Now let us look at this deal of the believers in this background.

Now let us look at this deal of the believers in this background. We know that we have not received the price, i.e. the Garden, yet. Now if a believer does not hand over his own life and properties immediately to Allah, that deal would not be binding. In other words, we shall have no claim on the price, on the Day of Judgement But here arises the big question: How can we hand over our lives and properties to Allah? The answer: We can easily do so by changing their status.

Let me give another example from Islamic Laws. Suppose a believer dedicates his property as an endowment (waqf) in the way of Allah, and appoints himself as its first trustee (mutawalli). Now he will continue to look after and manage that property as he was doing before but with one difference: Previously he was managing it as his own property; now he shall do it as Allah's property. Previously he was the owner; now he considers himself merely the agent of the owner- agent of Allah.

Likewise, we should immediately hand over our lives and properties to Allah, although we shall continue to look after them as Allah's agents. And whenever the Owner, i.e. Allah, tells us to return His belongings to Him, to spend our lives and properties (which now belong to Him) in His way, we should gladly sacrifice all that is in our hands.

After all it is not our life, it belongs to Allah; it is not our wealth, we are keeping it as agents of Allah; our family, our children, our honour, our authority- nothing belongs to us, we have sold everything to Allah, and when He, as the rightful Owner, decides any thing about His property, we as His agents have no right to grumble.

When the call comes to return our lives to Allah, to sacrifice our families and children in the way of Allah, weshould gladly hand back every thing to Allah; rather we should be thankful to Him that He has relieved us from the responsibility of looking after a trust property. Thus a believer knows that he has no say about his life or about his death.

His own soul does not belong to him, and he keeps the Our' anic guidance before his eyes: Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. (6 :162) Let us look at Imam Husayn's life and martyrdom if we want to find the most perfect and the most brilliant example of this verse.