a) Respecting Fellow Humans

Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was sitting around with his companions when there appeared before them a funeral procession of the Jewish community of Madinah.

Upon sighting the procession, the Prophet immediately rose. His companions were surprised by the Prophet’s act but did not question him at the time. In fact they also stood up with him.

When the procession passed, the Prophet sat down and his companions did the same. Then they asked why the Prophet has stood up to show respect for the funeral of a believer! He is not one of us,” they said.

The Prophet responded clearly that he respected the funeral because it was of a human being.

Allah has honoured all human beings in his revelation:

“Verily we have honoured the sons of Adam.” (Al-Israa’:70)

The companions of the Prophet were impressed as the Prophet showed by his words and actions how important it is to respect all around us.

b) The Most Beautiful Sound by Ajahn Brahm

An old man was visiting a city for the first time in his life. He had grown up in a village, and was now enjoying his first visit to his children’s modern homes.

One day in the city, the old man heard a sound that stung his ears. He had never heard such an awful noise in his quiet mountain village. He insisted on finding its cause. Following the grating sound back to its source, he found a small boy practicing on a violin.

‘SCREECH! SCRAPE!’ came the notes from the groaning violin. When his son explained that the instrument was a ‘violin’, the old man decided he never wanted to hear such a horrible thing again.

The next day, in another part of the city, the old man heard a sound that caressed his aged ears. He had never heard such an enchanting melody in his mountain valley. Following the delightful sound back to its source, he found a lady, a maestro – an accomplished musician, performing on a violin.

The old man realized, ”That terrible sound I heard yesterday was neither the fault of the violin, nor of the boy. It was just that the young man has yet to learn his instrument well.”

The old man thought, ”It is the same with religion. When we dislike someone of a different religion, it is wrong to say his religion is bad.

Perhaps it is because some people have not yet understood how to practice their religion.”

The third day, the old man heard another sound that was even more pleasant and soothing to his ears than of the maestro on her violin. It was the sound of a large orchestra playing a symphony! Every member of the orchestra was a maestro of his or her own instrument. Also, every member had learned how to play together in harmony with the other musicians.

“It should be the same with religion,” the old man dreamed. “Having learnt our own religion well, we should go further and learn to live with other religions in harmony together! The sound of people living in harmony would be the most beautiful sound in the world.”

c) The Wise Woman

A wise woman traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream.

The next day she me t another traveler who was hungry, so the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone in the woman’s bag, admired it and asked her to give it to him. The wise woman did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing. If he should the jewel, he would have enough money for the rest of his life!

But in a few days he came back, searching for the wise woman.

When he found her, he returned the stone and said, ”I have been thinking. I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back to you hoping that you can give me something even more precious. You gave me the stone without asking for anything in return. Please teach me what you have in your heart that made you so generous.”