Al-Risala (English), May 1984

them. Cornfields, and noble palaces, and good things in which they took delight. Thus it was. And we made other people inherit all that. (44:25-28) It was a Friday. The throne of the emperor in the White Palace was replaced by a pulpit. Sa’ad Ibn Waqqas delivered the sermon from the pulpit and the Friday prayer was performed. This was the first Friday prayer to be performed in the ancient Iranian capital. All the images and statues which were housed in Madain were left as they were. Sa’ad Ibn Waqqas did not break them, neither did he remove them. History records that when Sa’ad Ibn Waqqas entered the royal palace, he offered prayer in thanks for the victory. He did not pray in congregation. He prayed eight raka’t (A section of daily prayer) without a break in between. The palace was converted into a mosque in spite of the presence of the images of people and horses there. Although in the superior position of conquerors, neither Sa’ad Ibn Waqqas nor other Muslims interfered with those images they were left intact. If is a different story today where Muslims even in the position of a minority cannot tolerate. The companions of the prophet were motivated by a missionary spirit in everything that they did. This spirit made it their prime consideration to communicate the message of Islam to non-Muslims; all other considerations took on secondary importance. They knew that Islam was such a powerful intellectual force that non-Muslims would be unable to resist it. After their submission to Islam, all other aims would be achieved automatically. Thereafter, polytheism, together with all its traces and symbols, would vanish completely. □ Meditation and reflection was their worship Two oxen passed Abu Darda. Both were carrying a load. One stayed standing; the other sat down. On seeing this, Abu Darda said. “There is a lesson to be learnt from this.” Aun Ibn Abdullah Ibn Utbah once asked Abu Darda’s wife what Abu Darda’s best action was: “Meditation and reflection.” She replied. Mohammad Ibn Wasi says that after the death of Abu Zarr, a man came from Basra to meet Abu Zarr’s wife to ask her of the manner of her late husband’s worship. “He used to sit by himself all day,” she answered, “pondering and meditating.