إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَسَيُنفِقُونَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسْرَةً ثُمَّ يُغْلَبُونَ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ يُحْشَرُونَ
“Those who disbelieve spend their wealth barring access to the Way of Allah. They will spend it; then they will regret it; then they will be overthrown. Those who are disbelievers will be gathered into Hell”
(Al-Anfal: 36)
This verse was revealed when the Quraysh lost many of its chiefs in the Battle of Badr and they gathered together in an attempt to collect wealth so that they may continue their fight against Islam and Muhammed ﷺ.
According to the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, Allah (swt) states in this general verse that the disbelievers spend their wealth to hinder from the path of truth. However, by doing so, their money will be spent and then will become a source of grief and anguish for them, availing them nothing in the least. They seek to extinguish the Light of Allah (swt) and make their word higher than the word of truth. However, Allah (swt) will complete His Light even though the disbelievers hate it. He will give aid to His religion, make His Word dominant, and His religion will prevail above all religions.
How relevant is the above verse to the current reality of the Muslims and Islam. Where the countries who follow disbelief continue without shame to spend great amounts of wealth in their fight against the believers.
China, for example, mass “re-education camps” have been set up by the government in the Xinjiang region and, according to one estimate, up to 3 million Muslims have been placed. It’s a place where the believers are subjected to abuse and torture, where they are forced to drink alcohol, eat pork and disavow their beliefs. This all happens under the watch full eye of the world who continues to invest its wealth in building ties with China.
The world also witnesses the continued persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, another fight by the Burmese government against the believers and Islam. Again, the world not only turned a blind eye, the U.K. actually helped the Burmese government by giving them wealth through the selling of weapons worth 500.000 pounds.
When the list of Muslims, who are persecuted for the sole reason of being a Muslim, gets longer each day, we can get overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness, especially when we see no change and the enemy seems to get stronger and stronger; these feelings can turn into helplessness and weakness. They can lead us to become inactive and lose confidence in our dawah which aims to change the predicament of the Muslims worldwide. It is at these times that we need to turn to the Words of Allah so we do not become overwhelmed by these feelings. We should find relief in the Words of Allah, who is Al-Alim (The Knower of all) and Who has warned us of this exact reality. We need to take comfort in the fact that Allah not only warns us but also teaches us exactly what to do in this situation. He says:
وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
“So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers”
(Ale-Imran: 139)
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
“The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely.”
We need to stand firm and rely on our Rabb. Trust that the Nasr (victory) of Allah (swt) will come, that His assistance will be provided to the believers against the disbelievers, against those who fight or oppress the Muslims. We will then understand that only Allah (swt) can give Victory, whilst our duty is to follow His commands which, in this case, is to continue to work endlessly to end the predicament of our Muslim brethren by motivating the people in power, the Muslim armies and the Ummah to undertake their duty to carry Islam and stop the aggression. We must continue with our dawah as Allah (swt) ordered us to do by working to change to situation of the Ummah and re-establishing His Rule on earth by establishing the Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood:
وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بُشْرَىٰ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ بِهِ قُلُوبُكُمْ وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“Allah only did this to give you good news and that so your hearts would be at rest. Victory comes from no one but Allah. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.”
(Al-Anfaal: 10)
Yasmin Malik
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir