Keep the example of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiqra before you at all times. Think about the time of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when the Quraysh were bent on mischief on all fronts and the disbelievers hatched conspiracies to kill the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. This era was a most trying time. All of you who are seated before me now ought to reflect that if today, a trial of this nature were to fall upon you, how many of you would stand by me? Or for example, what if the government began to investigate one by one the people who have sworn allegiance to me? How many of you would bravely say that they are among my followers? I am aware that some of you would lose the feeling in your hands and feet, and they would immediately begin to think about their properties and relatives, and how they would have to part with them. To stand by in times of difficulty is the sign of those who are true in faith. Hence, during the era in which the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was faced with grave trials and at a time when plans were being devised to kill him, the manner in which Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiqra fulfilled his commitment of friendship is an example unparalleled in our world. Such strength and resilience is impossible without faith. Until a person practically instils faith within themselves, nothing can be achieved, for until such a time, a person’s excuses will have no end. When the people are actually faced with a burning fire, there are few who prove firm. The disciples of the Messiah abandoned him and fled in his last hours when he was confronted with misfortune, and some even cursed him to his face.
This is a point where one ought to take a lesson. At one point, during the life of Hazrat Imam Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him, Muslim offered the Prayer with a congregation of 70,000 people who had sworn allegiance to Hazrat Imam Husaynra. However, when a certain individual came and threatened them at the behest of Yazid, all of them fled.
(Malfuzat [English], Vol. 2, pp. 89-90)
