Remaining Content with Less

Remaining Content with Less

1991 1 January 17-18 Remaining Content with Less (462) Six whole years had passed since the Hijrah, during which period the Muslims longed to visit the Kabah and perform the pilgrimage and umara. One day, as they congregated in the mosque in the morning, the Prophet informed them of a vision he had had according to which they should enter the holy sanctuary of Makkah secure, shaven and unarmed, and without fear for their safety. As soon as the Muslims heard this news, they praised God for His Grace and spread the good tidings all over Medinah. About one thousand four hundred men then set forth from Medinah to perform the pilgrimage.

The Prophet and his companions had reached al-Hudaybiyyah, nine miles south of Makkah, when they were stopped by the Quraysh from going any further towards Makkah. The Quraysh then sent some delegates to the Muslim camp to dissuade the Prophet from executing this plan and to start negotiations to this effect. The parleys between the Prophet and the Quraysh went on for a long time. Finally after several rounds of talks, ‘it was decided that the Prophet and his companions would return to Medinah this time, and that they should come for the same purpose the following year,

In accordance with this pact, the Prophet decided not to perform umara, and to leave Hudaybiyyah for Madinah. However, he decided that the animals should be sacrificed and heads should be shaved, even if the circumambulation and sa’i could not be performed. After performing the sacrifice himself, he shaved his head, and asked the others to do likewise. They too, therefore, slaughtered their animals and shaved off their hair.

This showed their willingness to be content with less, in spite of having been convinced by the Prophet’s vision that they were sure to enter Makkah, performing the pilgrimage with all the rites of tawaf, sa’i, animal sacrifice and the shaving of hair. But when, due to the tenseness of the situation, the performing of tawaf and sa’i was rendered impossible, they were willing to postpone their entry into Makkah, and just make do with the animal sacrifice and the shaving of hair.

Herein lies one of life’s secrets. In this world, one has to be content with less; only then will One become the receiver of more. One who is not content with less in the initial stages will find neither less nor more later on. Ultimately he will only fritter away his energies in initiating hostilities. And when, having exhausted all his energy and resources, he is unable to put up a fight, he tries to console himself by saying that he was on the point of victory, but that enemy plots caused his downfall.

Willingness to be content with less is also one of the Sunnah of the Prophet.