"Did your brother hold me friend?"
He said: "Yes,"
Then Amir al-mu'minin said:
In that case he was with us. Rather in this army of
ours even those persons were also present who are still in the loins of men and wombs of
women. Shortly, time will bring them out and faith will get strength through them.
(1).
If a person falls short in his actions despite means and equipment, this would be
indicative of the weakness of his will. But if there is an impediment in the way of action
or his life comes to an end as a result of which his action remains incomplete, then in
that case Allah would not deprive him of the reward on the basis that actions are judged
by intention. Since his intention in any case was to perform the action, therefore he
should deserve reward to some extent.
In the case of action, there may be
absence of reward because action can involve show or pretence but intention is hidden in
the depth of heart. It can have not a jot of show or affectation. The intention would
remain at the same level of frankness, truth, perfection and correctness where it is, even
though there may be no action due to some impediment. Even if there is no occasion for
forming intention but there is passion and zeal in the heart, a man would deserve reward
on the basis of his heart's feelings. This is to what Amir al-mu'minin has alluded in this
sermon, namely that "If your brother loved me he would share the reward with those
who secured martyrdom for our support."
Forward to Sermon 13.
Back to Sermon 11.