Patience for Paradise
Al-Risala (English), August-September 1994, p. 12
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.
Patience for Paradise
1994 8-9 August-September 12 Patience for Paradise (218) It is related that in the early days of Islam, the Prophet was once passing in the vicinity of Yasir and his family in Mecca when they were being subjected to the violence of the Ouraysh. When Yasir set eyes on the Prophet, the only question he asked him was, ‘O Prophet of God, is this all there is to the world?’ The Prophet replied, ‘O family of Yasir, be patient, for you have been promised heaven’ (Ibn Kathir, As-Sirah an-Nabawiyah, Vol. 1, p. 494). Yasir and his wife Summaiyah were the first to succumb to persecution by the Quraysh. Yet, even after seeing the painful fate which his parents had suffered, ‘Ammar, their son, being strong of will, did not flinch from his faith. It is said that ‘Ammar ibn Yasir was the first Meccan Muslim to have built a mosque in his home. It is believed that it is he who is referred to in this verse of the Qur’an (1bn Sa‘d, At-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3, p. 250):
Can he who passes his night in adoration, standing up or on his knees, who dreads the terrors of the life to come and hopes to earn the mercy of his Lord, be compared to the unbeliever? …Truly, none will take heed but men of understanding (Qur’an, 39:9).
