Life of Muhammad — Page 234
sa 234 service of one's parents particularly when they reach old age attracts the grace and favour of God and, therefore, a person to whom is afforded the opportunity of serving his aged parents and who avails himself of the opportunity to the full is bound to become confirmed in righteous ways and a recipient of the grace of God. A man once complained to the Holy Prophet sa that the more benevolence he exercised towards his relations the more hostile they became towards him; and that the more he treated them with kindness the more they persecuted him; and the more he demonstrated affection towards them the more they frowned upon him. The Prophet sa said: "If what you say is true you are very fortunate, for you will ever be the recipient of God's succour" ( Muslim, Kit a bul Birr Wa s S ila ). On one occasion when the Holy Prophet sa was exhorting people to give alms and charity one of his Companions, Ab u T al h a An sa ri ra , came to him and offered to dedicate an orchard for charitable purposes. The Prophet sa was very pleased and exclaimed, "What an excellent charity! What an excellent charity! What an excellent charity!" and added: "Having dedicated this orchard to the service of the poor, I want you now to divide it among your poor relatives" ( Bukh a r i , Kit a but Tafs i r ). A man came to him on one occasion and said: "O Messenger of Allah sa ! I am prepared to make a covenant of Hijrat and I am prepared to make a covenant to take part in the holy war, for I am anxious to win the pleasure of God. " The Holy Prophet sa inquired whether either of his parents was alive and the man told him that both were alive. He then asked: "Are you indeed anxious to win the pleasure of God?" and on the man replying in the affirmative the Prophet sa said: "Then go back to your parents and serve them and serve them well. " He pointed out that one's non-Muslim relations were equally entitled to be treated kindly and with consideration along with one's Muslim relations. One of Ab u Bakr's ra wives, who was a non- Muslim, visited her daughter Asm a ’ ra and the latter inquired of the Holy Prophet sa whether she might serve