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Spirit of Islam Issue 35 November 2015
Devotion and
veneration by
people can produce
vanity in a man and
engender a feeling of
superiority, but this
was not the case with
the Prophet.
approach her father and ask for a servant. She went, but could not
speak to the Prophet because of the crowd. Next day, he came to their
house, and asked Fatimah what she had wanted to see him about.
Ali told the Prophet the whole story, and said that he had sent her.
“Fear God, Fatimah,” the Prophet said, “Fulfil your obligations to the
Lord, and continue with your housework. And when you go to bed at
night, praise God thirty-three times, and glorify Him the same number
of times; exalt His name thirty-four times, and that will make a full
hundred. This would be much better than having a servant.” “If that is
the will of God and His Prophet,” Fatimah replied “then so be it.” This
was the Prophet’s only reply. He did not give her a servant.
The truth revealed to the Prophet was that this world did not spring up
by itself, but was created by one God, who continues to watch over it.
All men are His servants, and responsible to
Him for their actions. Death is not the end of
man’s life; rather it is the beginning of another,
permanent world, where the good will enjoy
the bliss of Paradise and the wicked will be
cast into a raging hell. With the revelation
of this truth also came the commandment
to propagate it far and near. Accordingly,
ascending the height of the rock of Safa, the
Prophet called the people together. First he
made mention of the greatness of God. Then
he went on to say:
'
By God, as you sleep so will you die, and as you awaken so will
you be raised after death: you will be taken to account for your
deeds. The good will be rewarded with good and the evil with
evil. And, for all eternity, the good will remain in heaven and the
evil will remain in hell.
'
One who goes against the times in his personal life is faced with
difficulties at almost every step, but these difficulties are not of an
injurious nature. They may wound one’s feelings, but not one’s body. At
the most, they are a test requiring quiet forbearance. But the position
is quite different when one makes it one’s mission to publicly oppose
convention—when one starts telling people what they are required to
do and what not to do. The Prophet was not just a believer; he was also
entrusted with conveying the word of God to mankind. It was this latter
role that brought him into headlong collision with his countrymen.
All forms of adversity—from the pain of hunger to the trepidation of