Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 237
237 was following him. When he saw him, he asked, “What are you doing? You are a grown man , so why are you sitting in a squat , walking on your heels ?” He replied, “I just heard the Holy Prophet sa say, ‘ S it down’, so I sat down right away. ” The other person said, “The Holy Prophet sa must have said that to the people who were standing inside the m osque. He did not say it to you. ” The man replied, “ He might have said it to them, but I thought that if I did not obey him, and I died right at this moment, then there would remain one such commandment of the Holy Prophet sa which I had not obeyed. Therefore, I thought that no matter whom the Holy Prophet sa addressed, when his command has reached my ears , I should obey the command. ” This was the spirit of obedience found with in the companions of the Holy Prophet sa. Similarly, look how dangerous the habit of drinking is. People try so hard , but still cannot rid themselves of this habit. B efore the advent of Islam , drinking was a common practice in Arabia. So much so, that the wealthy used to drink five times a day, [as regularly] as the five daily prayers, and they were very proud of this. When alcohol was declared forbidden , the people who sat in the gathering in which t he Holy Prophet sa announced it forbidden, heard this. H owever, this news had not yet reached those who were in their homes. A wedding ceremony was being held somewhere and th ey had set out large clay pots filled with alcohol. One or two pots h ad been drunk and three or four more remained. They were all intoxicated , when a man passed through the alley saying, “Listen, the Holy Prophet sa has said that today, I announc e th at alcohol is now forbidden for Muslims. ” At this, one of the men looked at another and said, “ Ask him what he means. ” The other one picked up a rod and broke all the clay pots filled with alcohol until the alcohol flowed out into the alley s. The first one said, “What have you done? You should have first asked what was said. ” The second man replied, “When our ears have heard that the Holy Prophet sa ha s forbidden alcohol , then first I will break the pots and then ask what this is all about. ” This was the path walked upon by the companions of the Holy Prophet sa and they took the practice of obedience to its highest levels. A Warning to the Ahmadiyya Community Thus, through this sermon, I warn those Ahmadis who stop their wives from observ ing purdah and I bring their attention to reforming