Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 193
— Part II 188 motivating factor in their case is their love of God and their extreme desire for it to be responded to by Him. The sacrifice is far more than real blood relations can make for the sake of their next of kin. When put to the trial of torture it is not rare that some mothers would let their child be taken away and tortured instead, but these lovers of God would dare anything and everything in their strife to hold fast to God. It is quite possible that they too have varying degrees of faith. There are some who sacrifice their lives but would be quite happy to avoid such a sacrifice if at all possible. Then there are others who fervently desire that they be martyred for the cause of faith. Many of the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa , rather than backing down in the face of danger, actually requested him to pray for their martyrdom. The Battle of U h ad provides us with an outstanding example of such zeal. There was one Companion who, time and time again, put himself at the forefront of battle, yet each time he returned unscathed. He eventually requested the Holy Prophet sa to pray for his martyrdom. Then there were some who were not content with being martyred just once. It was their heartfelt desire that they be brought back to life many times so that each time they could sacrifice themselves in the cause of truth and not bow down to the tyrants. These people, surely, are the ones who have reached the stage of I t a ’i Dhil-Qurb a and beyond.