God has a special purpose for every individual
human being. To be born into this world is to make
a promise to God that one will spend one’s life
fulfilling the purpose that God intends for one. The
worth of every human being lies in his faithfulness
to this promise.
God has endowed every individual with certain
talents. These talents may be inborn, or they may
develop at a later stage in life. It is for every human
being to recognize where his talents lie, and then
make use of them, thereby enacting the role that
God has singled out for him. One who recognizes
himself in this way has taken up his true place in
God’s pattern of creation, while one who fails to do
so will find himself at odds—not only with
himself—but with the whole of creation.
This can be illustrated by the respective cases of two
companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Abu
Huraira was one of the companions, and Khalid, the
son of Walid, another. No less than 5,374 traditions
(sayings of the Prophet) have been related on the
authority of Abu Huraira, while less than one
hundred can be traced back to Khalid.
Extraordinary as this disparity may seem, all it
indicates is a difference in the arena in which they
worked. It does not mean that one of them did more
for Islam than the other.
Abu Huraira and Khalid were both sincere,
dedicated Muslims. But as regards talents, they
were very different from each other. Each of them
awoke to his separate vocation in life, and followed
it implicitly. In accordance with his own particular
abilities, Abu Huraira picked one arena in which to
serve the cause of Islam, while Khalid picked
another, equally suitable one, for himself.
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 the 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 Mecca, when he went to Medina 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. So great were his services to Islam
that the Prophet called Khalid “one of God’s
swords, drawn against the idolators.”
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. Spending as much time as he
could in the company of the Prophet, he listened
attentively to what was said, memorizing it and—
when the need arose—writing it down. By
recognizing where his own talents lay, and in doing
all he could to develop them, he has taken his place
in Islamic history as the greatest original relator of
the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
Every person has a responsibility to first recognize
himself—to see where his own talents lie and do all
he can to channel them in a positive direction. By
doing this one is benefiting, not only oneself, but
even more the cause to which one is committed.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
