Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 26
26 offered for sacrifice. His only option was to request someone else to lie in his bed. The Holy Prophet sa could have ordered any one of his c ompanions ra to do this. However , since he was commanded : E َﻓ َﺼ ِّﻞ ِﻟ َﺮ ِّﺑ َﻚ َو ا ۡﻧ َﺤ ۡﺮ w hich meant, ‘ O Muhammad sa Messenger of Allah ! Offer yourself up for sacrifice ’ therefore t hat day the Holy Prophet sa did not offer just anyone else as a sacrifice , but he asked his cousin, spiritual son, and son - in - law, Ha z rat ‘Ali ra to lay upon his bed. It is another matter that the enemy realized that the Holy Prophet sa had escaped and knew that someone else lay in his stead , and so f or this reason they did not kill Ha z rat ‘Ali ra. But wh at was the expected outcome? The most likely outcome was that in the dark of the night, the enemy would enter [the home] and kill Ha z rat ‘Ali ra , mistaking him for the Holy Prophet sa. Nevertheless, the Holy Prophet sa complied w ith th e command of wanher that day and did not present just anyone for sacrifice but offered his own cousin and son - in - law for a sacrifice in which his death was certain. It is another matter that God saved him. Afterwards, we see that the way in which the Holy Prophet sa and his c ompanions ra presented themselves for sacrifice during numerous battles, remains unparalleled. After the death of the Holy Prophet sa , someone asked one of his c ompanion s ra , “Who was the most courageous among you?” He responded, “The bravest of us all used to be anyone who would stand next to the Holy Prophet sa , for the enemy ’s sole focus was to kill the Holy Prophet sa. T herefore , only th at man c ould stand next to the Holy Prophet sa who was extremely brave and courageous. ” From this , we understand that the Holy Prophet sa faced the greatest danger. That is why his c ompanions ra continually insisted that he sa not go into battle, but the Holy Prophet sa would reply that th is c ould not be. During the early wars, one of the Holy Prophet’s sa uncles was martyred. In these same very early battles, Ha z rat ‘Ali ra also had to fight continuously. Ha z rat Ja‘far ra was also martyred in these early battles. Thus , the Holy Prophet sa repeatedly offer ed himself a nd his relatives in sacrifice. In some ways to such an extent, that great Christian historians have been left in awe, compel led to praise the Holy Prophet ’s sa courage.