The Scales of Allah

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As Salaam Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

By the martyred Imam ‘Abdullah ‘Azzam (May Allah have Mercy upon him).

“…This is the cream of the people. Search for it. Live with it. Travel with it as your guide and under its leadership. Worship Allah by way of the light that you see and hear from them…”. Translated by Abu Sabaayaa.

{“O you who believe! Have taqwa of Allah as He deserves, and do not die except as Muslims.”}

{“O people! Have taqwa of your Lord, Who Created you from a single soul, and Created from it its mate, and sprouted from it many men and women. And have taqwa of Allah, from Whom you demand your mutual rights, and do not cut off the relations of the womb. Verily, Allah is Ever-Watching over you.”}

{“O you who believe! Have taqwa of Allah, and say that which is truthful. He will rectify your actions for you and Forgive you your sins, and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed achieved a great success.”}

Verily, the most truthful of speech is the Speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace be upon him). The worst of affairs are those that are newly introduced, and every newly introduced affair is an innovation, and every innovation is a misguidance, and every misguidance leads to the Fire.

1 This book was translated from the collection of Shaykh ‘Abdullah ‘Azzam’s transcribed lectures called ‘at- Tarbiyah al-Jihadiyyah wal-Bina’’ (4/141-154).
All footnotes were added by the translator.

2 Al ‘Imran; 102

3 an-Nisa’; 1

4 al-Ahzab; 70-71

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As for what follows:

O you who are pleased with Allah as a Lord, and Islam as a religion, and Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a Prophet and Messenger!5

Know that Allah has revealed in the clear cut Revelation:

{“And keep yourself patiently with those who call on their Lord in the morning and afternoon seeking His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world. And obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance, one who follows his own lusts, and whose affair has been lost.”}6

And He Said:

{“And turn not away those who invoke their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His Face. You are accountable for them in nothing, and they are accountable for you in nothing, that you may turn them away, and thus become of the unjust. Thus, We have tried some of them with others that they might say: ‘Is it these that Allah has favored from amongst us?’ Does not Allah Know best those who are grateful? When those who believe in Our signs come to you, say: ‘peace be on you.’ Your Lord has written Mercy for Himself so that if any of you does evil in ignorance and thereafter repents and does righteous good deeds, then surely, He is Forgiving, Merciful.”}7

5 This introduction of Khutbat al-Hajah was included by the translator, and is not part of the original text.

6 al-Kahf; 28

7 al-An’am; 52-54

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It has come in the books of Tafsir that the reason this verse was revealed was that the elites of Quraysh from the heads of the tribes – al-Akhnas bin Shariq (head of Bani Zahrah), ‘Amr bin Hisham, and Abu Sufyan bin Harb – came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: “O Muhammad! Set aside a gathering for us so that we may sit with you alone, as we are embarrassed that the Arabs would see us sitting with these slaves that surround you and make fun of us for this.” So, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) considered making an appointment for them to meet with him privately, and Jibril suddenly came down with these verses.

Indeed, Allah has scales with which He attaches value to things, and people have different scales with which they attach value to things. Allah has scales that He wants to manifest on Earth as a way of life, as a system of life – scales that were considered something imaginary that would pass through the minds of the people, and have now become a reality in the form of manners, words, life, and movement.

The divine scales say:

{“And it is not your wealth nor your children that bring you nearer to Us, but only he who believes and does righteous deeds…”}10

The divine scales say:

{“…Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is he who has the most taqwa…”}11

And the scales of the people only weigh money and status, and the scales of the people are:

{“”How can he be a king over us when we are better fitted than him for the kingdom…””}12

The value of a person varies in degrees within the systems of jahiliyyah in accordance with his weight in the eyes of his people due to his livelihood, his wealth, or his job, and the society is more or less sorted out and organized on this basis. So, the scales of jahiliyyah might elevate a man such as Abu Jahl, such that the people of jahiliyyah name him Aba al-Hakam while the
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) named him Abu Jahl.

10 Saba’; 37

11 al-Hujurat; 13

12 al-Baqarah; 247

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