The Quran and Exposure of the Enemies

Islam has paid due attention to the independence of the Muslim Ummah, and for this very reason it has suggested certain measures to prevent any kind, of alien interference in the internal affairs of an Islamic State on the part of the non‑Muslims. The Quranic imperatives are categorical in this regard. In some of the Quranic verses the evil designs and targets of the plotting unbelievers are fully exposed, so that Muslims should not he deceived by their hypocritical attitude. They also suggest how this challenge should be met. A few relevant verses are quoted here:

The unbelievers of the People of the Book (the Jews and the Christians) and the idolaters do not like that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord, and God chooses especially whom He pleases for His mercy, and God is of bounty abounding. (2:105)

If you are visited with good fortune it vexes them, and if an evil afflicts you, they rejoice at it. Yet if you are patient and God‑fearing, their evil designs will not harm you in any way; God encompasses the things they do. (3:120)

Many of the People of the Book wish that they might restore you as unbelievers, after you have believed, in the jealousy of their souls after the truth has become manifest to them; yet do you pardon and forgive, till God brings His command; truly God is powerful over everything. (2:109)

O believers, if you obey a sect of those who have been given the Book, they will turn you after you have believed, into unbelievers. (3:100)

O believers, if you obey the unbelievers they will turn you upon your heels, so that you turn back losers. No; but God is your Protector and He is the best of helpers. (3:149‑150)

So for their breaking their covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard; they pervert words from their meanings; and they have forgotten a portion of what they were reminded of; and you shall always discover treachery in them excepting a few of them. Yet pardon them, and forgive; surely Allah loves the good‑doers. (5:13)

Never will the Jews be pleased with you, neither the Christians, not till you follow their religion. Say: "Surely God's guidance is the [only] true guidance." And if you follow their caprices after the knowledge that has come to you, you shall have against God neither protector nor helper. (2:120)

How can it be? If they get the better of you, they will not observe towards you any bond or treaty, giving you satisfaction with their mouths while their hearts do not consent; and most of them are transgressors. They have sold the signs o f God for a small price, and have barred from His way; surely evil is that they have been doing, observing neither bond nor treaty towards a believer; they are the transgressors. (9:8‑10)

Ha, there you are; you love them while they love you not; you believe in the Book, all of it, and when they meet you they say, `We believe,' and when they go privily, they bite at you their fingers. Say: Die in your rage;' surely God knows what is in the hearts. (3:119)

As for the unbelievers, they are friends one of another. Unless you do this, there will be persecution an the earth and great corruption. (8:73)

These verses disclose the evil motives, secret designs, and the essential characteristics of the unbelievers, some of which are given below:

1. If any good fortune comes to you, the unbelievers and polytheists are unhappy, for they do not like to see you benefited from anything. They are happy if some misfortune befalls you.

2. The unbelievers nurture jealousy for you and wish to turn you back from your faith.

3. If you obey the unbelievers they would make you give up your faith.

4. The unbelievers are dishonest in dealings with you, and you ought to be always aware of their evil intentions.

5. The Jews and the Christians shall never accept you unless you embrace their faith.

6. Their pacts and covenants are unreliable. If they find means of subordinating you, they will violate all the treaties and compacts that they earlier signed with you.

7. The unbelievers shall never be friendly with you, even though you treat them as friends.

8. The unbelievers are united in friendship against you and shall cooperate with one another to inflict losses on you.

God, the Almighty, has warned Muslims of the malice, enmity, dishonesty, and subversive nature of the unbelievers so that Muslims may be conscious of the fact that they can never be trusted as friends and well‑wishers. It is imperative to keep them at a distance and to strengthen your defences.

God places great emphasis on the defence of the freedom and independence of Islam against the dangers posed by the evil plots of its enemies. After enumerating some of the characteristics of the unbelievers and their evil objectives, God warns Muslims of the dangers of being friendly with them, placing reliance on them, and against surrendering their resources and powers to them. He warns them against following the unbelievers and thus directly or indirectly helping them in realizing their objectives. The Islamic State should not form friendly alliances with the unbelievers, nor are their covenants to be fully trusted. Some Quranic verses in this context may be referred to:

O believers, take not for your intimates outside yourselves; such men spare nothing to ruin you; they yearn for you to suffer. Hatred has already shown itself of their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is yet greater. Indeed, We have made Our signs clear to you, if you understand them. (3:118)

O believers, do not take the Jews and Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, he is one of them. Surely God does notguide the evildoers. (5:51)

O believers, do not take for guardians those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke, from among those who were given the Book before you and the unbelievers; and fear God, if you are believers. (5:57)

O believers, do not take My enemy and your enemy for friends; would you offer them love while they deny what has come to you of the Truth, expelling the Apostle and yourselves because you believe in God, your Lord? If you go forth to struggle in My path and seek My good pleasure, would you show love for them in secret? And I know what you conceal and what you manifest, and whoever of you does this, he indeed has gone astray from the straight path. (60:1)

O believers, do not take the unbelievers for friends rather than the believers, do you desire that you should give to Allah a manifest proof against yourselves? (4:144)

O believers, do not make friends with a people with whom God is wroth; indeed they despair of the Hereafter as the unbelievers despair of those in graves. (60:13)

Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends rather than believers; for whoso does that belongs not to God in anything, unless you have a fear of them. God warns you that you beware of Him, and unto God is the eventual coming. (3:28)

In addition to the traits of the unbelievers enumerated earlier the following can also be inferred from the verses quoted above:

1. The unbelievers nurture malice towards the believers and do not spare anything for harming them in any possible way.

2. Their enmity of Muslims finds expression in what they say, but the intensity of their unexpressed enmity, hidden in their hearts, is far greater.

3. They can never accept your religion and they make fun of it.

4. They are enemies of Muslims and of God, and do not accept the Quranic teachings.

God, after warning us of the characteristics of the unbelievers, makes it explicit that they are not well‑wishing friends of the believers and the believers should not consider them as their friends, guardians, and defenders, and should not reveal their secrets to them. They are un­trustworthy and so are their pacts and promises. The Muslims should not allow them to plan on their behalf and to decide for them. They should not let the unbelievers take charge of their institutions and decide their policies and execute their programmes, and they should not let themselves be deceived by their apparently well‑wishing but inwardly injurious suggestions. This point is repeatedly stressed, and finally it is declared that a Muslim who males any pact of friendship and alliance with the unbelievers ceases to be one of the Islamic Ummah and the Party of God.

Friendship with unbelievers is considered even as a sign of disbelief

And had they believed in God and the Prophet (S) and what was revealed to him, they would not have taken them (the unbelievers) for friends, but most of them are transgressors. (5:81)

You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day be­friending those who act in opposition to Allah and His Apostle, even though they were their [own] fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kinsfolk. (58:22)

In these Quranic verses the basic guide‑lines of an Islamic govern­ment's external policy in relation to the countries having no faith in God is clearly and explicitly laid down. Muslims are categorically commanded to guard and defend their independence and freedom, and not let the unbelievers to infiltrate and interfere in their internal affairs. Muslims are asked to be on guard against them. All relations and pacts which would ultimately lead to the increasing influence and domination of unbelievers over the affairs of Muslims are illegitimate and must be abstained from. The Quranic injunction in this regard is not only clear but also categorical:

... And Allah will by no means give the unbelievers a way against the believer‑s [to dominate them]. (4:141)

Love To Be Unknown

Some amazing statements from Shaykh Sayyid al-‘Affani’s book on Ikhlas:

‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: “Develop a love for obscurity, being hidden from the people, and disliking fame. Do not show that you love obscurity such that you end up raising yourself (above others). The fact that you ascribe Zuhd (asceticism) to yourself has taken you out of the realms of Zuhd because you will have drawn in the praise and admiration of people.” 1

Obscurity is not shameful for him

Who is of virtue and completeness

For the Night of Decree is left obscure

And it is the best of all nights…

“My brother, if you desire the path of sincerity, flee from the clatter and clinks of fame, and flee from the clamour that comes with being a celebrity. Be like the roots of a tree; it keeps the tree upright and gives it life, but it itself is hidden underneath the earth and eyes cannot see it. Or be like the foundations of a building; were it not for the foundation, no wall could be erected and no house could be established, but yet no-one sees the foundation.” 2

Ibrahim al-Nakha’i: “They (the pious predecessors) used to dislike showing the righteous deeds that performed in secret.” 3

Al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyyadh: “The best of knowledge and righteous acts are those hidden to the people.” 4

Sufyan al-Thawri: “Every deed that I have manifested to the people, I do not count it as being anything…” 5

Wuhayb ibn al-Wird wrote to a brother of his the following: “By the external appearance of your knowledge, you have attained (high) ranks and reverence with the people! So seek with Allah higher ranks and closeness by virtue of your hidden good deeds. And know that these two ranks, one cancels out the other.” 6

Khalid ibn Durayk said about Ibn Muhayriz: “… He had two characteristics which I haven’t seen in anyone I’ve met in this Ummah; He was the furthest from remaining silent over Truth after it became clear to him, regardless of who was angered or pleased, and he was the most ardent in hiding his best deeds from himself.” 7

Imam al-Shafi’i: “The scholar/knowledgeable one should have good deeds stored in secret between him and Allah the Most High. Indeed, all that he manifests of knowledge or deeds to the people, will be of little benefit in the Hereafter.” 8

And regarding the verses:

تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّا أُخْفِيَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend out of what We have bestowed on them.

And no person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do.” [al-Sajdah: 16-17]

Al-Hasan al-Basri said, “These people hid their deeds so Allah the Most High hid for them that which no eye has seen and no ear has heard.”

May Allah help us in attaining and retaining good intentions and deeds of great sincerity, ameen.

_____________________

1] Al-Atqiya’ al-Akhfiya’ by Dr. Sa’id ‘Abd al-‘Adhim

2] Al-Niyyah wal-Ikhlas by Dr. al-Qaradawi

3] Tahdhib al-Hilyah

4] Tanbih al-Mughtarin

5] See above source

6] Tahdhib al-Hilyah

7] See above source

8] Tanbih al-Mughtarin

Advice from a martyred shaheed(Part-2)

continued......
 
“Hasbunallaahu Wa ni’mal Wakeel” these are words which made the kings with immense power, like pharaoh and namrood, tremble and shake. Words which, brought fear to the armies of Kuffār. Words which if uttered in its true sense while believing in each letter, fires are made cold, armies of tughāt are struck with fear and forced to flee, swords which are raised over heads would fall in fear, seas would be cut into halves. What harm can be brought over a man whose reliance is upon the Controller of all the mankind? Whose army is not known except to Him alone? Who if wishes anything says “be” and it happens? Yes my brethren, it is the reliance upon Allāh Almighty alone. It is to know in every circumstance, that Allāh is enough as a helper, as the One who provides provision, as a Savior; to know that He is enough against all the creation.


When this is really understood by the slave, then in the most difficult time, it would be said with full belief “what do you think O Abu Bakr about two whose third is Allāh?”, it would be said when swords are raised over your skull without the slightest doubt “Allāh will save me”, it would be said when great armies get together against you, or when the whole nation is out to kill you, even worse, when they have tied you, when they have jailed you, when they have put you in the catapult, and at the moment being thrown into a fire, a destruction, which your eyes see, and surely your eyes aren’t deceiving you! In this difficult time, when the heart of the believer shines, when the light of Eeman eliminates all doubts about The Qadīr, and when it is firmly believed that the all the Power is His alone, the fire is His, all the creation belong to Him, and when it is said in this moment with all certainty “Hasbunallāhu Wani’mal Wakēl” (enough for me is Allāh, and how good is the One who is relied upon), the fire becomes cold, and the tughāt trembles and the plots of Kuffār fails in front of the plot of Al Qahhār.


So this is what you must carry with you in your actions and beliefs, in this hard difficult trip. So learn O slave of Saboor and ponder on the meanings of the Qur’an and the stories in which incidents of such are explained. But now make a difference in the way you read. While you read, read as if you are the one who is experiencing it, or a person who might experience those events, for who knows? If you are loved by Allāh, He will surely send trails on you. Read! Knowing, it is the path of the people on whom Allāh has bestowed upon. This is the prayer you recite in al-fātiha at least 17 times in your prayer, to show their path. So now that you have asked Allāh their path! Know this is their path.


Ponder while you are alone on the words like “lā hawla walā quwwata illā billāh” (there is no movement or Power except with the help of Allāh) If you really comprehend the meaning of these words so short as a sentence, yet so strong in meaning, you will then really fear none. Then when this is learnt by your action and not by theory, you will really understand the meanings of the words “know that even if the Ummah got together to harm you with anything, they can never harm you except with what Allāh has already decreed over you…”


And know that these can only be learnt in its true meaning after you start running to the fields of Jihād, and give the true Dawah in which absolute no compromise is made, which the satans who attribute knowledge to themselves, do. And when blood is in your throat for Allāh’s sake, and when you are struck with pain due to the hatred received from the ones you loved –due to no reason except for standing firm in the Millat of Ibrāhim without hesitation, fearing none and not fearing the results which will occur by telling what is Haqq for Allāh’s sake, and when the whole world is against you due to them being in the trench of Shaitan while you are in the trench of Rahman, so when you are faced with trials like this, you will truly know the meaning of the reliance and turning to Allāh. So learn it with action.


“Now only O Umar! (Your Emān is complete)” Words said to Umar RA. Words if thought about, it would bring fear into hearts empty from this sifat. But has any pondered why these words by the prophet of mercy were said? The reason behind this is the reason which in reality took you out your house, your wealth, your family to strive to make Allāh’s word supreme. That is to ‘Love Allāh and His messenger and making Jihād in His Path more than anything else in this world’. This is what, if not found in our hearts, we are warned to wait for Allāh’s order to fall on us! This is one the first and most important sifat mentioned by Allāh about those who will be brought after making us astray if we turn our backs to this religion “O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islâm), Allâh will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allâh, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allâh which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allâh is All*Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All*Knower.”.