Episode 3 - When Error Becomes Betrayal!
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Introduction: Review of Previous Factors
Dear brothers, in the previous episode, we discussed the role of the documentation factor and public commitment in shaping the course of calls to Islam. This begins with statements that seem to have no consequences, but ends with a change in mindsets, where they reject the Sharia and accept situational approaches, and ally with the enemies of the Ummah. We linked this to the style of commitment and agreement, that psychological style used before to change the mindsets of prisoners.
Today, we will continue by discussing two other important factors for the success of the commitment and agreement style in shaping calls to Islam, which are: self-choice and the additional effort.
The Third Factor: Self-Choice
As for self-choice, we saw that the Chinese investigators used to offer the American prisoner a trivial reward in exchange for his writings, in which he made some concessions. This was so that the prisoner would feel that his writings were his own and stemmed from himself, without seeing himself as having written what he wrote for a big reward, i.e., so that he would not feel that he had compromised his principles for material gain. The goal for this prisoner is to accept the internal self-responsibility for his work and writings, and to feel that he is the decision-maker in them, bound by them, and forced to defend them.
Applying Self-Choice to Islamic Movements
What is the implication of this on the reality of Islamic movements? When these movements made one concession after another, did they promise in return an Islamic state and the effective empowerment of Sharia, or liberation from subservience and economic and food dependence on the West? No. If they had promised that, their enemies would have bargained with them on their principles in exchange for a goal they know is important to these movements. At that point, it would be difficult for these movements to abandon these principles, which they felt were being targeted by their enemies, because the deal would be clear: "You movements do something that does not agree with your religion and creed to serve the religion of God."
A deal to buy consciences and wade through filth for the sake of reaching a pure goal, which is a deal that repels the souls no matter how great the goal. So even if the Islamic movements accepted this deal, they would not accept the internal responsibility for it, and would not see the concessions they made as part of their being. Their psyches would not agree to align with these concessions. They would see these concessions at that point as something separate from their behavior and psychological system, which they did as an exceptional case to achieve a great goal, then they would reject it and disown it as soon as this goal was achieved.
This is not what the enemies want to achieve, but they want the members of the Islamic movements not to feel the enticement, so that when he looks at himself in the mirror in the evening, he does not feel that he sees the image of a man who has compromised his principles.
Deceiving the Soul with the Enemy's Negligence
If his soul says to him, "You answered your enemies with what they asked of you," he should reply, "But I am the decision-maker, and I chose to do what I did with conviction stemming from myself and my being." And if his soul says to him, "You are making concessions," he should reply, "Concessions for what? The one who makes concessions is usually lured by something he cares about, but I am probing the enemy's slips, weaknesses, and points of weakness in his system and law to achieve my religious benefit. The statement I made and the position I took do not constitute a great breach of my principles and creed." So he deceives himself that he is outsmarting the enemy and sneaking through the gaps in his system, not that he is bargaining on his principles.
This was regarding the factor of self-choice, which, as in the book "Influence and the Psychology of Persuasion," is the most important factor for the success of the commitment and agreement style.
The Fourth Factor: Additional Effort
The fourth and final factor is the additional effort. We saw in the first episode, brothers from the psychology of deviation, that the person who undergoes great pain and hardship to obtain something gives this thing much greater importance than someone who obtained it with little effort.
In the case of Islamic movements, it was completely clear that they were required to make a great effort in parliamentary elections, spending time, money, and effort in mobilizing votes and organizing campaigns, then making a great effort to obtain the presidency, which came after excluding some candidates, then introducing new candidates who appeared corrupt. The position was not obtained in the first round, nor was it by a large margin. The same applies to the constitution and the imposition of the military on personalities in its establishment.
Inflating Meager Achievements
At every station of these stations, the secularists and the remnants are alarmed, and the sword of the constitutional court is drawn to cut the ropes and push the movements to a new imaginary lifeline. All of this is so that the Islamic movements give great importance to the meager achievements they reached with great effort. The presidential platform that the Islamic movements reached after all this effort must be, in their view, one of the greatest achievements, indeed one of the greatest achievements, and must be defended and fought for.
The Islamic movements continue to make additional efforts in the corridors of failure, sometimes allowing them to change the leadership of the army, and sometimes deluding them into playing a historical role in the Gaza war.
The Role of Media in Inflating Achievements
Then these achievements are inflated by both sides: the agent media and the circles of Zionist-Christian politics pretend to be shaken and terrified by these achievements, pretending that the father is afraid of the plastic sword that his child brandished in his face, even though the father is the one who brought him this game. If the circles of politics were really afraid of the results, they would have moved the armies recklessly as they did in Mali.
From the side of the Islamic movements and the sympathetic private media, they inflate these achievements and look for them with a microscope in the corners of the corridor, because they do not want to wake up to the bitter reality of failure, nor to accept the mistake of their path and the necessity of correction and knocking on the door of true relief, the consequences of which these parties do not want to bear now.
The Mistake Becomes Treason
After all this, we say, brothers: All of the above is a manifestation of the saying of the Almighty: {And it is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter that they should have any choice in their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly gone far astray in a clear deviation} [Al-Ahzab: 36]. And the Almighty says: {And this is My path, a straight path, so follow it; and do not follow the paths, lest they divert you from His path. That is what He has enjoined upon you that you may become righteous} [Al-An'am: 153].
When Does the Mistake Become Treason?
When we point out the mistakes, or rather the sins of the Islamic movements, they reply to us: "Brother, do you doubt that they want reform? Are you betraying them?" The answer, brothers, is that when a person deviates from the command of Allah while knowing it, the mistake equals treason no matter the goal. For whoever justifies to himself that he chooses in a place other than choice, contradicts the evidence, and leaves the transmitted for the rational, this deviation is in itself treason. Even if the goal of disobeying Allah is to serve the religion of Allah, the mistake becomes treason because the result is one: the demolition of Islam, the violation of its sanctity, the defamation of the call, and the gloating of the enemies.
The Mistake is Not Just an Individual Sin
The mistake becomes treachery because it is not about individual sins that a person commits in secret and then repents from, so Allah forgives him. Rather, it is about sins that affect the lives of entire nations and harm their worldly life and hereafter. The mistake becomes treachery because Allah, the Almighty, has warned against little inclination and leaning towards enemies and obeying them. Thus, this sinner has disobeyed his Lord. The mistake becomes treachery because Allah has commanded to take Islam in its entirety and has warned against following the steps of Satan. Thus, this sinner has disobeyed his Lord.
The Mistake in Closed Rooms
Therefore, I am not attracted to the theory that this party or that party sold its conscience and made a deal with America or others in closed rooms. I do not think that the enemies of the nation will confront the parties with an explicit request to betray their nation, for they want to ensure the factor of self-choice as previously mentioned. However, in the end, there is no difference, as the mistakes will lead to the same outcome.
What happens in closed rooms is not necessarily an agreement on treachery, but these people enter already having lost the battle psychologically, having lost the legal compass, and being possessed by the idea of presenting a moderate image of themselves. All of this leads to compromise becoming a principle, and treachery becoming a personal choice.
Conclusion: Intentions and the Legal Method
Therefore, when we address people that this action or that of the parties is contrary to "Allah has said and His Messenger and all Muslims," it is astonishing that the response is: "But my brother, their intention is to serve Islam." What do we have to do with intentions, my brothers? Who said that we accuse the intentions of wanting treachery and harming Islam? We accuse what appears of contradiction to the legal evidence, and in that case, the mistake is treachery, my brothers.
We have tried in these episodes to address the topic of deviation from the method of Allah from the psychological aspect as a new and integrated dimension with the legal aspect that is being established in the series "Support for the Sharia." The goal of this address is not to determine the position based on rational evidence and psychological study, as they are subject to opinions, ijtihad, error, and correctness, but rather to determine positions based on legal evidence. And among the greatest good is that we submit to the command of Allah, the Almighty, with submission and surrender and certainty of the wisdom of Allah, His knowledge, and His mercy. We have addressed the topic from the psychological aspect as an attempt to understand something of the wisdom of Allah, the Almighty, as He has made the punishment for compromising the constants of the religion severe and has forbidden both little and much of it.
May Allah, the Almighty, guide the misguided and return the parties to His path in a beautiful return. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.