Is there a difference between the meaning of the community in the time of empowerment and the time of weakness?
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The questioner : Is there a meaning for the community in the time of empowerment and a different meaning in the time of being oppressed? How wonderful it would be if you could give a clear picture of this matter.
The Shaykh : The time of empowerment and the time of weakness.
The questioner : The time of weakness.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. As far as I can see, this question is somewhat strange in that it has not been posed to me before. What appears to me, and Allah knows best, is that the community, in terms of the meaning of this word, is open to expansion and restriction. It is like faith; it is like faith. You know, if Allah wills, that faith increases and decreases, that its increase is through obedience and its decrease through disobedience. And so it is with the community. The community is undoubtedly that which is believing in the correct, established manner found in the Book and the Sunnah. But its faith, like the faith of every individual in this community, is capable of increase and capable of decrease, likewise as a community. It is capable of being, for example, strong and empowered in the land, and it is capable of being oppressed in the land. This is, as they say, history repeating itself. The peoples and the prophets were sometimes like this and sometimes like that, as the Lord of the Worlds said in the Noble Qur'an:[Ali 'Imran 3:140] So, for example, the Battle of Hunayn and the Battle of Uhud, before Allah granted them victory over their enemies, the situation was nearly turned against them, and they were one community. Then our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, sent them reinforcements from Himself and granted them victory over their enemy. So the community can become strong and it can become weak, and all of this returns to the faith of the individuals in this community. This is what appears to me as the answer to the question. Say what you have.
The questioner : O Shaykh, does the meaning of the community apply now in the time of being oppressed? I mean, it must have a meaning. What is the meaning of the community in this time? Who is the community in the time of being oppressed?
The Shaykh : I rambled around the answer to this question, but it seems it did not become clear. The community is that which holds fast to the Book and the Sunnah within the limits of ability. It is not permissible, rather it is not permissible, for us to imagine that there is no community in any time, no matter how impossible it may be for them in the land. I believe the previous answer was sufficient and comprehensive. We cannot imagine that there is not a believing group on earth, as you know from the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 1920 to the end of the hadith. And since that is the case, this group may be empowered in the land or it may not be. The fact that it is not empowered in the land, meaning that it is weak, does not negate the name of the group from it, nor does it consequently negate the name of the community from it. And this is confirmed for you finally by what is authentic from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "The community, even if it is one individual, even if it is one person." Do you know this report?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Another questioner :[An-Nahl 16:120]
The Shaykh : One community. Is there anything else?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The time of empowerment and the time of weakness.
The questioner : The time of weakness.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. As far as I can see, this question is somewhat strange in that it has not been posed to me before. What appears to me, and Allah knows best, is that the community, in terms of the meaning of this word, is open to expansion and restriction. It is like faith; it is like faith. You know, if Allah wills, that faith increases and decreases, that its increase is through obedience and its decrease through disobedience. And so it is with the community. The community is undoubtedly that which is believing in the correct, established manner found in the Book and the Sunnah. But its faith, like the faith of every individual in this community, is capable of increase and capable of decrease, likewise as a community. It is capable of being, for example, strong and empowered in the land, and it is capable of being oppressed in the land. This is, as they say, history repeating itself. The peoples and the prophets were sometimes like this and sometimes like that, as the Lord of the Worlds said in the Noble Qur'an:
And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people
وتلك الأيام نداولها بين الناسThe questioner : O Shaykh, does the meaning of the community apply now in the time of being oppressed? I mean, it must have a meaning. What is the meaning of the community in this time? Who is the community in the time of being oppressed?
The Shaykh : I rambled around the answer to this question, but it seems it did not become clear. The community is that which holds fast to the Book and the Sunnah within the limits of ability. It is not permissible, rather it is not permissible, for us to imagine that there is no community in any time, no matter how impossible it may be for them in the land. I believe the previous answer was sufficient and comprehensive. We cannot imagine that there is not a believing group on earth, as you know from the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
A group of people from my Umma will always remain triumphant on the right path
لا تزال طائفة من أمتي ظاهرين على الحقThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Another questioner :
Indeed, Abraham was a [comprehensive] leader, devoutly obedient to Allah, inclining toward truth, and he was not of those who associate others with Allah.
إن إبراهيم كان أمةThe Shaykh : One community. Is there anything else?
The questioner : Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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