5. Would you like to meet him outside the institution? (cont.)

When his wife noticed, she said, "Why are you preparing your weapons?" He replied, "For Muhammad and his Companions!" His wife was aware of the Muslim might, so she said, "By Allah! I do not see anything withstanding Muhammad and his Companions!" He replied, "By Allah! I hope that I will bring one of them for your service one day", meaning he would capture some of them and bring them to her as servants. He then left for the place called al-Khandamah where his companions had gathered, only to encounter the Muslims being led by the sword of Allah, Khalid bin al-Walid. The fighting commenced, the brave men attacked and in just a matter of a few moments, more than twelve or thirteen disbelievers were killed. When Hamas bin Qays saw this, he turned to Safwan and Do not criticise me! End of story? 'Ikrimah and saw them run away to their homes. He caught up with them and headed for his home. Upon reaching home, he screamed at his wife with fear, "Please shut the door on me! They are saying whoever enters his home and closes his door shall be safe!" She said in response, "What happened to all that you said? That you would destroy them, and bring some of them to me as servants?" He said, "If you were to witness the day of al-Khandamah When Safwan as well as Ikrimah fled When we faced the Muslim swords As they cut our every limb and flesh Striking us, and you hear nothing but the sound of killing, You would not have uttered a word in criticism." That's right! If only his wife had seen the suffering he had witnessed, she would not have uttered a word of criticism. On another occasion, when the Prophet entered Makkah during the conquest, he was aware of the greatness of the Holy City, and therefore, only fought very little. He then said, "Allah has made this land sacred the day He created the heavens and the earth. He only gave me the allowance to fight for one hour in the day." It was said to him, "O Messenger of Allah! Are you forbidding us from killing? Khalid bin al-Walid in his division is killing whoever he meets from the pagans." Do not criticise me! End of story? The Prophet said, "Get up, O so-and-so, and go to Khalid bin al-Walid and tell him to keep his hands up with regards to killing." This man obviously realised that they were in the middle of a war, and that the Prophet had ordered the Quraysh to stay in their homes so they would not be killed. This implied that whoever was not in his home deserved to be fought. Hence, he understood from the Prophet's statement, "Keep his hands up with regards to killing", to mean that he should kill anyone who stands in his way, and keep his hands raised from killing when he is not able to find anyone to kill! Thus, the man came to Khalid and said, "O Khalid! The Messenger of Allah says: Kill whoever you can!" Khalid, therefore, ended up killing seventy men. A man came to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Khalid is killing!" Upon hearing this, the Prophet became surprised and thought about how he could kill after he had been forbidden. He immediately sent for Khalid. When Khalid came to him, he said, "Did I not forbid you from killing?" Khalid became surprised and said, "O Messenger of Allah! So-and-so came to me and ordered me to kill whoever I can!" The Prophet then sent for that man. When he arrived, the Prophet said, "Did I not say he must raise his hands regarding killing?" The man instantly realised his fault, but it was too late. He said, "O Messenger of Allah! You willed something. Allah willed something else and Allah's will overpowered yours. I could not do more than what I did." The Prophet remained silent Do not criticise me! End of story? and did not reply. Whoever contemplates over different situations in life finds it very evident that sometimes a person does the very best he could but his efforts do not reap the desired outcome. Once I sat with a youth in his car and noted that his driving skills were excellent. I also knew that he was involved in an accident a week earlier. I asked him, "I notice that your driving skills are very good. Why then did you have an accident a week ago?" He said, "Well, I had to!" I said, "That's strange!" He said, "Yes, I had to. Do you know why?" I said, "Why?" He said, "I was driving up a bridge and I was speeding. When I began to drive down the bridge, I suddenly noticed the cars in front of me were all at a standstill. I had no idea what the reason was, an accident or a check point, I had no idea.