men_around_the_prophet

249 / 255

More info and Downloads at Page 249 of 255
FAREWELL
Now, while we bid farewell to the graceful company of the Companions of Muhammad the
Messenger of Allah (May peace and blessings be upon him and upon them all), we may ask ourselves,
have we given the matter what it deserves? Have we taken into account all such great men?
The answer is, No. We have been honored by their greatness through a close examination and have
followed a blessed number of them during some bright moments, but we were not fortunate to
accompany all of them.
Indeed, the sixty men introduced in this book stand for many thousands of others of their glorious
brethren who saw the Messenger (PBUH), lived during his time, believed in him, and struggled with
him. In the lives of these sixty righteous men we perceive the images of all the Companions. We see their
faith, their steadfastness, their heroism, their sacrifices, and their loyalty. We see the effort they exerted
and the victory they achieved. We also see the role they played in liberating all humanity from the
paganism of conscience and the loss of destiny!
These sixty men, then, are a superb and magnificent example the significance of which we welcome
and contemplate. We see in this example the heroes and soldiers of the greatest epoch of human struggle
in general and of religious struggle in particular. It was an epoch when the ancient world was destroyed
by the new force of truth which came to announce the oneness of Allah and the unity of creation. There
were no idols or images in the new era, no worshiped emperors or czars. There is only One God Who is
Allah, while all people are as equal as the teeth of a comb.
I desire not to repeat what I have already written about the causes that induced that amazing faith
which filled the hearts of these men.
Muhammad (PBUH) with his truth, steadfastness, purity, and eminence could not but reflect faith of
a rare quality on the people around him. It was the faith of people who had known him well and had seen
him in all his perfection and grace, saw his humanity and his devotion to Allah, saw his loftiness and
modesty, saw all his superb qualities and his simplicity, saw him in his strength and his compassion.
They saw him and perceived the nobility of his motives and his undeviating and straight method
Therefore, doubt did not prevent them at all from believing in him. They did not even make use of their
right to ask him for a miracle to ascertain his prophethood and his mission.
Every nation has asked its prophet for a miracle in order to believe in him, except Muhammad's
Companions, the men round the Messenger. They never said, "Show us a miracle as proof of your
truthfulness." This was because Muhammad himself was the miracle! Seeking another miracle outside of
him, his personality, and his principles would have been a kind of naiveté such intelligent people could
not be involved in, especially after their hearts had been filled with the guidance of Allah and their
perceptions had been illuminated with His light.
Indeed, the faith of that first generation of Muslims bestowed upon the whole of humanity - with its
different religions, different ages and races - a great trust that revived its youth and its determination.
After all, they were human beings. They lived during certain circumstances. They appeared unable to do
what they actually did afterwards. Collectively they had not yet achieved all the necessary characteristics
to form a society. They were scattered, discordant, fighting tribes led by inflexible narrow-minded
individuality. As a political power, they had not achieved anything that could be mentioned. As an
economic power, they were the poorest of people. In number, they were less than other peoples.
What happened, then, to make these minorities the constructors of a new world having wonderful
features? Was it due to the power of weapons and the plenitude of armies? But Alexander before them
and Genghis Khan after them had plenty of weapons and a great number of soldiers. Where is Alexander
today? Where is Genghis Khan? What is left of them and their waves of armies or their astounding
victories? What is left of all that, in the conscience of life and the conscience of mankind? Nothing.