Apple Tree

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree, each with ten seeds.

That's a lot of seeds! We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more trees?"

Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Most seeds never grow".

This might mean:

You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job.

You'll interview forty people to find one good employee.

You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, car, vacuum cleaner, insurance policy, idea etc.

And you might meet a hundred acquaintances to find one special friend.

When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims.
Laws of nature are not things to take personally. We just need to understand them - and work with them.

Successful people fail more often. They plant more seeds.

When Things Are Beyond Your Control. Here's a recipe for permanent misery...

a) Decide how you think the world SHOULD be.

b) Make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave.

Then, when the world doesn't obey your rules, you get angry! That's what miserable people do!

Let's say you expect that:

Friends SHOULD return favours.

People SHOULD appreciate you.

Planes SHOULD arrive on time.

Everyone SHOULD be honest.

Your husband/wife SHOULD remember your birthday.

These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won't happen! So you end up

frustrated and disappointed.

There's a better strategy. Have less demands. Instead, have preferences!

For things that are beyond your control, tell yourself:

"I WOULD PREFER "A", BUT IF "B" HAPPENS, IT'S OK TOO!"

This is really a game that you play in your head. It is a shift in attitude, and it gives you more peace

of mind ...

You prefer that people are polite ... but when they are rude,it doesn't ruin your day.

You prefer sunshine ... but rain is ok!

To become happier, we either need to

a) change the world, or

b) change our thinking.

It is easier to change our thinking!

It's not what happens to you that determines your happiness.

It's how you think about what happens to you.

Syarat Sah Dengki

Ibnu Umar r.a berkata: Rasulullah saw pernah bersabda: Tidak boleh berhasad dengki kecuali pada dua
perkara iaitu terhadap seseorang yang dianugerahkan Al-Quran dan dia membacanya sepanjang siang
dan malam. Juga terhadap seseorang yang dikurniakan oleh Allah swt harta kekayaan lalu dia
membelanjakannya dengan baik pada waktu malam dan juga pada waktu siang. (Imam Muslim)

Dari Abdullah bin Mas'ud r.a katanya: Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda: Tidak boleh iri hati kecuali terhadap
dua perkara iaitu terhadap seseorang yang dikurniakan oleh Allah harta kekayaan tapi dia
memanfaatkannya untuk urusan kebenaran (kebaikan). Juga seseorang yang diberikan ilmu pengetahuan
oleh Allah lalu dia memanfaatkannya serta mengajarkannya kepada orang lain. (ImamMuslim)

Pengajaran daripada maksud hadith:

1. Dengki (cemburu dan iri hati) terhadap sesuatu ni’mat atau kelebihan seseorang yang lain serta
bercita-cita supaya kelebihan tersebut berpindah kepadanya di samping mendoakan keburukan berlaku
pada diri orang berkenaan adalah haram dan berdosa.

2. Tidak dikira dengki sekiranya kita bercita-cita dan berusaha memiliki sesuatu ni’mat seperti dimiliki
orang lain dengan tidak berusaha atau bercita-cita menjatuhkan orang tersebut atau ni’mat yang ada
pada orang tersebut hilang.

3. Islam menggalakkan umatnya agar sentiasa berlumba-lumba menujuk kecemerlangan dan saling
bantu-membantu mencapai hasrat masing-masing.

4. Ruang, peluang, kesempatan mencapai kegemilangan dunia dan akhirat terbentang luas serta
terhidang untuk setiap hamba Allah swt yang rajin dan ikhlas berusaha mengharapnya.

5. Sifat dengki yang baik dan terarah akan meransang produktiviti serta keghairahan manusia
membangun alam.

6. Positif atau negatif natijah perbuatan kita berkait rapat dengan bagaimana kreatif kita melihat
perkara negatif sebagai peluang berinovatif.

The Great Challenge

The Great Challenge to Produce One Chapter Like the Chapters of the Holy Quran

God has said in the Quran:
"And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed (the Quran) to Our worshiper (Muhammad
pbuh), then produce a chapter like it, and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides
God if you are truthful. And if you do not do it, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire (Hell)
whose fuel is men and stones. It has been prepared for disbelievers. And give good news
(O Muhammad) to those who believe and do good deeds, that for them are gardens (Paradise) in
which rivers flow...." (Quran, 2:23-25)

Ever since the Quran was revealed, fourteen centuries ago, no one has been able to produce a single
chapter like the chapters of the Quran in their beauty, eloquence, splendor, wise legislation, true
information, true prophecy, and other perfect attributes. Also, note that the smallest chapter in the
Quran (Chapter 108) is only ten words, yet no one has ever been able to meet this challenge, then or today.

Some of the disbelieving Arabs who were enemies of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) tried to meet this
challenge to prove that Muhammad (pbuh) was not a true prophet, but they failed to do so.

This failure was despite the fact that the Quran was revealed in their own language and dialect and that
the Arabs at the time of Muhammad (pbuh) were a very eloquent people who used to compose beautiful
and excellent poetry, still read and appreciated today.

Islam: God's Bounty on Mankind

Islam, as it has been declared by the Qur'an, and as Muslims believe, is the perfect religion and in fact
the completion of the God's favor upon mankind so far as the regulation of their life is concerned.
God says in the Qur'an what means,

This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favors upon you and have chosen
for you Islam as your religion. (Al-Ma'idah 5:4)

This verse eloquently speaks of the fact that the favors of God in the form of deen (a code of life) have been
perfected in Islam and nothing that is not rooted in it, whether in the form of belief or in the form of individual
and social behavior, is acceptable to God.

A religion as self-contained and realistic as Islam is must provide answers to all spiritual and secular
questions and should offer to humanity not only a new metaphysical outlook, but a comprehensive program
of revolution in human life, both in its individual and social aspects.

O you who believe! Come all of you into submission (to Him); follow not the footsteps of the devil.
He is an open enemy for you. (Al-Baqarah 2: 208)

Islam is the only religion of the world which knows no distinction between the religious and secular, but
views in one sweep the entire life of humanity.

The philosophy of ethics, law and morals, manners and mores, arts and sciences, forms of social, political
and economic organization, including the nature of family and marriage — side by side with the problems of
worship and theology — have their legitimate place in the all-inclusive system of Islam.
The Qur'an calls upon Muslims to say:

Verily my prayers and my sacrifices and my life and death are all for Allah. (Al-An`am 6:162)

It means that the whole life of people in all its spheres should be an expression of complete submission to
Allah, the Creator of this Universe and the Rightful Master. The word "Ibadah"(Arabic for worship) does not
signify worship only. It stands for submission and prayer, and worship is only a symbol of submission.

The Qur'an also explains that God out of His boundless favors and infinite mercy has revealed everything
that humans need in following the path of righteousness.

Shall I then seek a judge other than Allah when He it is who has sent down to you the Book fully
explained. (Al-An`am 6: 114)

Muslims believe that God has created this world and all that exists in it and has created resources to
maintain it and lead it to perfection.

He also revealed Islam asa code of life that by following it, humans can find peace and happiness in this
world and the world to come.

DNA

"Iron ore and coal at high temperatures spontaneously formed steel particles and then those
steel articles without any intelligence involved by magic formed the Eiffel Tower and other
structures (Bucaille 1987)."

This statement sounds stupid, but saying that a cell formed by itself is even more atrocious
because a cell is much more complex than any steel structure that human intelligence
(not chance) has built.

In his book, The Origin of Life, Oparine draws particularly relevant comparisons to convince
the lay man of the illogical nature of theories pointing towards chance. In 1954, he wrote:
"It is as if one jumbled together the printing blocks representing the twenty-eight letters of
the alphabet, in hope that by CHANCE, they will fall into a pattern of a poem that we know.
Only through knowledge and careful arrangement of the letters and words in the poem however,
can we produce the poem from the letters." (page 52)."

Each cell in the human body has a "program" analogous to a computer program written down,
so well organized and regulated so as to function properly, the slightest malfunction leads to
deformities and monstrous growths [cancer is the case in point]. Each cell functions like a
computer programmed to perform specific functions. It is common knowledge that a computer
will only function if it has been programmed.

Without programming, you would never see what you see on this page. A fact that implies the
existence of a programming intellect, that provides the information necessary to operate the
system. The programming intellect for the billions of living cells, unvarying and uniform in his
essence of programming is the One God.

He said: "Our Lord is He Who gave to each (created) thing its form and nature, and further
gave (it) guidance." (Quran 20:50)

There is a genuine enigma among the community of biologists: The origin of the genetic code
and how it increases in information which leads to more and more complex structures.
The only valid explanation given the intelligent nature of the messages contained
in the DNA is that an intelligent designer was involved. We call him Allah, the God.