Needs

You know, humans have quite a lot of things to do to take care of themselves.

They are quite fragile things, easily broken.

They have a thin skin that keeps in all their liquids,

and they only need to scrape it a little bit and their blood comes out.

It's not very good at keeping them warm in cold weather.

They don't have to fall very far to break something,

they breathe in bugs and get sick,

and if they don't eat or drink for a little while

they die.

There isn't a moment in their lives when they aren't needing and using something or other.

And when they are small their needs are taken care of by their parents,

but sooner or later they find that they have to take care of things for themselves.

So the first, most important thing they need to take care of is something for them to drink.

They need water.

Fortunately, for those who live in Scotland, they have a lot of it,

not like Makkah and Madinah, where the Messenger lived.

But when they let their water get dirty it makes them sick,

so they need it to be clean,

the way that it falls from the sky.

And the rain that falls on them also falls on the earth, and feeds plants that they can eat,

which is just as well, because

once they have found something to drink they need something to eat.

And the rain feeds the grass, which feeds the animals

which they also can eat,

or use to make clothes and shoes to keep them warm and dry.

But they need more than clothes to protect them from rain and snow,

so they use wood and stone to build walls and put roofs over them,

to keep them safe from wind and weather, and keep in the heat from a fire.

And as they all need the same things, it is easier for them to take care of their needs together,

they share things as families, and with others as communities.

And walls keep them safe from the wolves and the bears,

and keep them safe from other people.

Because they also need to be able to stop other people from taking things by force.

They need to protect themselves,

and that is best done by joining together with as many people as possible

And houses are hard to build on your own, so people do that together.

And families built houses near to each other, and before long that was enough to make a village,

and some of those got bigger and bigger until they were cities.

But when lots of people get together they don't just need food and drink.

They all need to go to the toilet.

So they have to find a way of getting rid of all the filth that comes out of them,

and ways to clean themselves and the places that they live.

And they need people to look after them when they are sick,

and they need to deal with people's bodies when they die,

and they need to be able to have fun.

And because it helps to know how to do things, they need ways that people can share what they know.

And being clean, and taking care of others is part of the muslim way of life,

as is sharing and searching for knowledge.

And all these things they need

to protect what they or their children are going to need in the future.