Over the past week, I received more than ten messages—some by phone, some by mail, and some electronically. I will only address two of them here: the first is from my friend, the poet Abdullah Ramadan, who reminded me of two articles I wrote in Al-Ahram in response to Louis Awad in 1983. Louis Awad had accused Jamal al-Din al-Afghani of being opportunistic and self-serving in a series of articles published in the magazine “Solidarity,” which is published in Arabic from London. More surprisingly, he reminded me of the kind words written by our esteemed mentor, Muhammad al-Ghazali—may Allah have mercy on him—in his praise of my two articles, which I cherish.
The second message was a letter from brother Mahmoud Abdel Fattah Mohammed (from Shatanouf, Ashmoun Center, Menoufia). The most significant part of his letter was: “We are the Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him, the Ummah of ‘Tawheed,’ which Allah described by saying, ‘You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind’ (Al-Imran: 110) We are all monotheists and perform our religious duties, so why do we, the Arabs, always suffer defeats at the hands of the descendants of apes and pigs whom Allah has cursed and imposed upon them humiliation and poverty? No matter what is said about us and them, we, in our totality, are better than them in faith, religion, and ethics.
Now, we are on the brink of another defeat at the hands of the American and British Crusaders and others. Is it not the right of a Muslim to ask: Where is Allah’s victory, for He said, ‘Indeed, Allah defends those who have believed’ (Al-Hajj: 38) and ‘And incumbent upon Us was support of the believers’ (Ar-Rum: 47)
Allah knows that this letter stirred feelings of sadness and pain in me because its content occupies the minds of many people, especially the youth. In addressing this question, I find no better answer than to refer brother Mahmoud to a passage from a letter sent by the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattab, to Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, the leader of the Muslim army on the Persian front: “... Then after, I order you and all troops that are along with you to be obedient to Allah in all circumstances … As this (being obedient to Allah) is better than the weapons against the enemy and a strong stratagem (device) in the war. I order you and the soldiers who are with you to be more cautious and afraid of your own crimes and sins (and do not commit them) than your enemy, as the crimes and sins of the soldiers are MORE DANGEROUS TO THEM THAN THEIR ENEMY. The Muslims are victorious only because their enemies are disobedient to Allah, and had it not been so, we have no power over them, because neither our number is equal to their number, nor are our weapons like theirs. If we commit crimes and sins as they do, then they (our enemies) will have superiority over us in power and we will not gain victory over them. WE DO NOT OVERPOWER THEM WITH OUR STRENGTH… And do not commit Allah’s disobedience (crimes and sins) while you are going in Allah’s cause and do not say: ‘Our enemy is worse than us, so they will not overpower us!’ Perhaps some people who are worse than the others may overpower the others as the (disbelievers) Magians… Overpowered the Children of Israel when they (the latter) involved themselves with Allah’s disobedience (crimes and sins). So they (disbelievers, Magians) entered the very innermost parts of their homes and it was a promise (completely) fulfilled. And ask Allah the assistance over your ownselves, (to save you from the crimes and sins) just as you ask Allah for the victory over your enemies … I ask Allah for that both for you and for us.”
By reflecting on this passage from Umar’s letter and balancing it with today’s realities, we find the following:
- In every battle and confrontation, the enemies are more numerous and better equipped than the Muslims, but the Muslims triumph through their obedience to Allah and their enemies' disobedience.
- The reason is that Allah—the powerful and victorious—stands with them, tipping the scales in their favor against their disobedient enemies.
- If Muslims disobey Allah, He abandons them and leaves them to fend for themselves, thereby losing the “power of tipping the scales,” a force beyond human comprehension.
- In such cases, Muslims become equal to their enemies in disobeying Allah. However, their enemies remain superior in numbers and equipment, thus defeating the Muslims.
- This does not mean that Allah is pleased with the disbelievers but indicates His anger towards the Muslims for breaking the terms of the “Covenant of Monotheism” and its requirements. This is reflected in the “punitive subjugation,” i.e., their defeat at the hands of those worse than themselves, just as the Magians—fire worshippers—overpowered the Children of Israel when they disobeyed their Lord.
Woe to the Arabs...
In this context, one might draw comfort from the hadith when the Prophet (ﷺ) came to visit Mother of the Believers, Zainab, may Allah be pleased with her, one day frightened and he (ﷺ) said: “Woe to the Arabs because of an evil which has drawn near! Today an opening of this size has been made in the barrier restraining Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog people).” And he (ﷺ) made a circle with his thumb and index finger. I said, “O Messenger of Allah! Shall we perish while still there will be righteous people among us?'” He (ﷺ) replied, “Yes, when wickedness prevails.” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Wickedness refers to anything impure and detestable, then it was applied to immorality and vice, and anything corrupt and vile in words and deeds.
The barrier is the great wall built by the monotheistic leader, Dhul-Qarnayn, to protect a group of weak people from the evil and aggression of Gog and Magog. This is referred to in the Quranic ayah: “They said, ‘O Dhul-Qarnayn, indeed Gog and Magog are [great] corrupters in the land. So may we assign for you an expenditure that you might make between us and them a barrier?’” (Al-Kahf: 94) There is almost a consensus among the interpreters that Gog and Magog refer to the Tatars and Mongols. However, the hadith did not specify this, nor did it specify a time or place.
Gog and Magog...
We firmly believe in the reality of all the elements of this Quranic narrative—characters and events. The interpreters’ view that these elements refer to the Tatars, led by Hulegu, breaking through the barrier and destroying the Arab kingdom by demolishing the Abbasid Caliphate during the reign of Al-Musta'sim, the last Abbasid caliph, supports the meaning of the hadith as a likely scenario.
This opens the door for me to embrace the idea that the story—with all its elements—repeats itself in every era with similar elements. I can almost see Dhul-Qarnayn and his followers as symbols—in every age—of pure and devout monotheists who build a barrier of values, ethics, and high ideals to protect their nation from the aggressive, corrupt, and degenerate Gog and Magog who strive to destroy this lofty moral barrier so that immorality, vice, and audacity against Allah’s religion prevails, and corruption becomes widespread, leading to the downfall of a nation weakened or silenced by the voices of the righteous and reformers.
I believe I am not exaggerating when I say that we are currently living this painful reality, with the Americans, British, and Zionists surpassing Gog and Magog by using agents, scientists, and leaders from among us who speak our language, pray our prayers, and live in our land. We now see them acting more Bush-like and Sharon-like than Bush and Sharon themselves.
The “barrier of values” is collapsing, and with its collapse, the nation falls after it has betrayed the trust, placed authority in the hands of the unworthy, abandoned justice, truth, and tranquility, and allowed lies, arrogance, treachery, immorality, and dictatorship to prevail.
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Source: The official website of Dr. Jabir Kumayha.
Read the Article in Arabic
