Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 436
! ! 436 here for a certain purpose. ” Yet, Haz rat ‘Ali ra was from among the believers; therefore , he insisted in his inquiry and Haz rat Abu Dharr Ghaffari ra finally told him. Haz rat ‘Ali ra took him to the Holy Prophet sa and he became a Muslim. The enemies of Islam were quite audacious , often cursing [Islam and the Holy Prophet sa ] with in the Holy Ka ‘ ba h. One day when they were cursing, Ha z rat Abu Dharr Ghaffari ra arrived there. He said, “Y ou curse so freely, but listen well. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad sa is H is servant and H is M essenger. ” Upon hearing this, the non - believers struck him quite badly. After beating him, they asked him if he da re d say it again. Since he was brave at heart, he retorted, “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is H is servant and H is M essenger. ” This was the standard of their courage and bravery. In the meantime , Haz rat ‘Abbās had arrived and he was a Muslim at the time. Someone asked him if he was older or the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa ? He replied that the Holy Prophet sa was superior in status, but he [i. e. , Hazrat Abbas ra ] had been born earlier. Consequently, upon arriving he set Haz rat Abu Dharr Ghaffari ra free from their hold. Thus, once faith is entrenched with in your heart , the brave person stands up everywhere. Re ligion require s bravery and wo rldly affairs also require brave ry. Cowardice is ruinous in any situation and valor is good in every case. If the Japanese break into your homes , would you rather have your son scuttle away into the fields so they can freely rob your homes? Or would you rather that he stands at the doorway and fearlessly confront s them at the doorway so that people will exclaim, ‘Wow ! This young man died , but he saved the women of his house hold. ’ Or would you rather that your son hides inside the house , while the enemy drags the women out by their braids? Y ou would certainly prefer the child , who would sacrifice his life to protect his home. One person’s fear breed s another person’s fear. Fear is cont agious. If you have seeded fear with in your child’s heart , how can you expect hi m to display bravery? And if you are the only one who teaches him to be brave , but he sees that other chi ldren are