Around the world, it is clear to us, perhaps more than ever before, that there are severe consequences to upholding the truth before the tyrants. One region above all inspires the advocates of the Khilafah (Caliphate) wherever they find themselves facing persecution at the hands of the current rulers, from Tunisia to Malaysia, Syria to Pakistan – that region comprises of the states of the former Soviet Union, after its collapse, namely, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Thousands of men and women in these countries are exposed daily to various tortures and humiliations just for the sake of one requirement, to abandon their views and the way they follow, specifically the path of reviving the Islamic way of life in the ranks of Hizb ut Tahrir.
On 24th March 2016, Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan Special Services violated the sanctity of Muslims’ homes and seized women. After targeting nine Muslim women, three were arrested and accused of involvement in Hizb ut Tahrir, which according to Russian laws is an accusation of terrorism. Among the detainees were Akhmetzyanova Eleanor, mother of two young children, including the infant baby, Mukhametzyanova Gulia, a mother of two young children and Farrahova Irina, mother of two young children, one of whom is also an infant. In Kazakhstan, 25th April 2016, Radio Liberty in Kazakhstan published an article about imprisoned member of Hizb ut Tahrir Rafis Galiulin, forced to drink boiling water and to eat charred food. He is not allowed to use the bathroom, deprived of sleep and they even tried to infect him with tuberculosis, by intentionally imprisoning him with infected people, urging him to defame Hizb ut Tahrir “and to say that people who following that –are misled.”
In Tajikistan, over a period of a decade, over 300 members of the Hizb ut Tahrir have been sentenced to long jail terms and spent their sentences in detentions, while some members have embraced martyrdom behind the thick walls of the security colonies and prisons. And then there is the long caravan of martyrs from the advocates for the Khilafah in Uzbekistan, struck down by the hands of Karimov, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى end him soon at the hands of a Khaleefah Rashid.
What inspires the sincere Muslim striving to please His Creator, is the patience in the face of immense prolonged tyranny. Indeed, patience means we speak and act upon the truth, bearing the severe hardship that results in the path of Allah without deviation, weakness or compliance. Patience is not as the mouthpieces of the regimes proclaim, isolating ourselves from the people and leaving the oppressors to commit their evil (munkar) no matter how much the Ummah suffers of violation of its lands, usurping of its resources and undermining of its Deen. These shayateen amongst men would wish that we not dare to speak the truth or undertake the actions that are pleasing to Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Instead they would wish that we remain silent, hiding in our homes and our dunya work, confining ourselves to the mundane lives whilst quietly deluding ourselves that we are patient and so will are safe from the wrath of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. No, this is not the patience for which Allah promised the gardens of bliss:
إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
“Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full, without reckoning.”
(Surah Zumar 30:10)
No, this is not patience but cowardice from which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to seek refuge from in his du’a:
«الْلَّهُم إِنِّي أَعُوْذ بِك مِن الْهَم والْحَزَن، وأَعُوْذ بِك مِن الْعَجْز والْكَسَل، وأَعُوْذ بِك مِن الْجُبْن والْبُخْل، وأَعُوْذ بِك مِن غَلَبَة الدَّيْن وقَهْر الْرِّجَال»
“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from worry and grief, from helplessness and laziness, from cowardice and stinginess, and from overpowering of debt and from oppression of men.”
The whispering shayateen amongst men further seek to belittle and pour scorn on our patience in the face of their oppression. Facing a wall of defiance from the advocates of Khilafah under interrogation, torture and prolonged imprisonment, the regimes’ thugs then resort to approaching families, friends and work colleagues, proclaiming that the advocates must be restrained or boycotted, because they invite hardship on themselves! How so, when RasulAllah ﷺ said,
«إِذَا أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ قَوْمًا ابْتَلاهُمْ، فَمَنْ صَبَرَ فَلَهُ الصَّبْرُ، وَمَنْ جَزِعَ فَلَهُ الْجَزَعُ»
“When Allah loves a people he tests them. The one who is patient will be granted the patience. The one who shows anguish will be given anguish.”?
How so when RasulAllah ﷺ said:
«مَا مِنْ مُسْلِمٍ يُصِيبُهُ أَذًى شَوْكَةٌ فَمَا فَوْقَهَا إِلَّا كَفَّرَ اللَّهُ بِهَا سَيِّئَاتِهِ كَمَا تَحُطُّ الشَّجَرَةُ وَرَقَهَا»
“No Muslim is afflicted with any harm but that Allah will remove his sins as the leaves of a tree fall down.” (Agreed upon)?
And how so when RasulAllah ﷺ said,
«عَجَبًا لأَمْرِ المؤمنِ إِنَّ أمْرَه كُلَّهُ لهُ خَيرٌ ليسَ ذلكَ لأَحَدٍ إلا للمُؤْمنِ إِنْ أصَابتهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فكانتْ خَيرًا لهُ وإنْ أصَابتهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبرَ فكانتْ خَيرًا لهُ»
“Wondrous are the believer’s affairs. For him there is good in all his affairs, and this is so only for the believer. When something pleasing happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him; and when something displeasing happens to him, he is enduring (ṣabr), and that is good for him.” (Muslim)?
Let the advocates of the Khilafah and their wider circle of family, friends and supporter throw back the whispering of the regime’s thugs back in their faces. Let them remind them that such patience is needed as much today as it was needed previously when the righteous faced the tyrants in the time of RasulAllah ﷺ. Patience which strengthens the resolve and brings the path to Jannah closer is needed today as it was then. Such patience is the patience of RasulAllah ﷺ in the face of beating by the thugs of the regime, for Al-Haakim reported, in al-Mustadrak that Anas (ra) said: “They beat Allah’s Messenger until he fainted. Abu Bakr came and started to shout and say: Woe to you! Do you kill a man just because he says my Lord is Allah? They said: “Who is this?” They replied: “This is the son of Abu Quhaafah, the madman.” It is the patience of RasulAllah ﷺ who was pelted by Abu Lahab with stones, causing his ankles and hamstring to bleed just after he proclaimed to the people in the market of Zil Majaaz
«يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، قُولُوا: لا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ تُفْلِحُوا»
“O people, say there is no god but Allah and you shall be successful.”
It is the patience of Abu Dharr (ra) upon his reversion to Islam as narrated by Muslim, “I came to Makkah and I selected an insignificant person from amongst them and said to him: “Where is he whom you call a Sabi?” He pointed towards me, saying: “He is Sabi. Thereupon the people of the valley attacked me with sods and bows until I fell down unconscious. I stood up after regaining consciousness and I found that I resembled a red idol…” It is the patience of Bilal (ra) who was made to wear metal armour and stand in the sun and then dragged to the street, to force him to renounce Islam. And it is the patience of Yaasir (ra) regarding whom RasulAllah ﷺ said,
«صَبْراً آلَ ياسر فإنَّ مَوْعِدَكُم الجَنَّة»
“Have patience O family of Yaasir for indeed your abode is the Jannah.”
Let the advocates of the Khilafah and those who love and support them surge forwards as one unified block for their Deen, knowing that the reward of the patient is forgiveness and mercy, for Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوفْ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الاٌّمَوَالِ وَالاٌّنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّـبِرِينَ – الَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُواْ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّـآ إِلَيْهِ رَجِعونَ – أُولَـئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَتٌ مِّن رَّبْهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ
“And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient) – Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: “Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.” – They are those on whom are the Salawat (i.e., who are blessed and will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His mercy, and it is they who are the guided ones.”
(Surah al-Baqarah 155-157)
Let us speak the truth and face the consequences with patience, knowing that this testing distinguishes between the truthful and the liar, for Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَـهِدِينَ مِنكُمْ وَالصَّـبِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَـرَكُمْ
“And surely, We shall try you till We test those who strive hard (for the cause of Allah) and As-Sabirin (the patient), and We shall test your facts (i.e., the one who is a liar, and the one who is truthful).”
(Surah Muhammad 47:31)
Let us be patient in these times of intense and prolonged adversity for this is the true path for success in the Afterlife, a life of eternal bliss for Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,
يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ اصْبِرُواْ وَصَابِرُواْ وَرَابِطُواْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“O you who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy. Vie in such perseverance, strengthen each other, and be pious, that you may prosper.”
(Surah Aali Imran 3:200)
Musab Umair – Pakistan