All praise is due to Allah[1], praise that complies with His blessings and compensates His abundance. Our Lord, for You is all praise as befits the majesty of Your countenance and the might of Your authority. O Allah, I cannot sufficiently enumerate praises upon You; You are as You have praised Yourself. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone and He has no partner, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His slave and Messenger and His sincere and intimate friend, the best prophet that Allah sent to the entire world as a herald of glad tidings and admonition. O Allah, pray upon, give peace and give blessings upon our Sayyid[2] Muḥammad and upon the family of our Sayyid Muḥammad, prayers and peace that last inseparably until the Day of Judgement. I advise you and my sinning self to have fearful awareness of Allah the Exalted.
To proceed, dear slaves of Allah:
Recently, an āya from Allah’s Book, Mighty and Majestic caught my attention and held it for a long time, and it stirred up overflowing feelings of security, tranquillity, pride and joy, and it is the statement of Allah, the Glorified and Exalted:
“Allah is the Protector (Walī) of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light. But those who disbelieve have false gods as protectors. They take them from the light into the darkness.” [Al-Baqara 2:257]
Then, more feelings of joy entered my thoughts when I came across the other āya that confirms and increases the meaning of this āya that caught my attention, and it is the one in which Allah says:
“This is because Allah is the Protector of those who believe and because those who disbelieve have no protector.” [Muḥammad 47:11]
Therefore, I am Allah’s pampered slave, living under His shade. I am His slave, safe under His guardianship and care, because I am from amongst those who believe in Him and know Him as One, Unique, Eternal Lord. From Him is the beginning and to Him is the end. I certainly haven’t been abandoned in the earth. I am not an orphan nor have I been orphaned in the deserts of the world. Psychological problems will never ensnare me. The maladies of depression will never ensnare me. The traps of transgressors and the forces of evil will never catch me, because I am shaded by Allah’s protection, because I am from those of whom Allah has said:
“This is because Allah is the Protector of those who believe.” [Muḥammad 47:11]
Indeed – dear brothers – indeed overflowing joy entered my being and a spirit of pride overwhelmed my feelings. Me! Who am I? I am Allah’s pampered slave, as I’ve told you, under His shade, and I believe that these feelings that entered my being when this āya in the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, caught my attention, must inevitably enter the thoughts of each one of you. Each of you must be struck by this āya and made to reflect on it:
“Allah is the Protector (Walī) of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light.” [Al-Baqara 2:257]
This overflowing joy will undoubtedly enter you. You will inevitably feel the tranquillity that you have certainly not been abandoned in the earth. You are not orphans and you haven’t been orphaned in the deserts of the world. Indeed, neither psychological problems nor maladies of depression will ever ensnare you. Various psychological problems will never lead you to drugs and intoxicants, and other such things, because you are living under the shade of Allah’s protection. You are living under the shade of Allah’s guardianship:
“This is because Allah is the Protector of those who believe and because those who disbelieve have no protector.” [Muḥammad 47:11]
Once this joy has entered your being, each one of you must rejoice and recite this verse that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has taught us when He addressed us, informing us:
“My Protector is Allah, who sent down the Book. He takes care of the righteous.” [Al-ʾAʿrāf 7:196]
Yes, yes my Lord:
“My Protector is Allah, who sent down the Book. He takes care of the righteous.” [Al-ʾAʿrāf 7:196]
Indeed I believe that these feelings should enter the thoughts of all Muslims. They should enter the being of the entire Islamic world, embodied by its people and its leaders, as long as we have been honoured by true faith in Allah, as long as we have been honoured by knowing that we are His owned slaves and that we are connected to this protection – His protection of us and His guardianship over us – that is because He is the Creator of the entire universe. That is because He is the administrator of the entire world. These feelings must enter the being of the entire Islamic world, wherever it is, and be embodied – as I have said – by its people and its leaders.
I am amazed, dear slaves of Allah, I am amazed at those who know Allah and know how they are under Allah’s protection and know how they are under Allah’s guardianship, yet they insist on falling down from the throne of Allah’s protection over them and submitting to the transgressors and the forces of evil, and then making themselves enslaved prisoners before them, enslaved prisoners of the transgressors. I am amazed at those who exchange Allah’s protection for the protection of the transgressors from amongst Allah’s slaves, Mighty and Majestic.
These forces of evil, which kick the Muslims around, left and right, right and left, play about with them as if they were playing with a ball; they proclaim democracy[3] and they call to it, and they threaten those who haven’t enjoined it upon themselves, and they do this as long as it is the vessel that they are able to ride in order to realise their interests, as long as it is the trustworthy servant that the forces of evil are able to herd towards their benefits and their stolen goods, for when the forces of evil see that democracy only serves its adherents and that democracy only guides its adherents towards the truth and they cling to it, and they turn away from falsehood and reject it,[4] see then how quickly the forces of evil turn and call for despotism and for the protection of despots, until the very last drop. Indeed it is not democracy or despotism, but rather special interests that the forces evil desire to make use of. The forces of evil desire to ride us like a vessel in order to realise their benefits and achieve their goals.
I am amazed at those who exchange Allah’s protection and shade and insist on falling from the throne of this divine protection, and then surrender to the prison of these transgressors, or surrender to the forces of evil, dear slaves of Allah.
As for us, we are Allah’s believing slaves, we believe in Him. We are His slaves who know Him as One Lord Who has no partner and we know that we are His slaves. We have pledged ourselves to Him to be upon that way that He has commanded us to be upon, with our utmost effort. We pledged ourselves to Him to turn away from everything that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has warned us against, with our utmost effort.
Therefore, our Protector is Allah, Glorified and Exalted. This is our identity, dear slaves of Allah. This is our reality. We will never fall down from the throne of Allah’s protection over us. We will never turn our faces towards any direction in the world that entices us towards it for its own interests and its own benefits, desiring to control us and our rights. How? How can we exchange felicity for wretchedness? How can we leave the felicity that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has assuaged us with and let ourselves drool at wretchedness? Who would drool at the wretchedness that is enticing him for its own purposes, dear slaves of Allah!
This is a summary, which I have mentioned to you, of the revelation of joy that entered my being, and I am saying the truth: when I recently came across this beloved āya, which is so dear to us:
“Allah is the Protector (Walī) of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light.” [Al-Baqara 2:257]
Indeed I say to you in truth, bring glad tidings, and I say to myself: as long as we live within Allah’s shade, Mighty and Majestic, as long as we are proud of Allah’s protection over us, as long as we are truthful in our pledge to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that we will never take anyone besides Him as a protector, then I give myself and you the glad tidings that security will never desert us, that tranquillity will remain inseparable from us and that the joy of felicity will remain within us. Who is it that doubts that when Allah’s protection, Glorified and Exalted, follows an Ummah, then this Ummah will achieve every kind of felicity?
Dear slaves of Allah, the last thing that I want to say to you is an answer to a question that may have entered the thoughts of many of you: do you think that these tribulations that keep coming from all around us, from the east of the earth and the west, will any of it reach us? I give you this answer: Have you heard the speech of Allah, Glorified and Exalted? Indeed, He responds to you, and it’s as if it were revealed yesterday. Indeed it is the answer that is contained within this good news for you:
“Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are safe; it is they who are guided.” [Al-Anʿām 6:82]
Have you heard? Have you reflected on this speech?
“Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are safe; it is they who are guided.”
Indeed I declare, in my name, in your name, in the name of our Ummah here in our Shām, that we are believers in Allah. We are confident that we will adhere to the covenant of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as far as we are able. Therefore, security and safety will be our ally. Security and safety will never desert us. This is glad tidings from the Lord of all Creation to us.
“Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are safe; it is they who are guided.”
O Allah, indeed we call on You as our witness, that we are believers in You, so make all of us, O Allah – leaders and people – O Allah, make all of us from amongst “Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing” so that we can be safe and secure in this life and the next.
I say this statement of mine and I seek forgiveness from Allah the Most Great.
[2] tn: This word means master and is only used for human beings.
[3] tn: For more information on democracy, please have a look at this article which explains Plato’s position on democracy. Plato, one of the fathers of western civilisation, enumerated five types of government, from the most desirable to the least desirable:
- Aristocracy – this is the best form of government, according to Plato, in which the ruler is a philosopher, someone whose soul has been educated through the contemplation of arts and the exercise of the intellect. Having studied philosophy, this ruler would know the true virtues and, therefore, he would be able to lead people towards wellness and prosperity. Since the ruler would be virtuous, he would not want to deceive and abuse the citizens;
- Timocracy – this is the form of government ruled by warriors in which all the political decisions aim to bring military power and status. Timocrats may seek virtues just as the aristocrats, but they also pursue power, which can lead them to wars and combats. Timocracy, according to Plato, is a kind of government that arises when aristocracy starts to degenerate;
- Oligarchy – this is the system of government that establishes a division between the rich and the poor. The rich ones, which are fewer, rule and the poor must subject. This, according to Plato, is a problem because rich people are not necessarily virtuous, and when the power is in the hands of non-virtuous people, the rich will attempt to become richer and the poor might become even poorer due to bad policy, generating revolutions;
- Democracy – democracy is the child of oligarchy. Since people cannot agree with the rich ruling and deceiving the poor, people start to believe that if they could choose the ruler, their interest would prevail. The poor are greater in numbers so they elect one of them to be in charge. However, since the masses aren't educated to become virtuous or to exercise the intellect, they are not apt to make political decisions that prioritize their real needs;
- Tyranny –democracy naturally degenerates into tyranny and society becomes a total chaos in which there's no rule, no priorities and no laws. Whoever is stronger takes charge and does as he pleases. Nobody is able to remove a tyrant man from the power, as there's no law to be obeyed.
You will notice that democracy lies between oligarchy and tyranny, and it is effectively the oligarchy remaining firmly in control while giving the masses the impression that they have freedom of choice. In reality, they are easily taken advantage of because they are poorly educated; which would include being intellectually dependent and therefore incapable of making proper, meaningful decisions that would benefit them. Please see the post “Western Mass Education” for further details. For an article about how this does indeed work today, please read this article, in which the author says:
‘As Plato and Aristotle observed, the system allows the rich and powerful to manipulate the ill-informed and to influence policy to further their personal interests.’
As for tyranny, what Plato says is more or less a description of how Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came into power in Germany. Norman Davies, in his seminal work Europe: A History, states:
‘Hitler’s democratic triumph exposed the true nature of democracy. Democracy has few values of its own: it is as good, or as bad, as the principles of the people who operate it. In the hands of liberal and tolerant people, it will produce a liberal and tolerant government; in the hands of cannibals, a government of cannibals. In Germany in 1933-44 it produced a Nazi government because the prevailing culture of Germany’s voters did not give priority to the exclusion of gangsters.’ (p.969)
Allah the Exalted has said: “Allah never changes a people's state until they change what is in themselves.” [Ar-Raʿd 13:11]
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, said: “As you are, you will be ruled over.” (كما تكونوا يولى عليكم), as mentioned by Imam As-Suyūṭī in Al-Jāmiʿ As-Ṣaghīr.
For more details on authority and ruling in Islam, please see the series 13 Centuries of Islamic History.
[4] tn: i.e. allowing people to govern themselves, in whatever form of government, may not suit their interests.
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