ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Islamic Society ~ 156 ~ the prevailing atmosphere is not one in which people beg and make demands on one another. It is one in which there is emphasis on working for a living and not looking to others for the fulfillment of one’s needs. Abu Qatadah, one of the Prophet’s Companions, tells of how the Prophet stood up in their midst and said: “Struggle for God’s cause and faith in Him are the most excellent of actions.” One of his listeners stood up and asked: “O Messenger of God! If I am slain in God’s path, will my sins be forgiven?” The Prophet assured him that they would, if he was slain in the path of God, provided that he had remained steadfast and fought solely for the sake of God, and that he had been pressing forward and not retreating. After some time, the Prophet asked the questioner to repeat his question. When he had done so, the Prophet gave him the same answer, but added that if he were in debt to anyone, this debt would not be forgiven, “for this is what the angel Gabriel has told me.” This shows how careful everyone in an Islamic society must be, neither to appropriate anything