Page 52 - The Courage of the Faithful

THE COURAGE OF THE FA I T H F U L

You who believe! If any of you renounce your religion,
Allah will bring forward a people whom He loves and who
love Him, humble to the believers, fierce to the disbeliev -
ers, who strive in the Way of Allah and do not fear the
blame of any censurer. That is the unbounded favor of
Allah which He gives to whoever He wills. Allah is

Boundless, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 54)
The faithful at the time of our Prophet (saas) engaged person-
ally in wars against the unbelievers. These times of war were situa-
tions in which the unbelievers suff e red heavily in loss of morale.
But, the attitude of the faithful was otherwise. The prophets and
their companions left a potent example of courage to all the
Muslims who followed them. During these wars, some Muslims lost

part or all of their pro p e r t y. Others lost arms and legs or re l a t i v e s ,
but their courage never gave way. In the Qur'an, Allah relates that
Muslims in the past were extremely steadfast, and informs us their
saying, "... We belong to Allah and to Him we will return." (Surat
al-Baqara, 156) when a disaster struck them. Their courage shows
what a tremendous devotion they had towards our Prophet (saas)
and to the Qur'an. While the hypocrites avoided doing battle, with
the excuse that the weather was too harsh, believers sacrificed their
lives and property. When the order for war was handed down to our

P rophet (saas), the hypocrites amongst them began to make them-
selves apparent. A l a rge number of those who had until then de-
scribed themselves as Muslims, revealed the disease in their heart.
This is described by Allah in the following verse:
Those who believe say, "If only a sura could be sent down."
But when a straightforward sura is sent down and fighting

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