We are very familiar with “Islamic” chain mail. However, if we have the right sources sending us useful material, and we filter them, we believe it could be beneficial to those who are not in our mailing lists.’ In this issue we would like to share a few such chain mail notices to benefit those who may have not been copied  on them.

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'  This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so..... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.' Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it! Anonymous

Being angry, and this is in various ways:

The first type: That the anger is by the heart as if he is angry at his Lord. So he becomes angry with what Allaah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has decreed for him, and this (level) is haraam. And it is possible that this could lead to kufr (disbelief). Allaah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, said:

"And among mankind is he who worships Allaah as it were, upon the very edge (i.e. in doubt); if good befalls him, he is content therewith; but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face (i.e. reverts back to disbelief after embracing Islaam). He loses both this world and the Hereafter." “ [Al-Hajj (22):11]

The second type: That the anger is by the tongue like making duaa for destruction or ruin and what is similar to that, and this is haraam.

The third type: That the anger is by the limbs like slapping the cheeks, ripping the clothes, pulling out hair, and similar to that, and all of this is haraam in contradiction to patience which is waajib (obligatory).

Being patient, just as the poet said:

"Patience is like its name - bitter in taste, yet its outcomes are sweeter than honey." So the person sees this thing (the affliction) weighs very heavy upon him, yet he bears it although he dislikes that it happened. Rather, his eemaan bears it and restrains him from being angry. So the time of affliction and the time of no affliction is not the same to him, and this (level) is waajib, because Allaah commanded the people to be patient, saying:

Being pleased with the affliction in that the person is pleased with the affliction and whether it happened or not, it is the same to him so he it is not difficult upon him. He does not bear it as if it is something weighing heavy on him, and this (level) is mustahabb (preferred - between haraam and waajib) and it is not waajib according to the most correct opinion. The difference between this level and the one before it is apparent because the affliction happening or not happening is the same due to the pleasure of the one on this level. As for the level before it, the affliction is hard upon him, yet he remains patient over it.

Thanking/being grateful and this is the highest level. This is that the person thanks Allaah for the affliction which has struck him in that he knows that this affliction is an expiation for his sins and perhaps a cause for an increase in his good deeds. The Prophet  said: