Written by the martyred Sheikh, Abdullah bin Muhammad Ar-Rashud, May Allah have Mercy upon him.
My Mujahid Brother:
The Muslim feels much happiness with the blessings that Allah causes to transpire to him and motivate him and remind him of the greatness of Allah's bounty upon him. And although not every blessing is a blessing in reality - for it might be a trial for the slave and an enticement for him, or other than that - there remains the blessing of the honors that are indisputably nothing but the Grace which our Lord, bestows upon the best of His creation, and the most beloved of them to Him was our Prophet Muhammad pbuh)
Indeed it is the blessing of "maintaining steadfastness" and not being affected by the misguidance and deception of those who are astray, as Allah Ta'ala says:
Had not the Grace of Allah and His Mercy been upon you (O Muhammad), a party of them would certainly have made a decision to mislead you, but (in fact) they mislead none except their own selves, and no harm can they do to you in the least. Allah has sent down to you the Book (The Qur'an), and Al-Hikmah (the Prophet's Sunnah), and taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of Allah unto you (O Muhammad)
(An-Nisa: 161)
And in the Chapter that follows it, Allah says, warning His Prophet about these misguided pursuers of Fitnah:
And so judge (you O Muhammad) between them by what Allah has revealed and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they turn you far away from some of that which Allah has sent down to you. And if they turn away, then know that Allah's Will is to punish them for some sins of theirs. And truly, most of men are Fasiqun (rebellious and disobedient to Allah)
(Al-Ma'idah: 49)
And despite the fact that the believer of all time periods understands the greatness of this virtue, it is the believer during the period of estrangement (Ghurbah) that [reaches] the highest degree of absorption and understanding of the greatness of this Divine blessing, especially when he sees the plenitude of those around him who lapsed without attaining what [they] sought after - and there is no Might or Power except with Allah. So these situations increase the believer in faith and in deference, and they increase him in his turning to and his need of Allah, and they increase him in contempt and scorn for himself.
Exactly as the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to act.
So you see, for example, the guided and directed Imam, the legal expert, [the one] who was given the glad tidings of Paradise and Deliverance - ‘Umar Bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was copious in his weeping over himself and his fear over himself from the sources of hypocrisy, so he would say to Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, "I ask you by Allah, did the Messenger of Allah count me as one of the hypocrites?"
And Ibn Abi Mulaykah said, "I met thirty of the Prophet's companions, and all of them feared for himself from hypocrisy."
So because of this, they were, may Allah be pleased with them, the best of the people in action, and the most copious of them in fear, and the most severe of them in accounting themselves due to the glorification of Allah that was established in their hearts, and their knowledge of His being entitled to a hundred times the worship and submission that the slaves perform.
And due to this Divine consciousness in their hearts, may Allah be pleased with them, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), made their methodology the standard next to which no other is acknowledged. So in the Hadith, "‘And this Ummah will divide into 73 sects, all of them in the Hellfire except one.' So they [the Companions] said, ‘Which one is it, O Messenger of Allah?' He said, ‘Those who were upon what I and my companions are upon today'".
(The Hadith of ‘Abdullah Bin ‘Amr was recorded and classed as Hasan by At-Tirmidhi (#2641). It was also classed as Hasan by Al-‘Iraqi in Ahkam al-Qur'an (3/432), Al-‘Iraqi in Takhrij al-Ihya' (3/284) and Al-Albani in Sahih At-Tirmidhi.)
And because of this, the one who seeks to take an example should take them as an example, may Allah be pleased with them, especially if the strangeness of the Religion heightens and the helpers and the supporters are few in number.
The Strangeness of the Religion:
Yes. "Islam began [as something] strange and it will return to being [something] strange as it began, so Tuba for the strangers."
(Muslim #208; Musnad Al-Imam Ahmad #3596; Sunan At-Tirmidhi #2553, and others)
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said, "Its [i.e. Islam's] Ghurbah (estrangement) is greatest when those who once entered into it forsake it..." until he said, "So indeed no party forsakes Islam except that Allah brings a people He loves who will fight on His behalf, and they are the Victorious Party until the Hour is established. And this demonstrates that He mentioned this in the context of prohibiting alliance with the disbelievers. So He, Ta'ala, said,
O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Awliya' (friends, protectors, helpers, etc.), they are but Awliya' to one another. And if any amongst you takes them as Awliya', then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the Dhalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers and unjust)
(Al-Ma'idah :51)
until His Statement:
O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islam), Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower
(Al-Ma'idah: 54)
So those being addressed with the prohibition of taking the Jews and the Christians as allies are the same ones being addressed in the Verse about apostasy."
(Fatawa Sheikh Al-Islam 18/297)
Yes. Indeed it is the strange estrangement, and from its features is what was reported in the Hadith, from Umamah, "And from the end [i.e. the end days] of this Religion is that the entire tribe will be drained of knowledge, until there will not remain in it but one learned man or two, and they will be subjugated and meek, and will not find in this any assisters or helpers." And at this time the vast Mercy of Allah will descend upon these strangers, and Allah will compensate them for this estrangement with a Divine Virtue, and it is multiplying their reward for them the way the rewards were multiplied for the first generations.
And in At-Tabarani Al-Kabir from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), said, "Indeed you will leave behind you an era in which the patience of the one adhering [to his Religion] in it is the reward of 50 martyrs from amongst you."
And this minority is the Victorious Party, as it was reported in Muslim from more than one of the Companions his statement, "This religion will continue to be established, and a group of people from the Believers will continue to fight for its protection until the Hour is established."
(Muslim #3546)
So he made their most apparent characteristic their fighting in the Path of Allah, that characteristic that made them most deserving of Allah's Love for them:
Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows as if they were a solid structure
(As-Saff: 4)
So here, my brother, you have these texts that ease your state of estrangement, when the idle ones draw upon the dark texts of the Tawaghit that promise them poverty and command them with corruption.
But, my Mujahid brother:
What is your attitude towards the lessons of time and the wondrous transformations and alterations? Yes, it is required of you to take from these circumstances beneficial lessons - we ask Allah for Guidance and Soundness. And from the benefits are what follows:
1) Joy at the blessing of steadfastness:
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have Mercy upon him said, "And this does not mandate that if he becomes a stranger that the one holding fast to it [i.e. Islam] is upon evil, no. Rather, he is the happiest of people, as it was said in the complete Hadith, "So Tuba for the strangers." And "Tuba" is from At-Tayyib (good).
(An-Nawawi said, "Tuba is from At-Tayyib (good), stated by Al-Fira'. And as for the meaning of Tuba, then the scholars of exegesis differed upon the meaning of His, Ta'ala's Statement, "Tuba is for them and a beautiful place of (final) return." So it was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah have Mercy upon him, that its meaning is happiness and delight of the eyes. And ‘Ikrimah said, ‘The best of what is for them.' And Ad-Dahhak said, ‘Felicity for them.' And Qatadah said, 'Goodness for them.' And Ibrahim said, ‘Good and bounty is for them.' And Ibn ‘Ijlan said, ‘Perpetual good.' And it was said, ‘Paradise.' And it was said, ‘A tree in Paradise.' And all of these are meanings supported by the Hadith.")
Allah Ta'ala said:
Tuba (Happiness, or a name of a tree in Paradise) is for them and a beautiful place of (final) return.
(Ar-Ra'd: 29)
So indeed he is of the class of the First and Foremost, who followed it [i.e. Islam] when it was strange, and they were the happiest of people. And as for the Hereafter, they are the highest people in rank after the Prophets, may Allah send His Peace upon them" End quote.
(Fatawa Sheikh Al-Islam 18/292)
2) Lack of grief and distress over his estrangement:
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have Mercy upon him, said, "And just as Allah prohibited His Prophet to be afflicted with grief or distress for those that did not enter into Islam in the beginning of the matter, in the Hereafter it is likewise. So the believer is prohibited from feeling grief over them and to be distressed over their plots. And for many of the people, if he sees evil or if he sees much of the situation of Islam changing, he becomes anxious and exhausted and he weeps the way the people of calamities weep, and he is prohibited from all of this. Rather, he is commanded to have patience and trust in Allah and to have steadfastness upon the Religion of Islam" End quote.
(Fatawa Sheikh Al-Islam 18/295)
3) Endurance, patience, and positioning:
O you who believe! Endure and be more patient (than your enemy), and guard your territory by stationing army units permanently at the places from where the enemy can attack you, and fear Allah, so that you may be successful
(Al-Imran: 200)
But they never lost heart for that which did befall them in Allah's Way, nor did they weaken nor degrade themselves. And Allah loves As-Sabirin (the patient ones)
(Al-Imran: 146)
4) Throwing oneself before the door of Al-Ghani (the All-Rich), Ar-Rahim (the Most Merciful), and breaking down before Him with supplication and seeking forgiveness:
Indeed the greatest thing that humiliates the slave is his sins. And in the Hadith Qudsi, "O my servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you." until He says, "Indeed you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you."
(Muslim #4674; Musnad Al-Imam Ahmad #20405. The full text of the Hadith is as follows: "Abu Dharr reported Allah's Messenger (pbuh), as saying that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said: ‘O My servants, I have made oppression unlawful for Me and unlawful for you, so do not commit oppression against one another. O my servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry (needy) except one whom I feed, so beg food from Me, so that I may give that to you. O My servants, all of you are naked (need clothes) except one whom I provide garments, so beg clothes from Me, so that I should clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you can neither do Me any harm nor can you do Me any good. O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and even the whole of human race of yours, and that of the Jinn even, become (equal in) God-conscious like the heart of a single person amongst you, nothing would add to My Power. O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and that of the Jinn too in unison become the most wicked (all beating) like the heart of a single person, it would cause no loss to My Power. O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and that of the Jinn also all stand in one plain ground and you ask Me and I confer upon every person what he asks for, it would not. in any way, cause any loss to Me (even less) than that which is caused to the ocean by dipping the needle in it. My servants, these for you I shall reward you for them, so he who deeds of yours which I am recording finds good should praise Allah and he who does not find that should not blame anyone but his self.' Sa'id said that when Abu Idris Al-Khawlani narrated this Hadith he knelt upon his knees.")
And from the powerful supplications, "O Allah, Turner of the hearts, make my heart steadfast upon Your Religion." And this was of the moving supplications made most by the infallible. And also from amongst the moving supplications, "O Allah, inspire in me guidance and protect me from the evil of my self"; "O Ever-Living, O Self-Subsisting, by Your Mercy I seek assistance, rectify for me all of my affairs and do not leave me to myself or to any of Your creation for the blink of an eye"; "O Allah I ask you for certainty and safety."
5) Increasing in the praise of Allah for His blessings:
So the steadiness of His blessings and their increase is dependant on the magnitude of your praise of Allah. And He Alone is Deserving of praise in the beginning and in the end; so all praise is due to him, apparent and hidden.
And may Allah send peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and all of his family and his companions.
Published in Sawt Al-Jihad magazine, issue #6, Shawwal 1424
Source: At-Tibyan Publications
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