Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 86
86 ٰا َﻣ َّﻨ ﺎ َو َﺻ َّﺪ ْﻗ َﻨ ﺎ “ W e believe , and we are truthful ” and stood up to support [the Prophet Muhammad sa ]. However, o ur fathers and grandfathers opposed him. So, whatever has happened today is a penalty for the faults which were committed by our f athers and grandfathers. ” They said, “ We admit that our forefathers made this mistake , but there must be a way to amend this. ” He said, “ Let u s go then and ask Ha z rat ‘ Umar ra. ” Ha z rat ‘ Umar ’s ra family was given the responsibility to memorize the family trees of people. In our countries, this job is handed over to m arasis [ village entertainer s ] , but in Arab countries and other free nations it was and still is considered a very honorable job. As Ha z rat ‘U mar ra was from t hat very family wh ose job it was to memorize the family lineages , when those young men went to him and said that they had a question for him, he said, “ I understand what you mean to say and I know that this treatment has hurt your feelings and I also know that your forefathers were very highly regarded, but I had no choice. These are the people who were given respect among the gath erings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa. How could I have sat them in the back? ” They replied , “ We understan d this very well, but in view of the cruelties committed by our forefathers , is there any way we can wipe off this ugly mark from our foreheads. ” Upo n hearing this question , Ha z rat ‘ Umar ra remembered the magnificence of their forefathers. His eyes filled with tears, his voice choked, and he was unable to speak. He only [raised] his hand, pointing towards Syria, and fell silent. What he meant to say was that t here is a war being waged with the Christians in Syria. If you join them there and give your lives away, this mark of dishonor will be removed from your foreheads. Upo n receiving this reply, they got up right away, tightened the saddles on their rides , and left to join that battle in Syria. History tells us that every single one of them lost their lives in that battle. No t one came back alive. So , remember merely giving monetary donations will not do in the future. Monetary donations will be required, but so will the sacrifice of lif e. O nly those nations can attain respect that participate in these sacrifices. I have warned you in [good] time, whether or not at this point in time you understand what I say. When a person has weal th, his head is