Volume 10 Surah 12 - 15 - Enjoy Islam

Ibrahīm (Abraham) | ONE MESSAGE FOR ALL MANKIND
We have now moved from this world’s stage to that of the next where everyone
appears before God: “They will all appear before God.” They all come forward: the
arrogant tyrants who reject His message and their weak subordinates, joined by
Satan, and also those who believed in the messengers and did righteous deeds. In
fact they have always been exposed before God, but now they know and feel that
there is no screen to give them cover or protection. They all appear in front of Him,
and now the dialogue starts:
“Then the weak will say to those who acted with arrogance: ‘We were your followers: can
you relieve us of something of God’s punishment?’” (Verse 21) The weak are those who
forfeited the most essential quality of the human being honoured by God when they
forfeited their rights to freedom of thought, belief and choice, making themselves no
more than the slaves of arrogant despots. They submitted themselves like servants to
such despots like themselves in preference to submission to God alone. Such
weakness is no excuse; indeed it is their crime.
God does not like that anyone should feel weak. Indeed he calls on all people to
seek His protection, and find strength in His support. He does not like that anyone
should abandon, willingly or unwillingly, his or her share of freedom, which is a
privilege for which they deserve honour. No material force, great as it may be, can
force into submission a human being who wants to remain free and hold on to his
human dignity. The maximum that brute force can achieve is to have power over the
body, imprisoning and tormenting it. As for the mind, conscience and spirit, these
cannot be imprisoned by anyone unless the victim so agrees to hand them over.
Who has the power to make such weak people follow despots in faith, thought
and behaviour? Who has the power to make them submit to anyone other than God,
their Creator who is the only One to provide them with their means of sustenance?
The answer is none other than their own weak souls. They are not weak because of
any lack of material power, or because they have less dignity, wealth, or position
than despots. All these are of little consequence. They are external or superficial
aspects, and lacking them does not mean any real weakness. Instead, they are weak
in their souls and dignity. They do not truly appreciate man’s most essential quality.
The oppressed represent the majority while the despots are in the minority. How
come, then, that the majority are subjugated by the minority? It is only a weakness of
spirit and soul, and forfeiture of the dignity with which God has graced human
beings. Despots cannot humiliate and subjugate the masses unless the masses are
willing to be subjugated. The masses are always able to stand up to tyrants, if only
they choose to do so. What is lacking, then, is the will. Humiliation does not come
about without a susceptibility to being humiliated. In fact the tyrants rely only on
this susceptibility.
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