Little Boy’s Meeting with God

 There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was, and he got up to leave but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I had lunch with God.” But, before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, “Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?” She replied, “I ate Twinkies in the park with God.” But, before her son responded, she added, “You know, he’s much younger than I expected.”

Moral : God is everywhere.  We just need to share our happiness and make others smile to feel him.

The Lazy Man and the God’s Plan

Once upon a time, there was a very lazy man who would always look for an easier way to feed himself. One day while he was searching for something to eat, he saw the fruit farm. He looked around and didn’t see anyone guarding the fruits on the tree, so he quickly decided to steal some fruits. But as soon as he walked into the farm and started to climb the tree, the farmer saw him and started coming at him to catch him. The lazy man saw the farmer coming at him with a stick, he got afraid and ran towards the forest nearby and went inside it to hide.

After some time when he felt he started to move on from the forest and while passing through, he saw the wonderful scene. There was a fox. It had only two legs and still was crawling on them happily. The lazy man thought, how can this fox stay alive in such condition?! The fox can’t run, how he must be able to feed himself or stay alive from the threat of other animals.

Suddenly, he saw the lion coming towards the fox with a piece of meat already in his mouth. All the animals ran away and the lazy man climbed up on the tree to save himself but, the fox stayed there only, he didn’t have the ability to run on two legs. But what happened next surprised the lazy man. The lion left a piece of meat which was in his mouth for the fox!

The lazy man felt happy seeing god’s play. He thought the god who is the creator of all, always has a plan set to take care of what he created. He felt that god must have something planned for him too. So, he left that place and sat somewhere away alone waiting for someone to feed him too. As time starting to pass, he kept looking at the road, waiting for his food. He waited there for 2 days without any food! Finally, he couldn’t bear the hunger and started to leave.

He met an old sage (a wise person famed for wisdom) on the way. He told everything happened to the sage. The sage first gave him some food and water. After having it, the lazy man asked the sage, “oh wise one, the god had shown his mercy on the crippled fox, but why the god was so cruel to me?”

The old sage with a smile said, “True that the creator has a plan for everyone. You are obviously a part of the god’s plan. But Son, You took his sign in a wrong way. He didn’t want you to be like the fox. He wanted you to be like the Lion”.

Moral : Often we misunderstand the signs. God has given everyone a strength and ability to do their part. Always learn to see the things in a positive way and see yourself in a strong position to help the ones who need. Don’t go for the easy choice. Make a right choice.

Walt Disney

Entrepreneur, Producer(1901–1966)

Walt Disney was an American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of cartoon films and as the creator of Disneyland.

“Laughter is America's most important export.”

—Walt Disney

Synopsis

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Hermosa, Illinois. He and his brother Roy co-founded Walt Disney Productions, which became one of the best-known motion-picture production companies in the world. Disney was an innovative animator and created the cartoon character Mickey Mouse. He won 22 Academy Awards during his lifetime, and was the founder of theme parks Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Early Life

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in the Hermosa section of Chicago, Illinois. His father was Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian, and his mother, Flora Call Disney, was German-American. Disney was one of five children, four boys and a girl. He lived most of his childhood in Marceline, Missouri, where he began drawing, painting and selling pictures to neighbors and family friends. In 1911, his family moved to Kansas City, where Disney developed a love for trains. His uncle, Mike Martin, was a train engineer who worked the route between Fort Madison, Iowa and Marceline. Later, Disney would work a summer job with the railroad, selling snacks and newspapers to travelers.
Disney attended McKinley High School in Chicago, where he took drawing and photography classes and was a contributing cartoonist for the school paper. At night, he took courses at the Chicago Art Institute. When Disney was 16, he dropped out of school to join the Army but was rejected for being underage. Instead, he joined the Red Cross and was sent to France for a year to drive an ambulance.

Early Cartoons

When Disney returned from France in 1919, he moved back to Kansas City to pursue a career as a newspaper artist. His brother Roy got him a job at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio, where he met cartoonist Ubbe Eert Iwwerks, better known as Ub Iwerks. From there, Disney worked at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where he made commercials based on cutout animation. Around this time, Disney began experimenting with a camera, doing hand-drawn cel animation, and decided to open his own animation business. From the ad company, he recruited Fred Harman as his first employee.

Walt and Harman made a deal with a local Kansas City theater to screen their cartoons, which they called Laugh-O-Grams. The cartoons were hugely popular, and Disney was able to acquire his own studio, upon which he bestowed the same name. Laugh-O-Gram hired a number of employees, including Harman's brother Hugh and Iwerks. They did a series of seven-minute fairy tales that combined both live action and animation, which they called Alice in Cartoonland. By 1923, however, the studio had become burdened with debt, and Disney was forced to declare bankruptcy.

Disney and his brother Roy soon pooled their money and moved to Hollywood. Iwerks also relocated to California, and there the three began the Disney Brothers' Studio. Their first deal was with New York distributor Margaret Winkler, to distribute their Alice cartoons. They also invented a character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and contracted the shorts at $1,500 each.

In 1925, Disney hired an ink-and-paint artist named Lillian Bounds. After a brief courtship, the couple married.

Mickey Mouse

A few years later, Disney discovered that Winkler and her husband, Charles Mintz, had stolen the rights to Oswald, along with all of Disney’s animators, except for Iwerks. Right away the Disney brothers, their wives and Iwerks produced three cartoons featuring a new character Walt had been developing called Mickey Mouse. The first animated shorts featuring Mickey were Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho, both silent films for which they failed to find distribution. When sound made its way into film, Disney created a third, sound-and-music-equipped short called Steamboat Willie. With Walt as the voice of Mickey, the cartoon was an instant sensation.

Commercial Success

In 1929, Disney created Silly Symphonies, which featured Mickey's newly created friends, including Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. One of the most popular cartoons, Flowers and Trees, was the first to be produced in color and to win an Oscar. In 1933, The Three Little Pigs and its title song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" became a theme for the country in the midst of the Great Depression.
On December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film, premiered in Los Angeles. It produced an unimaginable $1.499 million, in spite of the Depression, and won a total of eight Oscars. During the next five years, Walt Disney Studios completed another string of full-length animated films, Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942).
In December 1939, a new campus for Walt Disney Studios was opened in Burbank. A setback for the company occurred in 1941, however, when there was a strike by Disney animators. Many of them resigned, and it would be years before the company fully recovered. During the mid-1940s, Disney created "packaged features," groups of shorts strung together to run at feature length, but by 1950, he was once again focusing on animated features. Cinderella was released in 1950, followed by a live-action film called Treasure Island (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and 101 Dalmatians (1961). In all, more than 100 features were produced by his studio.

Disney was also among the first to use television as an entertainment medium. The Zorro and Davy Crockett series were extremely popular with children, as was The Mickey Mouse Club, a variety show featuring a cast of teenagers known as the Mouseketeers. Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color was a popular Sunday night show, which Disney used to begin promoting his new theme park. Disney's last major success that he produced himself was the motion picture Mary Poppins (1964), which mixed live action and animation.

Disneyland

Disney's $17 million Disneyland theme park opened on July 17, 1955, in Anaheim, California, with actor (and future U.S. president) Ronald Reagan presiding over the activities on what was once an orange grove. After a tumultuous opening day involving several mishaps (including the distribution of thousands of counterfeit invitations), the site became known as a place where children and their families could explore, enjoy rides and meet the Disney characters.
In a very short time, the park had increased its investment tenfold, and was entertaining tourists from around the world. With the original site having some attendance ups and downs over the years, Disneyland has expanded its rides over time and branched out globally with parks in Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong, with a Shanghai location slated to open in the spring of 2016. Sister property California Adventure also opened in 2001.

Death

Within a few years of the opening, Disney began plans for a new theme park and Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow in Florida. It was still under construction when, in 1966, Disney was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died on December 15, 1966, at the age of 65. Disney was cremated, and his ashes interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. After his brother's death, Roy carried on the plans to finish the Florida theme park, which opened in 1971 under the name Walt Disney World.

Story of Prophet Yusuf (AS)

Prophet Yusuf (AS) was the son of Prophet Ya'qub (AS). In the Bible he is referred to as Joseph son of Jacob. The Holy Qur'an has mentioned his story in a beautiful chapter entitled "Surah Yusuf". Prophet Yusuf (AS) had 11 brothers. He was one of the youngest and possessed excellent character and manners. His father loved him dearly. Prophet Yusuf (AS) once dreamt that eleven stars and the sun and moon were prostrating to him. He related the dream to his father. Prophet Ya'qub (AS) realised that the dream outlined his son's destiny and greatness and cautioned him not to tell his brothers about the dream.

His brothers were jealous of the favour that he enjoyed in their father's eyes and planned to somehow get rid of him. Whenever they took their goats out for grazing they would ask their father if Yusuf (AS) could accompany them. Prophet Ya'qub (AS) always refused, saying that the boy was too young. When Prophet Yusuf (AS) reached the age of 16, his brothers insisted that he was now old enough to accompany them. With reluctance, their father agreed to let them take him with them.

As soon as they were far enough from home, they began to plot about how to dispose of Prophet Yusuf (AS). Then, they came across a dry well. They removed Prophet Yusuf's (AS) shirt, and threw him into the well. Ignoring their young brother's pleas, they heartlessly left him to die of hunger.

On the way back, they slaughtered a goat and stained Prophet Yusuf's (AS) shirt with its blood. They arrived home weeping and told their father that while they were grazing their sheep, a wolf came and ate their brother. He did not believe their story and could do nothing but remain patient and wait for Allah to reunite him with his beloved son. Meanwhile a caravan of traders passing by the well stopped to draw some water. They were surprised to see Prophet Yusuf (AS) come up holding the bucket. They hid him with their merchandise and sold him to some slave traders for a few pieces of silver.

• Prophet Yusuf (AS) in Egypt

Thus, Prophet Yusuf (AS) arrived in Egypt. At the slave market the buyers were all attracted by him, because he was a very handsome young man. News of this remarkable youth swept through the city. The Aziz (Governor of Egypt and Chief Officer of the King), whose name was Fotifaar, offered a price that none could match. He brought Prophet Yusuf (AS) home and told his wife Zuleikha that they would adopt him as their son.

Zuleikha, however, was so taken by Prophet Yusuf's (AS) beauty that she sought to have an illegal association with him. A Prophet of Allah could never be part of such an evil deed and Prophet Yusuf (AS) backed away from the advances of Zuleikha. As he raced for the door she ripped his shirt from behind. At the door they met the Aziz. On seeing her husband, Zuleikha tried to blame Yusuf (AS) by claiming that he had tried to lay a hand on her. Before the Aziz could vent his fury on Prophet Yusuf (AS), a baby spoke up from the cradle, and the Holy Qur'an says:

And a witness from her own household testified, "If his shirt is torn from the front, then she speaks the truth and he is of the liars. And if his shirt is torn from behind, then she lies and he is of the truthful ones.
Surah Yusuf, 12:26,27

 The shirt was, of course, torn from behind, and the Aziz was extremely angry with his wife for attempting such an act of indecency. The women of the city heard about Zuleikha's actions and began to gossip and make fun of her. To explain her attraction she decided to let them see Prophet Yusuf (AS) themselves.

She called forty of them to the palace for a meal. As soon as they all had a knife to cut some fruit, she called Prophet Yusuf (AS) into the room on some excuse. So dazzled were they by his beauty and presence, that they cut their fingers in their distraction and exclaimed, "This is not a human being - he must be an angel!"
Zuleikha was furious with Prophet Yusuf (AS) because he had caused her to be ridiculed. In her anger and frustration, she caused him to be imprisoned on false charges of assault.

• Prophet Yusuf (AS) in Prison

Due to continued pressure from his wife Zuleikha, the Aziz of Egypt decided to imprison Prophet Yusuf (AS), despite his innocence. The reason he gave was that people would forget the actions of his wife while Prophet Yusuf (AS) lay in prison, and her dignity would be restored.

On the same day that Prophet Yusuf (AS) was put into prison, two other men were also imprisoned. One used to serve the king wine, while the other was the royal cook. Both men had been accused of trying to poison the king. On the following day, the wine-server said to Prophet Yusuf (AS), "I saw in a dream that I was crushing grapes to make wine for the king". The cook said, "I dreamt that I was carrying some bread in a basket on my head and birds were pecking at the bread".

Both men saw that Prophet Yusuf (AS) was a noble and pious person and asked him if he could interpret their dreams. Prophet Yusuf (AS) took this opportunity to preach the religion of Allah to his prison-mates. He promised to tell them the meaning of their dreams and informed them that this was a special power given to him by Allah Before he did so, however, he explained to them how senseless it was to believe in various gods and explained to them about the Oneness of Allah and the Day of Resurrection.

Finally he said, "O my prison-mates! The man who dreamt that he was crushing grapes will soon be released from here and will go back to his previous post. The second one, who carried the bread on his head in the dream, will be executed and the birds will start to eat his brain." Prophet Yusuf (AS) thought of getting himself released from prison through the wine-server, and told him to remind the king of his innocence when he saw him. The dreams of both men came true just as he had foretold. One of the captives was released while the other was hanged. Unfortunately, the wine-server forgot all that Prophet Yusuf (AS) had told him to convey to the king.

• Prophet Yusuf's (AS) Release From Prison

The Holy Qur'an says:
The king dreamt that seven lean cows were eating seven fat ones and that there were seven green ears of corn and seven dry ones. He asked the nobles to tell him the meaning of his dream if they were able to. They replied, "It is a confused dream and we do not know the meaning of such dreams."
Surah Yusuf, 12:43,44

The king was very concerned about the meaning of his dream and even though his wise men thought over it seriously, they could not make sense of it. The king's dream became a means of the liberation of Prophet Yusuf (AS) from prison. As soon as the wine-server heard about the dream he was reminded of his time in prison and remembered the powers of his cell-mate. He also remembered that Prophet Yusuf (AS) had asked him to tell the king of his innocence. He approached the king and got his permission to see Prophet Yusuf (AS).

Prophet Yusuf (AS) interpreted the dream by the power given to him by Allah . He said, "For seven years the crops will yield abundant food-grain for the people of Egypt. After that there will be a famine for seven years during which all the food-grain lying in the storehouses will be finished and people will starve. Therefore, the people should try to grow as much extra grain as possible so that it would stand them in good stead during the time of famine".

On hearing this very reasonable and sensible interpretation of his dream from the wine-server, the king was delighted. He ordered that Prophet Yusuf (AS) be brought before him so he could make good use of his wisdom in solving his problems.
Although he had been in the dark dungeon for so long, Prophet Yusuf (AS) refused to leave the prison until he proved his innocence. He said to the courtiers, "I will not come out of the prison until the king makes enquiries about my case. Tell the king to ask the wives of the noble men about the time when they cut their fingers on seeing me".

The courtiers passed on this message to the king who called the concerned women to him for an explanation. They all confessed the truth and Zuleikha, the wife of the Aziz, also testified that Prophet Yusuf (AS) was innocent of any guilt. Thus, Prophet Yusuf (AS) was released from the prison with his dignity and honour restored.

• Prophet Yusuf (AS) in the Royal Court

The Holy Qur'an says:
The king ordered his men to bring Yusuf before him; he wanted to grant him a high office. The king said to him, "From now on you will be an honoured and trusted person amongst us." Yusuf said, "Put me in charge of the treasuries of the land, I know how to manage them."
Surah Yusuf, 12:54,55

When the king met Prophet Yusuf (AS), he found him to be a wise and broad-minded man. In response to the request of Prophet Yusuf (AS) as related in the verse above, the king made him in charge of finance and food and ordered his ministers and officials to treat Prophet Yusuf's (AS) commands as his own.

Prophet Yusuf (AS) thus became the Aziz of Egypt and began his new duties without delay. He was determined that when the famine arrived, nobody should starve.
The river Nile flooded its banks regularly to provide fertile soil for the growth of food grain and Prophet Yusuf (AS) was aware that the famine would be caused by the decrease of the water in this river. He decided to make a brief tour of Egypt to assess the best locations where intensive cultivation could be carried out.

He allocated extra money to the farmers in the most fertile areas of the Nile, so that they would be able to grow the maximum amount of grain. He also ordered the construction of huge storehouses (granaries), capable of storing several hundred tons of the surplus grain.
During the first seven years, he supplied grain to the people according to their minimum needs, and stored the rest in the newly-built granaries. By the time the seven years were over, the granaries were full. The water level of the Nile fell tremendously and the country was hit by a severe drought. However, due to his foresight and planning, the country did not face a shortage of food.

The famine also extended to the lands of Palestine and Kanaan where Prophet Ya'qub (AS) lived with his sons. One day he called them and said, "My sons! We are in great distress due to the famine. You may go to the Aziz of Egypt whose reputation as a kind and just person has spread everywhere in the country. Leave Binyameen with me for company so that I may not be lonely." As commanded by their father, the brothers of Prophet Yusuf (AS) set off for Egypt to purchase grain and bring it back to Kanaan.

• Prophet Yusuf's (AS) Brothers in Egypt

When his brothers arrived in Egypt, Prophet Yusuf (AS) was very pleased to see them. They did not recognise him at all, never expecting that he was alive. Prophet Yusuf (AS) was disappointed not to see his full brother, Binyameen, and asked his brothers to tell him about themselves.

They introduced themselves and told him about their father and mother. Prophet Yusuf (AS) was relieved to hear that Prophet Ya'qub (AS) was alive, and he welcomed his brothers sincerely. He provided them with enough wheat for their needs and had their money put back in their bags secretly. He also asked them to bring their other brother the next time as proof that they were speaking the truth about their family. The Holy Qur'an narrates this episode in the following words:

Yusuf's brothers came to him and when they entered his court, he recognised them. They did not know him. And when he gave them the provisions, he said, "Next time, bring me your other brother from your father. As you can see, I give each of you a certain amount of grain, I am a polite host. If you do not bring him, do not come to us for we shall not give you any more grain.
Surah Yusuf, 12:58- 60

On their return home, the brothers related their experiences to their father, praising the generosity and hospitality of Prophet Yusuf (AS). When they opened their bags they were delighted to see that their money had been returned. Soon they were out of grain and were impatient to go back to Egypt to get more. However, they could not go back without Binyameen, so they tried to convince their father to let him come with them. Prophet Ya'qub (AS) refused to let them take Binyameen, saying that they would do the same thing with him as they did with Prophet Yusuf (AS).

After repeated promises the brothers finally convinced him that they would sincerely look after Binyameen, so he let him accompany them to Egypt.
When they reached Egypt, the brothers proceeded to the court of Prophet Yusuf (AS) and presented their brother Binyameen to him. Prophet Yusuf (AS) was extremely happy to see his younger brother and invited all of them to dine with him. Later he gave them all accommodation at his own house, and asked Binyameen to sleep in his room. During the night, Prophet Yusuf (AS) revealed his identity to Binyameen.

Prophet Yusuf (AS) once dreamt that eleven stars and the sun and moon were prostrating to him. He related the dream to his father. Prophet Ya'qub (AS) realised that the dream outlined his son's destiny and greatness and cautioned him not to tell his brothers about the dream.

His brothers were jealous of the favour that he enjoyed in their father's eyes and planned to somehow get rid of him. Whenever they took their goats out for grazing they would ask their father if Yusuf (AS) could accompany them. Prophet Ya'qub (AS) always refused, saying that the boy was too young. When Prophet Yusuf (AS) reached the age of 16, his brothers insisted that he was now old enough to accompany them. With reluctance, their father agreed to let them take him with them.

As soon as they were far enough from home, they began to plot about how to dispose of Prophet Yusuf (AS). Then, they came across a dry well. They removed Prophet Yusuf's (AS) shirt, and threw him into the well. Ignoring their young brother's pleas, they heartlessly left him to die of hunger.

On the way back, they slaughtered a goat and stained Prophet Yusuf's (AS) shirt with its blood. They arrived home weeping and told their father that while they were grazing their sheep, a wolf came and ate their brother. He did not believe their story and could do nothing but remain patient and wait for Allah to reunite him with his beloved son.
Meanwhile a caravan of traders passing by the well stopped to draw some water. They were surprised to see Prophet Yusuf (AS) come up holding the bucket. They hid him with their merchandise and sold him to some slave traders for a few pieces of silver.

• Prophet Yusuf's (AS) Plan to Detain Binyameen

After they had received their requirement of wheat, the brothers of Prophet Yusuf (AS) began to prepare for their journey home. Meanwhile, according to the command of Allah, Prophet Yusuf (AS) put into action a plan to detain his full brother Binyameen. He ordered his men to put a gold cup belonging to the king in Binyameen's baggage. The Holy Qur'an describes the incident in the following words:

When he (Yusuf) had furnished them with provisions, (someone) placed the (king's) drinking cup in his brother's baggage. Then someone shouted, "People of the caravan, you are most surely thieves."
Surah Yusuf, 12:70

The brothers of Prophet Yusuf (AS) had not gone very far when they were stopped and accused of stealing. They denied this, and said that if anyone of them was found guilty of theft, he could be held as a slave by Prophet Yusuf (AS). The caravan was searched, and the cup was found in the bag of Binyameen.

When the brothers were brought before Prophet Yusuf (AS), he said, "According to your own words, we will now detain Binyameen with us." They replied, "O Aziz of Egypt! Our father is old and weak. You may detain any of us, but not Binyameen." However, Prophet Yusuf (AS) said that he could not detain anyone who was not guilty. The brothers had no choice but to leave for Kanaan. The eldest brother, Yahuda, refused to return without Binyameen. He remained behind in Egypt, rather than face his father.

• The Reunion of the family of Prophet Ya'qub (AS)

When the brothers returned to Kanaan and told Prophet Ya'qub (AS) what had happened, he was heartbroken.
He had already lost his eyesight crying for his beloved son Prophet Yusuf (AS), and this second loss was almost too much for him to bear. He now recalled the memory of his lost sons and wept.

He asked his sons to immediately return to Egypt to look for both Prophet Yusuf (AS) and Binyameen. According to their father's instructions, the brothers came to the Aziz of Egypt for the third time, and pleaded for the release of Binyameen as well as some grain for food.

Prophet Yusuf (AS) reminded them of how badly they had treated their brother Yusuf, and caused separation between him and his father. The brothers were amazed to hear their secret from the Aziz, who now spoke in the language of the people of Kanaan. They asked him, "Are you Yusuf?"

He replied, "Yes, I am Yusuf, and this is my brother. Allah has been gracious to me. One who is pious and patient against hardships is always rewarded by Allah for his virtues." On hearing this, the brothers hung their heads in shame and asked him for his forgiveness. He said, "You need not be frightened of me. Allah may forgive you your sins. Now take my shirt and cover my father's face with it, so that he may regain his lost sight. Then return to me with all your family."

The Holy Qur'an says:
When the caravan had left the town (from Egypt), their father (in Kanaan) said, "I smell Yusuf's fragrance. I hope you will not think that I am weak in judgement (due to my love for him). They said, "By Allah ! You are still making the same old error. When someone brought him the glad news, Yusuf's shirt was placed on his face and his eyesight was restored. He said, "Did I not tell you that I know about Allah that which you do not know?"
Surah Yusuf, 12:94-96

After getting his eyesight back and hearing the good news of his son, Prophet Ya'qub (AS) decided to proceed to Egypt immediately. Prophet Yusuf (AS) was delighted to meet them and embraced his father and mother.
As a token of their gratitude to Allah at this reunion, his parents and brothers prostrated themselves on the ground.

Thus Allah made true the dream of Prophet Yusuf (AS), when he had seen eleven stars and the sun and the moon in prostration in front of him. After many trials, Allah raised him from the position of a slave to the highest rank in the land.
At the request of his son, Prophet Ya'qub (AS) settled in Egypt with his family, and their clan came to be known as the Bani Israa'il.

Prophet Ya'qub (AS) lived in Egypt for 17 years and died at the age of 147. Prophet Yusuf (AS) breathed his last some years later at the age of 110 years, and his kingdom passed into the hands of rulers whose titles were Fir'aun.

Moral Lessons from the Story of Prophet Yusuf (AS)

Allah says the following about the story of Prophet Yusuf (AS) in the Holy Qur'an:
We narrate unto you (O Muhammad) the most excellent of the stories (by which) We have revealed unto you this Qur'an; though before this you were of the unaware ones (of its details).
Surah Yusuf, 12:3

Indeed, the adventures and experiences of Prophet Yusuf (AS), and his conduct throughout his life, provide us with a wealth of lessons and morals. Some things we may learn from his life are:

1. The belief in the presence of Allah makes a man's troubles easier for him to bear, and as long as he keeps himself away from sins despite temptations, he will ultimately be successful. Prophet Yusuf (AS) taught us this by his cheerful conduct throughout his enslavement and imprisonment.

2. In all difficulties and hardships one should seek only Allah's protection. Prophet Yusuf (AS) showed his faith by seeking refuge from Allah when faced with the evil intentions of Zuleikha. He was thus saved from committing a terrible sin.

3. One should always remain attached to religion and should take every opportunity to persuade others towards the right path. Prophet Yusuf (AS) did not forsake his duty even when in the prison, where he preached against idol worship before interpreting the dreams of his cell-mates.

4. Patience in the face of hardship is the best of qualities and results in reward from Allah in this life and the hereafter. Prophet Yusuf (AS) remained calm and resigned to the Will of Allah, despite being abandoned in the well by his brothers.
He also bore the shame of being sold as a slave patiently.
He also accepted his false imprisonment. In return for his forbearance, Allah raised his position till it was the highest in Egypt.

5. It is important to act in such a manner as to preserve your honour and dignity, and these qualities must always be safeguarded. Prophet Yusuf (AS) taught us this valuable lesson when he refused to accept his freedom from prison until his innocence was proved to the people.
Thus when he was finally released, he knew he could come in front of the people with his head held high and without any blemish on his record.

6. Above all, this story teaches us that we should forgive and forget the past. When Prophet Yusuf's (AS) brothers came to him in Egypt, they were in a pitiable condition and would have been helpless against his great power. If he had wished, Prophet Yusuf (AS) could have severely punished them for the heartless treatment they had given him. Instead he forgave their errors and treated them well.

We have listed only a few lessons above, and there is a lot more that one can learn and understand from the story of Prophet Yusuf (AS).

And ALLAH Knows Best.

Soichiro Honda Biography: A Great History of Japanese Car Manufacturer

Soichiro Honda (本田 宗一郎, November 17, 1906 – August 5, 1991) is Japanese entrepreneur and inventor, engaged in the development and industrial production of mopeds, motorcycles and cars. He is the founder of the Honda Motor Co., Inc. corporation and automobile companies in the U.S. and Japan. Soichiro Honda is the creator of the popular models of motorcycles and cars: Super Cub, Civic, Accord, Prelude and etc. He is the owner of multibillion-dollar status.

Perhaps it would be difficult to find a person who has not heard about Honda Motor Company. And this is not surprising, because people from more than 140 countries around the world buy its bikes, cars, boat motors, mini-tractors, autonomous power stations, tillers for farmers and other mechanisms equipped with gasoline engines.

Back in 1956, the company presented to the staff job descriptions with “The Three Joys” they had to learn.

The first of them is the joy of producing. It is a joy known only to the engineer. It is an absolute happiness of the engineers when the good is of great quality is welcomed by society. The second joy is when a seller is happy because a buyer has got a Honda product. The third joy belongs to the buyer. The buyer is so happy that he or she bought the product of Honda.

Honda Company is a unique example of a corporation that successfully works on the markets on five continents; it is a member of prestigious sporting events, it is the Company that is investing in the development of high-tech projects and is working to radically improve the environmental performance of manufactured products. The potential of Honda engineers is fully consistent to the professional level of sales managers around the world. Such a tandem has been ensuring the success of the company for many years and gives confidence to be as successful in the future.

Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Company, was born on November 17, 1906 in Japan, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. His mother, Mika, was a weaver, and even designed her own loom to weave particularly complex patterns. And his father, Gihei, was a blacksmith, who ran a bicycle repair business. The bicycle transport became extremely popular in big cities those years. His father was buying broken bikes for a knockdown price in Tokyo, repairing and selling them to all comers. Soichiro was helping his father literally from the cradle and the bicycle parts were his favorite toys.

Helping his father in the smithy, he always got dirty with soot but he was very ingenious. At the end of the quarter at school, all students were handed grade reports, which parents had to stamp with the family seal, instead of putting signatures. Soichiro was not an excellent student, but he did not want to disappoint his parents. So he cut family hieroglyphs on an old tire and “signed” a grade report himself. Soichiro did not realize that the stamp had to be mirror-imaged. He started to make fake stamps for other classmates. His family name is 本田 and it was symmetrical when written vertically, so it did not cause a problem, but some of other children’s family names were not symmetrical. When the teacher noticed that, he said with the smile that some hieroglyphs were not mirror-imaged. Soichiro Honda’s father left him without a lunch and put him in a corner on his knees for a whole day and he did that not for the forgery but for the fact that Soichiro did not notice the relation between seal pattern and stamp itself.

In 1922, after finishing eight years of schooling, Soichiro noticed a job ad in a newspaper: an assistant wanted to Art Shokai auto repair shop in Tokyo. After that he went straight to the capital of Japan. He was accepted, but as the youngest employee, there was left only cleaning and preparing meals job for him. Despite this the owner of the auto repair shop allowed Soichiro to help in the second workshop, where he was designing a racing car every night. During the earthquake in 1923, Soichiro drove out three cars from a burning garage, but he had never sat behind the wheel. Honda was assigned as an assistance at Art Shokai; he helped the workshop’s proprietors, the Sakakibara brothers, in designing a Curtiss race car. Soichiro was a riding mechanic at races and their team took the first place at the fifth Japan Motor Car Championship on November 23, 1924.

There were a lot of other victories behind this success. Art Shokai workshop became one of the most popular garages in Tokyo and in five year after the earthquake, Yuzo Sakakibara expanded his business by opening several branches in the province. One of them was led by 21 year Soichiro in the town of Hamamatsu. Since that memorable earthquake in Tokyo, Honda decided to create durable spare parts for vehicles. Soichiro Honda proposed to replace the wooden spokes to metal ones on the wheels and even received a patent for his invention. Art Shokai was very prosperous and brought considerable revenue. But it was not enough for Honda. He tried to produce piston rings, investing almost all his savings in the research laboratory. But none of the directors of Art Shokai supported him.

 Honda A-Type

  

Soichiro literally lived in the workshop, developing piston rings. But it didn’t give any fruits. Honda even handed over the jewels of his wife to the pawn shop. Only after that he admitted his incompetence in the foundry business and changed the attitude toward education. Up to that time Honda had considered science useless. “If the theory promoted creativity, then all teachers would have been the inventors.” – Honda was saying. Now he has decided to acquire the necessary knowledge in the technological school of Hamamatsu. And all his spare time Honda devoted to the racing car design. Having developed his own method of engine cooling, he resolved the main problem of the all sport cars of that time. His engine did not explode from overheating during a race. Soichiro decided to take part in major competitions to experience his masterpiece.

In 1936, Honda took part in the Japanese high-speed rally in Tama River in the suburbs of Tokyo and almost died. His car raced at breakneck speed – 120 km / h. Honda crashed into a suddenly stopped car at the finish. The car turned over thrice in the air, and the champion was thrown out of it. The car was lost forever. Honda’s left arm was fractured, his shoulder was dislocated and his face was damaged. He spent three months at a hospital. The road to the sport was closed forever for him.

Being at the hospital, Soichiro received bad news. Out of 30,000 piston rings, which he produced in the recent years and sent for examination to the Toyota Company, only 50 were accepted for consideration and only three pieces passed quality control tests. In addition, Honda was dropped out of the college because he refused to take the examination: Soichiro needed knowledge, but not a diploma.

Any other man, perhaps, would give up in such situation. But after recovering, Honda opened his own business in Hamamatsu. In 1937, Honda founded the company ‘Tokai Seiki’ and started producing the piston rings, production technology of which had been finally found. Things went uphill.

During the Sino-Japanese War and then World War II Honda’s company was providing ‘Toyota’ with the piston rings by 40%, and also supplied parts to shipbuilding and aircraft manufacturing companies. But with the defeat of Japan in World War II “Tokay Seiko” came to an end. In 1945, Hamamatsu was undergone a massive bombardment by American aircraft. Honda assumed that the country is entering into a period of poverty and ruin and decided not to restore the factory, but sold the business to ‘Toyota’ for 450,000 thousand yen. 10,000 ten thousand yen the businessman spent on the purchase of alcohol tank. By installing it in his yard, he said publicly that he was going to rest a year. Indeed, Soichiro spent a year in drunken revels, treating friends with homemade whiskey.

In 1946 Honda opened his own ‘factory’ with a grandiloquent name – ‘Honda Technology Research Institute’ and became engaged in artisanal production of mopeds. He fitted a generator engine of a tiny army radio to a bicycle, used rubber hot water bottle as a fuel tank and filled it with fir oil. There was plenty of fir oil in the countryside of Japan in those times. Honda sold 1,500 one thousand five hundred of these mopeds, nicknamed ‘choo-choo’ for their sound. Then Honda replaced the engine by a two-stroke engine of his own design. It was the first original Honda A-Type product moped of indefatigable businessman which was developed in 1947. And after two years the ‘Institute’ became the Honda Motor Company.

In 1949, the first model of a motorcycle with a two-stroke engine Soichiro called ‘The Dream’. Two years later he started the production of a model with four-stroke engine. And by 1958, when his model of “Super Cub” model came to the U.S., Honda was already the largest Japanese manufacturer of motorcycles, leaving behind not only 50 Japanese competitors but also 200 competitors from other countries.

As soon as the Honda Motor began producing motorcycles, foreign companies were interested in the production of Honda. To sign up a contract their representatives came to Japan. There was a story which happened with one of the foreign partners and which was included in all the biographies of Honda Soichiro.

Once, Honda overdid when treating a regular guest with sake. The guest felt very bad and during a visit to the WC he dropped his false teeth into the toilet. Honda did not hesitate for a moment and climbed into a cesspool, found the jaw and he went straight into the bathroom, after some time he came out, dashingly dancing with dentures in the mouth. He was able to instantly relieve stress and the deal was saved. Soichiro, recalling the incident, said: “The man, who stands at the head of the company, should be ready to act in such a way that it may seem strange to other employees. It is not necessary to repeat these steps several times: it is enough of one precedent to make your team follow you.”

Rapidly growing company required completely new approaches to management. Management improvements implemented at Honda Company were truly revolutionary. The departments were clearly delineated and were responsible for the scientific and technical developments and units engaged in direct production. Honda Research Center got an autonomous status and it abandoned from the management pyramid. Design engineer’s promotion depended not on the vacated positions but on the personal achievements. Soichiro had always opposed to the hierarchical form of management, believing that “in general, people work harder and more innovative if they are not forced. Quite a different picture of where they are strongly suggested what to do. Honda’s system was designed to raise geniuses who sooner or later will replace him as president.

Incidentally, the fact that Soichiro did not intend to transfer business to heirs, played a very important role in the company receiving long-term bank loans: the financiers were confident that it would be passed into the hands of highly qualified professionals. The quintessence of new approaches to management and production were enunciated by Honda in January 1956 and was called “The Company Principle”. Their essence can be summarized in four basic principles: the creation of new markets, participation of all employees in management, internationalization of production, solution of technical and other problems without looking back to precedents, traditions, and common views.

Honda’s motorcycle business was rapidly gaining momentum. In 1961 the company was producing 100 thousand motorcycles per month and in 1968, the company was producing one million motorcycles per month. By the mid-80s, Soichiro was holding in his hands 60% of the world market and by 90s the company’s production reached 3 million motorcycles a year.

Having reached the top in the motorcycle industry, Honda decided that now he can proceed with the implementation of a cherished dream – to create automobiles. When he was a child, he was literally mesmerized when he first saw a car. In his bio he recalls this impression:  “Forgetting about everything in the world, I was running after the car…I was deeply moved…I think it was then, although I was very young, I had the idea that someday I will construct a car myself.”

In the conquest of the automotive market Honda made a bet on his favorite race cars. The first one was debuted in 1962. While Japanese officials tried to convince him in the futility of the project, arguing that the country did not need another car manufacturer, but energetic entrepreneur did not listen their arguments. In 1970 Soichiro Honda was the winner in the highly competitive automotive industry.

One of the first attacks, Soichiro Honda took on the problem of exhaust gases. None of the world’s car automakers could not handle it directly, and solved it by creating a catalytic converter. And only Honda was able to design the first engine with a low pollution level. This environmentally friendly device he installed to Honda Civic model that was launched into production in 1975 and quickly gained immense popularity.

Ignoring the traditional idea that American workers are not able to assemble high-quality Japanese cars, in the mid-70s Honda built in Marysville, Ohio a plant which was going to manufacture cars that match the quality standards of the Japanese assembly. Honda Accord that was manufactured there was the sales leader in the U.S in the late 80s. Thanks to this car Soichiro was the first Japanese leader, noted in the Hall of Fame of the American automobile industry.

At beginning of the 80s Honda Motor Co., Inc. was the third largest producer of cars in Japan. And by the end of the decade it was the third company in the world.

For elegant solutions to complex engineering problems Honda has always walked the easiest way. Its production was addressed to all – men, women, teenagers – and every particular. It was designed for very large middle class consumers, who until his producers did not take into account. The main force of the entrepreneur was not only bold and elegant technical solutions, the beauty of design, but also in the market intuition, which he possessed by nature.

To Honda’s opinion the secret of his success lies in the fact that he had always been guided by the empirical method of “trials and errors”. And he also believed that “employers must be willing to set incredible goals and be ready for defeat”.

Another essential quality of a businessman, according to Soichiro, is the ability to take risks. He did not admit defeat and was willing to risk everything for his beliefs and ideas, in order to achieve set goal.

Among his employees, he was known as “Mr. Thunderstorm”. He got this nickname for emotional outbursts. Honda was loved, by yet was feared his wrath. Soichiro Honda served as an example of a man with perseverance, modesty, pleasant manners and with the ability to accept mistakes as a valuable asset to his employees and family – his wife, Sachi and his children (two boys and two daughters).

While Honda vehicles quickly and confidently took the leading place in the world market, he had been the stepchild in Japanese automotive industry. The reason for his rejection of Japan’s business world was in the denial of businessman traditional pillars of the economy. His rebelliousness was especially manifested in the early 70s, when Japan had the oil crisis and all of the manufacturers agreed to reduce output and raise prices. But only Soichiro refused to participate in that and did everything to oppose the scenario: he doubled the production and lowered prices. And he was right. The company’s sales of Nissan and Toyota fell by 40%, while Honda’s ones did grew up by 76%.

All his life this rebellious businessman was tirelessly fighting with traditions. For example, he refused to hire professionals for many times, who had received higher education, because he believed that dogmatic thinking would be a hindrance in the search for new ways of development. He resisted the influence of business traditions to the world of Honda Motor, which always had its principles. But he never renounced his errors about which he said: “Looking back on my work, I feel that I was doing nothing more than mistakes, blunders and serious omissions. But I am proud of the achievements. Although I did one mistake after another, my mistakes and failures never occurred to the same reasons”.

Honda had worked for 65 years in the company and personally tested every new car. He never admitted his relatives

(Honda Civic 1975)

to the leadership: “No matter how outstanding could be the company’s founder; there is no guarantee that his son would be capable of the same. The company’s management should be given to a person who has the distinctive qualities of a leader.”

In 1973, Honda Motor Co., Inc. celebrated its 25th anniversary. During the board of directors meeting, dedicated to this event, Soichiro Honda declared that he was going to retire. The new president, as expected, was chosen from among the employees. The founding father was fond of saying that the company thrives when its former chief appears there as seldom as possible. So his departure from the office was final.

But Honda was full of energy to remain idle. He was elected as the vice-president of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Japanese Automotive Industry. He founded two NGOs – the International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences and the Honda Foundation and also studied the influence of science and technology on the environment and developed an environmentally friendly technology. He also lectured at international conferences.

The legendary businessman died on August 5, 1991. By the end of his life he came up with a large store of achievements, which were 470 inventions and 150 patents, honorary doctorate at Michigan Technical University and Ohio State University, the highest honor of his country – Japan’s Blue Ribbon – and many other more achievements. Starting a business having $ 3,200 thousand dollars, he created the largest company with annual revenue of more than $ 30 billion dollars.

Soichiro Honda once said: “Many people dream of success. I believe that success can be achieved only through repeated failure and self-analysis. Success is only one percent of your work, and the rest – bold overcoming of obstacles. If you are not afraid of them, success will come to you itself”. Today’s prosperity of Honda Motor Co., Inc. proves the truth of its founder.