You Have Overpowered Them, So Pardon Them

By Abu Khaliyl

Bismillaahi-r-Rahmaani-r-Raheem

All praise is due to Allaah, and may He mention His Messenger and grant him
peace.

This Is Some Advice For Insightful People.

The Messenger of Allaah (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

"The people who are most severely tried are the Prophets, then those who are
closest to them, then those who are next closest." (Recorded by Ahmad,
26539; graded Saheeh by al-Albaanee in al-Silsilat al-Saheehah, 1165)

According to another version: "A man will be tested according to the level
of his religious commitment, and the trials will keep affecting a worshipper
of Allaah until he is left walking on the face of the earth with no burden
of sin whatsoever." (Recorded by Ibn Maajah, 4013; graded Saheeh by
al-Albaanee in Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah, 3249).

And he (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

"How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good,
and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to
him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad
happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him."
(Recorded by Muslim, 2999)

Regarding the ayah (which means):

"Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without
reckoning." (Soorat uz-Zumar, 39:10)

Shaykh 'Abdur-Rahmaan bin Naasir as-Sa'dee said in his tafseer:

"So Allaah has promised that the patient will get their reward without
reckoning, that is: without limit, without number, without enumeration. And
that is not but due to the virtue of patience and its stature before Allaah
and that (in this) it is specific above all other matters."

But the real patience, the patience that counts, the patience that gets the
reward, is genuine patience for the sake of Allaah, for His Face, not for
the creatures, not out of showing off, not to please one's friend. Real
patience is the patience that starts at the beginning of the calamity, as
the Prophet (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) taught us:

"The real patience is at the first stroke of the calamity." (Recorded by
al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

Commenting on it, Ibn Hajar clarifies that it refers to when the calamity
first strikes, and the heart grieves, it is from there that patience is to
start: "Then that is the patience that the reward is granted for." (No.
1283)

Then that is the patience that is the patience that is the real patience
that the reward is granted for. I wish that we had patience with patience,
that we could have, "real" patience. May Allaah grant us real patience.

The patient person is not the same as the person who has a temper tantrum,
abusing, and belittling everyone around him, unless he gets his way!

But the Prophet (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "Information is not
like observation." (Recorded by Ahmad and others and graded Saheeh by Shaykh
al-Albaanee)

What wisdom and lessons there are in this hadeeth, some people, no matter
how much you inform them, no matter what you explain to them, no matter what
lengths you go through to help them understand, still - "Information is not
like observation" - only when they see it with their eyes shall they
believe.

But the Prophet (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) is to be believed in, his
Message is to be trusted, so when he said:

"There will always remain a group in my Ummah, victorious upon the truth…
not harmed by those who detract from them..."

What good is the information for those who require observation?! What good
will it do to inform that our manhaj is not wishy-washy, it does not
fluctuate based upon he said she said?

Nay! They will not be harmed by their detractors, they will not be harmed by
their detractors, they will not be harmed by their detractors!

They are the patience ones, they have real patience, they really believe in
the Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam), not just for show.

They believe that faith is in the heart, upon the tongue, and upon the
limbs. They believe that changing evil requires recognising it first; they
do not tell you to learn from this person today, and, tomorrow tell you that
this person was really a Shaytaan, for they have knowledge, knowledge of
evil, they know before they speak, because they believe, their creed states
that utterances are from faith. They know that what they say is religion,
then it is faith, they know that:

"Whoever is silent, he is saved." (Saheeh al-Jaami' as-Sagheer)

When it is required to:

"Hate it in his heart that is the weakest of faith."

Do they speak to be heard, do they act to be seen? Do they encourage evil
today, clothing it in rhetoric to prove it is good, and tomorrow tell you
that it was evil? What is this manhaj that can not recognise evil? Is it the
manhaj of the salaf?

Nay! The religion is complete, it does not change daily because someone said
it did, it is the religion of Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam), understood by:

"What I and my Companions are upon."

But it is one of the qualities of the believer, to honour our elders, and,
to have mercy upon our young. For the Prophet (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam) said:

"He is not one of us, who does not respect our elders, nor have mercy with
our young." (Saheeh al-Jaami')

You young people have to respect our elders, and you elders must treat our
young with mercy.

Since I have seen that some brothers who felt they were wronged by some
fitnah, have engaged in vengeful statements about some of the Muslims,
taking it upon themselves to talk abusively about their brothers, belittling
them, making fun of them - all out of revenge because that was done to them;
and since we all know that in Islaam, two wrongs do not make a right, just
because he raped my wife, does not give me the right to rape his, and just
because he violated my honour, it does not give me the right to violate his
- since all of the Muslim is haraam, his blood, his wealth, and his honour.

Then I wanted to relate a story from which I ask that Allaah grant my
brothers the wisdom to do what is right for the Face of Allaah, rather than
continuing in their spiral into the deep abyss of fitnah, laughing and
rejoicing at what they see to be their success, and the humiliation of those
who have humiliated them. Rank this under the chapter of helping your
brother who is an oppressor - for even if you were oppressed, it does not
give you the absolute right to oppress of like kind.

Salamah bin al-Akwa' narrated: "Once, I went towards (al-Ghaabah) before the
first adhaan (of Fajr). The she-camels of Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu
'alayhi wa sallam) used to graze at a place called Dhi-Qarad. A slave of
'Abdur-Rahmaan bin 'Awf met me and said: 'The she-camels of Allaah's
Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) have been taken.' I asked: 'Who
took them?' He replied: '(The people of) Ghatafaan'. He said: 'Then I rushed
onward and caught up with the thieves while they were watering the camels. I
started shooting arrows at them.' He said: 'Until I saved the she-camels. I
also took thirty burdah (garments) from them. Then the Prophet (sall-Allaahu
'alayhi wa sallam) came there, and I said O Allaah's Prophet! I have stopped
the people from taking water and they are thirsty now. So send (some people)
after them now.' On that the Prophet (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

'You have overpowered them, so pardon them'."

In No. 3946 of Sunan at-Tirmidhee, Abu Hurayrah narrated:

"A man from Banu Fazrah gave a gift to the Prophet (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam) of she-camel from his camels which they had taken at al-Ghaabah. So
he reciprocated for it with something in return, but he was upset with it.
So I heard Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam), upon [this]
minbar saying: 'Indeed one of the men from the Bedouins gave me a gift so I
reciprocated for it to the extent of what I had. Then he became very upset
with me. By Allaah! After my experience with this Bedouin man, I shall not
accept a gift from anyone except from a Quraishee, Ansaaree, Thaqaafee, or
Dawsee'." (It was graded Saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaanee in Saheeh Sunan
at-Tirmidhee. Similar was recorded by Ahmad, No. 7918 (2:292) and he said
about the camel: "And it was one of my she-camels, I recognise it as I
recognise one of my family." But there is some problem with the chain
containing that addition)

There are a number of important benefits that we can derive from this event:

1. These people stole, which is a form of oppression.

2. These people stole from Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam).

3. The Companion that caught them shot at them and grabbed some of their
belongings. Based upon what is mentioned in the story, his behaviour was
intended to keep them at bay, until they gave up the camels. And Allaah
knows best.

4. After the Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) caught up with them,
he told Salamah: "You have over-powered them, so pardon them."

5. Either these camels, or, as some say, it was the camels sent with the
people of 'Urainah (Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, No. 233) when Allaah's Messenger
(sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) sent some camels with them, and told them
to drink their urine and their milk to cure their ailment, and they killed
the camel herdsmen, and drove off the camels - someone then brought one of
these stolen camels to Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam)
and presented it as a gift.

6. He taught that gifts should be reciprocated; meaning one should give a
gift in return if able, and supplicate for the giver if not able to give in
return. So he did that.

7. The person who gave him the camel which was stolen from him as a gift was
not satisfied with the gift Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam) gave in return!

8. Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) decided not to suffer
that problem again, by only accepting gifts from peoples of the tribes he
mentioned.

And there are many other points of benefit to be derived from this story.
But what I want to stress, is that some of you were wronged, and you caught
up with those who wronged you, and you have been shooting your arrows at
them, and picking up whatever they dropped while fleeing. So take the advice
of Allaah's Messenger (sall-Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam), and: "Pardon them"
since, "You have over-powered them."

Strive to end the fitnah, not to add to it, strive to put out the fire, not
add fuel to it, ask Allaah to guide yourself and your brother, and to
forgive yourself and your brother, busy yourself with learning about what is
required in the religion, so that you can develop in Eemaan, not the fisq of
abusing your brother.

Do not become the kind of person about whom we have to decide not to suffer
this problem again, and not accept your gift, for we have a precedent to do
so if you but reflect!

Rather, seek the beneficial knowledge, for seeking knowledge is obligatory
on every Muslim. That is the knowledge that is obligatory is the knowledge
that every Muslim is required to seek. Not knowledge about the dark side of
the moon, not knowledge about how deep an ocean is, not knowledge about how
many bones are in the human body, not knowledge about he said she said, not
knowledge about … rather the obligatory, beneficial knowledge.

O you young people! Please be patient with our elders, supplicate for them,
be kind to them and give them the respect they are due. O you elders! Please
have mercy upon our young, be patient with them, be patient with them, be
patient with them.

And since Allaah grants the patient ones reward without reckoning, I beg
that Allaah grant us real patience, the type that warrants the reward.