Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 199
199 The Meccan life of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, presents an extraordinary example; in a way, he spent his entire life faced with hardships. Even in the Battle of Hunayn, the Holy Prophet sa was left all alone. It speaks volumes of the magnificence, courage and resilience of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to proclaim in the heat of battle that he was the Messenger of Allah. I can truthfully say that until a person treads this path, they cannot attain any pleasure whatsoever. This is the pleasure to which God Almighty invites all believers. Just as you relish the pleasure of other things, taste the pleasure of this as well; and indeed, those who seek do experience this feeling. If there is heedlessness and sloth on the part of man, there will be no movement from God; if man strives, God will move to him as well. Struggle is something without which one cannot attain any high ranking success. God Almighty states in the Holy Quran: 1 َنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ی ِ لَنَهْد فِيْنَا ْنَ جَاهَدُوْا ی ِ وَ الَّذ This means, those who strive in Our path, We guide them in our ways. Therefore, engage in spiritual effort on the path of God, being wholly devoted to Him, so that His ways may be opened to you, and so that you may tread these pathways and attain the pleasure that is found in God. At such a stage, misfortunes and dif- ficulties have no value whatsoever. This is the station which is referred to as that of a Martyr (Shaheed) in the terminology of the Holy Quran. The True Nature of Martyrdom The only conception that people have of the word Martyr (Shaheed) is that when a person fights a non-Muslim disbeliever in war and is killed in battle, they become a Martyr. If this was the only meaning of the word Shaheed , then the opponents would have a most ample opportunity to raise objection; it is perhaps due to this understanding that the Christians and Aryas allege that Islam is a religion that was spread by the sword. Even though it is incredibly foolish of these people to raise objections without ascertaining the true state of affairs, I am disappointed nonetheless with those Muslim clerics who have failed to present the verities of the Holy Quran, and who have obscured the pure and beautiful countenance of Islam with their imaginary and fictitious commentaries, and fabricated stories. However, God Almighty, Who is Himself the Protector and Helper of Islam, 1 al-Ankabut, 29:70 p. 181