2) The suffering and patience in respect to the people:
It is a natural and obvious matter to expect the people to be hostile to and stand in the way of any new idea that aims at changing the model and style of life that they are living and have adopted. They will naturally oppose anything which targets a complete change in the relationships that connect them together and upon the basis of which their society has been formed and their interests and systems have been built, in addition to that which their feelings and sensations have unified upon. And we have in the Messenger of Allah (saw) the best example of this reality as it wasn’t his invitation to the oneness of Allah and His worship that stirred the anger of the Quraish and the Arabs. This is because there were others before him who used to do this like the Jamaa’ah Al-Hanafiyah (the monotheistic group) who included the likes of Waraqah Bin Naufil and Al-Qas Bin Saa’idah Al-Iyaadi who used to address the people in the market of ‘Ukaazh and say: ‘Qas swears by Allah, there is no sin in him, to Allah belongs a Deen that is better than the Deen that you are following’. Despite this the Arabs were not hostile towards him nor did not stand against him and this is because he did not stand in opposition to and challenge the relationships that existed between them, nor did he stand against their interests or their model of living.
However when they heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying to them: (Say Laa Ilaaha Illallah and you will be successful) and when they heard what came to him from the verses of the Qur’aan, they realised the consequences of that and it became clear to them that he wanted to change their viewpoint towards life, to demolish their present entity and to build a new entity upon a new basis and upon a new viewpoint for life. This would lead to the end of their interests, their leadership and would make the sovereignty in ruling belong to Allah and not to them. As such their revolt, hostility and their efforts to finish off the Da’wah was based upon this realisation.
The confrontation was between the Messenger of Allah (saw) and his companions (rah) on one side and the Quraish and the Arabs on the other side. The weak were tortured like Bilaal, ‘Ammaar, Yaasir, Sumayyah and ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood amongst many others (rah) whilst those who were able to made Hijrah like Ja’far, ‘Uthmaan and Abdullah Bin Jahsh amongst others (rah) did so. And how beautiful is the description that the Lord of the worlds has given to this reality of suffering and the rewards of patient perseverance when he (swt) says:
And remember when you were few and oppressed in the land, fearing that people might abduct you, but He sheltered you, supported you with His victory, and provided you with good things - that you might be grateful (Al-Anfaal 26).
The situation was such that it reached the point where the individual feared for his life and the Kutlah feared for its survival fearing that people would hijack it and remove it from existence. The Quraish allied with one another to boycott them and imprisoned the Messenger of Allah (saw), those who with him and those who supported him in the outskirts of Makkah. They were struck by everything that was conceivable and were opposed and stood against with every imaginable style.
The Kutlah or Hizb (political group) works to change the society, the standing permanent relationships that exist amongst the people, the system that regulates these relationships and the people’s viewpoint in life. It then works to build a society upon new thoughts and sentiments, to make the relationships proceed in accordance to new laws and to establish a system that regulates the relationships upon new bases and principles. It seeks to take care of the people’s interests by a new model and establish a new specific viewpoint in life that explains the meaning and purpose of their existence in life. It naturally follows that any Kutlah or Hizb that is undertaking all of these matters must realise and take into account that being cast out, boycotted, having their necks and sources of income cut represents some of what they will be afflicted with and suffer from whilst engaging in their struggle and work to generate its thought within the reality of life.
Allah (swt) says:
Verily the patient will be given their reward without account (Az-Zumar 10).
And He (swt) describes them as:
Except for those who believe and do righteous acts and enjoin one another to the truth and enjoin one another upon patience (Al- ‘Asr 3).
Or as He (swt) said:
And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect (Al-Kahf 28).
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