The Devotion of Life — Page 89
89 (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) whose sins have been forgiven devoted so much time to worship?’ One said that he would spend all night praying from thereon. The other said that he would fast his entire life and not have any interruption. The third one resolved that he would separate from his wives and would never marry again. The Apostle of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went to them and asked them if they were the same persons who had made those resolutions. When they replied ‘yes’, the Holy Prophet sa , said, ‘Allah is a witness that I have more fear of Allah than you have and I am more righteous than you are; but I fast and I break my fast as well, I pray but I sleep as well and I have married also. Therefore, any one who dissociates from my ways is not of me. ’ (Bukhari, Kitab al-Nikah) There were thousands of devotees who were always ready to sacrifice their lives for Islam, and yet, they were not satisfied. So much so that they carried a burning desire to physically sacrifice their lives for Allah. Allah the Almighty refers to those very people and says in the Holy Quran: z ⎯ Ï i Β t ⎦⎫ Ï Ζ Ï Β ÷ σ ß ϑ ø 9 $ # × Α % y ` Í ‘ ( # θ è % y ‰ | ¹ $ t Β ( # ρ ß ‰ y γ≈ t ã © ! $ # Ï μ ø ‹ n = t ã ( Ν ß γ ÷ Ψ Ï ϑ s ù ⎯ ¨ Β 4 © | Ó s % … ç μ t 6 ø t w Υ Ν å κ ÷ ] Ï Β u ρ ⎯ ¨ Β ã Ï à t F ⊥ t ƒ ( $ t Β u ρ ( # θ ä 9 £ ‰ t / W ξƒ Ï ‰ ö 7 s ? ∩⊄⊂∪ “Among the believers are men who have been true to the covenant they made with Allah. There are some of them who have fulfilled their vow, and some who still wait, and they have not changed in the least. ” (Chapter 33:24)