It was in 1850s, when the United States Army was at a loss to understand, how best it could possibly transport its troops to another battlefront, when they moved in the blazing deserts of Southwest America. Horses and mules in the US Army were found not up to the task.

They traveled to the Middle East to find out the truth. Several American army officers soon zeroed down on the camels, for they were greatly impressed by its performance of traveling into the vast stretches in desert, going without food and water that were needed for the other animals.

They also discovered that one camel could easily carry a load of 600 pounds or more, and learned that it could travel up to 30 miles a day without stopping for rest. They need not be constantly fed. But they were sad that Egypt had imposed a ban on the export of camels to other countries, as their numbers were barely sufficient to meet the needs of the Egyptian people.

But they soon found out that someone in a neighbouring country was ready to supply 33 camels. They were transported through the Atlantic Ocean. The journey was by no means smooth one for the American Navy, for one of the camels was over seven feet tall, and to fix a camel in a ship’s hold – hump and all – the Navy had to cut a hole into the deck of their prized fleet of ships.

Thus the first batch of camels landed in May 1856 on a Texas port. A large crowd of onlookers came to have a look of the strange beast which they had never seen earlier. Some of them honestly believed that the American Army officer who had hit upon this idea was quite a crazy man. Finally, they turned to one another and asked the same question: “Was this animal the army’s “secret weapon,” which would be deployed in the desert?” Stung by the cruel remarks, one of the officers decided to place a load of 1,200 pounds on the camel’s back and made it walk. There was a stunned silence in the crowd and no more laughter after that demonstration.

Next March, the Secretary of War officially announced the formation of the first United States Army on Camels and it was given its first mission. The Camels were marched across one of the worst stretches of desert land in Southwest America. They performed excellently on this mission.

The American Army officers found that camels were the most vengeful animals and hurt the officers who cause them hurt and pain. They would remember exactly the officers who had hit them and when the army would camp for the day and secure their animals by a rope; the camels would break free and bite the soft flesh of their tormentors with a great strength leaving them rolling on the ground howling.

From then onwards, the journey was smooth sailing off like a dream. The army thought the experiment was so successful that it decided to import another thousand camels from the Middle East to be deployed in the American deserts. But, unfortunately, the American Civil War broke out, and the army’s attention was directed at winning the war. So, the plans of introducing a thousand camels into the American deserts had to be abandoned, never to be revived again.

The army decided to give 28 of the camels to the City of Los Angeles, where they were used to transport mail and other baggage. Most of the others were auctioned off to a rancher who employed them in his private freight service.

The city of Istanbul in Turkey is one of the oldest in the world. It is believed the first human settlements in this city dates back to 5500 year before Christ. Since then, the city of Istanbul has had a glorious history as it passed from the Roman hands, and served as the capital of the ancient Byzantine Empire. Later, in 1453, the Turkish emperor made it a part of the Ottoman Muslim Empire.

It has two sides, Asian and European, separated by the Strait of Bosphorus. A small Golden Horn peninsula lies in between them. The Topkapi Palace, from where the Ottomans ruled the expansive caliphate, lies there. Close to it is located Haghia Sophia, which was a church for over 1000 years. Sultan Ahmet converted it into a mosque. Later when Ataturk declared Turkey to be a republic, it was converted into a museum. Kapali Carsisi or Covered or Grand Bazaar has over 6000 shops in 60 streets selling jewellery, garments and leather items. It is a must-see. Blue Mosque and Sulemaniye Mosque are worth seeing too for their huge domes and blue iznik tiles. They were constructed by Mimar Sinan.

Once upon a time a rich trader of Arabia set sail from his home to faraway lands to make his fortune along with his most trusted slave. He traded at different shores and made a huge profit, which made him rich beyond all measure.

As luck would have it, one day the merchant fell sick. His condition began to worsen by the day. His faithful slave was always by his side trying to nurse him back to health. Try as he may, the best doctors, in the city could find no cure for his strange illness. Finally the merchant realized that the time had come for him to depart from the earth.

He called the slave to his side and asked him to take his last will to his son. In the will, he stated that he had left all the property he owned to his slave, on the sole condition that the slave should allow his son who was living in Arabia to select just one article from his property.

After the merchant’s death, his slave dutifully buried him. The slave was also a good Muslim both in word and deed. He had promised his master on his deathbed that he would carry out his wishes to the last letter. He sailed for Arabia after securing all the riches of the merchant. Upon arriving in Arabia, he placed all the merchant’s bequest before the young man. He told him it was up to him to honour the promise made by his father and he would honour whatever decision that was arrived by his son, and accept his lot, with good grace.

The young man was greatly astonished about the contents of his father’s will. Nevertheless, he had also been brought up as a good Muslim. He was firm in his belief that if his father had left a will, it must be honoured till the last letter. But, try as he may, he could not figure out why his father had acted the way he had. He asked his father’s slave to give him a few days to think over the matter and he would let him know his decision.

He visited one of his father’s very trusted friends and related to him the whole story. The man laughed out loudly as he completed the accounts. The young man was amazed at his reaction. His father’s companion told him: “Your father was a man of great wisdom. By making this will, he had left all his property to you. If he had written it in his will, the devil may have tempted his slave to escape with all his riches, for he was dying in a distant land. In order to ensure their safe delivery to you, he wrote the will in his slave’s favour.”

“Don’t forget that your father’s slave was also his property. And, by the law of this land, when a man purchases a slave, he becomes the sole owner of all his possessions. You may select the slave, and the entire property will be yours according to the agreement that was reached by your father with him at the time of his purchase. However, do not forget the fact that your slave is a believing Muslim like you are and treat him generously after you acquire all the property from him.”

The next day, the young man invited the slave and told him that he was selecting the slave over all his father’s possessions. He further told him, “By the terms of agreement reached with my father, all that you possess now completely belongs to me!”

To his amazement, the slave did not show the slightest resentment over the choice of his son. He placed all the wealth belonging to his father before the young man and complimented him for arriving at a wise decision.

Once the son took possession of all his wealth from the slave, he said: “You have acted like a true Muslim by not betraying the trust of my father and delivering all his invaluable treasures to the last Dinar. Now, I hand over half of this wealth to you out of my own free will, and one half of the entire property, which belongs to my father,” and proceeded to divide the wealth between him and his slave. The slave was astonished at the turn of events and he could hardly believe the turn of tide in his favour. Once he had finished the task. He told his slave; “You are now a free man. You can live in one-half of this house.”

Misbah S. Ahmed, a student of the St. Mary’s School in Udupi has won the national level table tennis championship at the 53rd National Level School Games held at Aizwal in Mizoram. The students and teachers of the St. Mary’s School took out a grand procession in the town on December 18 to celebrate the victory. Misbah had defeated the Delhi team in the final.

Misbah is son of Mr. Shafi Ahmed, a cloth merchant in the town. He had developed his interest in table tennis since his young days. Looking at his interest, his father, a cloth merchant, even arranged a month’s training in the Indian Academy of Sports in Dubai where Chinese coaches trained him.

Cups and medals that fill up several showcases at his home testify Misbah’s passion for the game. His talents came to the fore first time in 2004 when he won the school level table tennis doubles honour. The following year, he lifted the champion’s trophy in the District Sports Meet organized by the Udupi Zilla Parishad. In 2006, he notched the second place in Karnataka at the Mysore Heritage Round Table Tennis. Same year, he was adjudged runner-up at the Republic Day Sports Meet of the Udupi Municipality and still later at the tournament organized by the MRPL School Mangalore. Last year, he was ranked second at the State Table Tennis Tournament.

His involvement with table tennis has not resulted in any laxity in academics. Misbah is a constant 90+ performer at exams. He has also won first place in the ‘National Level IT Talent Quest’ and a couple of general knowledge competitions. Aiming to be a software engineer, Misbah has received a wholesome family support.

Have you ever counted the number of times you have lied to others? Whether it is intentional or unintentional, people often lie. Children often tell lies about their marks, sometimes they lie to their friends about their social status.

A lie is an intentional false statement. A person tells a lie only when he cannot acknowledge the truth. Allah Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an “O you who believe, fear Allah and keep your duty to Him and always speak the truth” (33:69).

People lie for many reasons-for money, power or for approval from others; they may lie to escape embarrassment, for an image before others. Children lie basically to escape from punishment or because they have no guts to acknowledge the truth. They lie out of habit too .In a hadith, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to wickedness and evil doing. And wickedness leads to the Hellfire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

Necessity makes us invent lies and falsehoods and ultimately we conceal the truth. Sometimes we tell “white lies”, which are harmless and are told for no reason. While teaching morals, parents instruct their children not to tell a lie. But when a situation arises, parents lie before their children and set a poor example. When there is a phone call for instance, which you wish to avoid, you direct your child to tell a “lie” saying that you are not at home. Children learn from these experiences that stating an untruth can bring you out of a situation. Allah Almighty said in the Holy Qur’an “O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in word and deed)” (9:119).

The statement of Allah,” And shun lying speech” (22:30) makes it very clear that Allah Almighty dislikes liars.

A person who tells a lie is generally not trusted. Many people condemn lying on moral grounds. When children learn to lie, they lack the moral understanding of when to refrain from doing it. We should realize that moral development of children is equally important-ideas about what is right and wrong. In a hadith, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has pointed out the punishment of a liar on the Day Of Judgement. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said” I saw (in a dream) two men came to me, the person the one whose cheek, you saw being torn away from the mouth to the ear was a liar and used to tell lies and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world, so he will be punished like that till the Day of resurrection” (Sahih Al-Bukhari).

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This is the first and foremost quality a believer must have. Being trustworthy implies being honest, fair in dealings and punctual (both in terms of regularity and timeliness) as well as honouring trusts and keeping promises and commitments. In other words, trustworthiness is the quality of honouring and fulfilling at any cost all commitments a person makes whether formally or informally, verbally or in writing, and whether they are expressed or implied.

Being known for trustworthiness is such an important personality trait for a Muslim that it cannot be overemphasized. Before our Prophet was even appointed as a messenger by Allah SWT, he was well known for these qualities. It had become one of his distinguishing qualities so much so that he was called Al-Ameen (trustworthy) mentioning ‘the trustworthy’ was enough to identify our Prophet. Thus, this quality was so important that Allah chose it to be the outstanding feature of His Last Messenger.

Allah commands:

“Verily, Allah does command you to render back your Trusts to whom they are due.” An-Nisa 4:58

This quality is so important to Allah that when listing in the Holy Qur’an the qualities of the people who succeed in the eyes of Allah SWT and the people who are steadfast worshippers of Allah, they have been mentioned as those.

Children's Corner