Putting aside petty issues
Al-Risala (English), September 1993, p. 9
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
Putting aside petty issues
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1993 9 September 9-10 Putting aside petty issues (470)
Those who become involved in petty quarrels over mundane issues have seldom any great goal to achieve, and those who have will never achieve it while they allow themselves to become sidetracked by trivial side-issues.
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas tells how, when the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle Abu Talib lay sick, he was visited by a group of Qurayshite leaders, among them Abu Jahal, who complained to Abu Talib about the conduct and preaching of his nephew Muhammad. They suggested that Abu Talib should summon his nephew, and tell him to stop abusing the gods of the Quraysh. Abu Talib thereupon sent for the Prophet. When the latter arrived and entered the house of his uncle, there was an empty sitting space in between the leaders of the Quraysh and Abu Talib. Abu Jahal was afraid that, should Muhammad occupy that seat next to his uncle, Abu Talib would feel compassion towards his nephew. So Abu Jahal jumped up and sat in the vacant place. Finding nowhere to sit near his uncle, the Prophet quietly sat down next to the door.
When Abu Talib had finished telling his nephew of the complaints of the Qurayshite chieftains, the Prophet explained that he only wanted one thing of the Quraysh. If they were to accept it, they would become lords over Arabia; even the people of Asia would pay tribute to them. The Quraysh expressed their readiness to make more than just one concession to the Prophet, but wanted to know what it was that he wished them to accept. “That there is no god besides Allah,” the Prophet told them, but the Quraysh scorned the idea that all their gods should be made into One God.
When the Prophet arrived at his uncle’s house, he was faced with provocative treatment by Abu Jahal. He saw Abu Jahal jump up and occupy a seat which rightfully should have remained vacant for the Prophet himself to sit in. Under such circumstances, the Prophet could have contested with Abu Jahal over who had the right to occupy the seat next to Abu Talib. But he did not do so, for he had come for one purpose alone – to communicate to these assembled Qurayshite leaders the message of Islam. Had he come into conflict with them over a petty side-issue, attention would have been distracted from the basic purpose of his mission; he would no longer have been in a position to teach them the Word of Truth, having set himself up as their rival for worldly position. So the Prophet forsook what was rightfully his in order to further his cause.
Those who become involved in petty quarrels over mundane issues have seldom any great goal to achieve, and those who have will never achieve it while they allow themselves to become sidetracked by trivial side-issues.
