What is Islam - eBook
Five Destructive Offences and their Consequences
عن عبد الله بن عمر قال : أقبل علينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال : يا معشر المهاجرين خمس إذا ابتليتم بهن، وأعوذ بالله أن تدركوهن : لم تظهر الفاحشة في قوم قط، حتى يعلنوا بها، إلا فشا فيهم الطاعون، والأوجاع التي لم تكن مضت في أسلافهم الذين مضوا، ولم ينقصوا المكيال والميزان، إلا أخذوا بالسنين، وشدة المئونة، وجور السلطان عليهم، ولم يمنعوا زكاة أموالهم، إلا منعوا القطر من السماء، ولولا البهائم لم يمطروا، ولم ينقضوا عهد الله، وعهد رسوله، إلا سلط الله عليهم عدوا من غيرهم، فأخذوا بعض ما في أيديهم، وما لم تحكم أئمتهم بكتاب الله، ويتخيروا مما أنزل الله، إلا جعل الله بأسهم بينهم (سنن ابن ماجة 4019)
Hazrat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma) mentioned the following: On one occasion, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) addressed us and said, “O Muhaajireen! Five sins are such that when you become involved in them – and I seek Allah’s protection that you become involved in these sins (then the following five punishments of Allah Ta‘ala will befall you). When shamelessness (i.e. fornication, adultery and lewdness) becomes widespread among a people, to the extent that they carry out sins of shamelessness openly, then plagues and other diseases and epidemics, which never afflicted the people who passed before them, begin to spread among them. When people decrease in measure and weight (i.e. to deceive and cheat their customers when selling items that are sold by weight or measure) then they are afflicted by drought, difficulty of earning livelihood and oppression of rulers over them. When people refrain from discharging the zakaat due on their wealth then they are deprived of rain, and if it were not for the animals, they would not receive any rain at all. When people break the pledges of Allah Ta‘ala and his Rasul (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) (i.e. the pledges that they make with the kuffaar e.g. peace treaties) then Allah Ta‘ala gives the enemy power over them, after which the enemy seizes the wealth which they possess. As long as the Muslim leaders do not rule according to the kitaab of Allah Ta‘ala and give preference to that which Allah Ta‘ala has revealed in His kitaab, Allah Ta‘ala will cause strife and inner fighting among the Musims (and they will not be united).”