A mouse saw the farmer set a mousetrap. In the farmyard, he shouted a warning, ‘There’s a mousetrap in the house!’ The chicken said, ‘Mouse, it’s a grave concern to you, but I cannot be bothered.’ The mouse turned to the goat who sympathized but said, ‘I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do but pray.’ The cow said, ‘I'm sorry but it's no skin off my nose.’ So the mouse returned to the house, dejected, to face the mousetrap alone.
That night a sound was heard of the trap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed but in the darkness didn’t see it was a poisonous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit her. She was rushed to hospital, and returned with a fever.
You treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer cut the chicken. But his wife remained sick, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her round the clock. To feed them, the farmer cut the goat. The his wife died. So many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered.
Next time you hear of a Muslim facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all on this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make an extra effort to encourage one another.
Muslims are like one body. When one part pains, the whole body feels it.
The Mousetrap
