The Great Tyrant and the Small Tyrant

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 13 July 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — [Watch the original video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Bd-ztLpc0)

Finding good tidings in Sūrat al-Fajr

To proceed: may Allah greet you, be pleased with you, and keep you in every good and favor. I was reflecting once again on Sūrat al-Fajr, and we always take it as a good omen; among the reasons that make us take it as a good omen is that it comes after Sūrat al-Ghāshiya. As we mentioned before, the word "al-Ghāshiya" in itself conveys the greatest calamity, above which there is no other calamity;^[3] it is as though I see the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, expressing this injustice prevailing in the whole universe, in all its regions and sides, its layers and levels. We ask Allah for safety and well-being, O Lord of the worlds. And yet, after this, a dawn (fajr) comes out upon us.

General destruction is not our goal

Among the important indications is that Sūrat al-Fajr conveys a general lesson for these wrongdoers: ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعَادٍ إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلَادِ وَثَمُودَ الَّذِينَ جَابُوا الصَّخْرَ بِالْوَادِ وَفِرْعَوْنَ ذِي الْأَوْتَادِ الَّذِينَ طَغَوْا فِي الْبِلَادِ فَأَكْثَرُوا فِيهَا الْفَسَادَ فَصَبَّ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّكَ سَوْطَ عَذَابٍ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ﴾ (Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with ʿĀd — Iram, who had lofty pillars, the likes of whom had never been created in the land — and Thamūd, who carved out the rocks in the valley, and Pharaoh, owner of the stakes, who transgressed in the lands and increased therein the corruption? So your Lord poured upon them a scourge of punishment. Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful).^[1]

And the resulting outcome, as we mentioned before, is that Allah, blessed and exalted, destroys these people with a general destruction and complete annihilation. Is this something desired by the people of faith? Is it preferable for us that Allah, blessed and exalted, annihilate people, and those on earth from whom tawḥīd might be hoped, in some form, at some time? Do you say: "Glory be to my Lord, how great is His affair, glorified and Mighty and Majestic is He"? That is not the goal for us; rather, the goal for us is "bringing creation to Islam" — the goal for us is bringing creation to Islam. We look at these tyrants as having prevented good from reaching creation, do we not?

Why, then, do you wonder?

But the surprise is that the Qur'anic address turns to us: why then do you wonder, O you who claim faith while you do the like of that? Allāhu akbar. So Allah, blessed and exalted, says: ﴿كَلَّا ۖ بَل لَّا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ﴾ (No! But you do not honor the orphan). You always look at the king, or the ruler, or the president, or anyone else, as a man who stands between the good that is in his hand — he being the one in control of the state's resources — and the rights of the simple, small peoples. And yet you too are entrusted, you too are trusted, you too are charged with feeding the poor, the one in need, the needy, the widow and the wayfarer; all of these are in your charge.

Let us look: if you want to compare yourself with an unjust ruler who turned people's lives into a detention camp or a great prison and so on, then look also at the amount of money you have in the bank, in your account, kept as savings for the future; and at these poor people whom illness has confined to their rooms so they have not left them, and those confined by small, meager installments. When a woman comes and says: "I cannot find anything with which to pay this month's rent, and I will be evicted from my home before long," while you have money recorded as a certain figure in your account, how can you make such calculations?

The great tyrant and the small one

That is why you see that the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, places between the two scenes a picture of the thinking mind that can be shared between that great tyrant and that small tyrant; between this oppressor at the level of the nation and this oppressor at the level of the family, or at a very simple level. He says: ﴿فَأَمَّا الْإِنسَانُ إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكْرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ﴾ (And as for man, when his Lord tries him and is generous to him and favors him, he says: "My Lord has honored me." But when He tries him and restricts his provision, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me").

So there is a mindset that ties the relationship with Allah to the measure of returns that come from the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He: as much as Allah gives me, I show Him loyalty and take pride in belonging to Him; as much as He takes from me, I become angry with Him, frown and turn aside; and as much as the Lord of the worlds restricts for me, I restrict my feelings, my eagerness toward Him and my response to His commands and prohibitions. That is why another call comes from the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He, in Sūrat al-Ḥajj, as He says: ﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ حَرْفٍ فَإِنْ أَصَابَهُ خَيْرٌ اطْمَأَنَّ بِهِ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ فِتْنَةٌ انقَلَبَ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِ﴾ (And among the people is he who worships Allah on an edge: if he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; and if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face), and the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He, follows it with His words: ﴿خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةَ﴾ (He has lost this world and the Hereafter).^[2] We ask Allah for safety and well-being, O Lord of the worlds.

Apprehension, but while carrying concern for humanity

The present indications make the people of faith afraid; there is a kind of apprehension. We have disasters and troubles in many places; what does all this portend? I am not one of those who raise slogans and shout: "This is the injustice of the wrongdoers, and this is Allah's vengeance on the tyrants." This statement is correct in itself, but it must be governed by an important touch of faith among those who carry the concern of humanity just as they carry the concern of the message. If you ask me: "How can you compare the message with people?" I tell you simply: I carry the concern of humanity because they are the place where the message is to be received; were it not for people there would be no messages, and were it not for the messages there would be no guidance for creation. Hence you feel compassion for every breath that leaves every human being, and you care for his existence until the Day of Resurrection, because he is the recipient of your call.

The shortcoming is ours, my dear ones; we have not conveyed the call of Allah, blessed and exalted, well to this creation. I only wanted to share with you the thought that came to my mind. May Allah reward you with good, and may Allah be pleased with you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Fajr, verses 6–14, then verse 17 (﴿كَلَّا ۖ بَل لَّا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ﴾), then verses 15–16 (which are quoted in the body at a later point). The automatic transcript has «صوت عذاب», and what is given is «سوط», according to the text of the muṣḥaf. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Ḥajj, verse 11. The speaker limited himself to the part quoted. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: This is the speaker's understanding. Ibn Kathīr said in the tafsīr of Sūrat al-Ghāshiya: «الغاشية: من أسماء يوم القيامة. قاله ابن عباس، وقتادة، وابن زيد؛ لأنها تغشى الناس وتعمهم» (al-Ghāshiya is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection; this was said by Ibn ʿAbbās, Qatāda and Ibn Zayd, because it overwhelms people and covers them all).