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The Islamic Bulletin
Volume X No. 23 Page 25
K
ID
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S
C
ORNER
Once there was an emperor
who needed to choose his
successor. So, he decided to
call all the young people in the
kingdom and announced, “It is
time for me to step down and
choose the next emperor. So, I
am going to give each one of
you a seed today- a very
special seed. I want you to
plant the seed, water it, and
come back here after one year
from today with what you
have grown from this one
seed. I will then choose the
next emperor based on the
plants that you bring!”
So, everyone took a seed and started planting, including a boy
called Ling. After about four weeks, some of the other youths
began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were
beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever
grew. Six months went by and Ling heard that everyone else had
grown various types of trees, plants and flowers. But still, he had
nothing.
Then, the day came when all the youth of the kingdom brought
their plants to the emperor for inspection. Although afraid, Ling
went to the castle anyway. There, he was amazed at the variety
of beautiful plants grown by the other youths. Ling put his empty
pot on the floor and many of the other kids laughed at him.
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted
the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “What
great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the
emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next
emperor!” All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back
of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring
him to the front. Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a
failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”
When Ling got to the front, the emperor asked his name. “My
name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids began laughing, but the
emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and
then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His
name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow
his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone
here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and
bring it back to me today. But what you didn’t know was that I
gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you
have brought me trees, plants and flowers. All except Ling!
When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted
another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with
the honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he
is the only one I know fit to be the new emperor!”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
“Verily, this world is sweet and appealing, and Allah placed you as
vicegerents therein; He will see what you will do. So, be careful of
[what you do in] this world.” (Muslim)
“Honesty leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to
Paradise.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Across:
1: The first pillar is ........, a
declaration of faith.
4: Jibril was an ..... who appeared to
Muhammad.
7: During Hajj Muslims visit Mount
...... where they stand before Allah.
8: The name for a Muslim festival.
10: The Muslim holy book.
14: Muhammad’s (SAW)age when
his mother died and the number of
children he had with Khadijah.
15: A ..... is a set of positions for
Muslim prayers.
17: Before praying Muslims ...., this
is called wudu.
18: During Ramadan Muslims do
not ... during the hours of daylight.
19: The name for the Muslim
religion.
Down
:
1: ..... means prayer five times a
day.
2: .... is pilgrimage to Makkah.
3: Where is Muhammad (SAW)
buried ?
5: .... means fasting.
6: The third pillar of Islam is .....
9: You may expect to find the
greeting “Eid .......” inside a card
sent at Eid-Ul-Fitr.
11: The English word for masjid is
….., Muslim place of worship
12: The Arabic name for God.
13: The cube black stone at
Makkah is called the .....
16: To make sure they have a
clean place to pray Muslims often
use prayer ....
See answers on Page 26
C
ROSSWORD
P
UZZLE
Editors Note:
Anyone interested in assisting the staff at the Islamic
Bulletin is encouraged to contact us as soon as possible.
There are various tasks relating to different skill levels, rang-
ing from updating mosque listings, Pagemaker, Access,
design, preparing and mailing literature, and so much more.
Working of the Islamic Bulletin is a great way to get re-
wards, while spreading the word of Allah. Jazakum Allahu
Khairan.