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Difficulties and
afflictions are a source of blessings from Allah, who
might have chosen out of his eternal wisdom and mercy to
give a wake-up call to His rebellious and transgressing
servants before it is too late. But many, who are too
arrogant to mend their ways, may indulge in blame-game
or passing the buck, blaming God and everybody else,
except themselves, for what might have befallen them.
Ibn ‘Abbas says
that when the Divine Decree strikes, a person becomes
blindfolded. Although all the facts might be in front of
his eyes, yet he is not able to see things in their
proper perspective. Confusion overtakes his thinking
process.
In this situation,
a sensible person who believes that nothing is concealed
from the watchful eyes of the angels who record his
deeds, would turn his attention to his own actions,
intentions, faults and deception through which he might
have victimised others and usurped their rights (huquq
al-‘Ibad). An insensible person would search for
scapegoats, blaming his own fate, his relatives, his
friends, his business associates, his colleagues and of
course, God. Many would turn to the fortune-tellers on
one of the commercialised TVs who almost certainly would
create more doubts into the minds of the gullible
against their own spouses or relatives. Some would
complain to the fortune-tellers that their own business
partners, whom they trusted, defrauded them. But few
among them would pause to think that when they
themselves employed the services of others, did they pay
them before their sweat was dry, as the Prophet has
specifically instructed? Before a person suffers at the
hands of others, has he the courage of tracing back
within himself, how much he would have caused others to
suffer through his own actions?
A glance at the
warnings given can clear much of the mist in the mind of
the individuals. The blessed Messenger of Allah,
Muhammad (SAWW) says: “I have been commanded by Allah to
warn my people and say, ‘Do not go from one mosque to
another while someone’s rights are upon you’. If such a
person stands up for prayers in that condition, I send
my curses upon him till he restores the rights to its
owner.” (Uddatu-Da‘i). From this stern warning of the
Messenger of Allah, it is quite clear that Islam is very
sensitive in protecting the rights of others, the
usurpation of which may nullify all the good deeds of
the usurper, whether acting individually or otherwise.
The rights of God and the rights of the servants of God
cannot be separated from each other.
Allah says: “And We
gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you Manna
and quails, saying: "Eat of the good things We have
provided for you:" (But they rebelled); to us they did
no harm, but they harmed their own souls” (Q. 2:57).
“…We did them no wrong, but they were used to doing
wrong to themselves” (Q. 16:118). “Do the (ungodly) wait
until the angels come to them, or there comes the
Command of thy Lord (for their doom)? So did those who
went before them. But Allah wronged them not: nay, they
wronged their own souls” (Q. 16:33). “Each one of them
We seized for his crime: of them, against some We sent a
violent tornado (with showers of stones); some were
caught by a (mighty) Blast; some We caused the earth to
swallow up; and some We drowned (in the waters): It was
not Allah Who injured (or oppressed) them:" They injured
(and oppressed) their own souls” (Q. 29:40).
Hence, when the
Divine Decree strikes, the person who is afflicted has
to turn to the Qur’an and the Qur’an will guide him to
look for the causes within himself, and not to blame
God. A transgressor damages his own soul by usurping the
rights of God and by swindling the rights of His
servants. |
