8/14/2019 Reflections from the Glorious Qur'an - Issue 4

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their rights. Brute force is being

used on unarmed civilians by fanatic

Jews who have given only one op-

tion to the Palestinian people -accept subjugation or die. And all

this is happening while the richest

Arab nations are watching passively,

nay, even colluding with the merci-

less Israeli butchers.

What they all seem to have forgot-

ten is that oppressors are doomed

to face terrible consequences both

in this world and the next. The phi-

losopher Plato is noted to have said:

the enslaving of another is also the

enslaving of oneself.

In another verse of the Glorious

Quran, we are told about the pun-

ishment of the people of Thamud

who were oppressive to the Prophet

Salih: So there lay their houses,

fallen in ruin, because of their op-

pression. There is indeed a sign in

this for people of knowledge. (al-

Naml [27]:52)

The consequences of oppression

have been described clearly. Short-

lived success in this world followed

by utter ruin. This is what awaits all

the oppressors.

The Zionists who perpetrate great

evil in the world to secure their own

interests can no longer hide behind

the shadow of the holocaust when

they themselves are embarking on

genocide and a new holocaust

against the Palestinians.

All human beings with a conscience

should stand up in protest against

the heinous crimes of Israel. Those

who adopt a least bothered atti-

tude are just like the people who sat

around the pit of fire and looked at

the innocent Christians of Najran

being burnt to death.

() () ()

() Cursed be the Makers of the Pit.

Of the fire (kept burning) with fuel.

When they sat above it.

And were witnesses to what they did to the

believers.

(al-Buruj [85]:4-7)

Oppression is generally defined as

subjugation through unjust use of

force. A more specific definition isgiven by Ann Cudd in her bookAnalyz-

ing Oppression as a harm through

which groups of persons are system-

atically and unfairly or unjustly con-

strained, burdened or reduced by any

of several forces.

Interestingly, in Judaism, oppression is

synonymous with theft or not giving

dues to those who are rightfully de-

serving. Maimonides is quoted as

having defined it thus: Oppression is

the forceful withholding and not re-

storing of the money which had beenreceived

Grave acts of oppression are described

and decried in the religious scriptures

of all world religions. Even agnostics

and atheists are averse to these acts

which human beings are naturally

disposed to abhor.

In the Quran, Allah, the all-Wise,

describes the people of the pit and

how they mercilessly burned believers

alive just because they refused to

recant their faith. Though commenta-

tors have given differing views about

what event these verses refer to, most

of them say that the reference is to

the oppression of Dhu Nuwas.

Dhu Nuwas was a Jewish King of pre-

sent day Yemen who ruled from 515

to 525 A.D. He was not a Jew by birth

but converted to Judaism after be-coming king and changed his name to

Joseph. He then began to propagate

Judaism and when he heard of the

persecution of Jews by Byzantine

emperors, he retaliated by killing

some Byzantine merchants who were

passing through his kingdom.

He also made war with the Christians

of Najran and offered them the option

of accepting Judaism or being put to

death. When they refused to re-

nounce their faith, he ordered a large

pit of fire be made and then ordered

that the Christians be thrown into it

while people sat above and watched

what was being done to them.

Some commentators say that hun-

dreds of innocent people were killed

and others say thousands, but their

only crime was that they did not ac-

cept the religion of the tyrant king.

If we turn back our gaze to the events

that are currently unfolding in the

middle east, we will note that there

are stark resemblances between what

happened over 1500 years ago and

what is happening today.

Innocent men, women and children

are being massacred in Ghazza for no

reason other than standing up for

A depiction of oppression made in the

sand

In the Face of Oppression

B U S I N E S S N A M E

1 5 T H J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 9I S S U E N O . 4

P O I N T S T O

P O N D E R

UP O N

What is consid-

ered oppression

in Judaism?

Who were the

Ashab al-

Ukhdud?

What are the

similarities

between that

event and what

is happening

today?

What are our

responsibilities?

Reflections

From the Glorious Qurn

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