Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 293
! ! 293 Yet , how exquisitely did Haz rat ‘Umar ra reply! He answered : ا ` ِﻓ ﺮ ﱡ ِﻣ ْﻦ َﻗ َﺪ ر 1 ِ ِا َﻗ َﺪ ر 1 ِ “I am going from one Divine decree to another. ” Think ! If it is fate for a man to fall sick due to an insect bite, then is it not also fate for the doctor to give him medicine for him to become well? You believe in one fate and not the other. Y our example is like that of the marasi who sits idly by. His wife urge s him to work , but he make s excuses that he can not find any work. Finally, she suggests that he join the army during the ir recruitment campaign. He says , “ Perhaps you wish for my death, for recruitment is for war, and war means death. ” To tea ch him a lesson, the wife mills some grain in the grindstone. S ome grains remain unbroken, and others a r e completely crushed. She shows her husband, “Look, not all the grains were crushed in the grind st one. S ome remained intact. Why then, do you believe that war signifies death for everyone?” He said, “C o unt me among the crushed grain. ” Do you believe that a child falls ill because of its mother’s rebuke or dies due to her curse? Yet, when discussing God Almighty , you brashly and boldly claim that this adversity is God’s will. If you perceive God as the Supreme Master, then you must also think of Him as the Merciful. Why do you perceive Him to be cruel? What benefit does God derive by making your child fall ill? You exposed him to the cold, you neglected him, and you were careless, causing him to develop pneumonia. Now you blame God rather than accepting your own negligence. Your child grew up illiterate , because you did not inculcate in him the love of learning. Y ou did not discipline him, you did not keep him from wandering about, ye t now you evoke destiny for your own misdeeds. When did God’s angels dictate that your child be illiterate? When did they snatch away your child’s books? When did they block his way to school? It is this concept of destiny , which has deprived our country of God’s blessings. O bserve how this very country’s English children are healthy , but yours are sick ; the English are educated , but you rs remain uneducated; the English are affluent , but you are impoverished; they are highly esteemed and cheerful ,