Peaceful protestors have taken to the streets for the second day across Egypt calling for Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to step down. Such protests are extremely rare in Egypt after the 2013 military coup, which saw Sisi snatch power from Egypt\u2019s first democratically elected leader, President Mohamed Morsi.
Since he seized power, Sisi has cracked down on all forms of political dissent. The Sisi regime has been characterised by widespread clampdown on civil rights, with demonstrations rendered all but illegal. Sisi currently has at least 60,000 political prisoners incarcerated. Against this backdrop, the demonstrators these past few days have been exceptionally brave.
Unmasked protestors chanted \u201cthe people demand the fall of the regime\u201d in Cairo\u2019s iconic Tahrir Square late on Friday. Whilst the current crop of protestors may be too young to remember the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the use of the 2011 motto is revealing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Should Dictatorship be given a Divine Right? Sheikh Yasir Qadhi has intervened by saying: Sheikh Yasir went on to say: Uhud and the rise of Hypocrisy \u201cAnd do not be weak against your enemy. If you are suffering then surely they too are suffering, but you have a hope from All\u0101h, for which they do not hope.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n And: Assad the Alawi But All\u0101h praised the believers\u2019 response: Powerful Muslim Voice Peaceful protestors have taken to the streets for the second day across Egypt calling for Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to step down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c42-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong> Over the course of 2010 and 2011, a wave of optimism blew across the Middle East as dictators fell like dominoes. This region, in which puppet tyrants had ruled with an iron fist, saw the first seedlings of hope for the first time in decades. One after another, despotic regimes were brought down by people peacefully protesting. The streets of Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, and Egypt were thronging with people chanting, \u201cthe people want to bring down the regime.\u201d It was under these circumstances that three school-aged children wrote graffiti on a wall calling for Bashar al-Assad to step down. The Syrian secret police promptly arrested the boys on 29 April 2011.
One of the boys arrested was 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb, whose lifeless body was returned to his family one month later on condition of their silence. However, the scars on his body spoke to the ghastly torture he endured at the hands of the secret police.
A video posted online showed a battered, bruised and bloodied face, with skin riddled with gashes, burns, and bullet wounds. Hamza had a fractured neck and marks consistent with whipping from an electric shock device. His injuries were designed to hurt and torture, but not to kill the child. Hamza\u2019s jaw and kneecaps were also shattered. In an act of sordid barbarity, the child also had his private parts cut off. The boy\u2019s torture and killing ignited waves of protests that spread across the country. Like his father before him, Bashar al-Assad responded with disproportionate and brutal force. The Assad regime\u2019s military crackdown on the civilian population compelled the people to defend themselves. Hamza al-Khateeb will forever remain a potent symbol for the insurrection.
It was therefore bewildering to hear Sheikh Hamza Yusuf\u2019s \u2018mocking\u2019 of the Syrian people and their uprising against a tyrant. When the history books are written, Bashar al-Assad will be recorded as one of the vilest oppressors of our time. Assad\u2019s murdering and maiming children firmly places him in the hall of infamous tyrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cIt is a misuse of the Prophetic traditions and legacy, and an abuse of the traditionalist understanding of Sunnism, then, to quote traditions like \u2018Whoever humiliates the Sultan shall be humiliated by All\u0101h\u2019 (even if they are authentic \u2013 which is another topic altogether) to essentially side with modern Yaz\u012bds against the innocent people whom they are slaughtering, and to emotionally blackmail people to remain subservient to tyrants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cI reiterate: mainstream Sunnism is much more nuanced. In the battle against a legitimate Caliph who is tyrannical, our hearts and sympathies are with the \u1e24usayns [ra\u1e0diy All\u0101hu \u02bfanhuma], not the Yaz\u012bds, even as we understand the wisdom of not creating civil war. To therefore quote these traditions to make it appear that Sunn\u012b theology tells us to side with tyrants is just plain wrong, and our history is full of hundreds of examples, from across all strands of Sunnism (from the likes of al-Nawaw\u012b to Ibn Taymiyya, and before them Ibn \u1e24anbal and M\u0101lik and Abu \u1e24an\u012bfah), who showed us what a true Sunn\u012b scholar does under an unjust ruler. No scholar should EVER appear to side with a tyrant or endorse emotional and theological subservience to one \u2013 that is simply not what our tradition teaches.
\nAnd one final point: this is the view of mainstream scholars regarding a legitimate Khal\u012bfa \u2013 meaning one who applies the Shariah and rules over a land governed by the laws of Islam.
\nTo take these prophetic traditions and apply them to modern atheistic secularist anti-religious tyrants who have no shred of Islamic sanctity is simply unacceptable. Those who don\u2019t attempt to govern by the prophetic tradition have no claim to the sanctity it affords.\u201d
\nSheikh Hamza has since apologised, and this is the end of the matter. Any public apology cannot be easy and ultimately, of course, All\u0101h alone is the Judge.
\nHowever, besides addressing Sheikh Hamza specifically, it is prudent to address the general idea proposed by some that challenging tyrants (such as in Syria) is khuruj \u2013 a rebellion against a legitimate Muslim. Would such people consider the Palestinian uprising a khuruj? If not, what is the difference between Assad and Netanyahu? If anything, as loathsome as Netanyahu is, Assad is far worse.
\nThe position that the uprising in Syria was a rebellion against a legitimate ruler is not without its consequences. It criminalises the revolution and, by extension, removes our responsibility towards the Syrian people. As a consequence, it validates Bashar al-Assad, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah, and Putin. It sanctifies the billions of dollars that the Iranian regime has spent murdering mothers, amputating children, and bombing hospitals. Is this really the side the Ummah of Muhammad (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam) should be on?
\nMoreover, the views held by some religious groups and their scholars condemning the oppressed only serves to give a veneer of religious authority to the oppressor. It is as if to say, God has placed you under the authority of the dictator and as such, if you rebel against him, you have rebelled against God Himself. It is such reckless and flawed emotional blackmail that saw the worst excesses in Christendom in medieval Europe. It seems that rather than use their energy to challenge such authoritarianism, some people seemingly want the Muslim nation to remain subservient.
\nLet us look at Egypt and the peaceful people\u2019s revolution that brought down Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Initially, the Salafi Da\u2019wah movement in Egypt denounced it as a fitna (chaos) and advised its members not to participate in the protest, but soon changed their view when it became apparent that Mubarak would fall.[3] However, this same Salafi Da\u2019wah movement had no compunction supporting the military coup that removed Egypt\u2019s first democratically elected leader in 2013. The resultant dictatorship of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has seen a brutal crackdown on civil rights and religious freedom in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong> The cowardice of the view that the Syrian revolution was ill-advised and a defeat is nothing new. The Muslim Ummah first became aware of such cowardice after the Battle of Uhud. Before the fighting had begun, the leader of the hypocrites, Abdullah ibn Ubayy, withdrew his soldiers from the army, saying: \u201cWe do not know why we should kill ourselves.\u201d
After the battle of Badr, the small Muslim community thought it could not be defeated. The loss at Uhud was therefore shocking; 70 companions, including the uncle of Muhammad (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam), were martyred during the battle. The Prophet (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam), the most beloved to All\u0101h, was himself injured and bloodied in the fighting, and even had to withdraw to the mountains.
Uhud is not recorded as a defeat. Rather, it is remembered as a victory. It was at Uhud where Abu Dujanah wore his red bandana. It was at Uhud where Handalah was given ghusl by the angels. It was at Uhud where Anas bin al-Nadr was asked by Sa\u2019d bin Muadh when charging against the enemy: \u201cWhere are you going Abu Umar?\u201d To which Anas replied: \u201cHow sweet is the scent of Paradise that I smell here in Uhud.\u201d Anas fought with such bravery that none but his sister could identify his dead body. It was at Uhud where Talha became a living martyr. These are the stories that have become immortalised from the events of Uhud.
Upon the burial of the martyrs of Uhud, the Prophet (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam) said: \u201cI bear witness that anyone wounded in the cause of All\u0101h will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement, with his blood flowing from his injuries with the fragrance of musk.\u201d It was after Uhud that All\u0101h revealed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cAll\u0101h will not leave the believers in the state in which you are in now, until He distinguishes the wicked from the good.\u201d
\nThe response of the hypocrites to the perceived loss at Uhud is the same response echoed by some to the situation in Syria today. All\u0101h (sub\u1e25\u0101nahu wa ta\u02bf\u0101l\u0101) says in the Qur\u2019\u0101n: \u201cAmong you there is the sort of person who is sure to lag behind: if a calamity befalls you, he says, \u2018God has been gracious to me that I was not there with them\u2019.\u201d
\nHad All\u0101h wanted us to meekly accept tyrannical rule, then Ibrahim (\u02bfalayhi al-Sal\u0101m) would not have been thrown into the fire; Musa (\u02bfalayhi al-Sal\u0101m) would not have risen up against Fir\u2019aun; Dawud (\u02bfalayhi al-Sal\u0101m) would not have thrown his stone; Isa (\u02bfalayhi al-Sal\u0101m) would not have upturned the tables of the money lenders; and Muhammad (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam) would not have been inspired by the words: \u201cHow often has a small company overcome a large one by the Permission of All\u0101h?\u201d
\nWhat would such people say about the incident when Umar ibn al-Khattab was challenged for having two pieces of cloth from the Muslim treasury? Where is Umar to these tyrants, and what are two pieces of cloth compared to the vast resources (that belong to the people) usurped by these despots? Umar gave clear instructions to his followers that they should obey him when he followed All\u0101h and His Messenger and to correct him should he stray from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong> Bashar al-Assad is an Alawite. Originally known as Nusayris, Alawites are an extreme offshoot of the Shia, but have incorporated aspects of other beliefs, including Christianity, Gnosticism, and Neoplatonism. Alawites have their own Holy Trinity, drink wine as Imam Ali\u2019s transubstantiated essence in rituals, and also believe in reincarnation. Some Alawi soldiers believe Bashar al-Assad is Imam Ali reincarnate. It is mainstream Alawi doctrine to believe that God was first reincarnated as Joshua who conquered Canaan, and then later reincarnated as the fourth Caliph \u2018Ali, cousin of the Prophet (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam).
To blame the Syrian people for opposing their tyrant is victim blaming in the extreme. By extension, this position condemns the resistance of the Palestinian, Kashmiri, Chechen, Yemeni, and Rohingya people. What would such prominent voices posit as a solution to the manifest injustices in these countries? Is their only advice to sit at the feet of tyrants with a begging bowl as some so-called scholars have done? What is their view of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, a movement that stood up to an oppressive and unjust system and ultimately succeeded?
Scholars are the heirs of the prophets and have a special status. But with that position comes increased responsibility before All\u0101h (sub\u1e25\u0101nahu wa ta\u02bf\u0101l\u0101) and to people. It is simply not becoming of a leader to denigrate and demoralise his flock. Rather, at a time of crisis, a true leader inspires his congregation.
During the Battle of the Trench, the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam) were digging a trench as a protection from the Quraish. They came across a boulder which they could not break and so approached the Prophet (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam). Muhammad (sall All\u0101hu \u02bfalayhi wa sallam) said \u201cWith the Name of All\u0101h\u201d and struck it while saying: \u201cAll\u0101h is the Most Great, I have been given the keys of Ash-Shaam (Greater Syria). By All\u0101h I can see its red palaces at the moment.\u201d On the second strike he said: \u201cAll\u0101h is the Most Great, I have been given Persia. By All\u0101h, I can now see the white palace of Madain.\u201d On the third and final strike of the boulder he said: \u201cAll\u0101h is the Most Great, I have been given the keys of Yemen. By All\u0101h, I can see the gates of Sana\u2019a.\u201d We see here the Prophetic model of leadership is to inspire and provide a positive vision at times of difficulty.
We should not lose sight of the fact that the companions were so afraid that All\u0101h said of them:
\u201cRemember when they massed against you from above and from below, your eyes rolled with fear and you thought ill thoughts about All\u0101h. There the believers were sorely tested and deeply shaken. The hypocrites and the sick at heart said: \u2018All\u0101h and His Messenger have promised us nothing but delusion!\u2019 Some of them said: \u2018O people of Madinah, you will not be able to stand the attack, so go back!\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWhen the believers saw the Confederates they said: \u2018This is what All\u0101h and His Messenger had promised us. The Promise of All\u0101h and His Messenger is true.\u2019 And it only served to increase in their faith and submission.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong> At a time when the world is in turmoil, with fascism spreading across the globe; with capitalism literally destroying our planet; when poverty, injustice and wealth hoarding is widespread; now is the time for a robust, dignified, and confident Muslim voice to be heard. Now is the time that humanity needs to be shown that there is a better, more just, peaceful, and more harmonious way to live. Now is the time to show to the world why All\u0101h (sub\u1e25\u0101nahu wa ta\u02bf\u0101l\u0101) describes the Muslim community so:
\u201cYou are the best nation produced (as an example) for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in All\u0101h.\u201d
In order to become beacons to mankind, we need a spiritual transformation. We need to liberate our minds from the shackles of inferiority. But in order to lead we must be an example; the embodiment of the Qur\u2019\u0101n not only in public, but also in private to become a prophetic community.
One day \u2013 and let us be honest, it will be sooner than we like to think \u2013 we will meet our Maker. The description of that day is terrifying. That day, when the skies crack open and the seas are set on fire and mankind is screaming and scampering from place to place to find refuge, will be 50,000 years long. On that day, the fallen children, mothers, and elderly in Syria, Kashmir, Myanmar, and elsewhere will be sitting on thrones with a crown of honour. Let us pray that when we lock eyes with them, they do not ask those who had criminalised their resistance: \u201cHow\u2019s it working out for you now?\u201d
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"