Auspices From The Divine Laws

 

There are other auspices derived from the Laws of Allah in His creation and in human existence. They are constant laws and precepts, and apply to people of old, and those of later times, and they apply to Muslims as well as the infidels. They are impossible to alter or change. Allah, all praise and glory be to Him, says:

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

فَلَن تَجِدَ لِسُنَّتِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًا وَلَن تَجِدَ لِسُنَّتِ اللَّهِ تَحْوِيلً (فاطر: 43)

 

The noble Qur’anic verse says what means:

 

"So no change will you find in Allah’s Sunnah (way of dealing), and no turning off will you find in Allah’s Sunnah (way of dealing).” (Fâtir, 35:43)

 

If we closely examine these Divine Laws, we will discover that a body of them is on our side, we Muslims and preachers of Islam, among which we can cite the following:

 

Ups and Downs

 

Amongst these laws: is the law of alternation of prosperous and adverse days, days of varying fortunes, given to nations and people by turn. It is the law affirmed by the noble Qur’anic verse of Surat Âl-‘Imrân, which was revealed after the Battle of Uhud, where Muslims suffered hardships. Allah, The Most Exalted and Ever-Majestic, says:

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ وَتِلْكَ الأيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ (آل عمران: 140)

 

The noble Qur’anic verse says what means:

"If a wound (and killing) has touched you, be sure a similar wound (and killing) has touched the others. And so are the days (good and not so good), We give to men by turns.” (Âl-‘Imrân, 3:140)

 

That is why it is said that time is two days; one smiles at you, and the other frowns at you. It is also said, ‘Change alone is unchanging.’ 

 

Circumstances change, life is in a continuous state of flux, and each day ushers the world to a new phase. How many rich men were reduced to poverty, and how many poor men became wealthy, and how many noblemen were humbled, and how many humble folk were raised to nobility, and how many solvents were put into bankruptcy, and how many insolvents became debt-free. Allah, all praise and glory be to Him, says:

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا {5} إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا {6} (الشرح: 5-6)

 

The noble Qur’anic verses say what means:

"So verily, with the hardship, there is relief.” (Ash-Sharh, 94: 5-6)

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

سَيَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ عُسْرٍ يُسْرًا (الطلاق: 7)

 

The noble Qur’anic verse says what means:

 

“Allah will grant after hardship, ease.” (At-Talâq, 65:7)

 

Whoever delves into the circumstances of nations throughout history, will find that the torch of civilization is handed from one nation to another, and from one hand to another.

 

Fortunately, the law of alternating periods of good and bad fortune among people work on our side not against us, and Imam Hassan Al-Banâ said: ‘The turn now is ours not against us!’

 

Since ancient times the leadership of the entire world was in the hands of the East through the Pharaonic civilization, then the Assyrian, the Babylon, the Kildanite, the Phoenician, the Persian, the Indian and the Chinese civilizations. Then hegemony moved on to the West through the Greek civilization with its renowned philosophy, and the Roman civilization with its well-known legislation. Afterwards, leadership moved to the East once more through the Arabic Islamic civilization, which is a unique civilization that combines knowledge and faith, as well as material superiority and spiritual sublimity. Then the East sank into dereliction, and neglected its message. Thereupon, the West took over the reins and seized power anew, but it guarded not the moral responsibility of leadership, rather it proved itself to be utterly destitute in the domain of spiritual and moral values. It violated justice and raised the voice of power over that of due rights, interests over principles, earthiness over spirituality and lifeless objects over humans. It also adopted the policy of double-faced justice in handling human issues. Nevertheless, the Law of Allah dictates that the torch must be passed on to another. Based on the sequence of surveyed history, it should return once more to the East, the Islamic East, which holds a message different from that embraced by the West. Thus, it must prepare itself for this role and gird itself for the battle, as Allah, all praise and glory be to Him, says:

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُهْلِكَ عَدُوَّكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفَكُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرَ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ (الأعراف:129)

 

The noble Qur’anic verse says what means:

"It may be that your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors on the earth, so that He may see how you act?" )Al-A’râf, 7: 129(

 

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ (الأنبياء: 105)

 

The noble Qur’anic verse says what means:

"And indeed We have written in Zabûr (Psalms) [i.e. all the revealed Holy Books the Taurât (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), the Qur'ân] after (We have already written in) Al-Lauh Al-Mahfûz (the Book, that is in the heaven with Allah), that My righteous slaves shall inherit the land (i.e. the land of Paradise).” (Al-Anbiyâ’, 21:105)

 

So it is not far-fetched that the world’s steering wheel turns from the West back to the East, although the West is now superior and powerful, whereas the East is the one lagging behind and is powerless.

 

Actually, materialism in the western world has deeply permeated the way of thinking, the behavior and the manner of life. Disintegration and immorality have reached to the marrow. On the strength of the Divine Law, civilization can never persist without morals, and morals can never bloom and be effective except under the wing of faith.1

 

We have witnessed together with the whole world the downfall of the second power in the world (the Soviet Union) all of a sudden, without any worth mentioning preliminaries, despite the massive nuclear arsenal it possesses, as well as the mighty strategic weapons and the enormous military and economical power. Actually, it collapsed because ruin existed deep down and not on the surface, within the psyche before the matter.

 

In fact, the western state that now solely possesses power and monopolizes the world arena is no better than its counterpart, the Soviet Union.

 

The Law of Change

 

Among the other Divine Laws that is on the side of Muslims, and we consider it one of the auspices: is [the law of change] that the Noble Qu’ran has emphasized in more than one verse. For those who relapse from good into evil, from rectitude into depravity, from righteousness into decadence and from insight into blindness, Allah changes their state from prosperity to adversity, from power to infirmity, from superiority to humiliation and from welfare to distress. This is what the Noble Qur’an has stated in Surat Al-A’nfâl after pronouncing the fate of the people of Fir’awn (Pharaoh) and those before them, who denied the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, so Allah destroyed them for their sins. He says, and indeed He is the superiorly Gracious Sayer in His Noble Book:

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللّهَ لَمْ يَكُ مُغَيِّرًا نِّعْمَةً أَنْعَمَهَا عَلَى قَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ وَأَنَّ اللّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ {53} كَدَأْبِ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَذَّبُواْ بآيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَهْلَكْنَاهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَأَغْرَقْنَا آلَ فِرْعَونَ وَكُلٌّ كَانُواْ ظَالِمِينَ (الأنفال: 53، 54)

 

The noble Qur’anic verses say what means:

"That is so because Allah will never change a grace which He has bestowed on a people until they change what is in their ownselves. And verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower. Similar to the behaviour of the people of Fir'awn (Pharaoh), and those before them. They belied the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), of their Lord, so We destroyed them for their sins, and We drowned the people of Fir'awn (Pharaoh) for they were all Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.).” )Al-Anfâl, 8: 53-54)

 

Look at the people of western civilization in the light of this Law: Allah has invested them with power on earth, and subdued to them its forces, provided them with every kind of fruit, taught them what they knew not, and showered on them means of sustenance so they obtained provision from above them and from underneath their feet. But as we have aforementioned in [the law of alternation of prosperous and adverse days], they betrayed the trust of shouldering the responsibility and assuming command. They transgressed beyond bounds in the lands in disobedience of Allah and made therein much mischief. In a word, they changed their state of goodness themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah) and adopted the ways of evil and corruption; that is why they deserve that the Law of Allah be visited on them and Allah changes the grace He has bestowed on them, and deprives them of leadership, and consigns it to others.

 

The completion of this law is the other face of change: those whose souls or what is in their hearts is altered from evil to goodness, from perversity to piety, from depravity to moral uprightness, from decadence to rectitude, from sloth to activity and from vice to virtue, surely deserve that Allah changes their state or changes the infirmity in them to strength, the abjectness to superiority, the defeat to victory, the fear to safety, and their state of oppression to powerfulness.

 

That is the established rule conveyed by the noble Qur’anic verse of Surat Al-Ra’d, in which The Most Exalted says:

 

يقول الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز:

 

إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِم (الرعد: 11)

 

 

The noble Qur’anic verse says what means:

“Verily Allah never changes the condition of a people until they (first) change what is within themselves.” (Ar-Ra’d, 13:11)

 

This law gives us – we Muslims – hope for the change and improvement of our circumstances. For we have witnessed many Muslims during the era of the Islamic arousal radically change from shunning Islam to embracing it; from ignorance of the Islamic Law to committing themselves to its deep study and comprehension; from forsaking the Islamic teachings and straying from them to their abidance by them; from caring for their own interest alone without thinking about the nation, to shouldering the burdens of the nation as well as participating in public issues with sincerity and vigor; from pursuing lusts and desires to reviving the call to Islam and adopting an earnest strife for the sake of defending religion and its inviolabilities; from immodest and unchaste clothes worn by women to their wearing the Hijâb (veil) and from deserting Masjids to inhabiting them with prayers and lessons.

 

All these deeds and signs make us feel that the nation has improved to a great extent. The Justice and the Law of Allah dictate that He will not abandon it; that He will reward the nation for this spiritual and deep behavioral change by changing its state, and altering it to that which is better.

 

 

 

1 See: the chapter entitled Âfât Al-Hadârah Al-Mu'âsirah (Blights of the Contemporary Civilization), and the chapter entitled (Sages of the West World Toll the Alarm Bells) in my book Al-Islâm Hadâratul-Ghad (Islam: the Civilization of Tomorrow) published by Al-Risâlah institution.