Followers of
the Path

The path was not easy, but the first
Muslim generation that Prophet Muhammad r brought up kept
steadfast, and never knelt before the forces of evil.

Zaid bin Ad-Dathinah t was taken prisoner and
driven out of the sanctuary to At-Tanim to be beheaded. Some Quraish men, among
them Abu Sufyan, rose before him and asked him before his beheading, “O Zaid,
I ask you by Allah, do you not wish that Muhammad was now here in your place so
that we might cut off his head instead, and you were with your family?”

Zaid, “By Allah, I
would not wish Muhammad to be anywhere now where even a thorn could hurt him,
and that I were sitting with my family.”

Abu Sufyan, “I have not seen any people who love anyone the
way the Companions of Muhammad love Muhammad.”

They, letter by letter, word by word, thought by thought,
action by action, faithfully transmitted the legacy of their Prophet r,
the Qur’an and Sunnah. Thus the Last Message to humanity
contained the elements for its permanency until the last Day.

They r
turned the universality of this Message into reality. The Prophet r
died before Islam had crossed beyond the boundaries of the Peninsula.
They knew that their Prophet r was sent as a mercy to
the whole world, and therefore spread throughout the land, as warners and
bearers of goodness.

This is the second miracle of Prophet Muhammad r
after the Qur’an.
Living close to the noble person of this great Messenger r
– in real life or through his teachings – engraves into his followers his high
manners, deep worship, sincere love for Allah, preparation for the meeting with
Him, renunciation of worldly pursuits, and martyrdom for the word of Truth.1

A Companion of the
Prophet r, Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh t, said, “By the One Who sent you with
the truth, if you ask us to wade into this sea with you, we shall do it, and
none of us shall tarry or stay behind.”2