The Greatest Jihad…

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

{ يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَآءِ للَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَلِدَيْنِ وَالاٌّقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيّاً أَوْ فَقَيراً فَاللَّهُ أَوْلَى بِهِمَا فَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ الْهَوَى أَن تَعْدِلُواْ وَإِن تَلْوُواْ أَوْ تُعْرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيراً }

[سورة النساء]

{O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort or refuse, then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted}

[An-Nisaa 4:135]

{ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا }

[سورة الأحزاب]

{ O you who believe, fear Allah and speak the truth }

[Al-Ahzab 33:70]

On the authority of Tamim Al-Dari (رضي الله عنه ) it is reported that the Nabi, (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎), said: ‘Religion is nasihah.’ We said: ‘To whom?’ the Nabi, (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎), said: ‘To Allah and His Book, and His messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk.’

[Muslim]

Anas (رضي الله عنه ) reported: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) said: ‘Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or is oppressed.’ A man asked: ‘Yah Rasulallah! (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) I help him when he is oppressed, but how can I help him when he is an oppressor?‘ He (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) said: ‘You can restrain him from committing oppression. That will be your help to him.’

[Bukhari & Muslim]

Ibn Majah recorded on the authority of Abu Sa`id al-Khudri (رضي الله عنه) that Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) gave a speech once and said: ‘Behold! Fear from people should not prevent one from saying the truth if he knows it.’ Abu Sa`id then wept and said: ‘By Allah! We have seen some errors, but we feared.’

[Ibn Majah]

Abu Sa`id (رضي الله عنه) narrated states that the Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: ‘The best Jihad is a word of truth proclaimed before an unjust ruler.’

[Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah]

Ibn Kathir (رحمه الله تعالى  ) states in his Tafsir of the one hundred and thirty-fifth ayah of surah An-Nisaa: ‘Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ) commands His ( سبحانه وتعالى ) believing servants to stand up for justice and fairness and not to deviate from it, right or left. They should not fear the blame of anyone or allow anyone to prevent them from doing something for the sake of Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ). They are also required to help, support and aid each other for Allah’s ( سبحانه وتعالى ) sake.’

And this is similar to His ( سبحانه وتعالى ) saying in the fifty-fourth ayah of surah Al-Maaida:

{ يُجَـهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلاَ يَخَـفُونَ لَوْمَةَ لائِمٍ }

{ Fighting in the way of Allah, and never fearing the blame of the blamers }

About which ibn Kathir (رحمه الله تعالى  ) said: ‘Nothing prevents them from obeying Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ), establishing His Law, fighting His enemies, enjoining righteousness and forbidding evil. Certainly, nothing prevents them from taking this path, neither someone who seeks to hinder them, nor one who blames or chastises them. Imam Ahmad (رحمه الله تعالى  ) recorded that Abu Dharr (رضي الله عنه)  said:

‘My Khalil (صلى الله عليه و سلم) has commanded me to do seven deeds. He (صلى الله عليه و سلم) commanded me to love the poor and to be close to them. He (صلى الله عليه و سلم) commanded me to look at those who are less than me and not those who are above me. He (صلى الله عليه و سلم) commanded me to keep the relations of the womb, even if they cut it. He (صلى الله عليه و سلم) commanded me not to ask anyone for anything, to say the truth even if it was bitter, and to not fear the blame of anyone for the sake of Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ). He (صلى الله عليه و سلم) commanded me to often repeat, “La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah” (There is no strength or power except from Allah), for these words are from a treasure under the Throne (Of Allah  سبحانه وتعالى ).” It is confirmed in the Sahih (al-Bukhari.)’

Regarding the apprehension of many to enjoin the good and forbid the evil Fadlullah al-Jilani (رحمه الله تعالى  ) said in Fadlillah as-Samad fi Tawdih al-Adab al-Mufrad:

If it is said that the one who has haya’ is shy to speak the truth, causing him to leave off commanding the good and forbidding the bad, and that his haya’ leads him to shortcomings in fulfilling some obligations, as is normally the case, I say that this is not true haya’.

Rather, it is incompetence and weakness and subjugation, and it is referred to as haya’ simply by way of likeness and simile. True haya’ is only when the thing he has haya’ of doing is truly bad [sinful or haraam], and there is no consideration for what the people consider to be bad when it is in fact something good or vice versa…

And it is established that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) had more haya’ than a virgin in the innermost portion of her home, and he (صلى الله عليه و سلم) is an example for us in this. With this, there was nothing to prevent his (صلى الله عليه و سلم) anger if the limits of Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ) were violated.

[2/45]

And it may be that, due to the was-was of Shaytaan, that we may perceive our abstention from Al Munkar wal Ma’ruf to be from ‘haya’ or ‘hikmah’ or ‘sabr’, but we must remember that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has more right than the people that we please Him (سبحانه وتعالى), and that we honour Him (سبحانه وتعالى) and that we fear Him (سبحانه وتعالى).

And how often does one’s silence harm himself as regards his deen or does his inaction or silence harm the people as in the case of Muslim ibn Yasar (رضي الله عنه) during the fitnah of ibn al-Ash’ath during which it was said to him, al-Ash’ath, ‘If you wish for people to be killed around you just like they were killed on the Day of the Camel around the camel of ‘Aisha (رضي الله عنهA), then bring out Muslim ibn Yasar with you.‘ So he forcefully brought him out. As reported from Abu Qilabah (رضي الله عنه) and recorded by al-Bukhari (رحمه الله تعالى  ) in al-Tarikh al-Kabir and ibn ‘Asakir (رحمه الله تعالى  ) in Tarikh Dimashq:

Abu Qilabah (رضي الله عنه) said: ‘When the fitnah of ibn al-Ash’ath died away, we sat in a gathering with Muslim ibn Yasar with us. Muslim said: “All praise is due to Allah who saved me from this tribulation. By Allah I never threw an arrow therein, nor did I stab with a spear nor did I strike with a sword.” So Abu Qilabah said to him, “What do you then think of an ignorant person who saw you between the ranks and said: ‘By Allah, it can’t be that Muslim ibn Yasar, the leader of the Qurraa’, could take such a position except that he sees it to be correct! He does not fight except upon the truth.’ And because of that he fought until he was killed!?” By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, he [Muslim ibn Yasar (رضي الله عنه)] wept until I wished that I had not said anything.

Here are further accounts from  the seerah of some of the Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) and the Salaf as-Saleh that may serve as examples and encouragements of truthful testimonies in times of trial and in overcoming the fear of the creation in lieu of the Creator, Al-Khaliq ( سبحانه وتعالى ).

It was narrated by ‘Ubaidullah bin ‘Adi bin al-Khiyar (رضي الله عنه) as collected in the Sahih of al-Bukhari (رحمه الله تعالى  ):

That al-Miswar bin Makhrama and ‘Abdur-Rahman bin al-Aswad bin ‘Abu Yaghuth (رضي الله عنهم) had said to him: ‘What prevents you from speaking to your uncle ‘Uthman regarding his brother al-Walid bin ‘Uqba?’ The people were speaking against the latter for what he had done. ‘Ubaidullah said: So I kept waiting for ‘Uthman (رضي الله عنه), and when he went out for the prayer, I said to him: ‘I have got something to say to you as a piece of advice.’

‘Uthman said: ‘O man! I seek Refuge with Allah from you.’ So I went away. When I finished my prayer, I sat with al-Miswar and Ibn ‘Abu Yaghuth and talked to both of them of what I had said to ‘Uthman and what he had said to me. They said: ‘You have done your duty.’ So while I was sitting with them. ‘Uthman’s messenger came to me. They said: ‘Allah has put you to trial.’ I set out and when I reached ‘Uthman, he said: ‘What is your advice which you mentioned a while ago?’

I recited Tashahhud and added, ‘Allah has sent Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) and has revealed the Holy Book to him. You were amongst those who responded to the call of Allah and His Nabi and had faith in him. And you took part in the first two migrations [Hijrah to Abyssinia and to Medina], and you enjoyed the company of Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) and learned his sunnah and advice. Now the people are talking much about al-Walid bin ‘Uqba and so it is your duty to impose on him the hudud.’ ‘Uthman then said to me: ‘O my nephew! Did you ever meet Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎)?’ I said: ‘No, but his knowledge has reached me as it has reached the virgin in her seclusion.’

‘Uthman then recited Tashahhud and said: ‘No doubt, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has sent Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) with the Truth and has revealed to him His Holy Book and I was amongst those who responded to the call of Allah and His Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) and I had faith in Muhammad’s (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) Mission, and I had performed the first two migrations as you have said, and I enjoyed the company of Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) and gave the pledge of allegiance to him. By Allah, I never disobeyed him and never cheated him till Allah caused him to die.

Then Allah made Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) Khalif, and by Allah, I was never disobedient to him, nor did I cheat him. Then ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه) became Khalif, and by Allah, I was never disobedient to him, nor did I cheat him. Then I became Khalif. Have I not then the same rights over you as they had over me?’

I replied in the affirmative. ‘Uthman further said: ‘Then what are these talks which are reaching me from you? As for what you ha mentioned about al-Walid bin ‘Uqb; Inshallah, I shall give him the leg; punishment justly.’ Then ‘Uthman ordered that al-Walid be flogged forty lashes. He ordered ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) to flog him and he himself flogged him as well.

[Bukhari]

Bukhari (رحمه الله تعالى  ) has also reported upon the authority of Abu Wail (رضي الله عنه) that during the Khalifah of ‘Uthman(رضي الله عنه):

Someone said to Usama (رضي الله عنه): ‘Will you not talk to this [Uthman (رضي الله عنه)]?’ Usama said: ‘I talked to him [in secret] without being the first man to open an evil door. I will never tell a ruler who rules over two men or more that he is good after I heard Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) saying: ‘A man will be brought and put in Hell and he will circumambulate in Hell like a donkey of a grinding mill, and all the people of Hell will gather around him and will say to him: O so-and-so! Didn’t you use to order others for good and forbid them from evil?’ That man will say: ‘I used to order others to do good but I myself never used to do it, and I used to forbid others from evil while I myself used to do evil.’

[Bukhari]

And it was collected in the Sahih of Imam Muslim (رحمه الله تعالى  ) that Tariq ibn Shihab (رضي الله عنه) reported:

It was Marwan who initiated [the innovation] of delivering khutbah before the prayer on the ‘Id day. A man stood up and said: ‘Prayer should precede khutbah.’ He [Marwan] remarked: ‘This has been done away with’ Upon this Abu Sa’id (رضي الله عنه) remarked: ‘This man has performed [his duty] laid on him. I heard Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) saying: “He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should [abhor it] from his heart, and that is the least of faith.”’

Both of the Imams, Ahmad ibn al-Hambaal (رحمه الله تعالى  ) and ‘Isa al-Tirmidhi (رحمه الله تعالى  ) have collected the sahih hadith of ‘Alqamah ibn Abi Waqqas (رضي الله عنه) where it is reported:

A man of status once walked past ‘Alqamah ibn Abi Waqqas (رضي الله عنه) and so ‘Alqamah said to Him: ‘You have ties and you have rights but I see you go to those Rulers and speak to them whatever you wish to speak about! Indeed, I have heard Bilal ibn al-Harith al-Muzani (رضي الله عنه) the Sahabah of Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) say: ‘I heard Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) say:

‘Verily, one of you speaks a word bringing the Pleasure of Allah, which he does not think will reach such heights and so Allah writes for him His Pleasure until the Day of Judgment. And verily, one of you speaks a word which brings the Wrath of Allah, which he does not think will reach such heights and so Allah writes upon him His Anger until the Day he meets Him.’

‘Alqamah then said: ‘Woe to you, look then! What is it that you say?! How many times has this statement which I heard from Bilal ibn al-Harith prevented me from speaking!’

[Ahmad & al-Tirmidhi]

It was collected in Ihya’ ‘Ulum ad-Din by al-Ghazzali (رحمه الله تعالى  ) that Hattit az-Zayyat (رحمه الله تعالى  )  went to al-Hajjaj, and when he entered, al-Hajjaj said to him:

‘You are Hattit?’ He answered: ‘Yes. Ask me what you want, as I have made an oath to Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ) at the Maqam of Ibrahim that I would do three things: I will speak the truth if I am asked a question; I will remain patient if I am tested; and I will be thankful if I am spared.’ So, al-Hajjaj said to him: ‘What do you think of me?’ Hattit replied: ‘You are from the enemies of Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ) on Earth. You violate honour and kill based on suspicion.’ al-Hajjaj then asked him: ‘What do you say about ‘Abdul Malik bin Marwan?’ Hattit replied: ‘He is worse than you, and you are simply one of his many mistakes.’ al-Hajjaj then ordered that he be tortured, and he was then beaten with sticks and had his flesh stretched out with them until it was torn. His torturers didn’t hear him say anything, and they said to al-Hajjaj: ‘He is near death!’ So, al-Hajjaj said: ‘Let him go and throw him out into the marketplace.’ Ja’far (a friend of his) went to Hattit and said: ‘Hattit, do you want me to get you anything?’ He said: ‘A drink of water.’ So, the water was brought to him and he died, and he was only eighteen years old.

[5/45]

Ibn Abi Hatim (رحمه الله تعالى  ) related that there was a blind man who used to sit with Sufyan ath-Thawri (رحمه الله تعالى  ); in Ramadan, the man would lead the people in salat and they would give him clothes and gifts as a reward for this. So Sufyan said: ‘On the Day of Resurrection, the people of the Quran will come with their Quran, and it will be said to the likes of this person: “You have already received your reward previously.”’ So, the man said to him: ‘O Abi ‘Abdillah, you say this while I am sitting right next to you?’ Sufyan replied: ‘I fear that it will be said to me on the Day of Resurrection that you were sitting next to me and I did not advise you.’

Regarding Sufyan ath-Thawri (رحمه الله تعالى ), Adh-Dhahabi  (رحمه الله تعالى ) relates the following in As-Siyar:

Shuja’ bin Walid said: ‘I performed the Hajj with Sufyan, and he would come and go with his tongue never ceasing to command the good and forbid the evil.’

[7/196]

Sufyan went to Abu Ja’far when they were at Mina and said to him: ‘Ittaqallah! You are in this position and have this power due to the swords of the Muhajirin and Ansar, and their sons are dying of hunger! ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه)  preformed the Hajj and spent only fifteen dinars, and he used to shade himself under the trees!’ So, Abu Ja’far replied: ‘Do you want me to be like you?’ Sufyan said: ‘No. Just be below what you are and above what I am.’ Abu Ja’far then said: ‘Get out!’

[7/199]

When al-Mahdi came into power, he sent for Sufyan. When Sufyan entered, al-Mahdi removed his ring and threw it at Sufyan saying: ‘O Abi ‘Abdillah, this is my ring. Work for this nation according to the Quran and the Sunnah.’

So Sufyan took the ring and said: ‘Do you permit me to speak, Yah Amir ul Mu’mineen, May I speak with your promise not to harm me?’ He replied ‘Yes.’ So, Sufyan said: ‘Do not send for me again until I come to you myself, and do not give me anything unless I ask you for something.’

Thus al-Mahdi became enraged and wanted to kill him, but his assistant reminded him that he had promised not to harm Sufyan. So Sufyan was kicked out of the palace and his companions asked him: ‘What made you refuse? He only asked you to work according to the Quran and Sunnah!’ Sufyan belittled their intellects due to their missing the point and he ran away as a fugitive to al-Basrah. It was reported that al-Mahdi later said: ‘I was unable to look at Sufyan out of haya’ and intimidation from him.’

[7/197 & 7/201]

Yahya bin ‘Abd al-Malik bin Abi Ghaybah said: ‘I never saw anyone with a more confrontational face for the sake of Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ) than Sufyan.’

[7/209]

And the best of examples can be found in a man from this Ummah who Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) informed us shall be from the best of the shuhadah in the eye of Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى )  and who will not fear to speak the word of truth before the greatest of tyrants and fitnah, nor fear the blame of the blamers. Imam Muslim recorded in his sahih that Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (رضي الله عنه )  reported Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) as saying:

‘Ad-Dajjal would come forth and a person from amongst the believers would go towards him, and the armed men of the Dajjal would meet him and they would say to him: ‘Where do you intend to go?’ He would say: ‘I intend to go to this one who is coming forth.’ They would say to him: ‘Don’t you believe in our Lord [Ad-Dajjal]?’ He would say: ‘There is nothing hidden about our Lord [Allah]’. They would say: ‘Kill him.’ Then some amongst them would say: ‘Has your master [Ad-Dajjal] not forbidden you to kill anyone without [his permission]?’

And so they would take him to the Dajjal and when the believer would see him, he would say: ‘O people, he is Ad-Dajjal about whom Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) has informed.’ The Dajjal would then order for his head to be broken and utter: ‘Catch hold of him and break his head.’

He would be struck even on his back and on his stomach. Then the Dajjal would ask him: ‘Don’t you believe in me?’ He would say: ‘You are a false Masih’ He [Ad-Dajjal] would then order him to be cut with a saw from the parting of his hair up to his legs.

After that the Dajjal would walk between the two pieces. He would then say to him: ‘Stand’, and he would stand erect. He would then say to him: ‘Don’t you believe in me?’ And the person would say: ‘It has only added to my insight concerning you’.

He [the believer who was killed) would then say: ‘O people, he will not behave with anyone amongst people [in such a manner] after me.’ The Dajjal would try to catch hold of him so that he should kill him. The space between his [the believer’s] neck and collar bone would be turned into copper and he [Ad-Dajjal] would find no means to kill him.

So he [Ad-Dajjal] would catch hold of him by his hands and feet and throw him [into what appears to be a fire] and the people would think it was if he had been thrown into Jahanum whereas he would be thrown into Jannah. Thereupon Rasulallah (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) said: ‘He will be the most eminent amongst the shuhadah in the eye of the Rabb Al ‘Alamin.

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