Commentary:

Ulama should not kowtow to the ruling class

This hadith is highly inspiring in whichthe Messenger of Allah (saws) hasprophesied that the Muslim Ummah willcontinue to enjoy the protection andsafeguard of Allah Almighty with a few conditions.

The first condition is that the scholars andspiritual guides of this community shouldnot start appeasing to the ruling classes.This prophetic statement guides us to thefact that if the Islamic scholars, spiritualguides, and religious leaders who arethought to be as sincere servants of Islamby the Muslim community and whoseaction and word is considered to be as thecriterion of right and wrong by them, startto appease and advocate all the opinionsand thoughts of the political players andruling authorities, then the Ummah will bedeprived of the protection and safekeepingof Allah Almighty. The reason is that theseso-called Islamic scholars and religiousleaders are making all religious mattersdubious making the common public quiteconfused on what is right and what iswrong. Such people even may cause thelaypersons consider what is right as wrongand vice versa. In this way, they are causingthem to distance their lives from religionwhich is ultimately resulting into theirdestruction. Perhaps this was the reasonthat the Islamic scholars in the past did notlike to attend the courts and the royalgatherings and neither did they like toaccept any post, authority or gifts offeredfrom the kings and rulers. They feared that if they keep in touch with the rulers and kings of their times they may have to appease or take lightly what is serious in Islam and in this way they become a living example of this hadith. Imam Abu Hanifah had rejected the offer for the post of royal judge made by Caliph Abu Jafar al-Mansur only for this reason.

In short, if the Ulama or Islamic scholars are enslaved by the ruling class and start to approve all that is right or wrong, then they will lose the help, protection and shelter of Almighty Allah.

Vindicating an evil person

Secondly, if the righteous ones start to vindicate or praise the evildoers out of flattery, then the protection of Allah is lifted. We see very often around us that some scholars praise certain people of high rank and profile so that they are happy and they go ahead with their aims whereas they are as sinners and transgressors in the sight of Allah Almighty. Despite this fact, they are so highly praised that a person thinks that none else might be better than him. Great titles are attached to their names as if he were one of the greatest scholars like Abu Hanifah, Ghazali or Junaid Baghdadi while it is a fact that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said in a hadith, “When a fasiq (evildoer) is praised, Allah Almighty gets wrathful and His throne starts to shake.” (Shuabul Iman, Baihaqi, 4:230, al-Firdaus, Dailami, 1: 336) It is a surprising thing to note that some Islamic scholars are seen to be committing this sin and this act of theirs poses a serious threat for the entire Ummah.

Encouraging evildoers

Thirdly, if the righteous individuals of this community start to encourage the evildoers on their misdeeds and wrong actions, then in this case too they will not deserve the help and protection of God Almighty.

This phenomenon is more clearly seen at the time of elections when the so-called scholars are found to play in the hands of the political leaders encouraging them to struggle for their ambitions and all this happens due to the flattery and obtaining material gains.

Lifting of divine protection

In the next part of the hadith, the Prophet of Allah (saws) has foretold that when all this happens, the divine protection would be lifted off and as a result oppressors and tyrants would rule the Muslims who will wreak the most painful punishment and torture upon them. In the same way, they will be made to suffer poverty and destitution with their hearts filled with awe from the enemy.

When we look upon these prophecies, we find that everything mentioned in them is taking place word by word. The tyrants and oppressors are reigning supreme. Many Muslim countries are undergoing the darkest time of penury and destitution. In the same away, our heats are filled with an awe and fear from the side of our enemies. We can only save ourselves from doom if we comply with the conditions and prerequisites mentioned in the hadith.