Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 346
! ! 346 wealth extravagantly n or hoard it in a miserly fashion. I f we are in the habit of spending all that we have, then when it becomes necessary to give in the way of our religion, we will have nothing to give. Therefore, I advise you to live a simple life and make a habit of hard work. How will those people who are accustomed to eating good food or whose houses are full of things, be able to migrate ( if there be a need to migrate or if someone needs to go and live in an other place to serve the faith )? During t he time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , there was an occasion when people were required to set out for an expedition. Twenty thousand accompanied him , while three did not. These three were well - off and believed that because they had their own transport , they c ould catch up later, so they did not leave [with others] due to their pride over their wealth. It was custom ary of the Holy Prophet sa to make stops along the route when he travelled. H owever , this time he did not stop near the city and continued. When the three l eft their homes to follow, they could not find him [the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa ]. The route was dangerous , and at last they were compelled to return to their homes. God Almighty did not approve of this action of theirs and they were given a punishment lasting fifty days , during which no one was allowed to talk to them. Servants, wives, children , and other Muslims were not allowed to speak to them. One of the [three] men sent his wife to her mother’s home so that he would not speak to her by mistake. Another of the three was very talkative. He said , “I would speak to everyone, but no one would respond. One day , I visited my cousin who was sitting in his garden and said to him , ‘ We have shared together our times of eating and resting, and I have share d my secrets with you. D o you believe me to be a munafiq [hypocrite] ? ’ My intent ion was for him to tell me whether he believed me to be a believer or a hypocrite, bu t he did not reply. He simply raised his face up to the sky and said, ‘O nly Allah and H is Prophet know best. ’ ” “ When the truth of the situation was revealed , I w ished that the earth would open and swallow me. Everything went dark before my eyes , and I could not even see the gate from which to exit the garden. I