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In The Name Of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Assalaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu
THE FAITH TRIUMPHANT
"Do not be dejected nor grieve. You shall be the
uppermost if you are Believers." (3: 139)
The first thought which comes to mind on reading this verse is that it
relates to the form of Jihaad which is actual fighting; but the spirit
of this message and its application, with its manifold implications, is
greater and wider than this particular aspect. Indeed, it describes that
eternal state of mind which ought to inspire the Believer's
consciousness, his thoughts, his estimates of things, events, values and
persons.
It describes a triumphant state which should remain fixed in the
Believer's heart in the face of every thing, every condition, every
standard and every person; the superiority of the Faith and its value
above all values which are derived from a source other than the source
of the Faith.
It means to be above all the powers of the earth which have deviated
from the way of the Faith, above all the values of the earth not derived
from the source of the Faith, above all the customs of the earth not
colored with the coloring of the Faith, above all the laws of the laws
of the earth not sanctioned by the Faith, and above all traditions not
originating in the Faith.
It means to feel superior to others when weak, few and poor, as well as
when strong, many and rich.
It means the sense of supremacy which does not give in before any
rebellious force, before any social custom and erroneous tradition,
before any behavior which may be popular among people but which has no
authority in the Faith.
Steadfastness and strength on the battlefield are but one expression
among many of the triumphant spirit which is included in this statement
of Almighty God.
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The superiority through faith is not a mere single act of will nor a
passing euphoria nor a momentary passion, but is a sense of superiority
based on the permanent truth centered in the very nature of existence.
This eternal truth is above the logic of force, the concept of
environment, the terminology of society, and the customs of people, as
indeed it is joined with the Living God Who does not die.
A society has a governing logic and a common mode, its pressure is
strong and its weight heavy on anyone who is not protected by some
powerful member of the society or who challenges it without a strong
force. Accepted concepts and current ideas have a climate of their own,
and it is difficult to get rid of them without a deep sense of truth, in
the light of which all these concepts and ideas shrink to nothingness,
and without the help of a source which is superior, greater and stronger
than the source of these concepts and ideas.
The person who takes a stand against the direction of the society - its
governing logic, its common mode, its values and standards, its ideas
and concepts, its error and deviations -will find himself a stranger, as
well as helpless, unless his authority comes from a source which is more
powerful than the people, more permanent than the earth, and nobler than
life.
Indeed, God does not leave the Believer alone in the face of oppression
to whimper under its weight, to suffer dejection and grief, but relieves
him of all this with the message:
"Do not be dejected nor grieve; you shall be the uppermost if you are
Believers." (13:139)
This message relieves him from both dejection and grief, these two
feelings being natural for a human being in this situation. It relieves
him of both, not merely through patience and steadfastness, but also
through a sense of superiority from whose heights the power of
oppression, the dominant values, the current concepts, the standards,
the rules, the customs and habits, and the people steeped in error, all
seem low.
Indeed, the Believer is uppermost-uppermost on the basis of the
authority which is behind him and his source of guidance. Then, what is
to be said of this earth, what of the people, what of the dominant
values of the world, the standards current among people, while he is
inspired by God, returns to God for guidance, and travels on His path?
The Believer is most superior in his understanding and his concept of
the nature of the world, for the belief in One God, in the form which
has come to him from Islam, is the most perfect form of understanding,
the greatest truth. The picture of the world which this Faith presents
is far above the heaps of concepts, beliefs and religions, and is not
reached by any great philosophers, ancient or modern, nor attained by
idolaters or the followers of distorted scriptures, nor approached by
the base materialists. This picture is so bright, clear, beautiful and
balanced that the glory of the Islamic belief shines forth as never
before. And without doubt those who have grasped this knowledge are
superior to all others. [See the chapter "Teeh wa rukam." in the book, "Khasais
al- Tasawwar al-Islami wa Muqawwimatuhu", by the author.]
The Believer is most superior in his values and standards, by means of
which he measures life, events, things and persons. The source of his
belief is the knowledge of God and His attributes as described by Islam,
and the knowledge of the realities prevalent in the universe at large,
not merely on the small earth. This belief with its grandeur provides
the Believer with values which are superior to and firmer than the
defective standards made by men, who do not know anything except what is
under their feet. They do not agree on the same standard within the same
generation; even the same person changes his standard from moment to
moment.
He is most superior in his conscience and understanding, in his morals
and manners, as he believes in God Who has excellent names and
attributes. This by itself creates in him a sense of dignity, purity and
cleanliness, modesty and piety, and a desire for good deeds, and of
being a rightly-guided representative of God on earth. Furthermore, this
belief gives him the assurance that the reward is in the Hereafter, the
reward before which the troubles of the world and all its sorrows become
insignificant. The heart of the Believer is content with it, although he
may pass through this life without apparent success.
And he is most superior in his law and system of life. When the Believer
scans whatever man, ancient or modern, has known, and compares it with
his own law and system, he realizes that all this is like the playthings
of children or the searchings of blind men in comparison with the
perfect system and the complete law of Islam. And when he looks from his
height at erring mankind with compassion and sympathy at its
helplessness and error, he finds nothing in his heart except a sense of
triumph over error and nonsense.
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This was the attitude of the early Muslims toward the hollow expressions
of pomp and power and the traditions which had enslaved the people of
the Days of Ignorance. Ignorance is not limited to any particular age,
but is a condition which reappears whenever people deviate from the way
of Islam, whether in the past, present or future.
This was the response of al-Mughira ibn Shtuba when he encountered the
forms, manners, standards, and expressions of Jahiliyyah in the camp of
Rustum, the famous Persian general.
"Abi Uthman al-Nahdi reports: When al-Mughira crossed the bridge and
reached the Persian army, they seated him and asked Rustum's permission
for an audience. In spite of their defeat, they had not changed any of
their show of pomp. Al-Mughira proceeded. The people were all in their
military uniforms, many wearing crowns, and clothed in gold-threaded
garments. The floor was thickly carpeted (the carpet extending to three
hundred or four hundred steps) and was to be traversed to reach the
general. Al-Mughira proceeded, his hair braided in four braids, and
climbed on the throne and sat beside Rustum. The attendants jumped on
him and pulled him down. He then said, 'We had heard that you were a
sensible people, but I see that you are the most foolish nation. Among
Arabs all are equal and no one is slave to another, except when one is
captured on the battlefield. I imagined that you treated each other
equally as we do. It would have been better if you had informed me that
some of you are lords over others rather than treating me like this.
This IS not good manners, and we do not do it. I have come at your
request and not on my own. I know now that your situation is weak and
that you will be defeated. No kingdom can survive with this character
and mentality."
A similar attitude was shown by Rabati bin 'Amer in front of Rustum and
his courtiers before the battle of al-Qadisyyah:
"Before the battle of al-Qadisyyah, S'ad bin Waqqas sent Rabatl bin 'Amer
as a messenger to Rustum, the commander of the Perslan army and their
ruler. He entered the tent which was all carpeted and curtained with
silk and velvet. Rustum sat on a golden throne, crowned and wearing
precious stones and pearls. Rabati, in tattered clothes, with a shield,
sitting on a small horse, entered. He did not alight from his horse for
some distance; then he alighted and tied the horse to a large pillow. He
proceeded armed and helmeted. They said to him: 'Take off your arms'. He
replied: 'I have not come on my own but on your request. If you do not
like it, then I will go back'. Rustum said: 'Let him come'. He came
forward leaning on his spear, making holes in the carpet. Rustum asked
him: 'For what purpose you have come?" He replied: 'God has sent us to
bring whoever wishes from servitude to men into the service of God
alone, from the narrowness of this world into the vastness of this world
and the Hereafter, from the tyranny of religions into the justice of
Islam". (Ibn Kathir: Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah)
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Conditions change, the Muslim loses his physical power and is conquered,
yet the consciousness does not depart from him that he is the most
superior. If he remains a Believer, he looks upon his conqueror from a
superior position. He remains certain that this is a temporary condition
which will pass away and that faith will turn the tide from which there
is no escape. Even if death is his portion, he will never bow his head.
Death comes to all, but for him there is martyrdom. He will proceed to
the Garden, while his conquerors go to the Fire. What a difference! And
he hears the voice of his Generous Lord:
"Let it not deceive you that the unbelievers walk about in the land. A
little respite and their abode is Hell, and what an evil place! But for
those who fear their Lord are Gardens through which rivers flow, to
abide therein -a hospitality from God; and that which is with God is
best for the righteous." (3:196-198)
The society may be drowned in lusts, steeped in low passions, rolling in
filth and dirt, thinking that it has enjoyment and freedom from chains
and restrictions. Such a society may become devoid of any clean
enjoyment and even of lawful food, and nothing may remain except a
rubbish heap, or dirt and mud. The Believer from his height looks at the
people drowning in dirt and mud. He may be the only one; yet he is not
dejected nor grieved, nor does his heart desire that he take off his
neat and immaculate garments and join the crowd. He remains the
uppermost with the enjoyment of faith and the taste of belief.
The believer holds on to his religion like the holder of a precious
stone in the society devoid of religion, of character, of high values,
of noble manners and of whatever is clean, pure and beautiful. The
others mock his tenacity, ridicule his ideas, laugh at his values, but
this does not make the Believer weak of heart: and he looks from his
height at those who mock, ridicule and laugh, and he says, as one of the
great souls-those who preceded him on the long and bright path of faith,
Noah (peace be on him), said:
"You ridicule us! Yet indeed we shall ridicule you as you ridicule."
(11:38)
And he sees the end of this bright path, and also the end of the dark
path in the words of God:
"The criminals used to laugh at the Believers, wink at them in passing,
and joke about them when they returned to their families. When they saw
them, they used to say: "Certainly these people are astray". Yet they
were not sent as watchers over them. Today the Believers laugh at the
unbelievers, and watch them while sitting on couches. Did the
unbelievers get their reward according to what they used to do"?
(83:29-36)
Before this, the Holy Qur'an told us what the unbelievers said to the
Believers:
"When Our clear verses are recited to them, the unbelievers say to the
Believers: 'Which of the two parties is superior in station, better in
assembly?" (19:73)
Which of the two parties? The great men who do not believe in Muhammad,
or the poor who assemble around him? Which of the two parties? Al-Nadr
bin al-Harith and 'Amr bin Hisham and al-Walid bin al-Mughira and Abu
Sufyan bin Harb? Or Bilal and 'Ammar and Khabbab? If the call of
Muhammad had been better, would only such people have followed him who
did not have any power or position among the Quraish, who assembled in
such a lowly place as the house of al-Arqam, while their opponents were
the lords of al-Nadwah, the great and glorious assembly hall, and they
possessed power, authority and grandeur?
This is the logic of this world, the logic of those of any age or any
place who cannot see the higher horizons. It is the wisdom of God that
belief remains independent of the glitter and glamour of worldly
allurements, such as closeness to the ruler, favor from the government,
popularity among the people or the satisfaction of desire. It is only
striving, hard work, fighting and martydom. Let him accept it who may
accept, who has the certainty in his heart that this is purely for the
sake of God and not for the sake of people, or for the allurements and
attractions so dear to people. Let him stay away from it who desires
pleasures and benefits, and who is greedy for pomp and show, and who is
after wealth and possessions, and who gives weight to the considerations
of men although these may be light in the balance of God.
Indeed, the Believer does not borrow his values, concepts and standards
from people so that he is dependent on the estimation of people; he
takes them from the Sustainer of the people, and that is sufficient for
him. He does not follow the desires of men so that he has to fluctuate
with their changing desires; he depends on the firm balance of the truth
which does not fluctuate or lean to one side. Indeed, his inspiration
does not come from this passing and finite world; the inspiration of his
soul comes from the fountainheads of the universe. Then how can he find
dejection in his soul or grief in his heart, while he is linked to the
Sustainer of the people, the balance of truth, and the fountainheads of
the universe?
Indeed, he is with the truth - and what is beyond the truth but
falsehood? Let falsehood have power, let it have its drums and banners,
and let it have its throngs and mobs; all this cannot change anything of
the truth. Indeed, he is with the truth, and nothing is beyond the truth
except error, and the Believer cannot prefer error to the truth. He is a
Believer, and whatever be the conditions and the situation, he cannot
exchange error for the truth.
"Our Master! Do not let our hearts waver after You have guided us, and
bestow on us mercy from Yourself; indeed You are the Bestower. Our
Master! You will gather mankind on the Day about which there is no
doubt; indeed God does not fail in His promise." (3:8-9)
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