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Lesson: 18 Help in Oppression
Just as oppression
is prohibited, friendship with and help to the oppressor too is prohibited haram.
This matter
is proved without any doubt by the logic of both reason and religion. Just as
oppression is ugly so is the assistance to the oppressor because if the oppressor
is not given any help he will not be able to oppress others all alone. Hence
Imam Sadiq (a.s.) tells his friends: Had you not gathered round Bani Umayyah,
our right would not have been usurped.
Now we invite
your attention to the followings verses and traditions:
1 - And
when you se those who enter into false discourses about our communications,
withdraw from them until they enter into some other discourse, and if the Satan
causes you to forget, then do not sit after recollection with the unjust people.
2- And do
not incline to those who are unjust, lest the Fire touch you.
3 - The Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: When the Day of Judgement rises an announcer announces:
Where are the tyrants and their helpers this calling also includes those who
even filled an inkpot for the unjust ruler or sew his purse or sharpened a pencil
for the oppressors. So gather them along with the tyrants.
4 - Ibne Sinan
says: I heard Imam Sadiq (a.s.) saying: Who ever assists an oppressor against
an oppressed one always remains under Divine anger until he stops aiding the
tyrant.
5 - The Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: He in fact steps out of Islam.
6 - Imam Baqir
(a.s.) said: A tyrant and the one who helps an oppressor as well as the one
who is pleased with such injustice all the three are accomplices in the sin.
7 - Ali (a.s.)
said: The truth about religion is the same like and dislike then, as a testimony
he referred to the she camel of the Prophet Saleh (a.s.) saying: the man who
killed that camel shot the arrow was the killer of that camel yet the Divine
chastisement fell on all due to their being pleased in agreement with that misdeed.
When the just Imam will appear, the one who is pleased with his command and
who helps him in his just deeds is his friend and when an unjust ruler appears
arises and then the one who likes his orders and who assists him in his oppression
is his friend.
8 - The Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: The religious jurisprudents are the honest satisfactory
trustees of the Prophet so long as they do not look at the world. It was asked:
O Messenger of God! What is the meaning of their turning toward the world? He
replied: Following unjust and wrong rulers. So when they do so be careful and
be afraid of them for the sake of your religion.
9 - Safwan
bin Mehran says: I went to Imam Moosa bin Ja'far (a.s.), he said: O Safwan!
All of your deeds are good except one. I asked: I sacrifice myself for you!
What is that deed? He replied: Renting your camels to this fellow, Haroon Rasheed.
I said: By God! I did not do so for fulfilling desire or as play or pastime
but I rested them for their journey to Mecca and I have never accompanied them
and.. and Imam (a.s.) said: Does any amount of that rent remain unpaid to you
which they pay afterward? Do you ever harbour the wish that they return safely
so that you are paid you dues? I said: Yes. Imam (a.s.) said: One who is pleased
with his life is also with him and whoever is with him will go to hell.
Safwaan said:
After this incident I sold all my camels. Thereafter Haroon called me and asked:
I have heard that you have sold your camels. I said: Yes. He asked, why? I said:
I am now an old man and my servants do not work as they should. Haroon said:
Do you think that I am not aware? I know due to whose instance this thing has
happened and he is Moosa bin Ja'far. I said: I have nothing to do with Moosa
bin Ja'far. Then Haroon said: Had you not been in friendship with me I would
have killed you.
The Oppressed
is also Oppressor if He Becomes Excessive
Hisham bin
Salim says: I heard from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that Sometimes an oppressed person
seeks and prays against the oppressor to such an extent that finally he himself
turns into an oppressor, that in, what the oppressed wishes for the oppressor
is much more than the harm which was done to him or he himself does to the oppressor
which is beyond proportion whereas the Holy Quran says: Whoever then acts aggressively
against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted
on you.
Remedy
If man does
not keep his desires under control, they increase step by step until, sometimes,
it begins to enjoy oppressing others and shedding their blood. Therefore it
is recorded in the histories of Hajjaj bin Yusufs and Moa'viyaas that they enjoyed
shedding blood of people. Therefore man must first control his desires so as
he nip them in the bud. He should also keep an eye on the dangerous consequences
of oppression and the oppressor. He must ponder much in this connection and
if he has, in case, committed an injustice he must repent for it.
Tawbah of
the Oppressor
In the discussion
of Tawbah repentance we have described that every sin has a particular tawbah
Maad yaa Aakhareene Sartakaamuli and injustice too is not an exception to it.
Here we invite your attention to two narrations in this connection:
1 - An elder
of the tribe of Nakha approached Imam Baqir (a.s.) and said: I have served as
a waali or officer of the government continuously from the days of Hajjaj. Is
Tawbah available to me? The questioner says: The Imam kept silence and did not
reply. I asked again: He said: No, until you pay up the right of everyone whose
right was usurped through you.
2 - Ali bin
Hamzah says: I had a friend who was an officer in the Umayyad government. He
asked me to take an appointment with the Imam Sadiq (a.s.) so that he may be
able to see him. I obtained permission. When he arrived, he saluted said Salaam
to the Imam, took a seat and said: O Imam! May my life be sacrificed for you.
I had been an officer in the Umayyad government and I have earned much money
from them. The Imam said: Had the Bani Umayyah not found people who would write
on their behalf, fight for them and collect revenue wealth for them and join
their assemblies, in truth, our right would not have been usurped. The questioner
repeated a question and asked: Now is there any way of relief for me? He replied:
Will you accept if I say? He said: Yes. The Imam said: If you can find out the
people from whom you obtained money in the said manner, return their wealth
to them and if you cannot find them then donate the money you have earned in
the way of Allah on their behalf. If you do so I stand surety to your admission
to paradise.
Ali bin Hamzah
says: whatever he had, he, following the orders of the Imam, gave away so much
so that he gave away even his clothes. I provided clothing for him. After a
time I came to know that he had fallen ill. I went to se him and sat near his
deathbed. His last words were: O Ali bin Hamzah: The Imam has fulfilled his
promise. Then he breathed his last. When I went to the Imam, his eyes fell on
me and at once he said: By God, I have acted as I had promised with your friend.
I said: By God, you said the truth because he too said so at the time of his
death.
