Friday Sermon: The Fall of Nations

April 7, 2017

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By Babatunde Jose The problems facing this country today is that of a people who have refused to do the needful. We have abandoned the path of righteousness and embraced the road to doom. We have left undone that which we ought to have done and are going about doing that which we ought not to be doing. Like the proverbial hunter’s dog, we no more listen to the whistle of the hunter; we have strayed.   The Quran has, repeatedly directed our attention to the phenomena of nations that flourished in the past but which went into ruin because of their way of life; the goals they pursued, the values around which their culture was organised, their actions and the consequences of those actions. By looking back at them we can avoid pitfalls. That is why the Quran exhorts us to go round the world and see for ourselves “the fate of those who defied God”. History has judged them, as it will, in time, judge us. The prognosis is within our grasp: We have already sent down to you verses making things clear, an illustration from (the story of) people who passed away before you, and an admonition for those who fear (Allah). (Quran 24: 34). Thus the Quran inspires unquestioning faith in its pronouncement when it says: Do they not travel through the earth and see what was the End of those before them? They were more numerous than these and superior in strength and in the traces (they have  For when their apostles came to them with Clear Signs, they exulted in such knowledge (and skill) as they had; but that very (Wrath) at which they were wont to scoff hemmed them in. (Quran 40:82-83). But their professing the Faith when they (actually) saw Our Punishment was not going to profit them. (Such has been) Allah’s way of dealing with His servants (from the most ancient times). And even thus did the rejecters of Allah perish (utterly)!   (Quran 40:85). How many were the populations We utterly destroyed because of their iniquities, setting up in their places other peoples?  Yet, when they felt Our Punishment (coming), behold, they (tried to) flee from it. Flee not, but return to the good things of this life which were given you, and to your homes, in order that ye may be called to account. They said: “Ah! Woe to us! We were indeed wrongdoers!” (Quran 21:11-14). A nation which takes to destructive ways is invariably granted a respite, long or short. It is saved if it retraces its step and turns back to the right path of righteousness, before reaching the point of no return. This is termed ajal in the Quran. To every People is a term appointed: When their term is reached, not an hour can they cause delay, nor (an hour) can they advance (it in anticipation). (Quran 7:34), We did send apostles before thee, and appointed for them wives and children: And it was never the part of an apostle to bring a Sign except as Allah permitted (or commanded). For each period is a Book (revealed). (Quran 13:38). The limit beyond which a nation cannot pass without being irretrievably lost is determined by Divine Law: Allah doth blot out or confirm what He pleaseth: With Him is the Mother of the Book. (Quran 13:39). If a nation suffers, it has brought the suffering on itself. It cannot blame it on any outside agency. Hence, the challenges we face today are by our own making. Remember ye were on the hither side of the valley, and they on the farther side and the caravan on lower ground than ye. Even if ye had made a mutual appointment to meet, ye would certainly have failed in the appointment: But (thus ye met), that Allah might accomplish a matter already enacted; that those who died might die after a Clear Sign (had been given), and those who lived might live after a Clear sign (had been given). And verily Allah is He Who heareth and knoweth (all things). (Quran 8:42). Success or failure are the eventual consequences of our good or bad conduct. The Quran makes this clear : It was not We that wronged them: They wronged their own souls: The deities, other than Allah, whom they invoked, profited them no whit when there issued the decree of thy Lord: Nor did they add naught (to their lot) but perdition! (Quran 11:101). The “demise of nations” is a recurrent theme in the Quran. The Quran says that a nation begins to decline when it pursues wealth and takes to hoard money: Money it should have spent for the general good. The rich, instead of helping the poor and the needy, amassed wealth for themselves. The inevitable consequence was that the nation began to deteriorate. Behold, ye are those invited to spend (of you substance) in the Way of Allah: But among you are some that are niggardly. But any who are niggardly are so at the expense of their own souls. But Allah is free of all wants, and it is ye that are needy. If ye turn back (from the Path), He will substitute in your stead another people; then they would not be like you! (Quran 47:38). The meaning is clear. If a nation refuses to work for development of its people and for the establishment of Divine Order and pursues the ignoble end of self-aggrandisement, it will be supplanted by another nation carrying more weight in the balance of humanity. The Quran rightly exhorts us to study history : Have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them? They were stronger than these in power and they dug the earth and built upon it more than these have built. Messengers of their own came to them with clear proofs. Surely Allah wronged them not but they did wrong themselves (Quran 30:9). The Quran says that it is the duty of the Mustabsirin, the intellectuals and the leaders of thought, to discover the right path and persuade the people to follow it. When these men do not discharge their duty properly, the nation slides into injustice and tyranny and heads for ruin. The leaders of thought are bound to keep a watchful eye on the nation and to warn when it goes wrong. Have our leaders been doing this? NO. The leaders are to blame if the nation pursues false values. If a nation begins to decay, the process usually starts at the top. The upper stratum of the society first becomes corrupt and the corruption percolates downwards. It is strange that men of high intelligence should be the first to be corrupted. It is because they cannot resist the temptation to use their intelligence to further their own interests: Which is what is happening today in our society. And verily, We had empowered them with that wherewith We have not empowered you, and had assigned them ears and eyes and mind; but their ears and eyes and mind availed them naught, since they rejected the laws revealed by Allah : and what they used to mock befell them (Quran 46:26). In the course of a discussion of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, R. Briffault, in his book, The Making of Humanity, made some thought provoking observations., which we will do well to ponder over: A society based on false principles inevitably disintegrates. What really happens is that the phase of society, the order of things in which disregard of right is habitual and accepted, inevitably deteriorates and perishes. However much the individual may temporarily benefit by inequity, the social organisation of which he is a part and the very class which enjoys the fruits of that inequity, suffer inevitable deterioration through its operation. They are unadapted to the facts of their environment. The wages of sin is death by the inevitable operation of natural selections. Several verses of the Quran throw light on the gradual decline of a nation. Have you not seen those who gave the bounty of Allah in exchange for thanklessness and led their people to the abode of perdition-Hell? They are exposed thereto. A hopeless end (Quran 14:28-29). The masses too, as they allow themselves to be misled by their leaders, are not quite blameless. Though it is true that common people do not have the intelligence and knowledge that their leaders possess. As free responsible beings, however, it is their duty to think for themselves and reign in their leaders when they go wrong. They have a right to protest, just as we had in the Arab Spring’, which led to the fall of governments in Libya and Egypt. If however, the people fail to do this, they too cannot escape punishment. Resilience under a condition of misrule is tantamount to docility and it’s a crime. However, in Hell the common people will hold their leaders responsible for the fate that has befallen them : Oh! If thou couldst see when the wrongdoers are brought before their Rabb, how they cast the blame one to another; how those who were weaker (the followers) say unto those who were proud (the leaders): “but for you, we would have been believers” (Quran 34:31). It is therefore, pertinent to say that corruption starts at the upper layer of society and spreads downwards. Common men, by shirking their duty to think independently, become accomplices in the crimes of their leaders. Had they rebelled, the leaders might have been brought to their senses and checked themselves. Their willing obedience to errant leaders is in itself a crime and they have to expiate it. Not only do they obey, the errant leaders  are eulogized and their praises are sung; they are given chieftaincy titles, such as Asiwaju, Balogun and the like and even unpronounceable ones such as ‘jaguda’. At election time, they provide the thugs and bouncers at campaign rallies. These class of followers too are candidates for ‘Hell fire’. How many a city We have destroyed while it did wrong, so that it lieth to this day in ruins, and how many deserted wells and lofty towers (Quran 22:45). The Quran says of them that,  “they have been made into legends” (Quran 23:44).  May we not fall into ruin. That is why we have to make a hard choice and pursue change so that we may avoid the path which led others into ruin. The great lesson that the Quran teaches us is that individuals as well as nations are the architects of their own fate. Their destiny lies in their own hands. Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend!

Last Line: Over thinking kills happiness. Insecurities kill self-esteem. Lies kill trust.