Part One


Praise is due to Allah! We praise Him, seek His assistance, ask for His forgiveness,


and repent unto Him. We take refuge in Him from our own vices and evil deeds. He whom


Allah guides (to the right path)will never be misguided (by anybody else); he whom Allah


leads astray will find none to guide him.


I bear witness that there is no deity (worthy of worship) except Allah alone with no


associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant and Messenger of Allah.


O you who believe! Fear Allâh (by doing all that He has ordered


and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be


feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always],


and die not except in a state of Islâm (as Muslims) with complete


submission to Allâh.[Āl-Imrān: 102]


O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single


person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa


(Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and


fear Allâh through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do


not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allâh is Ever


an AllWatcher over you.[Al-Nisā‟: 1]


O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and


speak (always) the truth.He will direct you to do righteous good


deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allâh


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and His Messenger (SAW) he has indeed achieved a great


achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and made to


enter Paradise).[Al-Aḥzāb: 70-71]


Now then!


O you people!


It is clear for every sensible person who studied our current conditions thoroughly that


the successive calamities and dismal afflictions which have befallen our Islamic Ummah


today while its wise members wereinadvertent. He realizes that the frequency of such


disastrous events is not something abnormal, nor is their adventan exceptional kind of


incidents and calamities which do not come in succession without prior notice or causes that


ignite them,thus leading to their outbreak amongst us or in the vicinity.


In fact, regardless of the type and magnitude of such events, all of us are not exempt


from responsibility. We, directly or indirectly, are all implicated in their occurrence. This is


because the Creator, sublime be He, says:


And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your


hands have earned. And He pardons much.[Al-Shūrā: 30]


A conscious and successful nation is that which seriously takes such happenings into


account,examining their causes and seeking remedies for them. At the same time, it protects


itself against a dangerous and incurable disease which makes things worse and therefore


aggravates the calamitous situation. Most societies suffer from such a disease whenever they


encounter successive dismal calamities and afflictions, as ithas strongly resisted treatment: it


is namely “the disease of blaming oneanother”.


Yes, indeed.It is blaming one another which does not subdue tribulations but instead


makes them worse. It is blaming one another which emerges after every instance of failure,


loss, or ordeal. It is used to compensate for failure and escape the acknowledgement of


faults,thefeeling of remorse and the determination not to repeat suchfaults in the future.


Yes, indeed.It is blaming one another which aborts all such endeavours,whereas


Prophet Muhammad (May Allah‟s Salātand Peace be upon him) did prescribe for us what


could prevent this disease from reaching alarming proportions when he said, “All Adam’s


offspring(all humans) err.Yet, the best amongst those who err are the ones who seek


repentance.” [Reported by Imam Ahmed and Al-Tirmithi]


In another hadith, he (May Allah‟s Salātand Peace be upon him) also said, “I swear


by Him in Whose Handlies my soul thatif you were not to sin, Allah would then eradicate


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you and create other people who sin but soon seek His forgiveness and so, He forgives


their sins.” [Reported by Imam Muslim]


Blaming one another, O servants of Allah, is a negative form of criticism. In reality, it


is neither positive, gentle chiding nor appreciated reprimand. It is rather some sortof


selfishness and egoism, as each individual will lay all the blame on the other, although both


parties are at fault. It is essentially self-conceit, escapingresponsibility, and laxity in doing


reform. This is reminiscent of the Arabic proverb saying, “She has accused me of being


affected by a disease she herself is incubating, and then she slipped away.”


Blamingone another, O servants of Allah, is closer to dispute than it is to advice and


reconciliation, because disasters normally lead to the joint search forsomeremedy whereas


mutual reproach aborts any solution in its embryonic stage. It reflects one of the aspects of a


society‟s failure to deal with the calamities and catastrophes befalling it. It often consists in


finding fault with someone else while the accuser himself is also responsiblefor such fault.


For this very reason, blaming one another is not commended in the Book of Allah (the


Holy Qur‟ān). In fact, blaming one another is not similar to the usual act of blaming. While


blame is directed by the party offering advice to someone found at fault, blaming one another


takes place when both parties at fault lay the blame on each other. Here lies the reason why


both parties remain blind to correction.


The greatestvictoryfor the enemieswishing the ummaheverymisfortune is when they


noticetheir adversaries in a wretched condition blindly blamingoneanother,thus demolishing


the bonds of unity within their same society. Theirmalicious joyrises with the ummah‟s


vociferous mutual blametothe degree ofecstasy.


This is why wise people in all communities must distance themselves from this


disgraceful attitude which blinds consciousness and blocks perception. In certain cases,


blaming oneanother may miss the target and, as the saying goes, it might gouge the eye of the


shot game without killing it. Thus, blaming one another may widen the gap between people


to the point of accusing others of betrayal as regards religion, honesty, and moral integrity.


This situation will deteriorate until it reaches the point of non-return where it would be


impossible to achieve unity, mutual affection, compassion, and a sense of shared


responsibility inside the very same Muslim society.


On the unity of Islamic Ummah, Prophet Muhammad(May Allah‟s Salātand Peace be


upon him) said, “Facing their adversaries, they act as one hand.” [Reported by Abu


Dawood, Al-Tirmithi, andIbn Mājeh]


O servants of Allah!


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Disparagingthe fact of blaming one another should never mean the renunciation of


exchanging advice and rectifying faults,guided by a spirit of dedication to the servitude of


Allah, to leniency, clemency, and shared devotion to the cause of the True Religion:


And say to My slaves (i.e. the true believers of Islâmic


Monotheism) that they should (only) say those words that are the


best. (Because) Shaitân (Satan) verily, sows disagreements among


them. Surely, Shaitân (Satan) is to man a plain enemy.[Al-Isrā‟: 53]


Once we become aware of this –O servants of Allah– we will then realize how


responsible we ought to be amidst such numerous trials and tempestuous turmoil that are


wrecking our ummah like raining pebbles would or even worse.


Hence,blaming one another becomes but an act of further aggravating the situation,


avoiding admission of one‟s mistakes, giving too much attention to trivialities while


overlooking matters that are indeed worthy of attention, just as one would focus attention on


the less serious dimple leaving aside the much more precarious tumour.


In fact, it is an obligation on every one of us to look into the adversities befalling our


ummah and try to find out the nature of their causes: whether it is moral, religious, cultural,


educational or a mixture of all of this?! Then, we may proceed to find the proper cure based


on the diagnosis of such an ailment, otherwise blame will take over and will thus render futile


any effective therapy and cause to wither away our sense of responsibility as a whole. In such


case, the outcome will certainly be nothing but wretchedness.


May Allah bless the soul of Mālik Ibn Dῑnār1 who was sitting exhorting a group of


people around him who were so moved by his words that they started to cry! Then he turned


around to look for his mus'haf (the Qur‟ān), but he did not find it. He then said: “All of you


are crying, so who stole the mus’haf?!”


O servants of Allah! Such isthe conditionof those blaming one another, for by so


doing all sense of responsibility is lost and there can be no confession as to one‟s mistakes


and, consequently, the situation gets out of control. Allah ‒to Whom belongs Might and


Majesty‒ says:


When a single disaster smites you, although you smote (your


enemies) with one twice as great, you say: "From where does this


come to us?" Say (to them), "It is from yourselves (because of your


evil deeds)." And Allah has power over all things.[ᾹlImrān: 165]


May Allah bless you and me by the Glorious Qur'ān and make its verses and wise


sayings beneficial to you and me! This is what I have said. If it is correct, it is so thanks to


1He died in 748 CE. He is the first follower of ProphetMuhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) to


go to India in order to propagate Islam in the Indian Subcontinent.


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Allah, but if it is wrong, it is my own fault and Satan‟s. I ask Allah to forgive my sins, yours,


and those of all Muslims, so ask Him for forgiveness and repent unto Him, for He is Most


Forgiving, Most Merciful!


Part Two


6


Praise be to Allah for His blessings, and thanks are due to Him for His guidance and


bounty.


Now then,


Observe taqwa, O servants of Allah, and let you know that those great tasks and


common interests for the Muslim ummah should not be hampered by blame because great


endeavors may only be endured by great souls. The Prophet (May Allah‟s Salat and Peace be


upon him) instructed Mu‟ādh bin Jabal and Abu Mūsā Al-Ash'ari (May Allah be pleased with


them) when he sent them over to Yemen on a mission to carry out the call for Allah; he said


to them: “Work in collaboration and don't be divided”. [Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim]


O servants of Allah! There is no consonance or accord in blaming one another; it is


pure dispute and quarrel with nothing good therein. That is why, O servants of Allah, this


phenomenon of exchanging blame was never a feature of our ancestors as it is motivated by


egoism, stubbornness and indifference. It was never able to find its way to their hearts which


were teeming with purity and humility. It was part of their nature to feel dissatisfied with


what they did, no matter how hard they tried to make it perfect. It was also part of their nature


to give priority to public rather than private interests.


Their ultimate goal was to please Allah and keep away from whatever might bring


about His wrath. As a result, they had a good life and all their matters were ever due to be set


right; whenever they faced a problem they would find their way out of it as easily as pulling


out a hair from dough. Nobody claimed they were angels or infallible! Certainly, they could


be right or wrong. However, they would repent to Allah whenever they were at fault and,


similarly, they would praise Him whenever they were right.


Unfortunately, we have deviated from the path they had long followed, and our


current situation is but a validation of what Ibn Mas‟ūd (May Allah Almighty be pleased with


him) said in this regard: “There will come a time when exchanging blame among people


becomes the best they can do.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood]


Such was their situation –O servants of Allah– so what shall we do as to ours?!


(The Sheikh quotes two lines of poetry paraphrased as follows):


When adversity suddenly strikes people


Then the best cure for them is to seek arbitration


Through the words of our Lord and the Sunnah of Ahmad2


However, exchanging blame is the worst cure of wrongdoers.


2 Another name of Prophet Muhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him)


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Ask Allah –May He have mercy on you– to send His Salat (Graces, Honours and


Mercy) and Peace on the best creature of Allah and the purest of mankind, Muhammad Ibn


Abdullah, who is given al-Ḥawdh3 and is vested with intercession, for Allah sent His Salat


and Peace on him and then ordered His angels, that are praising His sanctity, to do likewise


and called out to you, O believers, to ask Him to send His Salat and Peace on him. Allah the


Almighty () says:


O you who believe! Send your Salât on (ask Allâh to bless) him


(Muhammad), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islâmic


way of greeting (salutation i.e. As-Salâmu ‘Alaikum).[Al-Aḥzāb: 56]


The Prophet (May Allah‟s Peace and Salat be upon him) said:“Whoever sends one


Salat on me Allah will send ten suchSalats on him.”


O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours, and Mercy) and Peace on Your Servant


and Messenger Muhammad who has the brightest face and the most glorious forehead. O


Allah! Be pleased with his four Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali, on all of his


Companions and the tabi’ῑn(the contemporaries of the Companions of the Prophet [May


Allah‟s Salat and Peace be upon him] after his death) and those who righteously followed


them till the Day of Judgement! O Allah! Be also pleased with us all, along with them, by


Your Pardon and Generosity, O You, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate of all!


O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and


Muslims! O Allah! Fail polytheism and polytheists (who associate partners with You)! O


Allah! Grant victory to Your Religion, Your Sacred Book, Your Prophet‟s Sunnah, and Your


true servants!


O Allah! Bring an end to the suffering of Muslims! Rescue those in distress, and help


those indebted pay back their debts! Cure those of us and those of the Muslims who are ill, O


You, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate!


O Allah! Make preoccupied with their own evil and turn their plots and their cunning


against them those who wish to harm Islam and Muslims! O You, the All-Hearing of our


supplication!


O Allah! Grant our souls piety, and purify them, You are the best Who Purifies them,


You are their Guardian and Master!


3This is the Arabic word for the water basin given by Allah (the Great and Almighty) to the Prophet (May Allah’s


Salat and Peace be upon him) in the Hereafter, from which he will give the believers to drink and they will


never feel thirsty again.


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O Allah! Grant us security in our homelands and set right our Imams and leaders! O


Allah! Entrust our government to those who fear You, observe Your taqwa and seek Your


satisfaction, O Lord of the Worlds!


O Allah! Guide our leader to do and say whatever you please and accept, O You the


Ever-Living, the Eternal Guardian! O Allah! Make righteous his retinue, O You, the Lord of


Majesty and Bounty!


… Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the


Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the


Fire![Al-Baqarah: 201]


O servants of Allah!


So, remember Allah and He shall remember you, and be grateful to Him for His


blessings and He shall give you more of them. … and the remembering (praising)


of (you by) Allâh (in front of the angels) is greater indeed [than your


remembering (praising) of Allâh in prayers. And Allâh knows what you


do. [Al-„Ankabūt: 45]