Oppression
Allah SWT created this religion for humanity to reform two dimensions; first one the relation of the individual with Allah SWT in order to become true slaves of him SWT, and the second one is the relation between humans themselves which it should be based on goodness and justice, which means the human society to be reassured and no one to be oppressed.
Islam is a revolution of values before anything else, it is a revolution against oppression and
tyranny, slavery and singling out, it Is a revolution for justice, equality and social security, Islam Is a revolution of the vulnerable in the face of tyrants and disadvantaged in the face of affluent and slaves in the face of their masters.
This is a fact that been noticed and felt over time, while the humanity was turns to Islam in resolving all their issues of their lives.
The imam reminded us that Allah SWT speaks of this in the Glorious Quran in ayah 48 of Surat Al-Hajj which is translated as saying:
And for how many a city did I prolong enjoyment while it was committing wrong. Then I seized it, and to Me is the [final] destination.
And the imam reminded us of the hadith of the Prophet SAWS in which it is narrated him to have said:
“Verily, Allah gives respite to the oppressor. But when He seizes him, He does not let him escape.” Then he (ﷺ)) recited, “Such is the Seizure of your Rubb when He seizes the (population of) towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His Seizure is painful (and) severe”.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we analyse this is telling us that even the harshest of oppressors is in place for a short-allotted time and that ultimately the return for all is back to their Lord.
Islam, then, is the scream of the oppressed in the face of the oppressor, and the revolution of the oppressed to restore their human rights, and it is on each one who holds the banner of Islam to be aware of this meaning and live its behaviour and disseminate its culture if he wants this religion to be the nucleus to attract the hearts and minds toward him.
After 1400 years, we still can see people worshiping idols that are not made of stones like what it was on that time, but we see that they worship idols which created by human which consists of authoritarian regimes prevailing in our days, which is going in the opposite direction to their people, and that created the social and cultural decay and a non-systematic political chaos.
We need to remind ourselves that there is some benefit to delaying the punishment of the oppressor. Allah SWT divine wisdom over all things is something we will never be able to fully comprehend but just some points are mentioned in today’s reminder.
- One benefit is to give the oppressor an opportunity to correct themselves. Allah SWT is demonstrates his immeasureable mercy through this option.
The imam reminded us of this through the following translation of the Quran. Sura Al-Maidah, ayat 39:
But whoever repents after his wrongdoing and reforms, indeed, Allah will turn to him in forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
- Another wisdom is that Allah SWT delays punishment as inevitably the Oppressors turn on one another.
- The third wisdom is that in some cases, it is better for the Oppressors to be given advice from Muslims to change their ways. It is therefore a benefit to us to gain the reward for this advice and gain the reward for preventing the oppressor from carrying out their deed.
The imam illustrated this through the following hadith in which the Prophet SAWS said:
“Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or is oppressed”. A man enquired: “O Messenger of Allah! I help him when he is oppressed, but how can I help him when he is an oppressor?” He (ﷺ) said, “You can keep him from committing oppression. That will be your help to him”.
- And finally, the point on those who get reward for dealing with the oppression. Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord is one full of mercy, compassion and justice. We also have to remind ourselves of the simple fact that each and every soul that is born is living a test that will determine their eternity in the next life.
What we regard as oppression may well be the case and it may be a cause of difficulty and pain. However, if we take a moment to reflect on the relative comparison of this life against the next, it does not even measure to a drop of water in the oceans of the sea.
Therefore, the final point is one we ought to remind ourselves on in times of oppression and that for every injustice we experience, every pain suffered at the hands of the oppressor, we will be rewarded for our patience, our tolerance and our worship in the face of adversity.
Dear brothers and sisters, oppression will always exist in a world that was designed as a test for the believer. Whether it is done by tyrants of yesteryear or the powers of today that hide in the shadows, we need to be aware of such actions on our soul and work towards counteracting that through understanding and worship.
