Verily, I have left amongst you the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Apostle which if you hold fast, you shall never go astray. (Prophet Muhammad's Last Sermon)

As revealed in the hadith of our Prophet (pbuh), Muslims' two most important guides are the Qur'an and the Sunnah. It is the responsibility of all people to tell others of the moral values of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of our Prophet (pbuh). Some people, however, are able to remain insensible of injustice, in order not to draw a reaction from the wicked and in order to avoid their evil deeds. This attitude is aptly described in the saying "Let sleeping dogs lie." People of good conscience never adopt that attitude, however. Only those who are passionately attached to the life of this world, who seek its transitory and short-lived benefits, do that.

Those who hesitate on the subject of good must know that their silence and lack of interest will only increase the excesses of the wicked. For example, if innocent people are being massacred somewhere, and those who claim to be good fail to raise their voices against this, but watch the oppressors in silence, then they are effectively supporting the cruel and wicked. Those who fail to react, solely because they fear a verbal or physical attack on the part of the wicked, cannot of course hope in the hereafter to be with those who have displayed patience and perception in the face of cruelty and injustice.

It is a most important truth that even if nobody else does, Allah will certainly aid sincere and godly people on His path, and give them success in all their endeavors. This is a promise by Allah to the faithful. Allah has given the good news that He will aid our Prophet (pbuh) and the other prophets in His verses:

If you do not help him [the Prophet], Allah did help him when the disbelievers drove him out and there were two of them in the Cave. He said to his companion, "Do not be despondent, Allah is with us." Then Allah sent down His serenity upon him and reinforced him with troops you could not see. He made the word of the disbelievers undermost. It is the word of Allah which is uppermost. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. (Qur'an, 9: 40)

Before you We sent other Messengers to their people, and they too brought them the Clear Signs. We took revenge on those who did evil; and it is Our duty to help the believers. (Qur'an, 30: Rum Suresi 47)

Therefore, it is of the greatest importance, with regard to their situation in the hereafter, for everyone who says "I am a good person and have a conscience" to do all in their power to help the alliance of the good, making use of all the opportunities available in the present day, to the full extent of their powers.

Everyone who claims to be one of the good and to be opposed to the cruel must provide all kinds of support to the full extent of his or her abilities. The first thing that needs to be done is to make it fully clear which side one is on. That is because the sincerity and honesty of someone who sits back on the sidelines and fails to use all his means to oppose the wicked is doubtful. There is no need to be in their ranks to support the wicked. Just remaining silent in the face of what they do is also a kind of support. In one verse Allah issues the following warning: "Do not rely on those who do wrong thus causing the Fire to afflict you…" (Qur'an, 11: 113) Remaining silent is another form of tending towards cruelty. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi has given the following definition of this situation in his works:

The consent given to ignorance is no different than ignorance; the consent given to error, ignorance and cruelty is erroneous, ignorant and cruel. (The Risale-i Nur Collection II, Emirdag Letters, Nesil Yayinlari, p. 1183)

The consent given to oppression is no different than oppression; anyone who sides with the oppressor is an oppressor. Anyone who tends to oppression is subjected to the verse "Do not incline to those who do wrong". (The Risale-i Nur Collection II, Kastamonu Letters, p. 158)

Therefore, if a person is really of good conscience and supports goodness and honesty, then that person must make his or her position absolutely and determinedly clear. Such people must do all in their power to serve Islam, and employ all the means at their disposal to tell people about Allah's religion. Otherwise, in other words if they hesitate and remain silent, they have effectively joined the ranks of the wicked. For instance, failing to tell the police when one witnesses a burglary is not being neutral, it is helping the thief. Sitting and watching a group of people engaging in cruelty and thinking "They will turn on me if I do anything," thus turning one's back, also implies tacit support for the cruel. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that the thief one ignores today may rob one's own house tomorrow. The virtuous thing to do, as soon as one sees any evil behavior, even if not directed against oneself, is to intelligently strive to prevent it. Otherwise, willingly or not, one has cooperated with the evil, which will eventually work against oneself. Allah reveals the situations of the good and the evil on the day of judgment:

Those who perform good actions will receive better than them and will be safe that Day from terror. Those who perform bad actions will be flung head first into the Fire [and they will be told]: "Are you being repaid for anything other than what you did?" (Qur'an, 27: 89-90)

Other Articles

- The form service to Islam should take
- Muslims must support one another in actions, not just in words
- If the good do not join forces, there will be cruelty and corruption in the world

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