Use the Dustbin

‘Mom, hurry up, my van is about to come.’ Said Hammad who was in the kitchen, sitting on a stool, wearing his school bag and eating a banana.

‘It’s ready,’ mom said while handing the lunchbox to Hammad.

In the meantime, the horn of the van was heard from the outside. Hammad quickly finished the banana he had in his hand and threw the peel outside from the kitchen.

‘I have told you many times to throw litter in the dustbin,’ mother said scolding him, but Hammad went out saying Salaam.

After coming back from the school, he took lunch and slept.

‘Hammad is a bad boy,’ ‘Hammad is a bad boy,’ Hammad looked around, but found no one in the room. ‘Oh, look down!’ somebody said with laughter.

Now Hammad felt that the voice was coming from the dustbin. ‘Are you calling me?’ Hammad asked while looking at the dustbin.

‘Yes, I have called you a bad boy’, said the dustbin.

Hammad quickly replied, ‘I am not a bad boy. I am a good boy. Look! I bathe daily and my dress is also neat and clean.’

‘Only by wearing a neat and clean dress and taking bath do not make a boy good,’ said the dustbin angrily. ‘You have never taken care of me. I get hungry, but you do not feed me.’

‘But my mom says we should not throw food; it is a bad thing,’ replied Hammad. ‘Innocent boy, I am not asking for your food; I am talking about my food,’ said the dustbin with laughter. ‘You eat fruits, but throw the peels here and there. You also throw empty wrappers of biscuits, etc. here and there. Such children are not good. They are our enemies.’

Hammad bowed his head in embarrassment and said, ‘Sorry dustbin! Now tell me what I should do to please you.’

‘If you take care of me regularly, throw peels, empty wrappers and packets of juice in me instead of throwing them here and there, it will save you from dirt and satisfy my hunger too,’ said the dustbin. ‘The other dustbins at homes, shopping malls, parks and neighbourhoods are my brothers. Ask your friends to take care of them. If all children become good so no dustbin will remain hungry.’

‘Hammad, get up, ‘Asr Azan has been called out.’ The dustbin had just finished talking when Hammad’s eyes opened as his mother called him. While making Wudu, Hammad was thinking that he would share the dream about dustbin’s complaint with his friends so that they would also throw litter in a dustbin and satisfy its hunger.

Question 1: What is the least number of Rak’aat in which Imam-e-A’zam رَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ عَلَيْه completed the recitation of one Quran?

Answer: Imam-e-A’zam رَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ عَلَيْه completed the recitation of one Quran in one Rak’at. (Manaqib Abi Hanifah, lil-Kurdari, pp. 242)

Question 2: Which Ayah of the Holy Quran mentions spinach, cucumber, wheat, [red] lentils, and onion?

Answer: Ayah 61, Surah Al-Baqarah, part 1:

فَادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ یُخْرِ جْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنْۢبِتُ الْاَرْضُ مِنْۢ بَقْلِهَا وَ قِثَّآىٕهَا وَ فُوْمِهَا وَ عَدَسِهَا وَ بَصَلِهَاؕ

So pray to your Lord, that (instead of Manna and Salwa) He brings forth for us of what the earth grows; some spinach, and cucumber, and wheat, and lentil, and onion.

[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)]

Question 3: Who is called Hashimi?

Answer: The offspring of Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen Sayyiduna Ali, Sayyiduna Ja’far, Sayyiduna ‘Aqeel, Sayyiduna ‘Abbas and Sayyiduna Haris Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُم are called Hashimi. (Durr-e-Mukhtar, vol. 3, pp. 350)

Question 4: How many pious people did complete the recitation of the Holy Quran inside the Ka’bah?

Answer: Four pious people: Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen Sayyiduna ‘Usman Bin ‘Affaan, Sayyiduna Tameem Daari, Sayyiduna Sa’eed Bin Jubayr and Sayyiduna Imam-e-A’zam Abu Hanifah رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُم. (Manaqib Abi Hanifah, lil Kurdari, pp. 237)

Question 5: Which is the blessed night of Sha’ban in which no Du’a is rejected (i.e. every Du’a is accepted)?

Answer: The blessed night of 15^th Sha’ban. (Jaami’ Sagheer, pp. 241, Hadees 3952)