Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 125
125 and Safra [ restless ] , indicating that the ir feet would not remain in one place for any period of time. They spread to every corner of the earth. Wherever they went, the y left the fragrance of their good behavior and exceptionally high standard of conduct. Yet, where is that flourishing Muslim [of the past] and where is the fading Muslim of today ? Impo rtant Events in Islam ic History There was a time in M edina when the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa issued the order to conduct a census and ascertain how many had become Muslim by then. A census was conducted and the number of Muslim men, women, and children came to seven hundred. You are aware that the population of Rabwah is presently around two and a half thousand, so it was about a quarter of the population of Rabwah a nd this was the census of Muslims the world over. There wer e very few Muslims outside of M edina at that time ; other than in Abyssinia , where there were close to fifty Muslims and a few in M ecca, who were afraid to openly declare their faith and were not included in the count. In any case, a census was carried out which resulted in seven hundred people. The companions who had been assigned th is task came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and said , “O Prophet of Allah sa ! Why did you order a census to be conducted? Did you think that there are too few Muslims? O Messenger sa of Allah ! There are now seven hundred of us. W ho could [possibly] erase us from the world now?” Nowadays it is said that there are six hundred million Muslims, but the heart of these six hundred million is not [nearly] as resolute as that of those seven hundred. And h ow can you ever discover the difference between the se hearts wit hout study ing history? A t the time, each and every Muslim would go fort h and the great world powers would bow down before him. He was no imitator. H e considered himself to be Adam. He had firm faith that the world would imitate him. [He realized], ‘ It is not my duty to imitate others. ’ If you study history, you will realize that you are following Europe in every matter. Sometimes you say, “I saw a picture of a certain hairstyle. Oh, I simply cannot rest until I get that same hair style. ” Or “There i s a [new] powder on the market and I’ll not rest until I buy it. ” This means that you believe your enemy is exalted and you are lowly. If you are greater than the enemy , then t he y should emulate you. I f the enemy is more exalted, then you should imitate the m.