Reading+Article

Dear Students,

Download the article below and read it. Discuss the article with your class partner and do the work that follows:



Once you have read the article do the following: 1. Write any comments that you feel about the article, these comments could be on the contents, style of writing, ease of understanding, moral of the story, purpose of the writing, etc. (4 marks) 2. Comment on the comments of TWO of your colleagues, remember to introduce the comment and be objective. (3 marks x 2)

Write below the red line. Once you have finished, put a line under your response. -- No one likes to accept any big changes. Sometime it depends on our bravery. I mean to accept any new change is not very easy at all. It could be in science or religious faith, the reaction (revolutionary) was almost same. We know the history of our Prophets, Einstein, Socrates etc, who suffered a lot to establish their faith though they were right. At first they had to be brave to except the change, belief, faith etc. Convey the message to others was too tough to think. Without help of Allah it was impossible. So Allah gave the special power, strength, and quality, to face the people, win the battles, and establish their faith on Almighty. As at first the numbers of their believers were poor and they had to face a huge number. So Allah gave them extra power (mozeza), skill and guidance to win. ( Sanjeeda Monowar )

Sanjeeda, thank you for your comments. At what point did Allah give them special powers? In this example, when did Allah give David special powers? Before fighting Goliath, while fighting Goliath or afterwards? -- As The messengers of Allah had to convinced other to follow the path of Allah, they need some special power to convince or motivate people. Allah gave David special power while He was fighting with Goliath. That was the reason why he could win the battle though he was untrained and Goliath was fully trained soldier. Sanjeeda, thank you for responding! So the power was given as a result of faith? Can you read the story at http://www.ezek22.net/s/1sam.17.s.html and discuss in class? --- A good question to any of us would be 'What is faith?' Is it just 'inner-belief' or is it the sum of all confidence that one can muster up to move mountains or is it the 'immovable trust'? The answer is the mix of all.

When David found Goliath in guilt of dishonoring Allah and decided to fight him, he already assessed self-strength and the obvious weaknesses. Saul's comment on his weaknesses triggered further rage! Interestingly, his faith in the Almighty brought them victory over Goliath despite of all the discouragements faced before. So the proverb 'faith can move mountains' can be said to be true!

However, Saul could have discouraged him from any sort of fight/battle and asked him to be patient, residing along Islamic belief at some point.

In today's world, avoiding the facts and figures may become a delusion in securing faith. Moreover, it has become rather difficult to know the pure truth in order to have faith. David received 'mozeza'! Hope, someday we shall too! (Sahil) - All power belongs to God. One might have power, strength, and wealth but can’t be compared with God because he can possess as much power, wealth, strength as God has sanctioned for him. In this story Goliath didn’t have any faith while the little boy had it firmly. David has the faith that Almighty is with him in this battle to help him. I don’t think David had showed any special power. His sharp mind, courage, confidence and most of all his strong faith in almighty God made him the winner. On the other hand Goliath had showed off his ego, pride and power. According to the story, God will choose to work through those who put their trust in Him. David didn’t have physical power but his love of God and brave young soul was his armor.(Munira Yasmin) --- Yes, I agree that developing faith is a process. Since everything seems to happen automatically, it is difficult to establish faith on the 'unseen'. However, one can develop faith by studying their own life, their uniqueness, their blessings, and asking questions. One such question is 'why are there poor in the world'? Analyse the article below and work out whether you can 'feel' the Creator through the answer.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/29306523/Why-are-there-poor-people-in-the-world

This article is a motivating one. It really helps to encourage people to move forward in life, especially when they face the difficult stage of life. To win or get something people need to go a head, have faith in God and put their effort honestly. People need to have confident in them. David was a little boy. He was completely untrained to fight Goliath. Still he defeated Goliath. I completely agree with the moral of the story that God help those who help themselves. Mharufa Hossain