“A house divided against itself cannot stand” is a profound statement often attributed to Abraham Lincoln. This phrase underscores the importance of unity within a group or community. When there is internal division, conflict, or discord, it weakens the foundation and makes it difficult for the entity to thrive or even survive.
Unity fosters strength, stability, and resilience, enabling individuals or groups to face challenges together and achieve common goals. It serves as a reminder of the necessity of harmony, cooperation, and mutual respect in maintaining the integrity and well-being of any organization, family, or society. In a beautiful village of Handwara lived Abdul Razaq, a respected headman.
He was blessed with a good-natured wife, Saleema, and a healthy one-year-old son. Their happiness seemed unbreakable until tragedy struck; Saleema died of a fever, leaving Abdul Razaq and his son in deep sorrow. Every night, Abdul Razaq walked up and down the courtyard with his weeping son on his shoulder.
In desperation, he found a way to soothe the child by wrapping him in one of Saleema’s cloths, which carried her scent, calming the boy to sleep. The villagers, seeing his grief, persuaded Abdul Razaq to remarry, for his son’s sake and his own. Fortunately, his second wife, Nayeema, was kind-hearted and embraced the motherless boy as her own.
She soon bore Abdul Razaq two more sons, Owais and Shahid. Her love for her stepson was so profound and equal that the younger b.