“And do not incline
towards, nor rely
upon, those who are bent
on wrong-
doing lest the fire (of
the Hereafter)
touch you: for (then)
you would have
none to protect you from
God, nor
would you ever be
succored (by Him)”
(11:113).
God has sent to human beings
His messengers with all evidence of truth, and He has given them through those
messengers a revelation containing guidance and criteria to weigh right and
wrong, so that they might behave with equity between one another (See: Qur’an,
57:25).
In so many chapters and verses
of the Qur’an we find God’s orders towards people to do justice, to adopt good
behavior and to give relatives their due rights and warningly forbidding
shameful acts, evil deeds and oppressive attitude (Qur’an, 16:90). He orders
the believers to be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the
truth for the sake of God, even though it be against themselves or their
parents and kinsfolk (Qur’an, 4:135) and never let hatred of anyone lead them
into the sin of deviating from justice (Qur’an, 5:8).
There are two categories of sins deviating from
justice:
The first is if a man/woman
does it due to weakness, then s/he regrets; and this is a sin, which is
questionable and accountable by God on the Day of Judgment. And this can be
forgiven, but only God will judge him equitably.
The second is when a person
does it rebelling against God’s order, denying His ordinances, as if s/he
considers another god as his/her Lord/Sovereign, allowing to do that sin, even
if that “god”
is his/her own desires: “Then if they do not respond to you, know
that they are only following their desires..”(Qur’an, 25:43) and see also: “Have you then consider him who
has taken as his god his (own) desire” (45:23). This category of sin is
unforgivable: “God does not forgive that
anything should be associated with Him; He may forgive all except that, to
whomever He will. And whoever associates anything with God, verily he has
strayed far away” (4:116).
There were in history, and there are nowadays individuals and groups of
people who did and do wrongdoings towards others, they demean them, torture
them, oppress and kill them, sometimes with a wild cruelty. They are tyrants.
God condemns this kind of people, He warned them that He will not leave them
without retaliation: “And do not think that God is unaware of
what the evildoers are doing: He but gives them respite until a Day when eyes
shall stare in horror, the while they will be running confusedly to and fro,
with their heads upraised (in supplication), unable to look away from what they
shall behold, and their hearts an abysmal void” (14:42-43).
The Qur’an indicated that false
pride and arrogance are the
elements, which cause the tyrants do their evildoings (Qur’an, 7:12), and God
has made Pharaoh, Haman and Qarun (the three were among tyrants in human
history) to become “archetypes of evil” (28:41). And in fact false pride and
arrogance are signs of self-deviation from one’s position in this life: from
being slave of God, into claiming his/her independence from God’s Lordship.
Abu Dhar (one of the Prophet’s companions) narrated that the Prophet
(God’s blessings be upon him) said: “God
is saying: O My servants! I have made oppression unlawful for Myself and I have
made it unlawful among you, so do not oppress one another” (Recorded by Muslim).
A number of Companions of the Prophet narrated the Messenger of God
saying: “Beware, if anyone wrongs a
non-Muslim in our territory, or diminishes his right, or forces him/her to work
beyond his/her capacity, or takes from him/her anything without his/her
consent, I shall plead for him/her on the Day of Judgment” (Recorded by Abu
Dawud).
The Qur’an stated that aggression is forbidden, and fighting is allowed
only for defence (2:190), and it becomes obligatory against tyranny and tyrants
(see: 22:39-40; and 4:74-75).
And because God has created human beings and given them guidance and
ordinances to be practiced, with the purpose of putting them to a test to know
which of them is best in conduct. Then it is logical that God will not leave
tyrants and wrongdoers without pursue and chastisement on the Day of Judgment: “..and
those who are wrongdoers will soon know the reversal with
which they will meet” (26:227).
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