Snippets - That's Life

Rushing through our daily lives, we often overlook or miss out little anecdotes and incidents. Small, they may seem, but each has a message-some make us smile, some touch our hearts and some surprise us. Here are few snippets from the Muslim world.

A chicken escaped a man’s attempt to turn it into dinner, resulting in the man’s death, Al-Yaum daily reported. The fugitive bird managed to end up on a nearby lamp post that happened to be holding up some live electrical wires. When the man grabbed the post to capture his dinner, he was electrocuted. The fire department came and took the body away. The chicken remains at large.

A Haj group disturbed the flow of pilgrims when it realised a member of the group had disappeared. Thinking they spotted the old gentleman in the crowd, some of the groups’ members chased after him. When they caught up with the man, they discovered that they were chasing the wrong fellow, but the resemblance between him and the lost pilgrim was strikingly similar, reported Al-Watan newspaper. When they finally found their lost member, they introduced the two men who both agreed to the mutual resemblance. Both men were from Pakistan, but one had lived in the Kingdom for over 20 years. In perhaps an anti-climactic ending to this story, they both said that they were not related in any way.

A courteous thief left a thank-you note behind him after he finished stealing from a girls’ high school, Al-Jazirah daily reported. Unless the robbery was an inside job, it would be fair to assume that the thief didn’t expect to discover SR10,000 in the principal’s office. Subsequently, the thief decided to leave the note, explaining his surprise at the windfall booty.

A pilgrim acted out the anger that many people have, over the disrespectful use of overly loud and offensive mobile-phone ring tones, reported The Okaz daily. While many might simply stew quietly over the rudeness of a gadget freak and his obnoxious club music announcing a constant barrage of incoming calls, one Haj pilgrim took another to task for interrupting the spiritual experience. The owner of the mobile refused to change the tone or to reduce the volume. Security men had to intervene before the two men began brawling over the noisy gadget.

Pakistani business-man Sacchi Murjan came for Haj this year with his twin brother Roshan, but not as a VIP pilgrim enjoying five-star facilities. He wanted to perform the Haj in a simple manner in order to maximize the reward from God. Both brothers were born in a rich family in Waziristan and later moved their business to Dubai. Although, the Murjan brothers are millionaires, they made it a point that simplicity would be the hallmark of their Haj.

Being invited to a baby-naming ceremony can be expensive. Not only are you supposed to offer up some suggestions, but also you can be expected to show up with gifts, such as a sheep or money. In one case, reported in Al-Watan, 40 members of an extended Saudi family traveled 180 kilometers for a baby-naming ceremony. All were laden with gifts to offer the little tot. In recent years, some people have simply stopped paying money at these events in order to reduce the expense of being honoured with the privilege of suggesting names for a baby.

A sacrificial sheep made a bid for freedom by escaping from a Jeddah slaughter-house, Al-Madinah daily reported. The animal, after causing a brief traffic jam, sought refuge in a nearby barbershop. The barber betrayed the sheep’s efforts by reporting it to slaughterhouse personn-el who returned the sheep to its destiny.

A man who committed animal cruelty got his due back when he untied the angry creature, Okaz daily reported. The man locked his camel in a stable and bound its legs for three days. When he untied the creature, it immediately attacked him, biting him in the head causing a severe fracture. The man had to be taken to a hospital for treatment. It is not known what the man did to the camel after being released from the hospital.

After 17 years of marriage and five children, a Saudi father celebrated paying off the expenses of his marriage, the Al-Watan daily reported. The total cost of his wedding was SR380,000 ($101,333). Al-Ghamdi, the Saudi father, is working in the private sector and has been paying the wedding expenses in installments. He organized a big party in celebration of the last payment he made on his wedding, hopefully by not incurring another huge debt.