The Tortoise

Allah had endowed Prophet Sulaeman special powers over nature. He could understand and communicate with birds and animals. One day the Prophet was admiring the beauty of God’s manifestation into nature while sitting on a riverbank. He noticed an ant moving slowly with a grain of wheat in its mouth. The ant waited at the bank of the river till a tortoise came out. Then it crept into the mouth of the tortoise. The tortoise closed its mouth and dived beneath the water. After some time, the tortoise came out and laid its face on the sand. The tortoise opened its mouth and the ant walked out calmly. Prophet Sulaeman noticed that there was no grain of wheat in its mouth.

The Prophet was intrigued. He questioned the ant. The ant said, “One of my cousins is blind. It was born under a stone at the bed of the river. It does not move around because it is blind. God has entrusted the task of providing food to the blind ant, to the tortoise and me. We have devised this way of discharging our duties.” In the animal world too there is concern for the lesser fortunate.

God is the provider of sustenance to each living organism in this world. Why then should we doubt even for a second that He will keep us hungry or wanting?

Faith in God is of utmost importance. Have faith that He who is the master director of the drama of life and who has assigned a role to us in that, has already provided and planned for us. At the same time He wants us to work and not sit idle because work is also a part of His master plan.

Since Islam means surrender to God, all who in a spirit of surrender and dedication, live in peace and harmony in society, do really speaking, belong to Islam. Islam insists on full co-ordination between thought, word and deed.