Title of the Sermon: The Shariah of Justice and the Whispers of the Bats
Elements of the Sermon:
The corrupt opponents of Shariah.
Allah’s Shariah: A life of justice and the protection of rights.
Those who turn away from Shariah and the trilogy of misguidance.
Why do the bats of corruption despise Allah’s Shariah?
All praise is due to Allah, who created mankind in the most perfect form, established His religion with wisdom, and decreed justice and made it manifest. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, alone without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, his family, and companions in abundance.
To proceed: Fear Allah, O servants of Allah, as He should be feared, and be mindful of Him in private and public. Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.”
O servants of Allah:
The Prophet ﷺ said: “A nation cannot be sanctified if the weak cannot secure their rights without trouble.”
These words, deserving to be a guiding principle for the sanctity of nations, were spoken by our Prophet ﷺ—the most just and merciful of people.
One day, a Bedouin came to the Prophet ﷺ demanding repayment of a debt he was owed. The man spoke harshly, saying: “I will not relent until you repay me!” The companions of the Prophet ﷺ rebuked him and said: “Woe to you! Do you know who you are speaking to?” The man replied: “I am only seeking my right.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Why did you not support the one who has a right?” He then sent word to Khawla bint Qays, saying: “If you have some dates, lend them to us until our dates arrive, and we will repay you.” She replied: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you!” She lent him the dates, and the Prophet ﷺ repaid the Bedouin and also fed him. The man said: “You have fulfilled your duty; may Allah reward you.” The Prophet ﷺ then said: “The best among people are those like him. A nation cannot be sanctified if the weak cannot secure their rights without trouble.” [Ibn Majah]
What kind of nation can be sanctified by Allah, elevated in rank, and honored, if the weak are crushed, denied their rights, and silenced?
How wretched are nations when the law of Allah is absent and replaced by human desires and ideologies. They wage war against Allah’s just and guiding Shariah, and what is left is the tyranny of criminals who consume the rights of others, drain their blood, and profit from their suffering.
These individuals wreak havoc on the earth, corrupting religion and worldly life. They marginalize the Shariah of Islam, replacing it with ignorant, oppressive secularism. What greater injustice is there than for man to set himself as an equal to Allah? Allah says:
إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ
“Indeed, association with Him is great injustice.” [Luqman: 13]
They tamper with religion, reducing it to a mere personal relationship between an individual and their Lord, prohibiting the establishment of Allah’s worship on earth as He commanded. They cherry-pick from His religion what suits their whims, permitting immorality, legislating corruption, and institutionalizing injustice—all while falsely claiming to uphold progress and human rights. Allah says:
أَهْوَاءَ قَوْمٍ قَدْ ضَلُّوا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَأَضَلُّوا كَثِيرًا وَضَلُّوا عَنْ سَوَاءِ السَّبِيلِ
“They follow the desires of a people who went astray before and led many others astray and lost the right way.” [Al-Ma’idah: 77]
They strive to extinguish the light of truth and silence its voice. Their hearts recoil at hearing the verses and rulings of the Qur’an. They plunder the wealth of the poor, imprison hundreds of thousands of innocents, and erase countless more from the records of life with mass graves. Cursed are the faces of the criminals!
Then their followers and mouthpieces emerge, accusing Allah’s divine Shariah of backwardness and incompatibility with progress, branding its application as contrary to human rights. They are like Pharaoh, who slaughtered children in broad daylight yet hypocritically preached reform, saying:
ذَرُونِي أَقْتُلْ مُوسَى وَلْيَدْعُ رَبَّهُ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَنْ يُبَدِّلَ دِينَكُمْ أَوْ أَنْ يُظْهِرَ فِي الْأَرْضِ الْفَسَادَ
“Let me kill Moses, and let him call upon his Lord. Indeed, I fear that he will change your religion or cause corruption in the land.” [Ghafir: 26]
O servants of Allah:
Allah, the Creator of mankind, is the All-Knowing, the Most Wise, the Truth, the Just, the Most Merciful, whose mercy encompasses all things. He decrees, judges, and legislates only with knowledge, wisdom, justice, and mercy.
This Shariah is entirely true and descended in truth, containing no trace of falsehood. Allah says:
وَبِالْحَقِّ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ وَبِالْحَقِّ نَزَلَ وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا مُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًا
“And with the truth We have sent it down, and with the truth it has descended. And We have not sent you except as a bringer of good tidings and a warner.” [Al-Isra: 105]
This Shariah is a light through which Allah brings His creation out of the darkness of injustice, ignorance, desire, and tyranny.
This Shariah is the source of a good life. The lives of people will not prosper without it. In its absence, only the worship of whims, deification of man, corruption of hearts, souls, and bodies, suppression of intellects, violation of sanctities, and the cultivation of death and destruction remain—even as they falsely present it as the means to life. Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ
“O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life.” [Al-Anfal: 24]
Allah also says:
وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا مَا كُنْتَ تَدْرِي مَا الْكِتَابُ وَلَا الْإِيمَانُ وَلَكِنْ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُورًا نَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ نَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ
“And thus We have revealed to you a soul [i.e., revelation] by Our command. You did not know what the Book or faith was, but We made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. And indeed, you guide to a straight path.” [Ash-Shura: 52]
This Shariah was established upon justice; no creature is wronged by even an atom’s weight. The Lord who prescribed the upright religion, glorified is He, says:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَمَانَاتِ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُمْ بِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا
“Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.” [An-Nisa: 58]
The justice prescribed by Allah, upon which the heavens and the earth are established, beautifies every ruling of the Shariah.
These are just rulings that spread goodness and fairness among all people, treating the near and the distant, the beloved and the disliked, equally. Under its shade, no one is wronged—not even a hated enemy.
Here is Abdullah ibn Rawaha (may Allah be pleased with him), whom the Prophet ﷺ sent to the Jews to assess the produce of Khaybar. As was their custom, they attempted bribery, gathering gold to offer him so they could withhold the dues upon them. He said to them: “O enemies of Allah! Are you offering me bribes? By Allah, you are the most hateful of people to me, even more than apes and pigs, yet my hatred for you will not prevent me from being just toward you.” The Jews responded, saying: “It is by this that the heavens and the earth are upheld!” [Reported by Ibn Hibban]
This guiding Shariah safeguards the rights of all creation. Islam has established rights for parents over their children, for children over their parents, for rulers over their subjects, and for subjects over their rulers. It has set rights for spouses over one another, for the wealthy over the poor, for teachers over their students, and for students over their teachers. Rights have been designated for relatives, neighbors, orphans, widows, the poor, the sick, the elderly, workers, and even the accused and imprisoned. Indeed, Islam has also established rights for the People of the Book and those under its protection, and even for animals.
It preserves the human right to life and sanctifies blood, honor, wealth, and intellect.
One day, Hisham ibn Hakim ibn Hizam passed by some farmers in Syria who had been left standing under the sun because they had failed to pay the Jizyah. He asked: “What is the matter with them?” He was told: “They have been detained for not paying the Jizyah.” Hisham said: “I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘Indeed, Allah will punish those who torture people in this world.’” [Reported by Muslim]
Allah Almighty informed us about those who despise His Shariah, that they exhibit one of three traits:
وَيَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالرَّسُولِ وَأَطَعْنَا ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّى فَرِيقٌ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ وَمَا أُولَئِكَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ * وَإِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مِنْهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ * وَإِنْ يَكُنْ لَهُمُ الْحَقُّ يَأْتُوا إِلَيْهِ مُذْعِنِينَ * أَفِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ أَمِ ارْتَابُوا أَمْ يَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَحِيفَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَرَسُولُهُ بَلْ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ * إِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوْلَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَنْ يَقُولُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ * وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَخْشَ اللَّهَ وَيَتَّقْهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ
“They say, ‘We believe in Allah and the Messenger and we obey,’ but then a party of them turns away after that. And those are not believers. And when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them, at once a party of them turns aside. But if the right is theirs, they come to him in prompt obedience. Is there a disease in their hearts? Or have they doubted? Or do they fear that Allah will be unjust to them, and His Messenger? Rather, it is they who are the wrongdoers. The only statement of the [true] believers when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them is that they say, ‘We hear and we obey.’ And those are the successful. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and fears Allah and is conscious of Him—it is those who will be the attainers.” [An-Nur: 46-52]
Despising the Shariah and frightening people from it arises from either doubting Allah’s rulings, hypocrisy, or fearing injustice under its governance. But truly, can there be justice when Allah’s Shariah is absent?
By Allah, it is only distress and torment when the Shariah of the Lord of the worlds is abandoned. Allah says:
فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ مِنِّي هُدًى فَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَى * وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى * قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنْتُ بَصِيرًا * قَالَ كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنْسَى
“But whoever turns away from My remembrance—indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind. He will say, ‘My Lord, why have You raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?’ [Allah] will say, ‘Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten.’” [Taha: 124-126]
May Allah bless us with the Qur’an and benefit us through its verses and wise reminders. I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and those who follow him. To proceed:
Do you know the true reason why they despise the religion of Allah and frighten people away from His Shariah?
The reason is the same as that of the criminals of all nations. The Jews once said to the Prophet ﷺ, when he asked them about replacing the stoning of the adulterer with flogging and blackening the face with soot: “Adultery became widespread among our nobles, so when we caught a nobleman, we left him alone, but when we caught a weak one, we enforced the punishment on him. We then decided to agree on a form of punishment that we could apply to both the noble and the weak, so we replaced stoning with blackening the face and flogging.” [Reported by Muslim]
When the rulings of Shariah oppose people’s desires, criminals are bound to hate it.
Tell me, by your Lord: When do bats love the light? When do murderers welcome just retribution? When do thieves rejoice in the prevention of corruption? And when do the wicked enjoy the prohibition of immorality and alcohol?
The Prophet ﷺ said: “When the Children of Israel grew distant over time, their hearts hardened. They invented a book of their own making that their hearts inclined toward, their tongues delighted in, and they accepted with ease. The truth had come between them and many of their desires, so they cast the Book of Allah behind their backs as if they did not know.” [Reported by Al-Bayhaqi]
By Allah, there is no ruling more just, more perfect, or more complete than the ruling of Allah, the All-Aware, who said:
أَفَحُكْمَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَبْغُونَ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حُكْمًا لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ
“Do they seek the judgment of ignorance? But who is better than Allah in judgment for a people who are certain [in faith]?” [Al-Ma'idah: 50]
The hallmark of the life of a believer in Allah as their Lord and in His rulings as their path is submission and compliance, as Allah says:
فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
“But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.” [An-Nisa: 65]
May Allah be pleased with the pure companions who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade us from something that we found beneficial, but obedience to Allah and His Messenger is more beneficial for us.” [Reported by Muslim]
O Allah, grant victory to Islam and honor to the Muslims. Destroy the Jewish criminals, O Allah. Send tranquility into the hearts of those who strive in Your cause, rescue Your oppressed servants, and raise the banner of the religion by Your power, O Strong, O Almighty.
O Allah, grant us security in our homelands, rectify our leaders and those in charge of our affairs, and place our leadership with those who fear You, follow Your guidance, and seek Your pleasure.
Our Lord, give us in this world good and in the Hereafter good, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
