(ii)They hoped that God would give them this world and the next...

(ii)They hoped that God would give them this world and the next, and save them from any predicament in which they would have to choose one of the two. They hoped that they would always live in peace and keep both their religion and their worldly benefits, so that they might carry out their duties toward God Most High the way He wanted and also enjoy worldly pleasures to their fill.

(iii)They wished that their worldly inclination should not control or rob them of their ability to choose and take decisions. Therefore they wanted to possess a sound conscience that was free to make resolutions despite the fact that they were taking part in worldly matters like the rest of the people and enjoying the world like them. (iv)They retained the freedom to decide by the time they reached the point of separation, where it became mandatory to select one of the two ways: God or the world.

So they disassociated themselves from this world and turned towards the next world, from falsehood towards the truth, from selfish interest and the opponents of God ( taghut ) towards God, although with difficulty and much effort, for they were disentangling themselves from the grip of the world. This is the nature of taking a difficult decision in life. There are two forms of decision making: a difficult one and a simple one.

The resolution taken by the people in this class at the point of separation was among the most difficult things. Nevertheless, they finally succeed in extricating themselves from the grip of the world and move towards God, whatever the cost. The book of God gives us a picture of this class of people. It is about the companions of the Messenger of God (S) who fought at Badr. These people are still cited as examples of faith, perseverance, loyalty and sacrifice.

However, what the holy Qur'an portrays of their excruciating traumatic experience when they attacked their enemies from the polytheists of Quraysh calls for pondering. The Most High Says: "they were being driven towards death as they looked on." [^2] Just as a person extricates himself from the world when he is marched to his death, seeing it before his eyes, those righteous ones from among the companions of the Messenger of God disentangled themselves from the world at Badr.

Despite this, they did not hesitate to answer the call of the Messenger of God (S). They came forward, fought and were killed, thus attaining martyrdom.