40 Hadiths on Social Justice
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Hadith #6 - A Word of Truth in the Face of An Oppressor
Words are often the starting point of both good and evil. Sh. Omar Suleiman describes the ways we can speak a word of truth in the face of an oppressor and why it is the greatest form of jihad.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. And again, the next two weeks, just two weeks left in laying the methodology, sort of show us how to correct what we see, when we see it. And inshallah ta'ala we'll get into the actual issues once we finish these ahadith on methodology. Just a quick logistics note, not this next week, but the week after we will have off inshallah ta'ala. So that's going to be a week off, I think it's March 28th, two weeks from today. Because I have to speak at University of Texas in Arlington inshallah ta'ala. So just keep that in mind inshallah. So that will be the spring break of the halaqa, officially the spring break of the halaqa inshallah ta'ala. But we went through the hadith last week of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, who goes through this conversation that he has with the messenger, salallahu alayhi wasalam, where he asks him, you know, what are the actions that I need to be doing? And if I can't do this, then what should I do? So he goes from charity to, you know, when he tells the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, what are the actions that accompany faith? The first thing he says is spending from what Allah has given to you. So being charitable with what's been given to you, even if it's very small. Then he mentions a few things. So he mentions this idea of enjoining good and forbidding evil. He mentions this idea of helping someone who is skilled but doesn't have the capability, or someone who is in a position of authority to make changes, but doesn't have the proper knowledge or the skill set. Employing the one or enabling the one who is in a position to do what you can't do. Then he mentions being there for the one who is being wronged. And, you know, at the end the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam finally mentions that if you can't do any of these things, then at the very least make sure that liyumsika athahu anil nas, that your harm is not reaching anybody. If you have nothing good to offer, then make sure that you're not bringing bad.
Make sure that you're not saying anything that's harmful. Now, if you notice with that, if you take that hadith, and you match it up with a more famous narration, which delivers the same message, where the Messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam says, man ra'a minkum munkar, whoever amongst you sees an evil, fal yughayyiruhu biyadi, let him change it with his hands. innam yastat'i fa bi lisani, if he can't do that, then with his tongue. Now the first thing the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned in this narration with Abu Dhar, was changing something with the hand, right? Charity is something you change with the hand. That's one form of this hadith. Of course this is a different form, but we said poverty is looked at as an economic injustice. It is a form of injustice, because it's usually man-made. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is mentioning something practical you can do with your hand. But the next three categories that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam gave to Abu Dhar, were matters of the tongue, things that you say. And if you can't do that, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam says, then you hate something in your heart. You can't change it with your hand, then you can't change it with your tongue, then at least you hate something in your heart, and that's the weakest of faith. Likewise in the hadith, in the narration of Abu Dhar, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam tells him, at the end, if you can't do anything good, restrain your harm. So it sort of follows that same pattern that the Messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam mentions in the other hadith. What this shows us is that out of those five categories, speaking was the most important, right? Speaking encompassed the vast majority of them. What that shows us ultimately is that most matters of good or evil are matters that are encapsulated by the tongue. It usually stems from the tongue. It starts or finishes with the tongue. The vast majority of good that you will do, and the vast majority of harm that you will do, is probably going to be with your tongue. And that's why there's a famous narration of Luqman al-Hakim alayhi wasalam,
when he was first a slave, he was an Abyssinian slave, and his master told him to cook the best part of the sheep, the best part of the animal, and he brought forth the tongue. Then he told him to bring the worst part of it, and he brought forth the tongue again. And he said to his master, when his master asked him why, he said to his master that if the tongue is used for good, then it's the best part of the body. And if the tongue is used for evil, then it's the worst part of the body. So at the end of the day, your tongue is most likely either going to get you into paradise, or it's going to get you into hellfire. And when it comes to matters of doing good in society or doing evil in society, words are usually the starting point. And the Messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam mentions to us in numerous ahadith, outside of the scope of justice or injustice, conversation of justice or injustice, that we often don't consider our words as actions. And that's very dangerous, because if we underestimate the impact of our words, then we could underestimate the sinfulness that can come from speaking ill, or speaking in a way that's displeasing to God, and then end up in eternal punishment. Or on the other side, if we do not realize the impact of our words, then we will not use our tongue in a way that's pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in a way that could take us to Jannah, in a way that could take us to paradise. So the very first thing that we take from this entire notion, I haven't started with the hadith yet, is that the tongue has severe consequences, for good or for bad. Words are impactful. Words mean a lot. And so the hadith that we're going to go over today is actually a very famous one. And the hadith has two narrations. One of the narrations from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri radiyaAllahu anhu, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, afdhalul jihad, the best form of jihad.
And obviously this automatically takes jihad out of the spectrum of killing, and out of the spectrum of war and battle, and it adds another element to it. Or it actually fulfills its true meaning, which is the meaning of struggle. That the greatest struggle, the best form of struggle, and jihad as a struggle has internal elements, it has external elements, so internally struggling against your lower self, your vices, externally struggling against injustice, struggling against things that are displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, striving, right, jahadah is to strive. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says the best form of jihad, the best form of striving, kalimatu haqq ainda sultanil ja'il, to speak a word of truth in the face of an oppressor. In another narration, which is actually more common, he says sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, kalimatu adl, a word of justice ainda sultanil ja'il, in the face of an oppressor. So it's the same narration, it's the same meaning, but again, in afdhalul jihad, the greatest form of striving, kalimatu adlin ainda sultanil ja'il, a word of justice spoken in the face of an oppressor, or fi riwaya kalimatu haqqin ainda sultanil ja'il, or a word of truth spoken in the face of an oppressor. Now which of the two words is more general, haqq or adl? Truth or justice? Which one is more general, at least coming from the Arabic language? Would anyone know? Which one's more general? Truth, right? Haqq is more general, okay, because truth can mean many things. Speaking a word of truth in the face of an oppressor can mean many things. And the best way to really extract the meaning of a hadith is to look for narrations that are very similar to it in wording. That's the first way that you'll really extract the true meaning of that hadith. The practice of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and looking at the meaning as it comes in other narrations.
So kalimatu adl, a word of justice, is a very particular truth that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is mentioning, that a person speaks in the face of a tyrant. How do you speak a word of truth, a word of justice, in the face of the tyrant? And there are many things that we can take from this hadith that are very powerful, and that's really what we're going to talk about, the idea of speaking truth. Particularly, even if you have an obstacle, a major obstacle in front of you, using your tongue to challenge dhulm, to challenge injustice, even if that means saying it to the face of an oppressor. Now if you remember when we started off this series, we used the hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, seeing a man beating his slave, and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam saying, Allah is more capable of doing that to you than you to him. Showing that oppression usually comes from a false illusion of power, that a person thinks they have power, and Allah is really the one who has power. So that master, as he's beating his slave, or a husband that's oppressing his wife, or a ruler that's oppressing his people, all of these people do so under the false illusion of power, that they think they have power, and they think that the one that they're oppressing is powerless. Think of this hadith as the reverse of that. Imagine the sites. You have an unquestioned ruler, an authority, a person who has clear power, and somebody speaks in the face of that oppressor a word of justice, challenges that person's injustice. So the equation has been shifted. You've got one who's extremely powerful, who appears to be powerful, and the one speaking to him, not speaking from the illusion of power in himself, but instead understanding the ultimate power of Allah,
and speaking with that power to the one who falsely believes he has power. Do you guys understand how this switches now the occasion altogether? So you go from the one who thinks he has authority, speaking to the one, or doing to the one who he thinks is powerless, and in this situation, the powerless speaking to the powerful. The powerless one speaking in the face of the powerful. And this shows us many, many, many different things. This hadith gives us many different implications. One of those implications as well is that Allah will not charge you for the results of anything. That to Allah what matters is your effort, is that you do your part. So even if by speaking in the face of that oppressor and that tyrant, it's not going to bring about real change, okay? Allah is the one who's in charge of change, and Allah is the one who's in charge of divine decree, and in charge of the way that things will proceed, so you do your part. It's not about the consequences, it's not about the impact, it's not about the effects, that a person does not feel afraid to challenge an oppressor, to speak in the face of an oppressor a word of truth. And we also see that there are different effects of speaking a word of truth to an oppressor. One of them is that, and this is the one that we usually skip over, is that when you speak a word of truth to an oppressor, you often imagine this person going to a tyrant, like a pharaoh and Musa AS speaking in front of the pharaoh, or this person that's challenging the oppressor and putting them in their place. But the first effect of this hadith actually has nothing to do with that at all. The first effect of this hadith is speaking to an oppressor in a way of nasiha, in a way of advice, in a way of trying to rectify them.
So it's not registering a form of protest or objection in the first effect of this hadith, it's reminding a person who has authority, reminding a person who is in position, that you do not have the right to wrong, and showing them the error of their ways so that they can rectify that. So you speak in the form of, especially when you're talking about someone who generally has a track record of justice, but no one is perfect. And it often happens that a person starts off in a good way, and then slowly, slowly the power starts to intoxicate, and they need sincere advisors. So the first impact of this hadith is a person who knows someone, who is in a position to challenge someone, who is in that authority, and they do so from the position of trying to rectify them. Not challenging them for the sake of expressing bravery, but first and foremost, to rectify them. You seek to rectify them. And that's the first way we understand this hadith, and that's really not what you usually envision when you talk about this hadith. Why? Because the goal is not to be celebrated in challenging the oppressor. The goal is ultimately to rid society of oppression. So if I can challenge the oppressor in a way that would make him see the error of his ways, and would make him stop his oppression, then that's the most praiseworthy of it all. And that should be the first step with someone who is in a position of wronging. The second effect of this hadith is speaking a word of truth in the face of an oppressor as a form of objection. As a form of showing that that person is not ultimately in charge, does not have unquestioned or unparalleled power, is not in a position where they can wrong and they can commit injustice without being held accountable. That everyone is to be held accountable. That even Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and this is powerful,
if there was anyone that wasn't going to make a mistake as khalifa, it would be the first one. The one that came after the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, as-Siddiq, the trustworthy one, the truthful one. But Abu Bakr says, obey me as long as I obey Allah and the Messenger, and rectify me when I don't obey Allah and the Messenger. So you need to correct me. He's actually soliciting advice. He's soliciting those challenges. As did Umar radiAllahu anhu when he said, la yara minkum minni a'iban illa a'abid. Not one of you see a fault on my part except that they expose that fault. So sometimes it's doing it as a form of advice, and sometimes it's doing it as a form of objection. So the second form really needs to be a form of objection. Now, there are a few things that we also take from this hadith, and that is, why is it the greatest jihad? Why would the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam refer to this as the greatest struggle? Why do you guys think? Why is it the greatest jihad? Because people don't have courage? Because there's fear involved? Yeah. So it's a continuous effort. You're always making jihad to the nafs. You're always striving against yourself while no one sees you. So listen to the beautiful reasons that the scholars give. And I want you guys to pay attention to this, because I really found a lot of joy in reading the different explanations that were given from the scholars. First and foremost, that Imam al-Khattabi rahimahullah ta'ala, he said that when two people are fighting, if you're envisioning a battle, two people on a battlefield, right, especially before modern warfare, each person carrying a sword and fighting with that sword. Each person has access to a weapon. They're both fighting and they're going at it. You think you might win, you might lose. If you have more confidence in your skills, then maybe you can overcome your enemy.
So it's a fair game to an extent. And one person might be more skilled, you know, a horseman or a more skilled warrior. So you might be disadvantaged in that sense. But at the end of the day, two people are fighting. I've got a sword. He's got a sword. We're both going at it. Right? But when you speak a word of truth in the face of an oppressor, it's not a fair game. It's not a fair ground. This person has authority and can do with you as he pleases. And you have nothing except for that courage and that faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you can imagine what that takes when you stand in the face of that oppressor then, and you speak what you speak. So in the case of two people fighting in battle, you have a hope of winning. You may or may not win, and you've both got access to means. But here, you're not on equal ground. You are challenging an oppressor. That's one way that the scholars mentioned to it. Another group of scholars, they said that it's the best jihad, it's the best form of struggling, and the best form of striving. Because if you correct the one who is in authority, if you correct the Sultan, then it benefits so many people without causing bloodshed. So the ill effects of war, or the ill effects of striving in the external sense are spared. And at the same time, the goal is achieved, which is benefit to society at the end of the day. So if you're able to correct that person and rectify them, and this is obviously speaking to the first form of that hadith, the person that's in that authority, and it also goes to what we mentioned from the Prophet ﷺ last week of tasna'u li-akhraq, that you would enable someone who's in a position, even if you yourself are not in that position, then you get that you achieve the benefit for a large group of people, but at the same time, you avoid the ill effects and you avoid the ill impact.
Another group of scholars, they said that if you speak about it in the realm of personal jihad, that personal struggling against oneself, that personal striving, and striving against your lower self, the thing that can overcome us and render us absolutely paralyzed is fear. And that fear comes from a lack of trust in Allah ﷻ, a lack of tawakkur, and it can become a disease of the heart. So fighting that disease, overcoming that disease from a personal standpoint, that you're able to overcome that khawf, you're able to overcome and suppress that feeling of fear for the sake of your Creator is also a personal form of jihad. So the scholars said it really encompasses all of these things, and that's why the Prophet ﷺ called it afdharul jihad. It's the best form because it encompasses both the striving against the self and the striving against the oppressor, the benefit to oneself and the benefit to society as a whole. And sometimes a person will speak in the face of an oppressor, and they will do so, and it will not achieve anything from a societal perspective, but at the same time, perhaps it will inspire others to speak against tyranny and injustice, and maybe someone more effective will come after you and do so in a way that's going to change things. Or the next authority, the next sultan would come in and he would recognize that he cannot rule without being questioned, he cannot rule with injustice, without anyone standing up to him. So you either inspire someone to do the same, and they would be more successful than you, or you allow that person to think twice about their injustice, or you allow the person that comes after them to think about their injustice. The point is that the impact of it sometimes is not immediate, it's not tangible, but it does mean something. It does mean something.
Now one of the biggest issues we have with this hadith is that sometimes a person thinks about this, and you immediately once again think bravery and courage, and you think that speaking truth to power is absolute. And it's not. Why? Because it's praiseworthy when it's beneficial, not to be rude. It's reckless not to be unwise about it. It's praiseworthy when it's beneficial. And what that means is, speaking truth to power is that you disregard for yourself, you disregard yourself in the process, effectively advancing a noble cause. So you're willing to disregard yourself for the sake of advancing a noble cause. In light of that, and this is very important that the scholars point out, sometimes being silent, despite being called a coward in the process to advance a noble cause, is also achieving the same effect. I'm gonna say this again. You speak the truth to power because you see it beneficial, you see that it will register something, and you see that it's wise, and that this is the moment, and you do it. And you do that not for yourself or so that people can call you brave. You do that for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Likewise, it is for Allah when a person restrains themselves for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, despite people calling them a coward, because at the end of the day, it's about that noble cause. What does that mean? There are ulama al-sultan as we know them, scholars of the rulers, and there are also ulama al-awam. There are people that speak to appease the masses. Appeasing the masses is no less insincere than appeasing the rulers and the authorities. Because at the end of the day, it's to be perceived as saying what, it's to say what is convenient, not that which is true. So appeasement is the issue here.
When a person speaks to appease an authority or a person speaks to appease a cultural authority in popular culture or the masses or things of that sort. So that's also a form of appeasement. It's also something to take into consideration. One of the issues as well is that selectively choosing to speak truth sometimes is worse than not speaking at all. What does that mean? I'm willing to condemn this with absolute courage, with no ambiguity. I'm willing to condemn this form of oppression, but I won't say a word about this one. Not because there are too many causes for me to get involved with, but because I can get away with saying this one, I can't get away with saying that one. Right? So I'm willing to condemn terrorism overseas and distance myself from people that do things in the name of Islam, heinous crimes in the name of Islam, but I'm not willing to challenge the government when the government is guilty of killing innocent people in those same regions. That's being selective with kalimatu haq, with speaking the truth and it's problematic. And sometimes it's better not to speak at all. If you can't speak it consistently, then don't say it at all. Right? Being consistent as you speak the truth is extremely important. All right? Number four, wisdom is different. So being gradual with your speech, being calculated. Hikmah, you know the word hikmah actually comes from, which is wisdom, comes from hekama, which are the horse's reins. You need to know when to hold your horse back and you need to know when to let your horse move. So if a person has a wild horse, untamed horse, and just speak recklessly without any wisdom, when to hold that horse and how to control that horse, that's not praiseworthy in Islam. Right? As samtu hikmah, as Luqman al-Hakim said, silence is wisdom at times. Knowing when to say something
is just as important as what to say. So when to say something, how to say something is wisdom as well. How to frame something. Because at the end of the day, your goal is to advance the truth, not yourself as a spokesperson for truth. Very important distinction. Your goal is to advance the truth, not yourself as a spokesperson for truth. So sometimes you're going to take into consideration times and places and things so that you're not reckless. Okay? So that you say things in a way that would advance a noble cause, not in a way that would damage it. All right? Recklessness is stupidity, it's not bravery. And a lot of times we don't make the distinction between the two. Number five, what the scholars mention here, ambiguity. Ambiguity with injustice is not acceptable under any circumstances. Ambiguity with injustice is not acceptable under any circumstances. What does that mean? You know, when oppression at a state level broke out in the ummah, broke out, and you had people from all over the place, you had people killing each other in this ummah, Muslims killing each other, you had all sorts of things going on. And you had clear tyrant rulers, such as Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, a clear tyrant. People dealt with him in different ways. Some of the sahaba took a more aggressive approach with him because they thought that was the best approach. So some of them took an approach of revolt, right? Because the means seemed to be present, and they had an option there. And at the end of the day, there was less harm present, right? Or so they thought there would be less harm present in taking a firm stand, a physical stance against Al-Hajjaj. You can't call Abdullah ibn Zubayr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu
less knowledgeable than you. You don't know the deen better than Abdullah ibn Zubayr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu. The first person to have his saliva mixed with the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam, when he was a baby, the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam, he was the first child born in Medina, and the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam took from his saliva tahniq with the date and did it in the mouth of Abdullah ibn Zubayr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, that ritual, and made dua for him and prayed for him. You can't tell me you're more knowledgeable than that man. So Abdullah ibn Zubayr took a very aggressive stance. Not all the sahaba agreed with that. However, those that did not agree with the stance of Abdullah ibn Zubayr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, it's not that they were ambiguous about al-Hajjaj's injustice or oppression, it's that they disagreed on the methods of how to solve that oppression. So when people say, look at Abdullah ibn Umar radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, Abdullah ibn Umar believed in being passive. That's not true. Abdullah ibn Umar used his tongue and clearly condemned and called out the injustices of Hajjaj. When Hajjaj used to stand up and give khutbah, and he used to take his time, Abdullah ibn Umar told him, uskut ya adu wallah, be quiet, O enemy of God. la nureedu an nasma'ak, we don't want to hear your voice. We're done with you. He challenged him. And that's why Hajjaj poisoned him, ultimately poisoned him and killed him. That's in al-Bukhari. So Abdullah ibn Umar did not take the stance of Abdullah ibn Zubayr, but he used his tongue and that delegitimized Hajjaj. And that shows you again the power of words. The power of words. Hajjaj was as threatened by the tongue of ibn Umar as he was by the sword of ibn Zubayr. The power of that man speaking the truth and being unafraid to call out Hajjaj's injustices. So they disagreed over methodology, they disagreed over how to rid society most effectively of injustice, but they were not ambiguous about where they stood on injustice. And that's a major problem that we have sometimes, that we are so ambiguous about where we stand and we should never be ambiguous about dhul.
Now what stops us from speaking? There are different types of fear. The greatest form of fear is fear of persecution, fear of actual physical harm. And that's why the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, and the Sultan al-Jarrah, the greatest form of striving is speaking the word of truth in the face of an oppressor. Because that's the most obvious, tangible form of harm that's going to come from you speaking. You say something to him, something's gonna happen to you. There's a very big chance that the oppressor will give an order, that the power would give an order, if you're thinking about a ruler and you're thinking about someone challenging that ruler, and harm you and nothing could be done in the process. So it's not like it's subjective, like it's not about your feelings here or what are people going to say or what's going to, it's by challenging that oppressor something physical might happen to you. You are actually putting yourself in harm's way by challenging that oppressor. And that's why the greatest fear is the fear of persecution and the greatest courage is speaking truth despite the fear of persecution. That's number one. So there are other things that are not as objective. Some things are more subjective. So for example, I'm afraid to speak the truth because of fear of loss of career. That's more subjective. There's a judgment call in there. It's not as obvious most of the time as it is when you're talking about speaking truth to an oppressor. There's a fear of loss of friends. I'm afraid if I take this position that I'm going to lose my social circle. It's more subjective. It's not as objective. It's not as tangible, but it's there. There's the fear of mockery. So people would mock you. So all of these are different forms of fear that would stop a person from speaking the truth, but they all result from the same condition. And that is that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, this is a Hadith from Abu Sa'id, radiallahu anhu, it comes in two narrations. I'll give you guys both of them from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, la yahqir ahadukum nafsa, let not one of you belittle himself. And this Hadith seemingly contradicts all of the Hadith about humility, all of the Hadith about not being arrogant, all of the Hadith about pride. I mean, isn't humility, the essence of humility, belittling oneself? Well, it depends which self you're talking about or what aspect of the self you're talking about. la yahqir ahadukum nafsa. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, let not one of you belittle himself. Qalu ya Rasulullah, they said, oh, messenger of Allah, kayfa yahqir ahaduna nafsa? How could we belittle ourselves? What does that mean, oh, messenger of Allah? So he said, yara amran, a person sees something and he should say something, alayhi fihi maqal, lillahi alayhi fihi maqal. He should say something about that. Thumma la yahqulu fihi, but he doesn't say anything about it. So he sees something that he should speak about, but he doesn't speak about it, okay? And he says, fayaqulullahu azzawajal, Allah will say to him on the day of judgment, ma manaka an takula fikatha wakatha. What stopped you from speaking about this and that? What stopped you from speaking about that injustice? Why did you hold back? Fayaqul, so that person would say, khashyatun naas, fear of people. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la would say, fa iyaaya kuntu ahakka an takhsha. And I am more deserving of being feared than people. You should have been afraid of me, not afraid of the people. So this hadith shows you, by the way, that the root cause is that you lack that trust, you lack that faith. So you have to build that faith, that courage, to find that moral courage to be able to say the word of truth, to be able to speak the truth,
despite fear of people. So is it out of fear of people rather than fear of Allah? Because again, if you speak truth or falsehood for the people and not for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, it's a problem. So the root cause here is that you fear people, you don't fear Allah, the consequences of people rather than the consequences of Allah. So it's not that a person held back because they didn't think it was wise to say something in that particular gathering, or they didn't think that that was the time, or they thought there was a better spokesman to that cause, or they thought of being gradual or principled, whatever. No, the root cause, what stopped that person from speaking at the end of the day was his fear of people rather than his fear of God. So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying, Allah would call him to account for that. In another narration also from Abu Sa'id, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, la yamna'anna ahadakum rahbatun nas. Do not let the fear of people prevent you. an yaqoola bihaqqin idha ra. Do not let the fear of people prevent you from speaking the truth if you see something that deserves to be spoken of. Don't let the people prevent you from doing that. Or the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, aw yudhakkiru biAAzeem. Or that, you know, do not let, I'm sorry, no one of you should be prevented by the fear of people from saying truth when he sees it or hears. He says, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, fa innahu la yuqarribu min ajam. It's not going to shorten your lifespan. Meaning what speaking the truth is not going to cause your lifespan to be shortened. Because harm is not going to come to you from the people without the permission of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And he says, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, wa la yubaAAidu min risq. And it will not decrease your wealth to speak the truth when you should speak the truth. And he says, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, that at the end of the day, a person should remind the people of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So in this hadith, the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is giving us a few different elements to this.
He's saying to us, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, that you might be afraid to speak the truth out of persecution. You might be afraid to speak the truth because you're afraid that it will affect your career. You might be afraid to speak the truth because you're afraid it will affect your social circle. So he mentioned last week, it is an injustice when you see someone viciously backbiting because they're in this position. And the one they're backbiting is so utterly powerless, they're not even there to defend themselves. And you remain quiet. Why? Because you don't wanna be the party pooper while eight other people are backbiting. You don't wanna be the person to step in and be Mr. or Miss Self-righteous and say, you guys need to calm down, don't speak about that person in that way. Why don't you speak? Are you afraid of compromising your social element? So at the end of the day, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is telling us that sometimes we speak, we fail to speak to injustice out of fear of these different elements. And the root cause of that is that a person does not take into consideration Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la over the people. He said, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, this is another hadith he mentioned, Ibn Hibban. He said that if it comes upon a time in my ummah that a person cannot say to a zalim, to a transgressor, to an oppressor, ya zalim, oh oppressor, so the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, you might as well walk away from them. If there comes a time when my ummah cannot say to an oppressor, oh oppressor, ya zalim, then you might as well walk away from them. He's not telling us Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam to abandon the ummah, he's saying that what's left of them. If it gets to a point where a person can oppress and people would not even say that he's an oppressor, that a person is completely given a pass on oppression, then the goodness could be lifted from the ummah, so we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to protect us, we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to put courage in our hearts and truth on our tongues
and sincerity so that we speak the truth when, how, and in the way that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is most pleased with. That we always say what we are to say in a way that belittles our lowest desires and instead prefers the noble cause of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that we always find the courage to call out injustice when we see injustice, that we don't become selective in our calls for justice, and we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to forgive us when we are overtaken by fear in a way that paralyzes us, in a way that stops us from doing that which is praiseworthy to him. Allahumma ameen.
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