Throughout the Muslim World, the Muslims are living under an era of persecution because of their Deen. They witness those who are calling to Islam facing immense persecution. The persecution is to the extent that the regimes do not shy from persecuting the elderly, the ill or the women. As an example, the rulers of Pakistan on 30th July 2018 abducted a mother of four from her home in Karachi, just because she possessed Islamic literature related to the Khilafah project. Matters have come to a point where the regimes are exposed in their deviation from the Deen of Islam. Indeed, it is the time to strive upon truth in order to end the Fitnah unleashed by the rulers.
However, instead, some Muslims keep distance from the struggle for the Deen, saying that, “This time of Fitna is in the Knowledge of Allah (swt), so let us leave it to Him.” They then become paralyzed by fatalism, remaining passive before all the tyranny they witness. They become spectators to the struggle between the advocates of Khilafah and the tyrants, rather than active participants, giving their full share to end the rule of tyranny. So the journalist who can write regarding the oppression, does not lift his pen. The alim (scholar) who can give Khutbah in support of the call for the Khilafah, does not speak. The human rights activists who can raise the case of the oppressed, turn away. And the army officer who can grant Nussrah to stop the tyrants at the height of their tyranny, declines to do so. However, they have fallen into error and exposed themselves to sin, because the Knowledge of Allah (swt) is not an excuse for inaction.
Indeed, all that has happened, is happening and will happen to the Ummah is already in the Knowledge of Allah (swt). Allah (swt) said, وَعِنْدَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لاَ يَعْلَمُهَا إِلاَّ هُوَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِنْ وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا وَلاَ حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الأَرْضِ وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ “With Him are the keys of the Unseen, the treasures that none knows but He. He knows whatever there is on the earth and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but with His knowledge: There is not a grain in the darkness (or depths) of the earth, nor any thing fresh or dry (green or withered), but is (Written) in a Clear Book (to those who can read).” [Al-An’aam 6:59] The Clear Book (كتاب مبين Kitaabun Mubeen) mentioned in the Aayah is the Protected Tablet (اللوح المحفوظ al-LauH ul-MaHfooDH). It comes as confirmation to His saying, إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا ‘that none knows but He’. Thus, it is a Metonymy (كناية Kinaayah) about the ‘Ilm of Allah (swt).
RasulAllah ﷺ ensured that the first generation, the best of all generations, never used the Knowledge of Allah swt as an excuse for inaction. RasulAllah ﷺ ordered the Muslims to undertake good actions at all times and forbade them from using the Knowledge of Allah (swt) as an excuse for inaction. Bukhari narrated that `Ali (ra) said: We were in the company of the Prophet ﷺ and he said, «مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلاَّ وَقَدْ كُتِبَ مَقْعَدُهُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ وَمَقْعَدُهُ مِنَ النَّارِ» “There is none among you but has his place Written for him, either in Paradise or in the Hell-Fire.” We said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! Shall we depend (on this fact and give up work)?” He replied, «لاَ، اعْمَلُوا فَكُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ» “No! Carry on doing good deeds, for everybody will find easy (to do) such deeds as will lead him to his Known place.” Then the Prophet (swt) recited, فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَى وَاتَّقَى * وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى * فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْيُسْرَى إِلَى قَوْلِهِ فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْعُسْرَى “As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah, and believes in the Best reward. We will ease him towards ease…. and we will ease him towards hardship.” [Surah al-Layl 92:5-10].”
Thus, Iman (belief) in the Knowledge of Allah (swt) does not mean depending on it, because al-Qadar and Kitaabah, i.e. the Knowledge of Allah, are not known to any creature without His grant, so on what does man have to depend to decide whether he acts or does not act? RasulAllah ﷺ said to the one who asked him, should not we depend? No, i.e. he ﷺ forbade him from depending. Moreover, he ﷺ was not satisfied with that alone and insisted as well: اعْمَلُوا ‘Work’, i.e. he ordered him to action. Thus his Forbiddance (نهي Nahee) from depending (on the Knowledge of Allah (swt)) and his Command (أمر Amr) of working is Explicit Evidence (دليل صريح Daleel SareeH) for not linking the action with the Knowledge of Allah (swt).
So, when Allah (swt) granted RasulAllah ﷺ glad tidings of the time of security in Yemen, after the time of great hardship in Makkah, RasulAllah ﷺ did not allow the Muslims to depend on that knowledge and stop acting to ensure the dominance of the Deen. It is narrated by Khabab bin al-Arat, who was persecuted severely, “We complained to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ (of the persecution inflicted on us by the infidels) while he was sitting in the shade of the Ka`ba, leaning over his Burd (i.e. covering sheet). We said to him, “Would you seek help for us? Would you pray to Allah for us? He ﷺ said,«كَانَ الرَّجُلُ فِيمَنْ قَبْلَكُمْ يُحْفَرُ لَهُ فِي الأَرْضِ فَيُجْعَلُ فِيهِ، فَيُجَاءُ بِالْمِنْشَارِ، فَيُوضَعُ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ فَيُشَقُّ بِاثْنَتَيْنِ، وَمَا يَصُدُّهُ ذَلِكَ عَنْ دِينِهِ، وَيُمْشَطُ بِأَمْشَاطِ الْحَدِيدِ، مَا دُونَ لَحْمِهِ مِنْ عَظْمٍ أَوْ عَصَبٍ، وَمَا يَصُدُّهُ ذَلِكَ عَنْ دِينِهِ، وَاللَّهِ لَيُتِمَّنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ حَتَّى يَسِيرَ الرَّاكِبُ مِنْ صَنْعَاءَ إِلَى حَضْرَمَوْتَ، لاَ يَخَافُ إِلاَّ اللَّهَ أَوِ الذِّئْبَ عَلَى غَنَمِهِ، وَلَكِنَّكُمْ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ» “Among the nations before you a (believing) man would be put in a ditch that was dug for him, and a saw would be put over his head and he would be cut into two pieces; yet that (torture) would not make him give up his religion. His body would be combed with iron combs that would remove his flesh from the bones and nerves, yet that would not make him abandon his religion. By Allah, this religion (i.e. Islam) will prevail till a traveler from Sana (in Yemen) to Hadrarmaut will fear none but Allah, or a wolf as regards his sheep, but you (people) are hasty.” So, this Knowledge of Allah (swt) granted to RasulAllah ﷺ about a time of security in Yemen, was not used in as an excuse for the Companions to abandoning striving to establish Islam in the face of persecution. No, they were patient, they strove and they were victorious. Thus, they raised their voices for Islam, they granted the Nussrah to establish Islam and they waged Jihad in the Way of Allah swt to ensure the dominance of Islam.
Similarly, regarding our time of persecution, RasulAllah ﷺ was granted glad tidings of the return of the Khilafah before the return of the Mehdi. It was narrated by Umm Salamah (r.a) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,«يَكُونُ اخْتِلَافٌ عِنْدَ مَوْتِ خَلِيفَةٍ فَيَخْرُجُ رَجُلٌ مِنْ بَنِي هَاشِمٍ، فَيَأْتِي مَكَّةَ، فَيَسْتَخْرِجُهُ النَّاسُ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ وَهُوَ كَارِهٌ فَيُبَايِعُونَهُ بَيْنَ الرُّكْنِ وَالْمَقَامِ، فَيُجَهَّزُ إِلَيْهِ جَيْشٌ مِنَ الشَّامِ، حَتَّى إِذَا كَانُوا بِالْبَيْدَاءِ خُسِفَ بِهِمْ، فَيَأْتِيهِ عَصَائِبُ الْعِرَاقِ وَأَبْدَالُ الشَّامِ، وَيَنْشَأُ رَجُلٌ بِالشَّامِ، وَأَخْوَالُهُ كَلْبٌ فَيُجَهَّزُ إِلَيْهِ جَيْشٌ، فَيَهْزِمُهُمُ اللَّهُ، فَتَكُونُ الدَّبْرَةُ عَلَيْهِمْ، فَذَلِكَ يَوْمُ كَلْبٍ، الْخَائِبُ: مَنْ خَابَ مِنْ غَنِيمَةِ كَلْبٍ، فَيَسْتَفْتِحُ الْكُنُوزَ، وَيُقِسِّمُ الْأَمْوَالَ، وَيُلْقِي الْإِسْلَامُ بِجِرَانِهِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ، فَيَعِيشُ بِذَلِكَ سَبْعَ سِنِينَ أَوْ قَالَ: تِسْعَ سِنِينَ» “Disagreement will occur at the death of a Khaleefah, and a man of Bani Hashim will flee to Makkah and some of the people of Makkah will come to him and will bring him out against his will, and they will pledge allegiance to him between the corner (Black Stone) and the Maqam. An army will be sent against him from Ash-Shaam, which will be swallowed up by the earth in Al-Baida. When the people see that, the devoted worshippers (Abdaal) from Ash-Shaam and the best people (Asaa’ib) from Al-Iraq will come to him and pledge allegiance to him. Then there will arise a man in Ash-Sham whose maternal uncles belong to Kalb and send against them an expeditionary force which will be overcome by them, and that is the expedition of Kalb. The real loser will be the one who does not receive the booty of Kalb. He will divide the wealth and Islam will become established on earth and he will remain for seven years, or he ﷺ said nine years.” (Reported by al-Tabarani in al-Awsat, and al-Haythami mentioned it in Majma’ al-Zawaid, and said, “the transmitters are sound and authentic.”) The narrators of the hadeeth and its commentary agree that the Khaleefah mentioned in this hadeeth is al-Mahdi. For at the beginning of the hadeeth, he ﷺ said: «اخْتِلَافٌ عِنْدَ مَوْتِ خَلِيفَةٍ» “Disagreement will occur at the death of a Khaleefah”, meaning that the Khilafah exists before the appearance of Imam Mahdi.
So, how are we to take this glad tidings in our time? Does this mean that the Dawah Carrier can abandon the call and become silent? Or the Alim, human rights activist and journalist decline their support for the Khilafah project? Or the army officer turn away from his duty to grant Nussrah (Material Support)? No, by no means, no! O Muslims, RasulAllah warned us of a time when corruption will spread in a time of Fitna. However, he ﷺ also pointed to those who will be blessed with the pleasure of Allah (swt) even in that time. This is proven by the hadith of Sahl b. Sa’d as-Saa’idi (ra) who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, «بدأ الإسلام غريباً وسيعود غريباً كما بدأ فطوبى للغرباء قالوا يا رسول الله ومن الغرباء؟ قال الذين يصلحون عند فساد الناس» “Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers.” It was asked, “Who are those strangers, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Those that correct the sunnah when the people become corrupt.” This is the narration of at-Tabaraani in his al-Kabeer. And in the narration in al-Awsat as-Sagheer we have: «يصلحون إذا فسد الناس» “They correct the people when (izaa) they become corrupt.” The word ‘إذا’ (when) is used for that which comes in the future. This indicates that the corruption will occur after the time of the Companions (ra). So let us abandon fatalism and passiveness. Let us perform our duties so that we may be of those who witness the glad tidings and earn the good pleasure of Allah (swt).
Musab Umayr – Pakistan