it," said the boy, "and tell me in which
>direction the flame is facing."
>"But the flame is just light- it spreads in each of the four directions,
>North, South, East and West. It does not face any one direction only,"
>said the man in wonderment.
>The boy cried, "Then if this physical light spreads in all four directions
>such that you cannot tell me which way it faces, then what do you expect of
>the Nur-us-Samawati-wal-'Ard: Allah - the Light of the Heavens and the
>Earth!? Light upon Light, Allah faces all directions at all times."
>
>The Roman was stupefied and astounded that here was a young child answering
>his challenges in such a way that he could not argue against the proofs.
>
>So, he desperately wanted to try his final question. But before doing so,
>the boy said, "Wait! You are the one who is asking the questions and I am
>the one who is giving the answers to these challenges. It is only fair that
>you should come down to where I am standing and that I should go up where
>you are right now, in order that the answers may be heard as clearly as the
>questions.
>
>"This seemed reasonable to the Roman, so he came down from where he was
>standing and the boy ascended the platform. Then the man repeated his final
>challenge, "Tell me, what is Allah doing at this moment?" The boy proudly
>answered, "At this moment, when Allah found upon this high platform a liar
>and mocker of Islam, He caused him to descend and brought him low. And as
>for the one who believed in the Oneness of Allah, He raised him up and
>established the Truth. Every day He exercises (universal) power (Surah 55
>ar-Rahman, Verse 29)."
>
>The Roman had nothing to say except to leave and return back to his country,
>defeated. Meanwhile, this young boy grew up to become one of the most
>famous scholars of Islam. Allah, the Exalted, blessed him with special
>wisdom and knowledge of the Deen (religion). His name was Abu Hanifah
>(rahmatullah alayhi- May Allah have mercy on him) and he is known today as
>Imam Abu Hanifah (Imam-e-Azam), the Great Imam and scholar of Islam.
>
>
>May God bless our youngsters to get islamic knowledge.

--A forward message

The Bank Account of Life

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with R86,400.
It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every " evening" deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!!!!
Each of us has such a "bank" It's name is TIME
Every morning , it credits you with 86,400 seconds
Every night it writes off , as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose
It carries over no balance
It allows no overdraft
Each day it opens a new account for you
Each night it burns the remains of the day
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."
You must live in the present on today's deposits
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health,happiness, and success!
The clock is running .
Make the most of today
To realize the value of ONE YEAR….
ask a student who failed a grade
To realize the value of ONE MONTH…..
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby
To realize the value of ONE WEEK……
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper
To realize the value of ONE HOUR……
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE…..
ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND….
ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND…..
ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have !
And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. And remember that time waits for no one.u will realise the value of me when u loose me.................

Yesterday is history .
Tomorrow is mystery .
Today is a gift .
That's why it's called …. the Present !!

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed.
They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.
They lend an ear.
They share a word of praise, and they always want to open their heart to us.
Show your friends how much you care..…

40 Tips for an Exceptional, Superb & Powerful Life!

These are really very powerful, Implement whenever you can.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Buy a PVR tape for your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, "My purpose is to____ today."

5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

6. Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did in 2006.

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

24. Burn the candles, use the nice bed sheets, Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, wills this matter?"

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. What other people think of you is none of your business.

29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

32. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

33. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

34. The best is yet to come.

35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

36. Do the right thing!

37. Call your family often.

38. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: "I am thankful for ___." Today I accomplished ____.

39. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

40. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

May your troubles be less, May your blessings be more. And may nothing but happiness come through your door!
HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!!

-A forwarded message