Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728) said:
“And when the Muslims are in a state of weakness, and when their enemy overpowers them, that is due to their sins and acts of disobedience:
It is either due to their negligence with respect to fulfilling the obligations — inwardly and outwardly. Or due to their transgression by transgressing the boundaries — inwardly and outwardly.
Allāh, the Most High, said (what means):
Those of you who turned back on the day the two hosts met (i.e. the battle of Uhud), it was Shaitan (Satan) who caused them to backslide (run away from the battlefield) because of some (sins) they had earned.¹
And He, the Most High, said (what means):
(What is the matter with you?) When a single disaster smites you, although you smote (your enemies) with one twice as great, you say: “From where does this come to us?” Say (to them), “It is from yourselves (because of your evil deeds).”²³
And He, the Most High, said (what means):
Verily, Allah will help those who help His (Cause). Truly, Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty. Those (Muslim rulers) who, if We give them power in the land, (they) order for Iqamat-as-Salat. [i.e. to perform the five compulsory congregational Salat (prayers) (the males in mosques)], to pay the Zakat and they enjoin Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism and all that Islam has forbidden) [i.e. they make the Quran as the law of their country in all the spheres of life]. And with Allah rests the end of (all) matters (of creatures).⁴
Source: Al-Majmūʿ (11/645)
1. Aal-e-Imrān:155; Muḥsin Khan and Hilālī
2. Aal-e-Imrān:165; ibid.
3. This is a succor from Allāh to his servants, the Muslims. When what afflicted them afflicted them on the day of ʾUḥud, and about seventy men among them were killed, Allāh said to them: Verily ﴾you have smote﴿ the disbelievers ﴾with one twice as great﴿ on the day of Badr, so you killed seventy men among their elders and you captured another seventy as slaves. So, the affair should be light and the (effect of the) affliction should be lessened on you, despite the fact that you and them are not equal. Because, your dead ones are in the Jannah and their dead ones are in the Fire. ﴾You say: “From where does this come”﴿ i.e from where did what afflicted and conquered us come? ﴾Say (to them), “It is from yourselves”﴿ when you disputed with one another and you disobeyed (the Prophet’s order) after He (Allāh) showed you what you loved (of booty and women). So return the blame to yourselves and beware of the means leading to destruction. [Tafsīr as-Saʿdī]
4. Al-Ḥajj:40-41; Muḥsin Khan and Hilālī
