An Instrument of Reform

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 30 July 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Today, two scenes from the Noble Qur'an were presented to us, scenes before which the Muslim mind pauses to consider the dimensions of these words that the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, sets before us.

The First Scene: Two Parties in Dispute

﴿وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ فَإِذَا هُمْ فَرِيقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ﴾ (And We certainly sent to Thamūd their brother Ṣāliḥ, saying: "Worship Allah"; and at once they were two parties disputing).^[1]

The first thought that comes to mind: why did they become two parties disputing? What is the cause of this division? A caller came saying: O people, worship Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, alone; so why does this internal division occur in the social ranks? You say: there is a kind of scattering in mental awareness.

In general, societies that do not believe in our first reference... I am speaking about the basis: if your brother says to you: "Fear Allah," what do you answer? You say: O Allah, we ask You for Your taqwā, O Allah, grant us Your taqwā. There is a shared reference. We may differ among ourselves over branches, details and small, simple matters, and we may take up opinions, and that is the basis. I am not speaking about the intellectual deviance that occurs among some who are affiliated with the call, but about the basis. If there is no ceiling that gathers the society, it divides at the first glance, at the first call, at anything it divides immediately. Hence His words ﴿فَإِذَا هُمْ فَرِيقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ﴾ (and at once they were two parties disputing) are the first indication that this society is fragile, a society with no roots, no constants, no laws, no controls, no landmarks of any kind.

One Individual in a Corrupt Society

Then the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, tells us about Thamūd and about Ṣāliḥ. So the question comes: these people, among whom there were nine men who spread corruption in the land and did not reform, and so on as Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, informs us,^[2] were these people an individual or a group? They were a group, so we agree that they were almost the whole society, except for those who believed. And the bearer of the call, Ṣāliḥ, was he an individual or a group? He was an individual: ﴿إِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا﴾ (to Thamūd their brother Ṣāliḥ), he is one person only.

And what comes to my mind now is that when corruption becomes widespread and covers the people, and reform comes, it comes from an individual. So how does reform come from an individual when corruption has spread? We will be afraid and anxious, they will imprison us, they will take us "behind the sun," they will do to us such and such, you know. But the voice of truth always remains looking beyond the earth, to what lies after this world, finding security in Paradise. Hence you see the steadfastness of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Lūṭ: Addressing Instinct

And the verses that come after that: ﴿وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ﴾ (And Lūṭ, when he said to his people: "Do you commit immorality while you see? Do you indeed approach men?").^[3] When Lūṭ came to treat, he came to treat an instinctive, sexual behavior. And the sexual instinct in general is blind, it does not see, deaf, it does not hear. If it flares up in a person's soul, man or woman, he does not see the consequences, does not see the outcomes, sees nothing but throwing himself headlong like a beast, and we ask Allah the Exalted for safety and well-being, O Lord of the worlds.

For that reason you see that behind this instinct in particular terrible crimes occur, extraordinary crimes, and kinds of events before which you stop, not knowing. Imagine, for example, we seek refuge in Allah, what is called incest: how does this happen inside homes? How does a man approach his close female relatives, the people of his house who are all around him? The point is that Lūṭ, peace be upon him, came not to address the intellect but to address instinct, and yet he did not stop attempts at reform.

Ṣāliḥ: Economic Corruption

As for "to Thamūd their brother Ṣāliḥ": the corruption among the people of Ṣāliḥ, the people of Thamūd, what was it? The Noble Qur'an in different places expresses to us that the corruption among the people of Thamūd was economic corruption, corruption in the economic sphere. And if we speak about the economic sphere, we are speaking about people who know nothing but numbers, and do not see peoples or human beings. It does not matter, I have money, but I want to increase the total.

The point of the statement is that the first came to treat this issue, and the second came to treat that issue, and yet the one treating was a single person each time.

No Corruption Will Pass You Except That You Are an Instrument of Reform

Why does the Qur'an tell me this? Because it wants to strengthen this mindset inside every Muslim: that no corruption will pass over you except that you are an instrument of reform. I say it a second time to conclude: no corruption will pass over you except that you are an instrument of reform. How do you reform your cause? How do you reform your means? How do you reform your intentions? You must feel that you are on earth one of those reformers who get past corruption after it ends at their hands, or at least who apologize before Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted: O Lord, we have done what was upon us, so forgive us for what we are in.

O Allah, we ask You to make us among the reformers, to make our feet firm on the straight path, and to guide us to the truth. O Allah, amen.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Naml, verse 45. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The speaker refers to the words of the Exalted about "nine men" in Sūrat al-Naml (48), and the narration was by meaning because he did not recite the verse. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Naml, verses 54 and 55; the speaker confined himself to the part mentioned.