Never judge a matter according to the outcome, especially when it comes to Jihad
18-08-2007
[Taken from the book Thawaabit ‘ala Darb al Jihad by the
Martyred Shaykh, Yusuf bin Saalih al-’Uyayree]
We should do something not because it will make us win or because of the
outcome, but we should do it because Allah tells us to do it. Then we should
leave the results to Allah. We are soldiers of Allah; we should forget about the
outcomes and do it because Allah orders us to do it. We leave everything in the
hands of Allah. We don’t know the ghaib. In addition, we do not judge our
actions based on the outcome to figure out whether or not we were right or
wrong. Instead we judge our actions based on whether they conform to Allah’s
command or not. For example, a Muslim who converts a non-Muslim to Islam; it
shouldn’t be said about him, “That person is such a good da’ee because he
brought someone into Islam.” We don’t judge him as a successful da’ee because of
the number of people he brought into Islam. We judge him on if he’s giving
da’wah according to the way of Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam) or
not. If his da’wah is based on Rasoolullah’s way, he has succeeded even if no
one accepts his da’wah. In addition, he is doing it wrong if it is not according
to Rasoolullah’s (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam) way even if loads of people are
becoming Muslim. Look at Nuh (‘alayhis salaam); was he successful or a failure?
According to these standards, he’s a failure; and it is un-Islamic to say that.
On the Day of Judgment, we know that some of the Ambiya will come with very few
followers and some will come with no followers whatsoever. Can we say they
failed? They are the nabi and lived for da’wah. He did what Allah told him to do
and therefore he is correct. Therefore, we don’t judge on the outcome nor should
we attempt to change the style of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam)
because “We live in new times”.
This is a significant flaw in the Ummah today; we judge everything according to
the outcome. That is how Islamic Movements even function! It may have to do with
Western influence. We are treating our Islam like a business; they judge their
success based on the outcome. If they aren’t making much money at the end of the
day, then something’s wrong and they have to look into it. We cannot treat our
‘Ibadah like this; we do things because Allah told us to do it whether it leads
to a good outcome or a bad outcome; that is up to Allah. We cannot control the
results.
And if someone judges according to the outcome, then they should say that Uhud
was an utter failure and Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam) should not
have fought; he was mistaken. Nobody dares to say this. We say Rasoolullah (sallallahu
‘alayhe wassallam) is right because he was doing what he was told to do: Jihad
fe Sabeelillah. The people of nifaq look at Jihad as the following: “If Jihad
brings power, position, wealth and booty, then we’ll join the Mujahideen. But if
Jihad is going to cost us our life, wealth, power, and position, then no, we
should not join; it’s not hikmah.”
Another way to show that Jihad is the way and the outcome is not something we
should worry much about is that before the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam)
passed away, he sent out an army of 3000 to fight the Roman Empire. But when
Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam) died, the army wasn’t at the Roman
Empire yet; they were camping in where the army would assemble. That’s where the
army base was. When Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam) died, all of the
Arabs around the State became murtadeen; they were apostates. So the Sahaba said
the army of 3000 should stay here since we have other priorities. They said
“It’s not an appropriate time for us to seek a fight with the Roman Empire when
we have an immediate danger in the outskirts of Medina!” This was also the
opinion of Usama bin Zayd himself, the head of the army. Usama sent a verbal
message to Abu Bakr through ‘Umar saying that the majority of the Muslims are
with him and they all agree that they should not leave the Khalifa of
Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam) alone in Medina as well as the wives
of Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alayhe wassallam) without protection. Also, they
didn’t want to leave Medina alone without any fighters. What did Abu Bakr say?
He said, “Even if dogs dragged the feet of the wives of Rasoolullah, I am going
to send this army. And even if no one is left in Medina but me, I will still
send out this army because Rasoolullah said so.” Abu Bakr is implying here that
he doesn’t care about the outcome. If everyone is killed and he’s the only
person left, he’s still going to send out this army. And if it gets so bad that
dogs start to drag the wives of Rasoolullah, he is still going to send out this
army. Abu Bakr is saying he is going to do what Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alayhe
wassallam) said even if the outcome is not good. This completely defies the
logic of people who say let’s weigh the benefit and harm of everything till
everything in Shari’ah becomes a vegetable soup; everything is lost. You won’t
have any more constants in Shari’ah left because they subjugate everything to
the rule of benefit and harm. SubhanAllah, the whole issue of fighting fe
sabeelillah brings harm; you are putting your life and wealth in danger! This is
a nafsada and not a maslaha since you are putting yourself and your wealth in
danger.
Also, we cannot make ijtihaad on this issue of Jihad. Can you make ijtihaad on
Salat on whether or not to do it? You cannot because it is a constant. The order
for salat is fixed. The issue of Abu Bakr was an ijtihaad. If it wasn’t, then
the Sahaba wouldn’t have spoken against it. We need to do what Allah ordered us
to do regardless of the outcome. Many people bring tons of arguments against
doing Jihad Fe Sabeelillah today because the outcome will not be good. Our reply
should be, “We are not responsible for the outcome. Jihad is fard al ‘ayn, so we
need to do it even if dogs are going to snatch away our families.”
As the Muslim army was on their way to the Roman Empire, they crossed over an
Arab territory that was planning on attacking the Muslims. They saw that they
were heading towards the Roman Empire and said to themselves, “If these men have
enough strength to fight the Romans, they must have more strength back home in
Medina to protect it!” So they changed their decision and did not attack the
Muslim army. SubhanAllah. Allah put fear into the hearts of the kuffar, even
when the Muslims were at their low; if the Muslims are sincere, Allah will help.
What was the response of the Romans when they heard about the Muslims coming?
Heracle received the news of the death of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhe
wassallam) and the army that was sent out on the same day. He said, “If these
people’s leader died and on the same day his army is sent out to fight, there
must be something going on.” So they refused to fight the Muslims. This is what
it means by leaving the end results or the outcome in the hands of Allah. This
is the kind of example we need to follow. The army of Usama enters the Roman
Empire and not one Roman soldier faces them. He takes booty and heads back
towards Medina. This is the meaning of the ayah, “And for those who fear Allah,
He (ever) prepares a way out, and He provides for him from (sources) he never
could imagine.” (at Talaq 2-3) As long as you have taqwa, Allah is with you. The
more you increase your taqwa, the more He will find a way out for you.