Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 28
28 a mosque for him. As a result of this, a Muslim can offer Prayers anywhere as and when the time for his Prayer comes and he does not require a special place for worship like followers of other faiths. This was necessary in order to facilitate the extensive campaign of the Muslims to carry the message of Islam all over the world. Similarly, the earth was made for him the means of purification. A minor aspect of this is the fact that in the event of non-availability of water, a Muslim can perform Tayammum [ablution without water] in place of Wu du [ablution with water]. This combination of water and earth is in keeping with the creation of Adam (May peace be on him) who was created, according to Quranic idiom, out of moist earth. His third distinction is that, as against the laws of earlier religions, which required the war booty to be burnt, the Islamic law allowed the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to use the booty that fell in his hands, as lawful. The wisdom underlying this was firstly, to stop this needless wastage of national wealth, and secondly, to teach aggressors the lesson that if they did not desist from oppressing others, their own wealth would be taken away from them and given to the oppressed; and thirdly to provide the weak among Muslims with a source of strength in the Islamic defensive wars. The fourth distinction of the Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the grant to him of the highest office of intercession. ‘ Shaf a ‘at’ literally means ‘mate’ or ‘like,’ and according to the idiom, too, it does not mean common prayer. Instead, it signifies the special office held by a favourite of God by virtue of his dual role: on the one hand, of close contact with God and on the other, of his near association with men. He is entitled to intercede with the Lord. The gist of this intercession would run as follows: “O God, in the name of Your past favours to me and my heartfelt solicitude for the good of Your creatures [or some particular individual from amongst