Namruud wanted to punish Prophet Ibraheem(alayhi salaam) for preaching oneness of Allah, Fir’aaun threatened to throw Muusa(alayhi salaam) into prison if he continued preaching against the tyranny of Fir’aaun’s system. Muhammad Salmaan imprisoned scholars for passing the truth via tweets and TV stations. Fatai Sisi staged a coup and imprisoned Morsi…..
It is not a hidden fact in our history that famous scholars have been imprisoned by those who feared them.
Do the rulers think by imprisoning scholars of Islam, they will somehow stop the truth from spreading, and solidify their power. Have they not learnt from history? The names of those rulers are either forgotten or detested, and the names of the prophets and scholars are engraved in the conscience of Muslims, loved, respected, and admired by all.
Rulers imprisoning and punishing those who speak the truth is as ancient as human civilization.
When scholars are imprisoned unjustly, the love of people for them increases rapidly, and the hatred people have for tyrants and traitors becomes more firmly established. And that hatred, eventually, will be manifested, sometimes in ways that are unwise. But before you jump to blame those who are angry for their actions, you should also see the tyranny, cowardice, betrayal and treachery of the rulers that caused such anger in the first place.
As Allah affirmed the Queen’s statement in Verse 34 of Naml:
[قَالَتْ إِنَّ الْمُلُوكَ إِذَا دَخَلُوا قَرْيَةً أَفْسَدُوهَا وَجَعَلُوا أَعِزَّةَ أَهْلِهَا أَذِلَّةً وَكَذَٰلِكَ يَفْعَلُونَ]
[She said: Surely the kings, when they enter a town, they corrupt and ruin it and make the noblest of its people to be low, and thus they (always) do]
How many chameleons exist who pretend to ally with the truth, and pretend to care for the Ummah, only to show their true nature by supporting the most corrupt of regimes, and by allying with those who would sell the interests of the Ummah to protect their own seats and power! They sold their hereafter for this cheap world.
Our prayers are and should always be with all those who have been imprisoned unjustly for speaking the truth, I remember Sheikh Salman Al ‘Awdah, Fahd Al Qaadi, Safar Hawali…