Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | oct 22, 2016

The Prophet Muhammad began his mission in Makkah in 610 CE. Then, the time came when the chieftains of Makkah compelled him to leave the city. At that time, the Prophet said to his Companions:

"I was ordered to migrate to a town which will swallow other towns. It is called Yathrib and that is Madinah." (Sahih al-Bukhari)

What is said in this hadith is not about the superiority of the Prophet or of the city of Madinah. Rather, it refers to a general law of God. And that is, when a person faces one-sided oppression or when something of his is wrongly snatched away from him, such a person becomes eligible for God's special assistance.

God gives him much more than what other people have wrongly taken away from him.

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This special gift of God is given to the person who develops the eligibility for this gift. And this eligibility is that in such conditions he remains, till the final limit, a non-complaining person.

Under no circumstances should his sight turn away from God. He should pray for those who oppress him, and for himself he must always remain hopeful from God.

When a person displays this kind of positive approach, it is no ordinary matter. It leads to the creation of a new sort of character within him, a character that is imbued with a desire for the well-being of his oppressors, that remains firmly established in positivity despite negative experiences, and that leaves all one's affairs to God to take care of. Such a person's heart is, under all circumstances, filled with spirituality. He does not react to his circumstances, but, rather, gives all his affairs to God to manage. It is this sort of person who is given that special gift from God that is mentioned in the above-quoted hadith.