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» “And whoever committed an injustice will have utterly failed” - By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
“And whoever committed an injustice will have utterly failed” - By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
“And whoever committed an
injustice will have utterly failed”
By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Dear Muslims: On the Day of Judgement the
scales will be established, justice will prevail and every right will be given
to its owner. On that day Allah the Exalted will say, “By My power and might
the injustice of an oppressor will not go unpunished by Me today.” And in an
authentic hadith, the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him, said, “Beware of injustice as indeed injustice will be a darkness on the
Day of Judgement.” (Related by Muslim).
Wisdom dictates that we put
everything in its proper place and justice dictates that both scales of the
balance be equal. However, injustice is the antithesis of each of these and the
life of this world is not free from oppressors and the oppressed. Despite this,
Allah loves wisdom and He loves justice and consequently, He gives aid to the
oppressed. At the same time He hates injustice and oppression, as He says in
Qur`an,
“And your Lord is not unjust
to His slaves.” (41:46)
And in another verse, “Indeed
Allah is not unjust to mankind but it is mankind who are unjust to themselves.”
(10:44 )
Dear Brothers And Sisters In
Islam: One
form of injustice is the oppression of one’s own soul by the committing of sins
and the performance of acts of disobedience - all of which Allah has forbidden.
This is not all however, as oppression of one’s own soul may also take the form
of preventing oneself from the pleasure of being obedient to one’s Lord and
Creator, as there is nothing more enjoyable to a pure soul than the pleasure of
worshipping its Lord and to exist in the blessing of His servitude. Oppression
of one’s own soul also means that a person believes that to bring about
benefit, harm, giving, fear, hope and trusting are for created beings and how
is this possible when a person is unable to bring about benefit, or harm or
life or death for himself let alone anyone else? All of this is the right of
Allah, as He says in the Qur`an,
“Doesn’t the creation and the
command belong to Allah.” (7:54 )
Dear Muslims: Oppression of one’s soul
maybe extended to become injustice to others and this is what we hear commonly
in the lives of people; for example, this is apparent in the oppression of some
rulers with regard to their subjects. Let us consider some of the issues that
people are neglectful of, considering them to be issues that are in significant
and unimportant but that are great in the sight of Allah.
Firstly, the oppression of
children with regard to their parents, which occurs when they are disobedient
to them and which the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him, informed us is one of the greatest sins. As such, you see such a person
leaving the obedience of their parents, disrespecting them, being ill mannered
with them, displaying dislike and disdain for them, denying the good they have
done for them, despite the fact that they are one of the main reasons for his existence
on the face of this planet.
In contrast if we were to
examine the oppression of parents with regard to their children we would find
that it is a dangerous ailment and a cause of great corruption. Your oppression
of your children begins by not teaching them the affairs of their religion,
which are compulsory duties, such as purification, prayer and the rulings
regarding such acts of worship. Similarly, by your neglect of training them in
the foundations and principles of Islamic manners and by allowing them to roam
freely, with no accountability or responsibility, in the company of the ill
mannered. In addition, you oppress your children by nourishing their bodies
with illegal wealth, such as that gained from usury, interest and forbidden
transactions and as you are aware, a body which has been nourished with illegal
gains then Hellfire is more deserving of it.
Another form of injustice is
that of the husband regarding his wife and that of the wife regarding her
husband. As for the husband, Allah has ordered him to live in harmony with his
wife and the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has
ordered him to fear Allah regarding his wife saying, “… fear Allah regarding
women, as indeed you have taken them with the trust of Allah and made
permissible for yourselves their bodies with the word of Allah.” As for the
wife then she is requested to be obedient to her husband in that which is good
and to protect her husband’s home, wealth and children. Similarly, the husband
is ordered to teach his family the rulings of Islam, especially those which are
specific to women, with regard to purification and dress codes etc.
Dear Brothers And Sisters In
Islam: From
the most familiar forms of injustice which occurs amongst people is when they attack
one another in terms of their bodies, wealth and honour - and how common this
is in our daily lives. However, the successful and saved person is the one who
left this world having neither Muslim blood on his hands, Muslim wealth in his
pockets and who had controlled his tongue regarding their reputation. Thus, his
good deeds will be secured and he will be saved from carrying the sins of
others. So beware and be afraid of the supplication of the oppressed as it
rises up to Allah and there is no barrier between it and Him.
There is also a type of
injustice that Allah will not forgive, which is to associate partners with Him
(shirk). In contrast, oppression of one’s own soul may be forgiven via
repentance, seeking Allah’s forgiveness, and the good deeds and trials, which
expiate sins. In addition, Allah (SWT) does not allow His creation to simply
oppress one another with no accountability - indeed, every one will have his
rights returned to him on the day of Judgement and as such, no one will be
saved on that day except by returning people’s belongings to them and
requesting them to overlook and forgive such injustices.
And if your power over people
encourages you to oppress them, remember the power Allah has over you and
remember your meeting in the hereafter with the Most Just of Judges. So whoever
oppressed his brother in terms of wealth or reputation or any other matter,
then let him seize the opportunity in this life to free himself from his act of
injustice before a day comes where neither wealth nor prestige will avail him,
as the judgement on that day will be settled with good deeds and bad deeds. So
whoever had good deeds, then they will be taken from him according to the
amount of injustice he committed and whoever had no good deeds, then the sins
of the one he oppressed will be placed upon him until his scales will become
heavy with the sins of other people, as the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and
blessings be upon him, said, “Do you know who the bankrupt person is?” They
[the Companions] replied, “The bankrupt person among us is the one who has no
money or belongings.” He, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, said,
“The bankrupt person from my community is the one who came on the Day of
Judgement with prayers, fasting and zakat but also came having abused someone,
slandered another, took the wealth of another, spilled the blood of another and
struck another. [Consequently] his rewards will be distributed to all of them
and when they have been exhausted before his account is fulfilled, then their
sins will be taken and cast upon him and he will be thrown into Hellfire.”
(Related by Muslim)
May Allah (SWT) forgive, bless
and guide us all (Ameen).
