The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano
“The Birds in the sky held poised is a sign for those who have faith.”
We are to be reminded of the teachings of the prophet, His life style, the code of ethics he laid down for us, his attitude of love, forgiveness, mercy and kindness. His undying faith, his patience and perseverance.
We are to study his life history in order to adopt as much as possible his wonderful character and personality.
Quran 33:21
“Ye have indeed in the apostle of God a beautiful pattern of conduct for anyone whose hope is in God and the last day, and who engages much in the praises of God.”
Trust in Allah, He knows our needs before they come into existence. Faith in God holds us up in time of hardships and distress. Sometimes it is not your knowledge or experience, nor our wealth or influence that brings us out of difficulty; many times it is only our faith in God.
What made them, the Prophet and his followers, brave enough to face 10 years of oppression, opposition and cruelty? It was their faith in God that held them up. So verily with every difficulty there is relief, every failure brings with it the seeds of a success. Muhammad never gave up because of opposition, faith and belief is the only known antidote to failure.
Quran 21:107
“O Muhammad, We sent thee not but as a mercy for all creatures.”
The appointment of the Holy Prophet is indeed a blessing and a mercy of Allah to the whole world.
Quran 16:79 – The Bee
Do they not look at the birds held poised in the midst of the air and sky? Nothing holds them up but the power of Allah. Verily in this are signs for those who have faith.
Allah tells His servants to look at the birds held in the sky, between heaven and earth, and how He Allah has caused them to fly with their wings in the sky. They are held up only by Him. It is He and only He who gave them the strength and ability to do that subjecting the air to carry them and support them.
Surah Al-Mulk
67:19 Do they not observe the birds above them spreading their wings and folding them in? None can uphold them except Allah most Gracious truly it is He that watches over all things. The flight of birds is one of the most beautiful and wonderful things in nature.
The miracle of the swallows return to Capistrano. The group motion of birds is a fascinating aspect of nature; synchronized movements of birds are as beautiful as they are intriguing to watch. Every year around the 19th of March much of the world pauses momentarily and focuses on that phenomenon of nature the return of the swallows to Capistrano. It is a major media event every year. Only Allah knows how long the swallows have been coming back to Capistrano, and some say for centuries. Every spring this event has captured the imagination of millions. It is reported that those birds winter home is in Argentina. They leave San Juan Capistrano about October 23rd every year going to Argentina, which is a 7,500 mile flight and return March 19, another 7,500 miles. A fantastic round trip flight of 15,000 miles, almost a complete flight around the world. A one way flight is about 30 days, 7,500 miles. They fly at altitudes above 2,000 feet, to take advantage of favorable air current and to stay away from predatory birds along the way. They must do this to fulfill some inner biologic destiny. Allah knows best.
Surah 17:13
Every human being has a bird attached to his neck. Tayra literally means a bird. The Arabs like the ancient, Romans as a superstition, and custom would draw omens from the flight of birds good or bad. Their idea was to foretell the future from the manner and direction in which birds would fly. They thought that their destiny was in the flight of birds.
Allah speaks to more than one concept here:
- Our minds fly very swiftly
- Destiny and fate
- Deed and actions
Allah is telling humanity, your destiny and fate is not caused by the direction in which the birds fly. The verse reveals the principle that actions and deeds will produce an effect which is made to cling to a person, and that this very effect will be met with on the day of resurrection in the form of a wide open book. Destiny relates not so much to the external circumstances of events in one’s life, but to the direction which this life takes as a result of one’s moral choices; in other words it relates to man’s spiritual fate, which depends on himself.
Since Allah has made humanity responsible for his behavior on earth. Allah speaks of himself as having tied to every human being a bird (tayra) to his neck.
May Allah except our prayers, and increase us in faith. Ameen