Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 318
318 party, who have not yet prayed, come forward and pray with thee, and let them adopt their means of defence and take their arms. The enemy wish that you be neglectful of your arms and your baggage that they may fall upon you at once. It shall be no sin on you, if you are in trouble on account of rain, or if you are sick, that you lay aside your arms, but you should always adopt your means of defence…. When you have finished the Prayer, remember Allah, while standing, and sitting, and lying down. When you are secure from danger, then observe Prayer in the prescribed form. Verily, Prayer is enjoined on the believers to be offered at its appointed time. And slacken not in seeking the enemy. If you suffer, they too suffer, even as you suffer. But what you hope from Allah they hope not. Allah is All-Knowing, Wise” (4:103 ⎯ 105). Fighting is but an incident, an expression in outward conduct of part of that which needs to be done and must be done in the pursuit of the main end. The spirit in which that end is sought is what matters. One who truly believes in God and whole-heartedly accepts as his goal the purpose which God has appointed for man must commit his all to God in return for winning God’s pleasure. Such a one enters, as it were, into a covenant with God, and must endeavour to fulfil it in all the varying circumstances and exigencies in which he might find himself.