When the Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) appeared on the scene in Mecca to proclaim the message of Islam, the Muslims faced ridicule, mockery, opposition, propoganda, and even severe torture up to the point of death–to the point where Muslims would walk through the streets, see their brothers and sisters being severely tortured in front of their eyes.
And Allah revealed the commandment not to fight back. Not in Mecca, not for ten years until they migrated to Medinah.
So you might ask, why? For ten years, they endured unspeakable oppression. Allah knows best about the true purpose and wisdoms of His command, but what are some of the benefits Muslims received from not fighting back?
- Patience: the Muslims learned patience–hard patience, wrought out over ten years.
- Obedience: The Muslims learned obedience to their messenger (صلي الله عليه وسلم) and to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) in all things, even in hard trials.
- Sympathy: Those non-Muslims around who witnessed this oppression sympathized with the Muslims, and Islam grew silently. (In fact, when the Muslims were boycotted for three years, it was five non-Muslims who stood up and ended the boycott.)
- Life: if fights broke out–and a few did–what would have happened? A handful of Muslims, in a non-Muslim land? Who would lose? The Muslims! But they didn’t fight, and this preserved their numbers.
Wallahu ‘alim. Post any other benefits you find in the comments inshaAllah.
Muhammad Alshareef. Lecture. AlMaghrib. The Shepherd’s Path. University of Ryerson, Toronto. March 2007.
It’s interesting, subuhanallah, how Muslims who are incarcerated wrongly come out glowing with noor; Allah only makes them stronger in their trials.
As-salaamu ‘alaikum,
what do you tell yourself when you are challenged. what does the inner dialogue sound like?
what about when the perpetrators are your own family, living in your own house?
ideally…. i should be able to put my ‘ego’ aside and say to myself “my reward is with Allah, this person is just ignorant, so forgive them oh Yasir, forgive them.”
and.. like many things, easier said than done.
So many Muslims focus on issues of fiqh which are most certainly important to trying to fulfill your covenant with Allah. However, this is easier than practicing forgiveness and being patient with others as Muhammad sws demonstrated numerous times in the seerah.