Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 189
28 April 1905 189 2 َو اْوَصاَوَت ِةَمَحْرَمْلاِب َو اْوَصاَوَت ِةَمَحْرَمْلاِب 1 اْوَصاَوَت ِّقَحْلاِب اْوَصاَوَت ِّقَحْلاِب If someone’s house catches fire and they cry for help, just as it is a sin to allow the house and the people in it to burn, failing to go and help put the fire out simply because you may get burnt, so is it a sin to jump into it recklessly that you burn yourself. It is necessary on such an occasion to—observing proper precau- tions—assist him to put the fire out. Therefore, the same method should be adopted here as well. Allah the Exalted has repeatedly given the teaching of mercy, and this is the purpose of the Islamic brotherhood. Allah the Exalted has clearly said that all Muslim believers are brothers to one another. Thus, given that there is an Islamic brotherhood, and another brotherhood exists among you due to belonging to this Jam a ‘at, it would be a grave mistake if someone was trapped in some calamity and he faces mourning due to the decree and destiny of God, yet you do not even participate along with him in their funeral rites and arrangements. This is absolutely not the intention of Allah the Exalted. When the Companions of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were martyred or wounded in battle, I do not believe that the Companions abandoned them, or that the Messenger, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would have been pleased that the Companions should have left such people behind. In my estimation, during such tragedies sympathy can be practised, and proper precautions can be exercised as well. Firstly, it is not found in the Book of Allah that a disease neces- sarily spreads from one person to the next. Even for those con- ditions that are surmised from experience, the implicit teaching 1. Exhort one another to accept truth ( S u rah al-‘A s r, 103:4). [Publisher] 2. And exhort one another to mercy ( S u rah al-Balad, 90:18). [Publisher]