Are We Truly Believers?
By Babar Ahmad
“So do not weaken and do not grieve, for you will indeed be superior if you are truly believers.” [Al-Quran 3:139]
This verse was revealed to
the Messenger (SAS) by Allah The Almighty from above the Seven Heavens,
soon after the Muslims suffered a defeat in the Battle of Uhud and
returned to Al-Madinah dejected and downtrodden. It was revealed as an
encouragement to the believers after a victory that was in their grasp,
was snatched away from them and turned into a defeat. And why should the
Companions (RA) not have felt devastated at this defeat? Seventy of the
best human beings on Earth at the time were killed and countless others
were injured. Even the Messenger (SAS) himself was seriously wounded
until blood flowed from his face and he said in great anguish whilst
wiping the blood from his noble cheeks: “Allah’s Wrath is Great upon the
people who besmeared His Messenger’s face with blood.”
However, this defeat was
only a temporary setback so that the believers could reflect upon the
reasons for the defeat, described in successive verses of Surah
Ale-Imran. The mistakes and sins of a few believers had deprived the
whole army of victory.
When Umar bin Al-Khattab
(RA) despatched the army of Saad bin Abi Waqqas (RA) to the Battle of
Al-Qadisiyyah, he advised him: “Fear your sins more than you fear the
enemy as your sins are more dangerous to you than your enemy. We Muslims
are only victorious over our enemy because their sins outnumber ours,
not for any other reason. If our sins were equal to those of our enemy,
then they would defeat us due to their superior numbers and resources.”
And so Saad (RA) proceeded
to fight the Persians and, sticking to the advice of his leader, he
imprisoned the alcoholic Abu Mahjan Ath-Thaqafi lest his presence in the
army delays the victory. Until, Abu Mahjan lamented in his shackles and
composed verses of poetry that touched the wife of Saad (RA) to
temporarily release him so that he could participate in the battle with
his brothers. Abu Mahjan thus went out riding the horse of Saad (RA) (as
Saad (RA) was bedridden with fever) and performed unmatched feats of
valour before returning to his cell in the evening and wearing his
shackles back by himself. This continued for three days until, when Saad
(RA) found out about the heroics of Abu Mahjan, he untied his shackles
with the words: “By Allah! I will never imprison you again for drinking
alcohol!” Upon this, Abu Mahjan replied, “By Allah! I will never again
touch alcohol after this day!” The army was victorious and Saad (RA)
appointed the ascetic Companion Salman Al-Farsi (RA) as the new ruler of
Persia, who lived on a meagre salary of one dirham per day.
Victory and defeat, gains
and losses, and successes and setbacks are not decided by money,
resources, numbers or skills. Rather, they are decided by the balance of
obedience and disobedience of Allah The Exalted. The more we obey
Allah, both individually and collectively, the more we hasten His
Victory. The more we disobey Allah, the more we delay the arrival of His
Victory. One Muslim’s sins can delay the victory for everyone. It is
very easy to blame Bush and Blair, the ‘West’, the ‘kuffar’ or simply
‘them’ for all our woes and worries. But it is not so easy to look in
the mirror and point the finger at ourselves.
Look at us and our pathetic
state. We have abandoned Salah or we delay it or rush through it. We are
too stingy to give Zakah, let alone optional charity. We prefer to go
on holiday than to go for the obligatory Hajj. We drink alcohol, we use
and supply drugs (Muslims are amongst the biggest suppliers of drugs in
the world today), we cohabit outside wedlock, we steal, we cheat. We eat
haram, earn haram and sell haram. We beat our wives and force our
daughters into marriages then use Islam to justify it. We are quick to
spend on fashion and luxuries but slow to spend on orphans and the
needy. We fail to utter a single word, let alone raise a finger, when we
see our fellow Muslims imprisoned , tortured, house-arrested,
extradited or slain for fear of being ‘linked’ to them. We waste our
lives watching television and playing computer games then complain that
we don’t have enough time to become better Muslims. We are too addicted
to music to find time to listen to or memorise the Quran. We are too
busy in fun and games to fulfil our responsibilities as vicegerents on
Allah’s Earth. And after all this (and more), we have the audacity to
wonder why Allah’s Victory has not yet arrived. With our paltry state,
we should more likely expect Allah’s Wrath and Punishment rather than
His Victory.
Every sin we commit delays
the arrival of Allah’s Victory. Every Salah we delay extends the
incarceration of a captive at Guantanamo Bay. Every drug we take allows
another Quran to be flushed down the toilet. Every hour we waste
watching TV allows another Muslim to be kidnapped and extradited into
the hands of savage beasts. Every time we gaze at something forbidden,
we place an obstacle in the path of Allah’s Victory. A sin is not a
‘private matter between me and Allah’ but one sin can make the
difference between victory and defeat. Every sin we commit is one more
reason why Allah should not grant us relief, safety and victory.
Allah has made us a Promise
in the aforementioned verse: “So do not weaken and do not grieve, for
you will indeed be superior if you are truly believers.” He promises us
relief, assistance, superiority and victory on the condition that we are
true believers. If we suffer defeats today then it does not mean that
Allah’s Promise is false. Instead, the question we must ask ourselves
is: are we truly believers?
By British Political Prisoner Babar Ahmad MX5383
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