Sacrifice
When a man passes through trials and tribulations and he does so with patience,
because God says that he should do so, then these trials and tribulations
make him join the ranks of the angels. The Prophets are very dear to God
because they pass through greatest of trials and tribulations and these
trials and tribulations take them nearer to Him. Hazrat Imam Hussain, peace
be on him, as well as the Companions of the Holy Prophet, sallallaho alaihi
wa sallam, had to pass through great tests. If a man sits down to take dainty
dishes and he turns the beads of the rosary, he should not expect to meet
God. The rosary of the Companions of the Holy Prophet, sallallaho alaihi
wa sallam, was the sword. If now a days somebody is sent somewhere on a
preaching assignment, he starts saying within the span of ten days, that
there is none to look after his home (and therefore he would like to go
back). If we look at the lives of the Companions of the Holy Prophet, we
would find that they had, as if, decided from the very beginning that they
would not mind even if they had to sacrifice their lives. They had accepted
it as a fact of their life, that they would sacrifice their lives for the
sake of God. The Companions would go to the battlefield and some of them
would lay down their lives there while others would come back alive. The
relatives of those who had laid down their lives on the battlefield would
express great joy for, they, the Martyrs, had sacrificed their lives for
the sake of God. On the other hand, those who would return alive, would
continue waiting for the opportunity of laying down their lives for the
sake of God; they always felt that perhaps they were not good enough to
have the opportunity of becoming a martyr. They would continue making up
their mind - and strengthening themselves in this determination of theirs
- that one day they would give their life for the sake of God. God says:
"Nay We hurl the truth and falsehood, and it breaks its head,
and lo, it perishes. And woe be to you for that which you ascribe to God."
(21:19)
In this Age, the people who are most sincere, steadfast and Muttaqi are
the people of this Jamaat of mine but even among them there are a lot of
people who are the worms of this world (too much engrossed in the worldly
affairs). A poetical verse says: You want the communion of God and you also
want this mean world. Let me tell you, this is utterly impossible and it
is nothing less than madness.
Nobody knows when he would be called upon to surrender his life. That
being the case one should not be unmindful of the fact of his mortality
and he should not give preference to the worldly affairs over his religion.
Do not depend on your life. You should not think that you are secure
against the devastation of the Time.
(Malfoozat Vol. 9, pg. 406)