Ammar Ibn Yasir (ra) - A Companion of the Prophet ('s)
Chapter 1: Sign of Guidance
How surprising is the state of a man of thirty, whose body is branded
with melted iron, on whose head and face fire is poured, who is plunged
into water and subjected to all sorts of torture, remains indifferent to
all these torments and receives them gladly as if the points of the
spears, the flames of fire, and the pressure of water were gifts from
his beloved and all these tortures, increase his hope instead of making
him despair.
How surprising is the condition of a ninety year old man, who subdues
the enemy with a sword, whose blade may be said to be raining fire, and
who overcomes every difficulty with a determination much harder than
steel. However, you will not wonder any longer when you come to know
that this tall-statured brave person is the same man who got accustomed
to self-sacrifice and endured all the calamities during his youth as
well as in his old age only for the sake of Divine religion.
It was the spirit which was blown into, and the blood which circulated
in his veins, which gave such a flaming sword in his hand, and it, was
his blood which assumed the shape of solid faith, sincerity, truth and
reality. This brave old man did not fight with his enemies with hands
and arms but by means of the faith and the principle which he had
selected for himself. And, in fact; neither his arms got tired nor did
his sword become blunt, but the blow which he struck was actually the
glow of the light which splits darkness and annihilates it.
In the circumstances if ‘Ammar remained constant in his youth in the
face of every calamity and came out victorious in every test, and mostly
showed perseverance, it should not be surprising. And it should not also
be surprising if during old age his path became clear and bright because
of the radiation of truth. Of course, this godly old man of ours did not
stand in need of strong arms in the battlefield like young men.
The question is what is bravery? Is bravery dependent upon age and
strength of youth, or, is it specially related to a particular stage out
of the different stages of life?
In fact we should say: "It is not so", We should say that it is
dependent upon faith; and the more strong one's faith is the larger the
share and the enjoyment one derives from bravery, Yes! It is the
strength of faith which gives an old man the vigour of a youth. And
again it is the strength of faith which gives equal power of resistance,
patience, steadfastness, agility, mirth, determination and action to the
young and the old.
We see many young men who are low spirited, cowardly and aimless, and
we also come across every day many old men, who are courageous, brave,
noble minded and strong.
Of course, the noble quality of bravery of ‘Ammar manifested itself
every day in an ever increasing manner. So much so that friends and foes
alike believed that his sword possessed a special trait, for if the
stroke of a strong warrior inflicted one death on his adversary the
stroke of our hero inflicted two deaths on one, who opposed him! One of
them was the physical death and the other was the spiritual death i.e.,
eternal curse!
Furthermore, the spirit of courage of this godly old man possessed a
special distinction, like the sharpness of his sword, which was praised
by his friends as well as enemies. They knew that, whether he lived or
was killed, truth was with him! Similarly everyone knew that his enemy,
whether he was victorious or subdued, was false.
The noble ‘Ammar was one of the seven stalwart believers of the
earliest days of Islam, who bore on their shoulders the burden of the
service of the Prophetic message with continuous jihad, perfect devotion
and permanent campaigns. And even during his old age, as in his youth,
he was one of the first persons who continued his constant jihad and
energetic campaign with faithfulness, truthfulness and perfect
sincerity, and in whatever enterprise he participated he was recognized
to be the sign of guidance and the specimen of justice and virtue of the
highest order.
This distinguished brave man was the standard bearer of the believers
during the time of the Holy Prophet, and the Prophet (S) tested him at
every stage. And he was the person who emerged successfully from the
test and trial with perfect purity, and was always like a thorn in the
eyes of the polytheists.
Furthermore it was again he who carried the standard of guidance on his
shoulders against "apostasy" even after the demise of the Holy Prophet
(S)!
These distinctions were peculiar to ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, so that he was
recognized to be the sign of guidance. If someone fought side by side
with him and lost his life he was sure that he would go to Paradise, and
conversely whoever fought against him and was killed was sure to go to
Hell.
‘Ammar reported the Holy Prophet (S) to have said: "Whoever holds
within himself three habits at one and the same time is like one who has
held the principles of faith. Those three habits consist of:
Spending at the time of need.
Establishment of justice in all circumstances.
Planning peace and security for the world.
To sum up, if these three noble traits are collected in a person he
will not only be a perfect human being, but his personality will be
recognized in the society to be the very substance of faith, and such a
person will be the manifestation of generosity, justice and peacefulness
whether in the state of war or in the state of peace.