In today’s khutba, I intend to speak insha’Allah on the concept of fitnah in Islam. What do we mean by fitnah? Is there any purpose or goal behind every fitnah that keeps coming one after the other, whether we like it or not? How should we cope with fitnah when confronted with it and make it work to our advantage?
The word fitnah is derived from the Arabic root verb فَتَنَ (fa-ta-na), which means ‘to burn’ or ‘to test’ in order to separate the good from the bad. فَتَنَه (fatanahu) would, therefore, mean “He burned it or he tested it.” In Arabic, the classical name for the goldsmith is فَتّان (fattan) meaning the one who causes fitnah. What does he do? He melts the gold in order to separate its impurities so that it is left pure.
The word fitnah has many shades of meanings including temptation, trial, and affliction. We have in Surat al-Baqarah the story of two angels Harut and Marut who warned the people of Babylon not to use the knowledge taught by them for any evil purpose. But the evil people used that knowledge to sow discord and enmity between a man and his wife. The knowledge they gained from the two angels became a source of fitnah for them. What did the angels say before passing on knowledge to anyone?
إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ
We are but a test; so do not disbelieve (al-Baqarah, 2:102).
Fitnah also means attractiveness, and captivation. فَتَنَ المالُ النّاسَ Wealth attracted people to it. فَتَنَتْه means: ‘She captivated his heart’. Some other meanings of fitnah are persecution and oppression. In this sense, the Qur’an says,
وَالْفِتْنَةُ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ
And oppression (or persecution) is even worse than killing (al-Baqarah, 2:191).
We have in Surat al-Buruj,
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ الْحَرِيقِ
Indeed those who persecute the faithful men and women, and then do not repent, for them there is the punishment of hell, and for them there is the punishment of burning (al-Buruj, 85:10).
There are still other meanings of fitnah such as discord, sedition, riot, and civil strife. Is there any purpose or goal behind every fitnah that we face? Yes, every fitnah that we face has a reason, purpose, and goal behind it. If we understand this, we can understand the concept of fitnah in Islam. Allah (SWT) inflicts us with fitan (plural of fitnah) for a reason. There is wisdom and goal behind it. We have in Surat al-Ankabut.
الم () أ َحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آَمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ() وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ ()
Do people think they will not be tested because they say, “We have faith?” We tested those before them so that Allah would know the truthful and would know the liars. (Al-‘Ankabut, 29:2-3)
And we have in Surat Ta Ha, when Allah (SWT) says to Musa (AS)
فَنَجَّيْنَاكَ مِنَ الْغَمِّ وَفَتَنَّاكَ فُتُونًا
We rescued you from trouble and tested you with many trials (Ta Ha, 20:40).
So what kind of fitan (trials) are people tried with? Brothers and sisters! They are tested both by way of evil and by way of good things. In Surat al-Anbiya’, Allah says,
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ
Every soul will taste death. We will test you with evil and good by way of trial, and it is to Us that you will return (al-Anbiya’, 21:35).
And in Surat al-‘Ankabut, Allah says,
أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آَمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ أ َحَسِبَ النَّاسُ
Do people think they will not be tested because they say, “We have faith? (al-‘Ankabut, 29:2). Who are included in the word ‘’people’? It includes everyone. It includes all categories of people. You might even be tried and tested by your own self! One may be tested by one’s parents, one’s spouse; one’s children, one’s wealth, one’s poverty, one’s knowledge, one’s ignorance, one’s good health or one’s sickness. One may be tested through prosperity and adversity. Allah says,
وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِيرًا
And We have made some of you as a trial for others to see if you will have patience. And your Lord is all-seeing (al-Furqan, 25:20).
The rich are a fitnah for the poor and vice versa. The believers are a fitnah for the disbelievers and vice versa. We are all fitnah to one another in terms of our nationalities, our ethnicities, our languages and so on. If we look down upon other people as inferiors, we cause ourselves to be a fitnah for them.
وَاتَّقُوا فِتْنَةً لَا تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْكُمْ خَاصَّةً
And beware of a test that will not only afflict those among you who do wrong (al-Anfal, 8:25).
We cannot get out of this general rule of fitnah. We need to understand that part of being in this world (duniya) is that we’ll be tested. It’s our responsibility as Muslims to be prepared for the tests. Our job is to successfully pass the test. We must remember that no matter how much things get difficult in our lives, Allah (SWT) is merciful and compassionate.
لا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا
Allah does not burden any soul with more than it can bear (al-Baqarah, 2:286).
In a hadith narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, the Prophet (SAW) said: “A time will come when the nations (of the world) will surround you from every side, just as people invited to a feast gather around the main dish. Somebody asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, will it be on account of our being few in number at that time?’ The Prophet (SAW) replied, ‘No, but you will be scum (layer of foul or extraneous matter that forms on the surface of a liquid), like the scum of flood water. Feebleness will be in your hearts, and fear will be removed from the hearts of your enemies, on account of your love for the world, and your hatred of death.”
The Muslim population of the world is huge. Yet, our lives and our sensitivities do not count for much. It is other nations that are respected, revered and feared. This hadith tells us that the excessive love of this world makes us forget that we have to die and leave this world; that there is a hereafter; and that there is a day of judgment. This puts us in a position whereby our principles are compromised, and we no longer remain a force to be reckoned with. We are living today in very tough times. What the Muslim ummah is currently facing is a chain of fitan: bigotry, negative stereotyping, malicious accusations, blasphemy, Islamophobia; you name it. We are facing fitan as individuals, as a community, and as an ummah. When we realize that the purpose of fitan is to test us, what should we do?
One: We should remain firm to our deen. We should never hide our faith (iman). We should never sacrifice Islam; never feel embarrassed or ashamed about who we are. We are Muslims and are proud of being so. We should keep clinging to our deen and eventually insha’Allah; we’ll pass over the fitnah and emerge pure out of it.
Two: We should turn to Allah (SWT) with full sincerity and strengthen our relationship with Him. The Prophet (SAW) commanded us to seek refuge from Allah (SWT) against all types of fitnah; before the fitnah, during the fitnah, and after the fitnah.
Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: When any one of you utters the last tashahhud (in prayer) he must seek refuge with Allah from four trials and should say: “O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the torment of the Hell, from the torment of the grave, from the trial of life and death and from the evil of the trial of Masih al-Dajjal” The Prophet (SAW) also used to seek refuge with Allah from trials by saying: “O Allah! I seek refuge with You from cowardice, and seek refuge with You from being brought back to a bad stage of old life and seek refuge with You from the afflictions of the world, and seek refuge with You from the punishments in the grave.”
Three: We should increase our worship of Allah (SWT). A fitnah is meant to make us better and more pure. During times of fitnah, we should increase our worship, our nawafil prayers, our sadaqat, our recitation of the Qur’an, and we should race with one another in doing good deeds. According to the meaning of a hadith, a time will come when a person will go to sleep as a believer and wake up as a disbeliever or wake up as a believer and go to sleep as a disbeliever. Why? The reason is that he will sell his own religion for the price of this world. May Allah (SWT) protect us from this situation.
Four: We should study our religion and learn what Islam is all about. We should read the Qur’an, read the Sirah of the Prophet (SAW), and learn the basic aspects of fiqh and worship, because knowledge thus gained will equip us to comprehend the fitan and respond to them. Have we ever thought how much time we invest towards our secular studies and how much time we invest for learning about the deen of Islam? According to a hadith, “The Hour (Last Day) will not be established until (religious) knowledge will be taken away (by the death of religious learned men), earthquakes will be very frequent, time will pass quickly, afflictions (fitan) will appear, murders will increase and money will overflow amongst you.”
Five: Once we have gained knowledge, we need to start teaching and preaching. The purpose of the candle is not to burn itself but to light the way for others. The purpose of knowledge we have is not to keep it enclosed in our chest but to spread it to other people. Every single one of us must become a dai’ (a caller to Islam), starting the da’wah with his family, his friends and his acquaintances. We all don’t have to become ‘Alims and Muftis, but everyone has to be a true representative of Islam and live up to that responsibility. When Muslims start living as Muslims; when they live up to the ideals of their own religion, the da’wah will then be done by their actions and by their character. This is one way to counter the fitnah.
Six: We should have patience (sabr). Sometimes, we may not see the result of what we do in our own life time. Sabr comes from an Arabic root which means to restrain oneself. In the spiritual sense, it means to stop ourselves from losing hope and panicking, and to stop our tongues from complaining. It means that we act wisely and restrain ourselves from doing things that will cause more harm. Islam emphasizes patience and perseverance in adversity or calamity. Our life is not a bed of roses. It is a life of struggle. We continuously struggle to survive as well as to succeed. In the ordinary course of our life, we face many unpleasant events. Islam provides a powerful psychological leverage to deal with such occurrences. When we place our trust in Allah (SWT), we can face many odds and misfortunes with a unique mental strength not available to others. Such psychological state cannot be achieved overnight. But patience and perseverance can help us to achieve that goal.
Finally, the way out of emerging successful from trials and tribulations is given in the last ayah of Surat al-‘Ankabut.
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
As for those who strive in our cause, We will guide them to our paths. For Allah is with the doers of good (al-‘Ankabut, 29:69).
We seek refuge with Allah (SWT) from all types of fitan; all types of trials and tribulations—those which are known and evident, and those which are unknown and hidden, and in case it is destined that any fitnah strikes us, then we ask Allah (SWT) to make us emerge out of it successfully and to make it a source of seeking His pleasure and His closeness; ameen.
