The Owl and the Moon

In a vast wilderness, a wilderness of deception, the wildest of the wildest, the cruelest of the cruelest, where parasites thrive, the wolf howl had been replaced by the pet dog howl, named City, lived in one of the narrowest of alleys, in a narrow rickety house, in a narrow rented room, a poor Owl. His room, was high up in the house, with an extensive prospect over the neighbouring roofs. During the first few days he went to live in the City, he felt low-spirited and solitary enough. Instead of the forest and the green hills of former days, he had here, only a forest of tall skyscrapers to look out upon. And then, he had not a single friend; not one familiar face greeted him.

Thus, one evening, he sat at the window, in a desponding mood; he opened the casement and looked out. Oh, how his heart escalated with joy! Here was a well-known face at last a round, friendly countenance, the feature of a good friend he had known at home. In, fact it was the Moon that paid a call upon him. She was quite unchanged, the dear old Moon, and had the same face exactly that she used to show when she peered down upon him through the willow trees on the moor. She shone far into his little room; and she, for her part, promised him that every evening, when she came abroad, she would look in upon him for a few moments. This promise she had faithfully kept.

It was a pity that she could only stay such a short time when she came. Whenever she appeared, she told of one thing or another that she had seen on the previous night, or on that same evening. "Just sketch the scenes I describe to you," this was what she said to him, "And you will have a very pretty archetype-book."

He had followed her injunction for many evenings. He could make up a new "Thousand and One Nights," in his own way, out of these visualizations, but the number might be too tremendeous, after all. The sketches he had here given, had not been chosen at random, but follow in their proper order, just as they were described to him. Some great gifted painter, or some poet or musician, might make something more of them if he likes; what he had given here, are only hasty portrayals, hurriedly put upon the paper, with some of his own thoughts interspersed; for the Moon did not come to him every evening, a cloud sometimes hid her face from his sight.

On the first night, the Moon told an apologue,

"Once, there was an argument between the Soul and some parts of the body. Soul, on behalf of his clients, Brain, Eyes, Ears, and Mouth, took a legal action against Belly, defendant I, Anger, defendant II, Legs and Hands, defendant III. The defendants, appointed Appetite, as their defender.

The soul sued them with charges that the defendants, all-together, stocking the food and enjoying it. The Belly, on the seduction of Anger, kept demanding for more and more food of the delicious kinds, greedily. The Belly—as he obliged for—didn't distribute food throughout Body, except for Legs and Hands. The only thing the Belly appeared to do was, burp shamelessly when satisfied.

The first trial, was delayed at the request of defendants. During the postponement, they tried to lobby Soul, but unsuccessfull. The second trial, adjourned, at the request of defendants as well. For the second time, they tried to persuade the Presecutors, but, again, failed.

The third trial, the wise judge, Heart, said, "In order for the trial to be fair, we will presenting witnesses from both sides. First of all, we ask Soul, presenting the first witness!" The Soul responded, "Your honor, we present Brain!"

And the Soul inquired Brain, "O Brain, what were you created for?" Brain illustrated, "We, Brain, are a assembly, known as the ultimate control centre. We are having complete control over thoughts, actions, feelings and memories. We are blessed with the ability to think, a perspective of critical thinking, with the goal is, to find the truth in every matter and to reject falsehood.

Mind is associated with the brain. The two terms are often used interchangeably. Brain is considered to be a physical thing, the mind is considered to be mental. The brain is composed of nerve cells and can be touched, whereas, the mind cannot be touched. The brain is the second source of knowledge after the revelations. Therefore, in this regard, thinking method directly relates to the objectives of Islam and its Sharia, and gives a significant implication towards understanding and developing Sharia as a dynamic knowledge area.

Your Honor, in this case, we are victims. Anger, conspired with Belly, forced us to consider exlusively the worldly affair, turning us to conceive "hungry" and work it out to dictat the Stomach, asking more and more food. However, our consciousness, never stopped questioning, "To what extent can the Stomach be filled?" At the very least, barely to straighten this back. However, Anger forced us to keep in mind of three things, throne, throne and throne. All of this, inflicted, disavowal of our existence."

Next, Eyes testified, "Your honor, we, eyes, are the most immediate entry point to the heart, and have powerful influence over thoughts, emotion and inner well-being. The instant availability of vision at the lifting of an eye-lid makes us overlook that an aperture to the heart has been opened. Apparently, the eye is the only limb in the body that does not require a period of ‘warm up’ to become fully functional.

‘Love at first sight’ is often branded as a ‘cute’ concept, but if you think about it, it is rather frightening. One glance and your heart is potentially enchanted, your wealth, blood and sweat are committed to someone, and your future is completely tied up. We, eyes, are incomparably complex and come second only to the complexity of brains. Such a sensitive and critical function could not have been given without due instruction on how to use it.

Your honor, in this case, we are victims. We were not allowed to perceive the truth. Those who put it into words, posters, or even murals, if it was the same tones, were removed, except for images of the lauded rulers. All of this, caused, a denial our existence."

Ears then testified, "Your honor, ears are the organ of hearing. The faculty of hearing, is one of the means of acquiring recognition. We hear things and they are recorded in minds. Hearing can be considered more important than seeing, it is considered as social sense, because the key to understanding, believing and putting things into practice is, hearing.

Your Honor, the most important function of hearing, is to listen and to obey the commands of Allah and His Rasool (ﷺ). In this case, we are victims. We were allowed only to hear the cantus of sycophants and flatterers, otherwise, we would be gagged with cotton. All of this, applied, rejection of our existence."

Finally, mouth testified, "Your honor, the mouth serves as a gateway for halal food to enter the stomach. In addition, as an exit for the voices of truth. To get the right physical and spiritual strength, only lawful or halal, and healthy or wholesome Tayyib food shall be consumed. Halal means lawfully acquired, as against stolen, food. In case of meat, it means that it was acquired according to the permissible method of slaughtering an animal. Unlawful food adversely affects the character of those who consume it. Eating unlawful food, like stolen food, will retard one’s spiritual and moral health.

Eating should not be hasty and should be measured. One should not fill his belly. The Prophet (ﷺ) enjoined us to fill only one third of our stomachs with food and one third with liquids, leaving the remaining one third empty. Food is a gift from Allah. We should consume it with humility and moderation, and always thank Allah for His bounties.

Your Honor, in this case, we are victims, instead of eating halal and wholesome food, we were served weird foods, such as asphalt, concrete, oil, coal, tin and gold. Most terrible, we were offered to swallow even social grant for the poor. And one of the scariest things will most likely to happen, is that, we have to swallow vaccines. All of this, bring about, a negation of our existence."

Then, Appetite was invited to present witnesses. Anger whispered to Appetite, "Bro! All the victim's testimonies, contained strong evidents, we can't match it. What should we do?" Appetite said, "Calm down Bro! I'm going to ask the Judge, adjourn the trial, so we have time to bribe Soul and his clients." Afterwards, he said to Judge, "Your honor, we still need time to prepare witnesses, please postpone the trial!"

As Judge, Heart replied, "There is no more delay for this trial, it must be finished today." Anger rebutted, "Your honor, this is unfair, we must be given a chance to defend ourselves." Appetite added, "Your Honor, if we are not given a delay, we will protest," while asking Anger, Stomach, Legs and Hands, sat down on the floor. Calmly, Heart, sat on the floor either, muttering, "Who is the Judge, you or me?" Out of respect for the judge, Soul and his clients sat down on the floor as well. Heart ordered, "No one is allowed to leave the room. When the time of Salaah has come, we'll do it in congregation, on this court!"

The midnight had passed, Appetite, Anger, Stomach, Legs and Hands, began to feel restless and weak, no food intake. They turned to Heart, Soul and their clients, all calmed, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Appetite asked the Judge, "Your honor, how do you survive?" Heart replied, "I do dhikr, and that's enough for me." Anger inquired to Soul, "And you Bro!" With closing eyes, Soul replied, "I do dhikr, and that's enough for me and your victims!"

Then, Heart rose, sat back in his chair, saying, "All right, we will start the trial!" Appetite protested, "But Your honor, we were asking for a delay!" Heart replied, "We have granted a postponement for one day, yesterday, and the day has changed, now is a new day, and no more for requesting delay. Now, we'll read the verdict."

At that point, Heart resolved, "After hearing the witnesses' testimonies, we decided that all Defendants were guilty of violating the moral values of the body. Therefore, the Court sentenced the defendants as following,

Defendant I, Belly, is sentenced to undergo

1. Reopen food distribution to all his members;
2. Recommendation for fasting, every Monday and Thursday, or fasting Ayyamul Bidh, on the 13th, 14th and 15th, in a matter of Hijri months. And it is obligatory to fast in the month of Ramadan, for a whole month, without any reduction. Morally, fasting is self-training, it teaches us self-restraint, self-confidence, contentedness and perseverance;
3. Firing his colleague, Anger, and not allowed to do contacts, at any cause and in any ways.

Defendant II, Anger, is sentenced to undergo restraintment punishment.

Defendant III, Legs and Hands, is sentenced to carry out their duties and obligations, according to their Fitra.

The Judge added, "As for Appetite, has committed "Contempt of Court," being disobedient to, or disrespectful, toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the court, thus, the court ruled, revoking his attorney's license, until he is fully aware."

The Judge, from then on, closed the case."

The Moon concluded, "O Owl! The state, is like a body, if each of its components, carries out what Allah has entrusted, it might be possible, the veil to a just and prosperous society, Insha Allah, will be opened. And Allah knows best."

Citations and References:
- Capt. Anas Abdul-Hameed Al-Qoz, Men and The Universe - Reflections of Ibn Al-Qayyem, Darussalam
- J.B. Rundell, Aesop's Fables, Cassell, Petter and Galpin
- H.W. Dulcken, Ph. D, What the Moon Saw and Other Tales by Hans C. Andersen, George Routledge and Sons.

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