Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir- Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Opening
Have you ever seen someone who is truly powerful, authoritative, and immensely wealthy, yet busy tripping others up, slandering, or stealing a piece of bread from a beggar on the street? Of course not. Why? Because those who are truly above have no need to step on those below.Let us correct our perspective on life. Often when trials come one after another, the whispers of Satan make us feel oppressed by destiny. Yet, in the pure foundation of tawhid, the traits of oppression and injustice belong only to weak creatures. Allah is All-Powerful, and it is impossible for Him to wrong us.Psychologically and scientifically, oppressive behavior, conspiracies, cheating, and cruel blows never arise from real strength. On the contrary, such behavior is a compensation for negative traits like weakness, fear, and cowardice.Just look at the world’s geopolitical stage: a nation that feels threatened or fears losing influence will cowardly drop bombs, then flee behind the shield of its diplomacy. Creatures commit injustice because they need to defend something, fear lack, or want to seize others’ rights to cover their own weaknesses.What about Allah? Allah SWT is at the peak of omnipotence, the Self-Sufficient [Al-Ghaniy], and has absolutely no need for anything in the universe. Because Allah has no fear of losing anything, then rationally and by pure logic, it is impossible for Allah to wrong or harm His servants in the slightest
.Let us soothe our souls by reflecting on the verse about how Allah gains nothing from tormenting His creatures:
مَّا يَفْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِن شَكَرْتُمْ وَءَامَنتُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ شَاكِرًا عَلِيمًا
“What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe? And Allah is Appreciative and Knowing.”[QS. An-Nisā’: 147]
If a nation or a person is destroyed or struck by calamity, it is purely due to the accumulation of their own sins and injustices that have crossed the limits, as He says:
وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ لِيُهْلِكَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ بِظُلْمٍ وَأَهْلُهَا مُصْلِحُونَ
“And your Lord would not have destroyed the cities unjustly while their people were reformers.”[QS. Hūd: 117]
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also affirmed Allah’s freedom from the trait of injustice through a very famous hadith qudsi:
يَا عِبَادِي إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الظُّلْمَ عَلَى نَفْسِي وَجَعَلْتُهُ بَيْنَكُمْ مُحَرَّمًا فَلَا تَظَالَمُوا
“O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and have made it forbidden among you, so do not oppress one another.”[HR. Muslim]
2. Lessons and Message
Let us reflect on the story of an ancient city that was fertile and prosperous. Its people lived wallowing in wealth, yet their hearts had turned to stone. They oppressed the poor, cheated on the scales, and expelled poor widows from their lands. For years, the oppressed wept in the dark corners of the city, lamenting their fate under the shadow of the city rulers’ arrogance.Until one night, while the city was reveling in immorality, the ground beneath them suddenly shook violently, followed by a thunderous roar from the sky that brought down their grand palaces within seconds. The next morning, that arrogant city had turned into a silent and sorrowful mass grave. The outside world might see it as a “cruel natural disaster.” But for a soul rooted in tawhid, it was a receipt of justice that had come due. Allah did not wrong them; Allah only stopped their oppressive hands from continuing to produce tears for the weak.
Let’s make an analogy that tickles our logic a bit. Imagine a king of kings who controls all the world’s gold reserves, owns thousands of luxury car factories, and controls the entire food supply on earth .One day, the king walks down the street, then deliberately trips a little child holding a cheap ice cream worth five thousand rupiah, making the ice cream fall to the ground. After that, the king laughs with satisfaction and runs away in fear. If you saw that incident, what would you say? You would surely laugh and say, “Crazy king! Has nothing better to do! How can a king that rich still be envious and afraid of a child’s ice cream?”That is the analogy. Allah is the Owner of the heavens, the earth, and all the treasuries of the universe. By what logic can one say that Allah deliberately “oppresses” and makes your life difficult because He wants to seize your happiness? Allah does not need your ice cream! If today our lives feel constricted, perhaps we ourselves are the ones constricting it with our sins, and then we lightly accuse Allah’s decree of being cruel.
3. Conclusion and Closing
Friends, the foundation of tawhid teaches us to always think well [husnuzhan] of Allah SWT. Know that every one of His decrees—whether in the form of blessings or severe trials—is never based on a motive to oppress or hurt His servant. The trait of oppression only arises from creatures who are small, weak, and afraid of loss
.Starting today, let us stop cursing fate or feeling like victims of God’s injustice. When a trial greets us, tell yourself: “Allah is Self-Sufficient, Allah is All-Powerful; it is impossible for Him to hurt me without a great wisdom behind it. This must be because of my sins, or because Allah is clearing my path.” Return to prostration, repair your relationship with Him, and let His omnipotence guide your life toward an ending full of blessings
. والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Abu Sultan Al-Qadrie
