Suleiman Hani – When Oppressors Fall 4 Powerful Lessons
AI: Summary ©
The history and importance of authoritative culture and the spread of authoritative culture, along with their potential systemic effects, is discussed. The downfall of oppressors and their impact on society is highlighted, along with the importance of acknowledging downfall and rejecting one's views. The speakers emphasize the need for universal justice and humility, as well as avoiding materialism and striving for consistency in daily life. The segment also highlights the importance of living in a world where everyone has a positive attitude and a positive attitude for the future, and the negative impact of materialism and oppression on people's lives.
AI: Summary ©
One of the happiest feelings that people can
possibly experience in this world, but of course
we cannot imagine its state in the next
life, is when they see someone who abuses
or oppresses or hurts others, commits injustice, when
they see them removed from that position, when
they see that there's some kind of minor
justice that is restored and of course it
does not compare to the reality of justice
in the afterlife.
And we look to examples of how tyrants
fall in the Quran and the Sunnah of
the Prophet ﷺ in our own history as
Muslims, in our history as human beings, and
we find oftentimes those of arrogance and power,
no matter how advanced their military is, their
might, their civilization, no matter how much they
have of momentum as well as many historians
would observe and study and spend decades specializing
in the history of a specific dynasty or
empire, like the Roman Byzantine Empire, like the
Persian Empire of the 6th century.
And they would say this empire had so
much momentum and it was so advanced, it
seemed like it was ready for world *.
No one could have predicted in the early
Meccan years of the Sira, no one could
predict that not only would the Romans who
were just defeated and surrendered to the Persians,
that they would rebound, let alone rebound to
an extent that the Persians would eventually fall
at the hands of the small group of
Muslims.
When we see the wisdom of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, as far as we can
identify and interpret in world events based on
history, based on the Quran, based on principles
of how this world operates, it should give
us hope.
And so you look at someone like Firaun
who got to the extent of not just
enslaving people and torturing and killing and murdering
newborn boys, for example, not unlike the Zionists
who kill newborn boys and girls, men and
women.
Firaun is a person who also said to
his people that they should worship him.
And this is important to keep in mind
when you think of the pinnacle of power.
He said, I'm your Lord, the most high.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala caused after all
the signs and time and necessary opportunities for
someone like this to turn and for the
people around him to turn back to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Due to his arrogance, he was humiliated, destroyed,
drowned, his body preserved for those who were
there especially to see what could happen to
someone who the day before had all the
military power you could imagine.
Things change overnight.
We don't know how they operate.
We don't know what's around the corner.
But in the meantime, we strive.
And of course, we see another example in
the famous figure of Qarun mentioned in the
Quran.
Qarun is a person who also was given
power by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, testing
him in many different ways.
And what did he do?
With all his power and all his wealth
to the extent that it would take a
lot of strong men to carry some of
the keys that he had for his palaces.
You look at someone like this and he
said, I earned this from my own intellect.
I did this, I achieved this.
And this kind of pride and arrogance in
worldly things and materialism in your political power
and anything that you have could be the
greatest cause of destruction for that individual.
And of course, no one could imagine that
within the span of a day or two
or a week that Qarun would be swallowed
up by the earth.
You don't know what's around the corner.
And so when you look at these examples
and we have, of course, in contemporary history,
we have so many examples we talk about
often, one of which with the liberation of
Algerians from French colonialism.
It took millions of innocent lives that were
martyred and killed.
It took a lot of resistance to what
was happening.
And of course, to some extent, you find
that there was success.
There's still more in this world that we
seek as Muslims in terms of universal justice.
You look at the British Empire and how
far it extended out around the world and
how many people were colonized, how many people
were oppressed under its rule, Muslims and non
-Muslims.
And we find many of these lands were
liberated from it in some form.
The Soviet Union as well, with the Central
Asian Muslim countries that were oppressed and continue
in some ways to be oppressed.
We ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la to alleviate their affairs.
But of course, in our times, in the
last two weeks, we're thinking about and in
a way celebrating and thanking Allah Subh'anaHu
Wa Ta-A'la for the toppling of
the Assad regime for 50 years, for 50
plus years.
And in fact, a little longer.
This regime is responsible for the pain and
torture and abuse and assault and * and
many other things.
I don't wish to go into detail because
we're all familiar.
And if not, we should be familiar.
For the last 50 years, millions of lives
were affected by this, many of whom are
here and around the world.
And so when something like this happens, when
a Muslim observes something political unfolding in their
times, naturally, naturally, some people want to be
hesitant.
Some people are skeptical.
Why should I be happy?
What's really happening?
For a moment, just remember this, as far
as principles go.
You don't know what's around the corner.
We don't know, none of us know what's
in store for us tomorrow, for a nation
state, for the ummah.
We do not know what's happening next month,
next year, in 10 years.
But a Muslim of sound knowledge and wisdom
would never find it problematic to celebrate the
downfall of a dictator who's satanic.
Would never find this to be something that
is confusing.
How should I feel about the downfall of
someone who has caused so much pain and
injustice?
That is separated from what's next.
That is separated from an attempt to try
to analyze politically.
Because you see, with situations like this, when
a tyrant falls, when a tyrant falls, naturally,
a lot of people want to ask, without
really having knowledge, really what's behind all of
this?
And it's important for us to recognize that
we don't necessarily need to have opinions on
everything that's happening in the world.
We don't necessarily have the knowledge.
We don't necessarily have the principles.
But we do know one thing for sure.
The downfall of a satanic, anti-Muslim, anti
-Islamic, anti-justice, anti-peace dictator like this
is something for us to be happy for.
It's something for us to be grateful for.
And what's waiting in the afterlife is real
justice.
Because in reality, you cannot restore the pain
of those who are here and around the
world.
You can't restore the many bodies that were
found in the prisons.
You can't restore the many women who came
out of prisons, who went in as teenagers
and have multiple children.
They don't know who their fathers are.
You can't restore justice in this world.
You can seek it as best as you
can.
And try to stop injustice as much as
you can.
And that is an Islamic imperative.
But in reality, what Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala has in store for these types of
individuals is more severe than any one of
us could imagine.
And they deserve that and all more.
They deserve that and the wisdom and the
justice of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But I do wanna caution my community and
I wanna remind myself.
The topic of the downfall of an oppressor
is not about politicians and dictators alone.
There are abusers of many forms.
There are people who abuse in their positions,
in their authority, in their organizations.
There are people who abuse children.
There are people who abuse women.
There are people who abuse men.
There are people who abuse young, foreigners, locals.
So when you look at all the different
examples of abuse and oppression and injustice, we
recognize that the ayat of the Quran are
not limited to rulers like Firaun.
They're not limited to politicians that we can
easily criticize as Muslims from the comfort of
our homes.
While oppression may be happening nearby or in
that home itself.
So it's easy for us to look at
this and say, look at these arrogant people.
They are so out of touch with the
masses.
That is true.
Generally, the political elites who commit injustices in
any civilization, in any land, this is purely
from a historical and political science perspective.
Generally, when you have structural oppression and there
are groups of people or corporations or others
who are in power in reality, you will
find that they will do everything that they
can to hold on to that power no
matter what it takes.
And they will try every tactic.
And they will try with their propaganda to
make it seem acceptable to the masses.
But oftentimes when it's exposed, you see how
out of touch they are with reality.
How out of touch they are with the
average person.
And there's an example of this not just
with politics.
An example of this, and I know this
seems random, but this is important.
The recent killing of the CEO of a
healthcare company.
You see how out of touch so many
politicians are.
You see how out of touch so many
people with political power are.
How many millions of people have died or
been killed indirectly because of a structure of
injustice and economic inequality.
Now, this is not to justify.
This is not to justify from the Islamic
principles and Maxim's vigilante justice.
But this is to say that if you
don't understand why people are reacting the way
that they are, why the average commentator is
responding with a sense of hey, I'm not
going to criticize this person killed millions of
people.
We have to be in touch with reality
when justice is taken away from people and
structures of injustice replace that reality.
People are going to react.
Whether or not is justified is a separate
issue.
And as Muslims of course, we react to
situations within the paradigm of the Islamic worldview.
With this we remember the saying of the
Prophet ﷺ.
In the very famous narration, لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ
مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ
مِّنْ كِبْرٍ In one riwayah, the Prophet ﷺ
said, No one who has the smallest amount,
the smallest weight, you can say an atom's
weight of arrogance will enter Jannah.
And there are other narrations that indicate and
clarify what is kibir.
We all want to enter Jannah.
May Allah grant us that.
What is kibir?
So I don't have it in my heart.
So I'm not led to that place in
which I can't enter paradise.
Arrogance is to reject the truth and to
look down on other people.
To reject the truth is a form of
arrogance.
To look down on others is a form
of arrogance.
May Allah ﷻ protect us from both.
Rejecting the truth does not just mean from
outside of the folds of Islam.
It also means within Islam.
If you are rejecting something that Allah has
commanded, you deny that it is true.
You deny that it is an obligation.
You deny something is a major sin.
This is very problematic.
Kibir clouds judgment.
It blinds people.
You see people acting with arrogance around the
world and you say, how can you do
this?
Like how arrogant are you to think you're
invincible?
How arrogant can you be and out of
touch with reality?
That's what pride does.
And so with this you recognize that pride
can corrupt the heart and the soul from
within.
And of course it can lead to external
oppression of different forms.
Pride can be the reason that a student
becomes arrogant with their cheating, with what they're
doing on campus, with temptations and major sins
and thinks they're getting away with what they're
doing.
Pride can be the reason that someone with
a position of authority thinks they're getting away
with what they're doing of abuse in their
industry.
But eventually it all falls down.
Eventually it will collapse.
Eventually there is a punishment for it.
And the worst of punishment is that arrogance
leads you away from Allah's mercy.
The worst of consequences in this world is
that it leads you away from Allah's mercy.
And in the next life, therefore prevent it
from entering paradise.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us
from that.
Allahumma ameen.
If we had to summarize three or four
lessons from the downfall of oppressors, we can
say, number one, clearly and simply, humility is
the path to success.
The arrogant people like Firaun rose with arrogance
and fear and everything that they've done.
The Prophets rose with humility.
And their status is the highest status in
this world.
And that includes the Prophet ﷺ's many examples,
exemplifications of tawaduh, humility.
Even when they were oppressed for over a
decade, and they experienced persecution and martyrdom, and
abuse of all forms.
And the Prophet ﷺ entered Mecca with the
conquest, the liberation of Mecca.
What happened?
He entered with his beard touching the saddle
of the horse with humility, thanking Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, glorifying His praise.
So even in times of success, the believer
remembers humility is the path to victory.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us
that.
Number two is that, and by the way,
humility does not mean you don't have confidence.
Humility does not mean the Muslim is not
strong and confident in their beliefs and their
strategies.
Just to be very clear.
Number two of lessons that we learn from
the toppling and the downfall of oppressors is
for us not to be deceived by materialism.
One of the most dangerous things in the
world is when people are on social media,
especially or through movies and TV shows and
reality, whatever TV, that when people are following
celebrities or somebody immoral, a rapper that's immoral,
or a celebrity, or an actor, an actress,
or a politician, and they're following individuals who
are living lives in which they're committing different
forms of injustice against their soul or against
other people.
And they start to think that success and
status, what is social status, that it's associated
with materialism.
It's associated with your circles, proximity to power,
influence.
So they start to have the wrong idea
of what it means to be successful.
When Qarun boasted about his money, don't think
it's a far-fetched bizarre thing.
It's exactly what people do today.
But they may not explicitly boast about it.
They may be showing it off in different
ways.
The things that they buy, the cars that
they drive, it's okay to have good things,
but not with arrogance.
It's okay to have things, the blessings of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that are bringing
you closer to Him, but not with kibir.
And so when we see these messages and
these reminders, we take from it, the lesson
for us, the ibrah, is don't let your
worldly materialism, your success, your health, your degree,
your job, where you live, your ethnicity, don't
let any of these worldly things cause you
to ever become egoistic or to look down
on other people.
إِنَّ أَكْرَامَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ The most honorable.
You want the greatest status?
The most honorable status for you in the
sight of Allah is for those who have
the most taqwa, God consciousness.
Number three, we take from this as well,
the trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's
promise that justice will be restored.
Some forms of justice will be restored here,
and oppression does not last forever.
No matter what it is, it does not
last forever.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala promises that
oppressors will have their day.
If not in this world, then of course
on the day of judgment.
وَلَا تَحْسَبَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّالِمُونَ
Do not assume that Allah is unaware of
what oppressors do.
And don't think of just politicians, apply this
to your life.
Any oppressor, anyone who's hurting others or hurting
their soul, don't assume that Allah is unaware
of what people do.
Rather He delays the punishment for these oppressors
for a day in which their eyes will
stare with horror.
Number four of the lessons we take from
this is to reflect on the past and
the present, to reflect on what's happened so
that we don't fall into the same mistakes.
But I do want to answer a very
important question that arises after the downfall of
the Assad regime.
A lot of people ask this question because
many people have been killed in the last
50 years due to this regime.
May Allah accept them as shuhada.
Many people are still hurting today.
Many people are still affected by this in
many different forms.
Do all oppressors get toppled and fall in
this world?
And of course the answer is no.
We know this from history, we know this
from today, we know this from the Quran,
we know this from the principles of Islam,
the sunan of Allah in this world is
that it's different than the next life.
This is the world of actions, actions and
choices, good and bad with opportunity.
But the next life is a life of
accountability with no opportunity.
So when you think of this reality, yes,
sometimes oppressors, they don't get the punishment we
wish they would deserve and get in this
life.
It's not expedited for this world.
Are there nations that were punished by Allah
in this world for their oppression and injustice
and evil?
Yes.
And there are also examples of the opposite.
The famous story of Ashab Al-Ukhdood, the
story of the ditch in Surah Al-Buruj,
the story of the boy and the king,
the king who oppressed his people and killed
all of them in the fire.
We have no reference whatsoever in the Quran
or any authentic hadith about what happened next
after the martyrdom of all these Muslims.
What happened next?
Allah praises these believers for holding on to
their faith and tells us of the miracle
of the baby who spoke to the mother
and told her to hang on, to be
patient.
But we know nothing about the king himself.
Did he get punished by Allah in this
life?
Did something horrible happened to him, a tragic
ending?
Was he replaced?
Eventually he died.
And every oppressor and every righteous person must
die and face Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and face their consequences.
We have many other examples even in recent
times.
When you look at what happened just in
the 19th century, in the 20th century, I
found 30 different examples of people who are
known to have committed injustices and killed maybe
millions of people each or been responsible for
it.
And we don't know of any really terrible
ending for them in this life.
But we know when the soul leaves the
body, that's when their punishment begins.
And amongst them you have the example of
Leopold II of Belgium caused millions of innocent
lives to be taken in Congo.
And even till this day, Congo has its
own oppression because of its resources.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it
easy for them.
This is a person that we don't know
of anything bad happening to him at the
end of his life.
He died of natural causes as far as
we're aware.
And of course you have Stalin and others
who committed atrocities and were responsible for the
killing of many people.
You have slave owners in this country who
tortured many innocent people.
You have people who are still committing injustices
to this day.
Seemingly, it looks like they are getting away
with it.
And once again, real justice is restored on
the day of judgment.
And that's sometimes difficult.
That's part of the test of this world.
But we trust in Allah's promise.
We trust in that reality and we hold
on to that.
There is a consequence for every person, good
and bad.
We also remember from that delay for the
afterlife, we remember that there's a purpose to
this life.
So act, take action, do what you can.
And with this action you remember as well
the believers have to be steadfast because success
is not necessarily to have your justice restored
in this world.
Success is for you to hold on to
your faith whether or not that happens.
While seeking it.
Whether or not it happens, hold on to
your faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And of course with that the reminder that
although divine justice is kept for the afterlife,
although it is delayed for a day in
which oppressors and abusers will stare in horror,
we are reminded as well to strive for
justice with all that we have.
Be strategic, be wise, collectively unite, work together,
stay strong, turn back to Allah and seek
his help in all things because ultimately Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us victory is
for the believers.
In the meantime, strive.
فَاصْبِرْ وَصْبِرُوا اصْبِرُوا وَصَابِرُوا وَرَابِطُوا In so many
forms in the Qur'an.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ Allah is with those
who persevere.
وَاصْبِرْ وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ Put your trust
in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because ultimately what we have is the conclusion,
تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا
فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا وَلْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ As was
recited by many of the great rulers and
leaders of the early generations amongst the sahaba
and tabi'een.
Verily, the life of the hereafter, the life
of the hereafter meaning success, Allah has assigned
for those who are righteous, they don't desire
corruption in this world.
They don't desire to spread anything evil in
this world or to have a form of
exaltedness.
And the greatest outcome, the victory is for
the believers.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
allow us to see after moments in which
oppressors are removed from power.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
allow us to see steadfastness and justice and
the restoration of rights as much as we
can.
And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to allow us to see not just a
free Syria, but a free Sham and a
free Aqsa and a free Bangladesh and Pakistan
where many innocent Muslims are being killed.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
liberate all of our lands from oppressors, whether
they are politicians or they're defenders or they
are donors or corporations.
And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to grant us wisdom and sincerity and consistency
in everyday life to seek justice.
Justice in terms of our soul and justice
in terms of the rights of others.
أقول قولي هذا واستغفروا آلي ولكم فاستغفروه إنه
هو الغفور الرحيم