Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 43
Malfuzat - Volume I 43 that of the Promised Messiah (as), which is to develop within itself the hue of the companions. The companions were a pious community for whom the Quran is full of praise. Are you like them? God says that the people who will accompany the Promised Messiah as would stand shoulder to shoulder with the companions. The companions were those who sacrificed their wealth and homeland in the way of truth. They abandoned everything. Most would have heard the incident of Hazrat Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. On one occasion when people were instructed to sacrifice their wealth in the way of God, he brought all the possessions he owned at home. When the Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, inquired of him as to what he had left at home, he said: 'I have left God and His Messenger at home. ' Hazrat Abu Bakra was a chief of Mecca who lead an ascetic life and wore the most simple clothes. So the companions may be considered as ones who were martyrs in the cause of Allah. For them, it was decreed that paradise lay beneath the shadow of swords. But we are not faced with such trying circumstances because for us it was decreed that i. e. there would be no war in the era of the Mahdi. The Reality of Jihad In consonance with the dictates of various points of wisdom, Allah the Exalted performs a certain action but later in specific circumstances, when the same action is inappropriate, He no longer acts in the same manner. Our Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was not the first to take up the sword, yet he was made to suffer the severest of cruelties. A period of thirteen years is enough for a child to mature. And even if the period of the Messiah₁s is taken into account by subtracting ten years from the above, this too is quite a long time. Hence, during this lengthy period, there was no pain that the Holy Prophetsa was not compelled to bear. Ultimately, when he left his homeland and took refuge in another land, even then he was pursued and not left alone. When this state of affairs arose, in order to save the oppressed from the persecution of their oppres- sors, it was commanded: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقْتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرُ الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقِّ إِلَّا أَنْ يَقُولُوا رَبُّنَا اللهُ Meaning, war was wrongly made against a people and they were unjustly driven 1 al-Hajj, 22:40-41