JULY 28
God Helps Those Who Have
Lost All for His Sake
The Prophet Abraham was born in the Iraqian town of Ur. When his opponents made life impossible for him there, God commanded him to proceed to the Arab desert. There, in the uninhabited valley of Makkah, he built the House of God. One of the prayers that he uttered on this occasion was this:
‘Lord, I have settled some of my offspring in a barren valley near Your Sacred House, so that they may observe the prayer. Put in the hearts of men kindness towards them, and provide them with the earth’s fruits, so that they may give thanks. Lord, You have knowledge of all that we hide and all that we reveal: nothing in heaven or earth is hidden from God.’ (14:37-38).
There is great symbolic importance attached to this event in the life of Abraham. Here history speaks, telling us what happens to God’s servant who arises to preach the message of truth in all its purity: he is rejected by the conventional order; religious institutions refuse to acknowledge him; he even becomes unappealing to friends and relatives. The cultivated valleys of the world, despite all their fertility, become dry for him. He is forced to take his wife and family to live in a barren land. There, he calls upon his Lord: “Lord,” he says, ‘they have no one to help them but You. The world of man has refused to support them; now You make springs gush forth beneath their feet.’
This is an extremely delicate moment in the history of man. The pulse of the universe stops beating at such a time. The earth, and all heavenly bodies, await new instructions before continuing their course. Man sees a new and unfamiliar happening. “Spring” gush forth in the desert. The blessings of God start descending from above. Winds scatter the words of the preacher among mankind. God, in all His might, comes to the assistance of His servants—the ones who were scorned and deprived of all assistance by people of the world. To preach the pure truth is the most difficult task beneath the heavens; but it is this task that draws God’s succour more than any other. This succour only comes, however, when the preacher of God’s word has fully communicated his message, and people’s persecution of him as a result has reached its climax.
