Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 185
185 leaving us with only one container of water and one bag of dates. Frankly, h ow many days will this last, and what will we do thereafter?’ Ha z rat A br a h a m as upon seeing t ha t he was leaving his oldest and only son, who was born to him at the old age of a hundred years, in the desolate wilderness, he nearly broke into tears. He thought that if he replied to Hajrah in words, then his voice would be choked, and tears would flow from his eyes. S o , he pointed with his hand towards the sky in a gesture which meant, ‘ Hajrah , I am not leaving you and your son here for the sake of cruelty, but God Almighty has commanded me to do so. ’ Ha z rat Hajrah understood him and said : ِا ًذ ا ﻻ ﱠ ُﻳ َﻀ ِّﻴ ُﻌ َﻨ ﺎ [ He will not neglect us. ] ‘If you are leaving us here under the command of God Almighty , then we have no fear. God Almighty will not waste us. ’ Having said this, Ha z rat Hajrah returned to the place where Ha z rat Is h mael as lay and did not even once look back towards her husband’s face. B ut Ha z rat A br a h a m as continued looking back [as he was walking away] , overwhelmed with pain and sorrow. Thus , the example of forbearance Ha z rat Hajrah showed was greater than the one shown by Ha z rat A br a h a m as. Ha z rat A br a h a m as kept looking back , but Ha z rat Hajrah never once looked back and said , ‘If God Almighty has commanded that we should be left here, then He Himself will protect us. Why should we worry? ’ Consequently, she stayed there and God Almighty caused the spring of Zamzam to gush forth. Since the spring of water now flow ed , caravans would stop with her permission and use the water from that spring. After some time, a tribe was established there and they chose Ha z rat Is h mael as as their chief a nd then it was from the lineage of Ha z rat Ishmael as , that a prophet as magnificent as the Holy Prophet sa was born. Sacrifices o f Muslim Women So, you see during the time of Ha z rat A br a h a m as as well, women have made great sacrifices for the sake of religion. During Ha z rat Krishna ’s as period too , they performed the important task of tabligh. In the days of early Islam a s well , women accomplished phenomenal feats and even after wards , the role of women continued to increase. Now see when the Holy Prophet sa announced his prophethood, the first person to