Try Iiit No Said Everybody Again Quieter This Time

From Qays ibn Abi Hazm who said I heard Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) say, "O you people! I hear you reciting this verse: 'O you who believe! Worry about your own selves. If you follow the (right) guidance [and enjoin what is right (Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do) and forbid what is incorrect (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden)] no harm can come to you from those who are in error.' (5:105) But I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Indeed when people run into an oppressor but do not foreclose him from (doing evil), it is likely that Allah will punish them all."

In this blog post nosotros volition await at the rulings on silence equally information technology is non frequently addressed in a comprehensive manner. We will cover three Hadiths regarding this matter, and I'll brainstorm with a Hadith narrated by Qays bin Abi Hazm, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:

"I heard Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, say, 'Oh you lot people! I hear yous reciting this verse: 'Oh y'all who believe! Worry near your ain selves. If you follow the correct guidance, no damage can come to y'all from those who are in error.' (al-Ma'idah 5:105) Only I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: 'Indeed when people see an oppressor but do non prevent him from doing evil, it is likely that Allah will punish them all."

Abu Bakr made a very important betoken here in mentioning that in that location are verses that are oft recited and given improper explanations, or they are practical to contexts that have meanings contradictory to the actual intent of the poetry (ayah). We should note here that Abu Bakr, may Allah exist pleased with him, said these words to a generation that was very shut to the revelation of the Qur'an, yet they were still applying or interpreting the verses incorrectly.

Shaykh Abul Abed made a very profound statement that I believe elaborates very well on the to a higher place: "Any explanation (tafseer) that departs from the reasons of revelation (asbab an-nuzul) and the Sunnah context of those tafseer is bound to go off-target." This is because departing from the original contexts makes information technology susceptible to the agenda of the one doing the explanation (tafseer), which can in plow do harm to the original pregnant of the verses.

Going dorsum to the Hadith itself, Abu Bakr was reminding the people that Allah is not maxim that we should exist silent in the face of injustice. He therefore went on to mention what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said in this regard; the Prophet ﷺ is the one through whom we learn the true meaning of the Qur'an, and naturally his life practice (Sunnah) is the explanation (tafseer).

Whilst it may at first seem as though there is a contradiction between the argument of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the verse (ayah), Allah is in fact talking virtually those people who have already exhausted their options in trying to alter others around them. They become saddened by their inability to correct the incorrect in society, and it is because of this that Allah has said that no impairment will come up from those who are in error.

These people experience paralysed by their lack of success in stopping oppression, similar to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ who felt groovy empathy towards his people and was saddened over the fate of the people around him. Allah talks about this nature of His Messenger ﷺ in Surah al-Kahf, xviii:6: "Then maybe y'all would kill yourself through grief over them, [O Muhammad], if they do not believe in this message, and out of sorrow."

The Prophet ﷺ even described himself every bit being similar a man who'southward trying to grab flies every bit they are jumping into the fire; pregnant to say that he was and then saddened by people around him and he was trying to 'rescue' them all from a fiery fate just it was not always possible.

What nosotros take from this is that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, was proverb that the ayah from Surah al-Ma'ida can not be used equally an excuse for complacency or laziness towards speaking out against injustice. Another betoken to be aware of is that if his own generation was misinterpreting the ayah over 1400 years ago, we must practise fifty-fifty more caution in understanding and implementing the Qur'an.

The second Hadith is that of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in which he asked his Companions of the strange things they encountered in Abyssinia. Jabir, may Allah exist pleased with him, narrated:

"When the emigrants who had crossed the sea came back to the Messenger of Allah, he said, 'Tell me of the strange things that yous saw in the land of Abyssinia.' Some young men among them said, 'Yeah oh Messenger of Allah. While we were sitting, i of their elderly nuns came past carrying a vessel of water on her head. She passed past some of their youth, i of whom placed his paw between her shoulders and pushed her. She fell on her knees and her vessel broke. When she stood up, she turned to him and said, 'You will come to know oh foolish young man, that when Allah sets up the Footstool and gathers the first and the concluding, and easily and feet speak of which they used to earn, y'all will come to know your case and my case in His presence soon.' The Messenger of Allah said, 'She spoke the truth, she spoke the truth, she spoke the truth. How can Allah purify any people (of sin) when they do not protect their weak confronting their strong?'"

The Companions who related their experience to the Prophet ﷺ did not go involved in the situation every bit they were refugees in Abyssinia and were in no position to intervene. They even wanted to defend Najashi when at that place was internal disharmonize and rebellion against him, but they could non due to being observers and people nether protection. However, we can see from this Hadith that this experience had left a profound impact on them and made them experience uncomfortable as they knew information technology was wrong, and this was due to the lessons (tarbiyyah) that the Prophet ﷺ had given them beforehand. Muhammad ﷺ had instilled traits in them which unnerved them when they witnessed transgression and injustice.

Upon relating this incident, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ blamed club as a whole, and not merely the boyfriend who had oppressed the nun. The arraign was to be put on the society that had allowed such behaviour to normalise, it was society's error that the boyfriend could freely push an old woman without beingness held answerable. The immature oppressor was a product of a facilitating institution. The third Hadith that we will embrace in this chapter is from the mother of believers, Zainab Bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with her:

"I asked the Prophet ﷺ: Will nosotros be destroyed even if we take righteous people amid us? The Messenger ﷺ said, 'Yes, if filth (base sins) becomes rampant.'"

The Prophet ﷺ here was saying that even if in that location are righteous people amongst us, but sins are allowed to thrive in society without anyone speaking upward against them, then anybody suffers equally a result.

Furthermore, when looking at all three Hadith, essentially the moral of all three is that if people do not speak upward when evil is being committed, everyone volition suffer. Scholars have mentioned a few things regarding this matter:

1. All the nations that were destroyed before were not destroyed simply because they were worshipping other than Allah (shirk), but for condign oppressors (dhaalim). Nations were destroyed when they became aggressive and oppressive towards their messengers. The people of Shuaib, may the blessings of Allah exist upon him, were destroyed for their polytheism (shirk) and adulterous with weights/scales (tatfeef). Saeed bin Musayab, may Allah exist pleased with him, commented on this and said that if y'all observe a place where people do not cheat with their weights, settle in that land, and if you find that they do cheat, so leave as quickly every bit y'all tin can. When these types of things are normalised in club, the bug and suffering caused by them will affect everyone.

ii. Umar bin Abdul Aziz commented on private sins versus public oppression and injustice. Allah would never punish an entire population even if everyone committed private sins, whereas if ane person sins publicly, the unabridged population may become deserving of Allah's penalization.

3. Different scenarios telephone call for different actions. The Muslims in Abyssinia were under an observer status and wanted to exist able to exercise their religion freely. The Muslims in Makkah were under persecution and had to hide their Islam and the Muslims in Madinah were in a place of authority. They were all in unlike positions, but they were all responsible for doing their part.

4. Allah also mentioned that people would be punished every bit a effect of that which they used to do. If people wrong ane another, they will likewise experience some of what that feels like. Usually when people are punished, they are punished by the elements (nature), such every bit pelting or wind. They are punished past things that they took for granted and did not see whatever threat in. Similarly, the people who are exploited exercise non run across the threat in others in many situations. They are in a position of vulnerability, and many times that vulnerability is volunteered considering they feel safe with them, only unfortunately, they are and so taken advantage of and their vulnerability is violated. Allah has placed a duty upon us of being upright and speaking the truth regardless of the circumstances, bringing us onto the rulings of silence.

Silence is prohibited (haram) when 3 conditions are met:

1. When we are certain of something being evil (munkar); at that place is no grey expanse. Musa, may the blessings of Allah be upon him, fabricated an assumption when he saw the man from Bani Israel and the Egyptian fighting. It was not a clear situation (thus could be classed as a grey area). Shaykh Salman made an interesting observation; has said that if you lot notice Muslims beingness overzealous, they are usually and then regarding things that are not a hundred per cent sure, but they will non be overzealous on matters that are completely indisputable and known to exist wrong.

two. When we are certain that an evil was committed; non based on gossip or rumours, but potent show. Allah has stated clearly in the Qur'an in Surah al-Hujurat 49:six: "Oh y'all who have believed, if a rebellious evil person comes to yous with news, verify it…" We must exist certain, through witnessing it ourselves or a testimony from someone who had witnessed it commencement-hand.

3. When the greater likelihood is that speaking upwardly will remove or reduce the evil existence committed. Speaking out for the sake of Allah requires courage as we can expect both criticism and opposition past people, withal, we must speak out against injustice for the sake of Allah, regardless of the people. Imam al-Ghazali, may Allah be pleased with him, spoke regarding the major sins of the scholars (ulema): when a scholar is in the presence of an unjust ruler, they must speak most the injustice committed by the oppressive ruler.

Unfortunately, dictators or unjust rulers use scholars to legitimise the injustice that they acquit out, and this even includes massacres that have occurred and are occurring currently. Exploiting the cloak of scholarship to justify ugly injustices is a very old propaganda technique that has been used by Christians such as Pope Urban II besides as Muslims.

Thus, the silence of scholars in such situations is extremely sinful as they are religious authorities and must not be ambiguous towards acts of injustice. Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah be pleased with him, likened the army of Zayd bin Zain ul Abideen to the people of Badr. He was very forthcoming and was not ambiguous about where he stood on this affair. He was aware that with his position of leadership (imamah), came an fifty-fifty greater responsibleness.

We also accept the example of Imam Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, who was put in an extremely testing state of affairs in which people were trying to force him to adopt a doctrine that was not from Islam. They were pushing him to say that the Qur'an was created and not the voice communication of Allah. Imam Ahmad was told by other scholars that he would exist killing himself if he did not give them the statement that they wanted to hear. Imam Ahmad answered past pointing out of the window from his prison cell at the people, and said that if an average Muslim gets stopped in the street and gets forced to say such a argument or face up expiry, he will not be sinful as he would be trying to protect his own life, whereas Imam Ahmad himself would be sinful equally his statement would exist legitimising it.

An boilerplate Muslim would be like Ammar bin Yasir, may Allah be pleased with him, when he cursed the Prophet ﷺ under duress and the Prophet ﷺ told him that if the oppressors threaten and pressurise him once again, he should say it again as his statement would not be corrupting the religion or normalising anything as such. It is a ways of escaping persecution, making it permissible for a person non in a position of authority to make such statements.

Another example is of Imam al-Haraawi, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "I was subjected to the sword v times (threatened with execution), and I was non told to take dorsum my position, rather I was told to exist silent about the oppressors simply I refused to be silent." Saeed bin Jubair, may Allah exist pleased with him, left a very powerful legacy. He showed no fear whatever in the face of the oppression past Hajjaj and information technology was his backbone that drove Hajjaj crazy. He grew increasingly frustrated with Saeed bin Jubair as he was so at ease throughout his ordeal, forcing him to say to Saeed, "Don't you know that I will take your life?" To which Saeed bin Jubair replied, "If I idea yous had the power to take my life, then I would have worshipped you instead of Allah."
Saeed bin Jubair was killed in prostration (sujood) and this haunted Hajjaj until the day he died of astringent affliction, at which betoken he was repeatedly proverb, "Saeed has killed me, Saeed has killed me."

We can learn from these examples that sometimes silence becomes criminal, so much so that fifty-fifty backbiting (gheebah) tin can become obligatory (fard). Bluffing is something that is generally very sinful and looked down upon in Islam, notwithstanding when it comes to an oppressor who abuses others on a serial ground, it becomes obligatory to speak out (even through backbiting) in order to warn potential victims.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told united states of america to assistance our brother whether he is the oppressed or the oppressor; we help the oppressor by stopping him from oppressing others further. Nosotros do not sit down dorsum and permit the oppressor to carry on committing injustice and sins. Sometimes silence is violence; if we do not speak, we take a chance the lives of the oppressed. And what is worse, is to tell a victim of injustice, to remain silent. Unfortunately, it has happened and continues to happen on many occasions that a victim is shamed into remaining silent in the face of oppression. If someone is being wronged, they must speak, and if they are scared, we must encourage them to speak so that the oppressor does not wrong anyone else. Nosotros owe it not only to ourselves, but to everyone who is a potential victim.

It is important for united states to realise here that silence in such situations enables oppression to continue, whether it be at a state level or an private level. As mentioned earlier, backbiting is a sin in normal circumstances, and remaining silent whilst someone is wrongly existence backbitten is enabling the wrongdoing.
By sitting there silently, we are essentially condoning sinful behaviour. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ also said, "Whoever believes in Allah and the Concluding Day, permit him not sit at a table where booze is being served." It is best for u.s.a. to avoid sitting with people who are involved in drinking alcohol, otherwise by sitting at the same table we are silently approving the serving and consumption of something prohibited (haram).

The rulings of jurisprudence (fiqh) are diverse and they as well cover the permissibility of silence, which we will at present be looking at. There are times when information technology is not good to speak, and silence becomes permissible (halal) or even mandatory (fard).

The following Hadith gives us a expert insight into the permissibility of silence: Abu Saeed narrates that he heard the Messenger ﷺ say Allah will concur a retainer accountable on the Day of Judgement, asking him or her, "What stopped you from calling out that evil when you saw it?" The servant says, "Oh my Lord, I had hope in you lot and I left the people." This is a person who tried and was not successful and then withdrew themselves because they were incapable of making a change and was hopeful of Allah's forgiveness and and so they will be forgiven. What we tin take from this Hadith is the fact that this person has a legitimate alibi for remaining silent. This person is not admonished by Allah because he had exercised his options but could non exercise anything to alter the state of affairs, unlike a person who chooses to remain silent without even trying. The scholars have also commented on this Hadith saying that this person had hope in the people and tried their all-time to brand them understand the evil of their actions but was non successful so left them. They recognise their incapacity in this regard and turn to Allah in the hope that He will forgive them for leaving the people and volition bargain with the evil Himself.

Silence tin can too get mandatory upon u.s.a., but when? If evil (munkar) will increase with u.s. speaking, it is important to remain silent and information technology is often a point that we neglect to sympathise. Imam Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, was severely tortured but they could not kill him because they knew that if they killed him, then the supporters of Imam Ahmad would seek revenge by killing them. When Imam Hussain, may Allah be pleased with him, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ went out to fight, the Companions did non think he would be successful. The Companions sensed that the people would non support him; they did not think he was wrong, but they thought that he would not succeed. They tried to stop him because they were worried almost his life – non because they thought his cause was wrong.

However, Imam Hussain believed he could remove the evil (munkar). He did non go solitary only was amassing an regular army to face Yazeed. He believed he had the ways to undo and remove the evil, merely other Companions believed that he would unknowingly crusade more harm than good.

Sometimes speaking up is harmful and ineffective in removing evil and instead empowers an oppressor to commit more oppression and information technology is in these cases that it becomes mandatory to remain silent. Speaking in such circumstances can be reckless, making it of import for us to consider withdrawing (uzlah) and deciding at which point nosotros should withdraw from the situation.

Another Hadith narrated by Abu Saeed al-Khudri mentions that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, "There will come a fourth dimension when the best property of the Muslim will be a sheep and he will take that to the top of the mountain and so he can flee with his faith from all of the afflictions (fitnah)."

This Hadith is effectively maxim that we can withdraw from society or certain situations in order to protect our faith, however we should just take the bare minimum of what we need. We must note that nosotros cannot use this Hadith to attempt and avoid all forms of afflictions or tests (fitnah). The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ experienced many different and hard trials, but they did not give upward or run away. The Hadith is specifically talking about situations where nosotros cannot speak out, or we are suffering persecution because of our faith or we are unable to practice our faith freely, then we should withdraw. In such a situation we must keep in mind that we should but take that which nosotros can suffice ourselves with (non whatever luxuries), as moving away is purely for the sake of safeguarding our organized religion and family.

The Prophet ﷺ too mentioned in another Hadith that "The one who mixes with and tolerates people is ameliorate than the one who withdraws from people."41 What is meant by this Hadith is that there are certain traits and qualities that we tin acquire by interacting with people. Our organized religion (iman) is put to the test when we interact with others equally we larn to command our tongues, our anger and our gaze, too equally learn how to do business correctly. It is much easier to proceed our gaze lowered if there is nobody around, but if nosotros are in a certain situation and we lower our gaze, the reward from Allah is much greater. Umar bin Khattab, commented on this and said, "They are the people whose hearts were tested with taqwa."

Lastly, it is good to remind ourselves hither nearly the Hadith narrated past Abu Dhar in which he asked the Prophet ﷺ several questions and at the stop of the Hadith the Prophet ﷺ said that nosotros should avoid doing harm and withhold our evil from people. If we are in a gathering and we cannot terminate an act of injustice from happening, it is not plenty to hate information technology in our heart and stay there, nosotros must get up and leave that gathering. If we are not able to say annihilation against it, we should leave otherwise our silent presence means that nosotros consent to the injustice.

We might be in a difficult situation with family members (especially those older than ourselves), and nosotros are unable to stop them past saying it outright. We have to be careful not to cause further bug, and one of the best ways to direct them abroad from the injustice is to change the subject and talk about something that does non involve backbiting or gossip. By doing and then we have done our part equally we hate the act in our heart and we did our best to steer them away from committing more injustice. But if this does not work and so we accept the selection to withdraw from that state of affairs and go out.

May Allah grant us the courage to stand up to injustice and protect united states from causing more than harm. Amin.

Excerpt is from 40 on Justice – Omar Suleiman -9781847741431

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Source: https://www.kubepublishing.com/blogs/news/ruling-on-silence

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