An Islamic Treasury of Virtues
5. Piety
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to far-off places in order to fight the Prophet’s
enemies. Miqdad ibn Amr then reassured the
Prophet by saying: “Messenger of God, do as God
has shown you. We will not say unto you as the
children of Israel said unto Moses: ‘Go, you and
your Lord, and fight; we will stay here’.” (5:24) To
this Saad ibn Muadh added, “We have sworn oaths
to you, which bind us to hear and obey. Therefore,
do as you will, Messenger of God, and we are with
you. By Him who has sent you with the truth, if
you bade us cross the sea and plunge into it, we
would do just that. Not one man of us would stay
behind.” The Prophet was extremely pleased at
hearing this from the Ansar. “Onward!” he said.
“God has decreed that victory and succour shall be
yours!”
TO LIVE, ONE MUST COME TO TERMS WITH
DYING
Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Islam, once offered this
piece of advice to a Muslim commander, by the
name of Khalid ibn Walid: “Khalid, be desirous of
death. That way, you will find life.”
