turgayevren's Podcast

We had a story-telling contest in level 4 weekday evening class yesterday. The students told their stories in front of the audience. It took courage and enthusiasm to appear in front of a gathering and tell a story they have lived in the past in English. Despite their excitement and fast-beating hearts, almost all the students accomplished to share their stories with the class. I believe that this experience endowed the students with self-confidence and self-recognition.
Now it is time to lend an ear to our story-tellers who conquered the castle of communication with the strength of their words.
Enjoy listening to these interesting stories.
The result of the story-telling contest will be announced within one week and the winners of this contest will be rewarded with a humble gift in the class.

We had a story-telling contest in level 3 evening class of English Time yesterday (28. 07.2009). Every student told an unforgettable story from his / her life that he or she has experienced. All the stories were very interesting and it was a great fun to listen to all those stories. The three best story-tellers are going to be chosen and announced by Turgay Evren, the English teacher within one week. Untill that time, why don't you listen to these funny stories and enjoy yourselves?

Turgay Evren

The audio story of Prophet Adam, written by Turgay Evren and read by Aksen İlhan)

A real story that I have lived.

A dervish was praying silently. A wealthy merchant, observing the dervish’s devotion and sincerity, was deeply touched by him. The merchant offered the drevish a bag of gold. “I know you will use the money for God’s sake. Please take it.”

“Just a moment,” the dervish replied. “I’m not sure if it is lawful for me to take your money. Are you a wealthy man? Do you have more money at home?”

“Oh yes. I have at least one thousand gold pieces at home,” claimed the merchant proudly.

“Do you want a thousand gold pieces more?” asked the dervish.

“Why yes, of course. Every day I work hard to earn more money.”

“And do you wish for yet a thousand gold pieces more beyond that?”

“Certainly. Every day I pray that I may earn more and more money.”

The dervish pushed the bag of gold back to the merchant. “I am sorry, but I cannot take your gold,” he said. “A wealthy man cannot take money from a beggar.”

“How can you call yourself a wealthy man and me a beggar?” the merchant spluttered.

The dervish replied, “I am a wealthy man because I am content with whatever God sends me. You are a beggar, because no matter how much you possess, you are always dissatisfied, and always begging God for more.”

— By Sheikh Muzaffer

There was a teacher and he had many good students. He loved all his students, but he liked one student more than all the other students. One day the students asked their teacher why he loved that student so much. “I will tell you tomorrow why I love him so deeply,” the teacher answered.
The next day the teacher gave a live little bird to all the students. “Find a quiet place wehere no one will see you and slaughter those birds,” the teacher told the students.
After a short time, all the students returned. They had slaughtered their birds. But his favourite student had come back with the bird alive in his hand.
“Why didn’t you cut off your bird,” the teacher asked.
“You had told me to find a place where no one could see me ,” explained the student. “I did my best to find a place where God Almighty would not see me but I failed. I was sure that God could see me everywhere. Wherever I went, I couldn’t hide from God. So I couldn’t carry out your instruction.”
The teacher was happy with this answer. He turned to the other students and
“Now do you understand why I love this student so much?” he asked. “Because he knows that God sees him everywhere and everytime. Therefore he never does something bad.”
Yes, we must remember God everywhere and everytime and we must be careful about everything we do. We can not see God, but God sees all our actions.

This week is an important week. What is the importance of this week? This week we celebrate the holy birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Who is Prophet Muhammad? What is his message? What did Prophet Muhammad tell mankind? How much do we know about his life and his message.
We have a great respect and love towards Prophet Muhammad. When we mention his name, we always praise him. We believe that Muhammad is the last Messenger. But loving a person is not enough. We must know his life and we must learn about his words and actions. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a model for all muslims. His life explains Qur’an, the holy book. Prophet Muhammad is a mercy to all mankind. So, who is Prophet Muhammad? Let’s know him more closely.
Muhammad (PBUH) was born in Macca. His father died before he was born. His mother Amina passed away when he was only six years old. His grandfather Abdulmuttalib took a good care of the little orphan. But soon his grandfather also died. Prophet Muhammad was alone in the world. His uncle Ebu Talip looked after him after the death of his grandfather. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was very different from his peers. He never worshipped the idols. He never cheated or told a lie. He had a perfect character.
When he grew up, everybody knew his quality and good manners. Muhammad was an honest person. Everybody trusted him in Macca. The people of Macca called him Muhammad the trustworthy. When Muhammad was 25 years old, he married with a wealthy woman called Hatice. Hatice was forty years old that time. Muhammad was working for Hatice’s trade caravans and Hatice admired Muhammad’s kindness, truthfulness and honesty.
Muhammad (PBUH) was around forty years old. But he was often very thoughtful. His society was in darkness and ignorance. The men hated daughters. Some men burried their baby daughters alive. Because having a daughter was something shameful. The people worshipped the idols. The idols were made of stone and wood. Muhammad was surprised. Why did the people worship stones and woods? These idols coudn’t hear or speak. The rich men oppressed the poor men. The strong crushed the weak. The people were usually rude and cruel. There was a big corruption in the society. At this age, Muhammad wanted to be far away from his people. He didn’t like the actions of his people. He would go to a cave called Hira and he would stay in this cave for days and nights.
One day while he was in the cave on Mount Hira, the Archangel Gabreal appeared in the sky and told him he was a prophet. The Archangel Gabreal asked Muhammad to read the first verses of the holy Qur’an but Muhammad said he was unlettered. Yes, Allah chose him as a prophet when he was 40 years old. Muhammad was shocked. He directly went to his wife Hatice and he told her to cover him with a blanket.
Hatice immediately became a muslim when she listened to his story and the first verses of the Qur’an. Ali, the son of his uncle and some of his friends like Ebubekir became muslims as well. Muhammad told his people about Islam secretly for three years. When Omar became a muslim, they started preaching Islam openly. Thus, the difficult years started.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) called the people to believe in only one God. He told the people not to take any partners unto God. He invited the people to goodness, truthfulness, knowledge, equality and all the good manners. The polytheists of Macca didn’t like his message. Because Macca was a center of pilgrimage and trade. In Ka’ba there were more than 300 idols and every year many associators came to visit Ka’ba from different corners of the world. The outstanding families of Macca were earning money from polytheism, so they didn’t accept Prophet Muhammad’s message. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said all the people were equal, but the rich and noble families of Macca made fun of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Because they didn’t want to lose their priviledges.
More people followed Prophet Muhammad, mostly weak and the poor. The leaders of Macca tortured the new believers. They were afraid of Prophet Muhammad’s message. They applied an embargo against muslims. They wouldn’t do any business with muslims. The new muslims were weak, poor and hungry. Some muslims immigrated to Abyssinia. There was a just king in that country. So, muslims would practice their religion in freedom. In the meantime, Prophet Muhammad first lost his wife Hatice who was his biggest helper and then Ebu Talip, his uncle. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was looking for a way out. He went to Taif to preach Islam, but he was rediculed and stoned. Those days some people came from Madina and they accepted Islam. One year later the number of new muslims has increased in Madina and they invited Prophet Muhammad to Madina. However, the polytheists of Macca were determined to kill Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

This is a real story that happened in my life. It is really an interesting and funny story that will make you smile and think. I believe that you must have experienced similar stories in your own life as well. Let's go back to my university years to meet my twin whose existence I was myself unaware of. No, I haven't met him yet but I am sure that our names have reached each other. Are you ready to fly back through the time machine?

A storytelling contest was held in level 5 weekday evening class in English Time on 25th March 2009. The students have shared interesting stories they had experienced with their classmates. These stories are unforgettable stories based on real events. The best storyteller is going to be announced and rewarded by Turgay Evren, English Teacher the next week on Monday.

A storytelling contest was held in level 5 weekday evening class in English Time on 25th March 2009. The students have shared interesting stories they had experienced with their classmates. These stories are unforgettable stories based on real events. The best storyteller is going to be announced and rewarded by Turgay Evren, English Teacher the next week on Monday.

Did you ever think about the meaning of your life? What is the meaning of your life? What is the purpose of your life? What is the goal or objective of your life? What is the most important thing in your life? Why are you living? What is the destination of your life? Do you know that any answer that you can give for the questions above can save your life one day? Listen to Turgay Evren’s podcast to grasp the significance of the question fully.

Last night I was really very ill. I had a cold and a sore throat. Literally I writhed in the bed, suffering throughout the night and I couldn't sleep properly. Being inspired by my own sickness, I decided to make a podcast about the blessings of illness or diseases. Nobody wants to become ill but since we get ill from time to time, it falls to us to discover the wisdom behind it.

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