91. Be brave and start from now! (cont.)

They had to make a quick decision, for they could have been struck by an arrow anytime. There was no time to contemplate. While the Ansari withheld, Usamah thought that it was a trick, so he struck him with his sword and killed him. They returned to Madinah victorious. Usamah stood in front of the Prophet  and told him the entire story, including what happened to the man they killed. The story was that of Muslim victory, and the Prophet  was rejoicing, that is, until Usamah said, “Then I killed him...” Suddenly, the Prophet’s complexion changed and he said, “He said: La ilaha illallah and you killed him?!” Usamah said, “He did not say it intentionally! He only said it out of the fear of our weapons!” But the Prophet  repeated his question, “Did he say, ‘There is no god worthy of worship but Allah,’ and then you killed him? Did you split open his heart to know for certain that he had only Use the right flavour said it out of fear of your weapons?’’ The Prophet  fixed his eyes on Usamah and kept repeating, “Did he say ‘There is no god but Allah’, and then you killed him?! Did he say ‘There is no god but Allah’, and then you killed him?! How will you deal with his testimony, ‘there is no god but Allah’, on the Day of Resurrection?” Usamah said, “He continued to repeat himself until I wished I had only accepted Islam that day.” An opinion Do not think that people are of a similar nature. Rather, they differ tremendously. Use the right flavour (18) Choose the right topics Following on from the previous chapter, is the subject of the way to talk to people and what to talk about. When someone converses with another person, he should talk about subjects that are suitable. The topic he may choose to discuss with a youth would be quite different to that which he would choose to discuss with the elderly. The type of conversation he has with a scholar would not be the same as that with a layman. Similarly, the words used with one’s wife would not be the same as those used with his sister. This is not to say that the topic must be completely different for each person, such that a story one may relate to his sister should never be related to his wife, or what is said to a young can never be repeated to the elderly. Not at all. What is being referred to here is the way in which the story is related differs. By way of example, imagine if one were to sit with some elderly guests, over eighty years old, who had come to visit one’s grandfather, would it be appropriate for him to laugh and joke while discussing what he did with his friends at the beach, and relate how well his friend played football? No doubt this would be inappropriate. Similarly, when speaking to small children, it would not be suitable to relate various stories concerning how husbands should treat their wives. It is agreed upon, therefore, that from the ways of attracting others, is to choose the topics they like to discuss. For instance, if there is a father who has an intelligent son, it would be appropriate to ask about him, as the father would most definitely be proud of him and love to discuss the subject. Likewise, there may be a person who has just opened up a shop and be making a handsome profit, and thus it would be appropriate to ask about his shop and customers as this is what would please him. He would therefore love to sit and discuss this time and time again. The Prophet  would take this into consideration, and hence, the nature of his speech with young men would be different to that with the elderly, or with women and children. Jabir bin ‘Abdullah  was a great Companion. His father was killed at Uhud, and he had left behind Jabir’s nine sisters with no one to take care of them. He had also left behind a huge debt to be paid off, all on the shoulders of this youth who was still very young. Because of this, Jabir was always anxious and thinking about his sisters and his debt, as the creditors were demanding payment day and night. Jabir journeyed with the Prophet  on the Dhat ar-Riqa’ expedition. Due to his extreme poverty, he was riding a very weak camel that could hardly walk. Jabir did not have enough money to buy another camel. As a result, everyone preceded him and he was the last in the caravan.