Life of Muhammad — Page 243
sa 243 "O Messenger of Allah sa ! if you had but given me an indication even by a flicker of your eyelids, I would have done so. " To this the Prophet sa rejoined: "A Prophet sa does not act equivocally. How could I have employed my eye to indicate the imposition of a death penalty upon the man while my tongue was employed in talking amicably to him?" ( Hish a m, Vol. 2, p. 217). A man once came to the Holy Prophet sa and said: "O Messenger sa of Allah! I suffer from three evils: falsehood, indulgence in strong drinks and fornication. I have tried my utmost to get rid of them but have not succeeded. Will you tell me what to do? " The Prophet sa replied: "If you make a firm promise to me to give up one of them I guarantee that you will be rid of the other two. " The man promised and asked the Prophet sa to tell him which of the three he should give up. The Prophet sa said: "Give up falsehood. " Some time later the man came back and told the Holy Prophet sa that, having followed his advice, he was now free from all three vices. The Prophet sa asked him for the details of his struggle and the man said: "One day I wanted to indulge in liquor and was about to do so when I bethought myself of my promise to you and realized that if any of my friends asked me whether I had taken liquor, I would have to admit it as I could no longer utter a falsehood. This would mean that I would acquire an evil reputation among my friends and they would in future avoid me. Thinking thus, I persuaded myself to postpone drinking to some later occasion and was able to withstand the temptation at the time. In the same way when I found myself inclined towards forni- cation I argued with myself that indulgence in the vice would expose me to the loss of the esteem of my friends as I would either have to tell a falsehood if questioned by them, thus breaking my promise to you, or I would have to admit my sin. In this way I continued to struggle between my resolve to fulfil my promise to you and my desire to indulge in liquor and in adultery. When some time had passed I began to lose the inclination to