BITS ‘N’ PIECES

Narrated Al-Bara’ bin ‘Azib (R.A):

The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) forbade us to use seven things: He forbade using gold rings, silk, Istabraq [or] Dibaj (two kinds of silk), red Mayathir (silken carpets placed on saddles), Al-Qassiy (a kind of silken cloth), and silver utensils.

He ordered us to do seven other things: to pay a visit to the sick; to follow funeral processions; to say, “May Allah be merciful to you” to a sneezer if he says “Praise be to Allah”; to return greetings, to accept invitations; to help others to fulfil their oaths; and to help the oppressed ones.

Volume 7, Book 72, Number 753

DID YOU KNOW?

The tallest person ever recorded was nearly 9 feet in height

Known as the Gentle Giant, Robert Pershing Wadlow (1918 – 1940) is the tallest verified person in recorded history. At 8 feet 11.1 inches in height, the American is the tallest man who has ever lived “of whom there is irrefutable evidence”.

An average newborn with a normal height and weight, Wadlow quickly started growing at a rapid rate due to hypertrophy of his pituitary gland – pituitary gigantism – a condition that caused him a number of medical issues. A septic blister on his right ankle caused by a poorly fitted leg brace resulted in his premature death at the age of 22. He was eventually honoured with a life-size statue in his home city in 1986.

The tallest living person in the world is Turkey’s Sultan Kösen (born in 1982), a now-40-year-old who stands 8 feet 2.82 inches tall. Also suffering from pituitary gigantism after his pituitary gland was damaged by a tumour, he received free life-saving treatment, starting in 2010, to stop his endless growth.

The tallest woman ever to be recorded in medical history is Zeng Jinlian (1964 – 1982) from China. She reached a height of 8 feet 1.75 inch before her death at age 17. The world’s tallest living woman is Turkish Rumeysa Gelgi (born in 1997) who has Weaver syndrome and is 7 feet 0.71 inches in height.

- S.A.