THE THREE LOAVES OF BREAD

Adapted for children with a quiz from an account related by Al
Ghazali by Khadijah Stephens Mosque of the Internet www.mosque.com
It was just after mid-day when a villager decided it
was about time he went to visit some friends in another village
far away. He hadn't visited his friends for a long time
-- it had just been too hot! He had been walking for an hour
or so when he saw a figure in the distance. He thought to
himself  "It would be nice to have someone to walk with", so
he decided to run and catch up with the man. Now the man he
had seen in the distance wasn't just any man, he was no less
than Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him. When the man finally
caught up with Prophet Jesus he was a little out of breath
and asked if he would mind if he accompanied him. The man
did not recognize the Prophet, he thought he was just another
ordinary traveler like himself. Prophet Jesus agreed, so they
walked along together until they reached the bank of a river
where they decided to rest for a while. Now between them
they had three loaves of bread to share. The man ate one,
Prophet Jesus ate another and there was one left over. After
Prophet Jesus had finished eating his loaf, he went down to
the river to drink some water. The water was cool and very
refreshing and he thanked Allah for all His blessings. When
Prophet Jesus returned to his companion he looked for the third
loaf of bread but there was no sign of it -- not even a
crumb, so the Prophet asked: "Who has taken the loaf?" The man
looked at the Prophet, shrugged his shoulders and said: "I
don't know." Jesus made no comment and the two set off again
on their journey. Farther down the river they came across
some trees growing besides its bank. The leaves fluttered gently
in the breeze, and there, among the trees stood a deer
with its young fawn. Prophet Jesus called and it came to him.
Then he slaughtered and roasted it and the two men enjoyed
a fine meal. After they had finished eating, Prophet Jesus
turned to the remaining portion of the deer and said: "By the
permission of Allah, stand up!" And the deer became whole
and stood up just as if nothing had ever happened and ran off
into the trees. It was indeed a wonderful miracle. Prophet
Jesus asked the man again: "I ask you by Allah who has shown
you this sign, who took the loaf?" The man looked at him
and replied: "I don't know."
The two men walked on for a long, long time until they reached
a flooded valley.  There was absolutely no way in which they
could cross it. So, Prophet Jesus took the man by his hand
and together they walked over the water by the permission
of Allah. It was another miracle. When they reached the other
side of the valley, Prophet Jesus asked the man once again:
"I ask you by Allah, who has given you this sign -- who took
the loaf?" The man looked at him and replied yet again: "I
don't know!" They traveled on until they reached a desert
and then sat down to take another rest. While they were resting,
Prophet Jesus gathered some grains of sand, made a pile
and said to it: "By the permission of Allah, be gold," whereupon
the grains of sand turned into gold. The man could not
believe his eyes! Prophet Jesus divided the gold into three
piles and said: "One pile is for you, the other is for me,
and the third is for whosoever took the loaf of bread."
The man's eyes stared with greed at the gold and without hesitation
admitted: "I took it!" Prophet Jesus turned to the man
and said: "Take all of it," and left him with the three piles
of gold in the desert. Soon after, two strangers chanced
to come along, and saw the man with his piles of gold -- but
he did not see them. He was too busy looking at it and imagining
what he was going to do with it. The two strangers were
bad people. They huddled together and planned to rob the
man of his gold and then kill him. They crept up quietly behind
the man, but just then, the man looked up and saw them.
Fearing for his life he said: "Let us divide it into three --
there is more than enough for all of us!" The strangers agreed
and one suggested that one of them should go into the village
and buy some food so that they might celebrate their
good fortune. So, one of the two strangers went off to buy the
food. On his way to the village, the stranger's satan started
working extra hard on him, and prompted him to think to
himself: "Now if I poison the food, they will eat it and die,
then, I can have all the gold for myself!" So he bought the
food and poisoned it. Meanwhile, the satans of the other
men were working very hard as well. They talked to each other
and decided it would be much nicer if there were only two
to share the gold. So, they decided to sit in ambush then jump
out and kill the other man when he returned with the food.
And that is exactly what they did! Then they picked up the
bundle of food the dead man had been carrying and went back
to divide the gold. After they had finished dividing it they
opened the bundle of food, ate it and died! So, the gold did
no one any good. A few days later, Prophet Jesus, peace be
upon him, and a new companion happened to pass by and saw
what had happened. Prophet Jesus turned to his companion and
said: "Look, see what has happened and be warned!" The EndWHAT
HAVE WE LEARNED?

1.  We have learned that it is wrong to tell a lie. 2.  It is
always better to tell the truth even if we   know we might
be going to get into trouble. 3.  Allah is able to do anything.
4.  Not to love money, or precious things very    much.
If we love these things too much, then   we always want more,
even though we do not   need it and then we forget about Allah.
We   should love Allah and Prophet Muhammad praise and
peace be upon him,best. 5.  Not to be greedy.QUIZ TIME

1. What was the name of the Prophet? 2.  How many loaves of bread
did they have? 3.  What did the man tell the Prophet when
he   asked him who had taken the last loaf? 4.  What happened
to the deer? 5.  Describe the valley. 6.  How did Jesus
and his companion cross the   valley? 7.  What happened to
the sand? 8.  What did Jesus always say before a miracle? "By
the p--m-s---n of -----" 9.  How would you describe the strangers
and the  man. Were they (a) good (b) bad (c) greedy?
10. Name one of the three miracles.QUIZ TIME ANSWERS
1. Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him. 2. Three. 3. "I don't know!"
4. It became whole, stood up and ran away. 5. It was flooded.
6. Prophet Jesus took the man by his hand and they walked
over the water. 7. It turned into gold. 8. "By the permission
of Allah." 9.  b and c. 10 a. The deer was brought back
to life. b. Prophet Jesus and the man walked over the the
water in the flooded valley. c. The sand was turned into gold.
SCORE

1 - 3 answers right? You tried hard, but I think perhaps you
could do better. Why not either read the story again, or ask
someone to read it to you. 4 - 7 answers right? Good! 8 - 9
answers right? Very Good!! All the answers right? EXCELLENT!!!
I hope you have enjoyed this story, Insh'Allah I will write
some more Islamic stories for you soon.

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