“I wish I had seen what you have seen and witnessed what you witnessed.”

‘Abd ar-Rahman bin Jubayr bin Nufayr related that his father said:

“We were sitting with al-Miqdad bin al-Aswad one day, and a man came by and said: “How fortunate those two eyes of yours are that have seen the Messenger of Allah (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam). I wish I had seen what you have seen and witnessed what you witnessed.”

So, al-Miqdad became angry, and I was surprised! The man only said something good!

He then walked over to the man and said: “What makes this man wish to be where Allah made him absent when he has no idea how he would’ve acted there? By Allah, there were people who saw the Messenger of Allah who will be dragged by Allah on their noses in Hell because they didn’t respond to his call and did not believe in his message. Will you not thank Allah that you were born knowing only your Lord, believing in what your Prophet came with, and have been relieved of trials that others had to go through?””

This was reported by Ahmad (6/2), Ibn Hibban (1684), and al-Albani declared it authentic in ‘Sahih as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah’ (p. 141).a

Here are a couple of points on this statement:

1) The love they had for the Prophet, such that their greatest wish was to simply lay eyes on him, as in the hadith: “There will come a time when to see me will be more beloved for someone than to have the likeness of his family and wealth.” It is quite a noble thing to attain the level of faith where longing to merely see the Prophet would surpass your longing for the material possessions you hold so dear, and remember that your faith goes up in accordance with your good deeds.

2) One should not rush into something without first understanding its reality. Allah Said to the Children of Israel: “…Hold firmly to what We have given you and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein: Perchance ye may fear Allah.” [Surah Al Baqarah 2:63] And Ibn al-Jawzi said in ‘Sayd al-Khatir’ (p. 134): “The smart one should not act on his determination to do something until he calculates: will he be able to handle it? And he should try it out a bit away from others, as there is no guarantee that he won’t be seen in a situation that he can’t handle and end up embarrassing himself.”

3) Steadfastness is totally from Allah. There were people who were in the daily presence of the Prophet, heard him teach and recite the Quran, watched his miracles occur before their eyes, yet disbelieved in him. On the other hand, people living a millennium and a half after his death would gladly give up everything for the sake of a message they simply read about in a book, regarding whom the Prophet said: “I wish I could meet my brothers – those who believe in me without seeing me.”

There are many good brothers and sisters who made the mistake of being impressed with themselves, forgetting that guidance and misguidance are all up to Allah and not their own abilities. As a result, they were abandoned by Allah and left to themselves. Therefore, you should understand very well and ponder deeply over why even the Prophet’s most constant supplication was ‘O Allah, controller of the hearts, keep my heart firm on Your Religion.’

4) We shouldn’t wish to live in a time period other than our own. This specific time in which we’re living is a very exciting one where much, much reward can be gained for the smart one who knows how to take advantage of it.

The Prophet (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “Worship during the time of al-harj is like migration to me,” and Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) as saying: “(When) the time would draw close to the Last Hour, knowledge would be snatched away, turmoil would be rampant, miserliness would be put (in the hearts of the people) and therewould be much bloodshed. They said: What is al-Harj? Thereupon he said: It is bloodshed.” (Sahih Muslim, Book #034, Hadith #6458)

The reason that the virtue of worship is greatly increased in this time is that people are distracted from it and only a few individuals will free themselves for it. And the Prophet described our current time to the Companions: “Indeed, ahead of you are days that require patience. Whoever sticks then to what you are upon now will have the reward of fifty of you.” The greatest victory one can achieve is to stick to the truth in an era where its followers are outcast and persecuted. The harder it is to stick to the truth, the greater the reward will be for doing so. So, why would you want to live at any time other than now?

5) A person having a good intention in something he does or says doesn’t negate that he be shown his error and corrected if necessary.

And Allah Knows best.