Recognizing Oneself

Before Khalid became a Muslim, he took part in several military campaigns against Islam. He later told of how he used to fight with the feeling that he had “adopted a mistaken stance” —that he was fighting for the wrong cause. His conscience continued to haunt him, until shortly before the conquest of Makkah, when he went to Madinah and accepted Islam. Khalid was by nature exceptionally brave and courageous. He recognized this quality of his, and saw how to use it to full effect. By becoming fully aware of himself, he recognized the special part that had been delegated to him on the vast stage of the Islamic arena. He determined to use the courage God had given him to destroy polytheistic religion, and establish monotheism in its place. Khalid, therefore, dedicated the rest of his life to active service in the cause of Islam. Continually he would ask God to make him strong and steadfast in this path, and he also used to ask God’s Prophet to pray for him. As for Abu Huraira, he did not have the same qualities as Khalid. What he did have, however, was a prodigious memory. Recognizing where his talents lay, he resolved to use them in the service of Islam. It is related in the Hadith that Abu Huraira once asked the Prophet to pray that God should give him knowledge, which he would not forget. The Prophet said “Amen” to that, and prayed as Abu Huraira had requested. Abu Huraira’s exceptional memory was both a result of the Prophet’s prayer for him, and also of his own eagerness to serve Islam in the way most suited to his talents and temperament. Under the protective wing of such prayers, he devoted himself heart and soul to the area to which he was assigned.