📚 [Some enter into trials, critical issues, and destructive situations without having the necessary qualifications; the important thing is: Here I am, so recognize me!]

Our Shaykh, the scholar Abdullah Al-Bukhari - may Allah preserve him - said, speaking about the necessity for a person to know their own worth:

A man asked Imam Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak: “O Imam, advise me.” He replied: “Know your worth.” This is the advice: “Know your worth.” If you know your worth, matters become easier, and you will know where to stop. However, if you are ignorant of your worth, you will throw yourself into destructive situations and dare to engage in calamities, and it is rare that you will come out unscathed.

These trials and disturbances are like fires. Don’t you see that a firefighter wears special protective gear, yet even with his knowledge, care, and protective clothing, something might fail, and he might get hurt? So, what about the one who enters these destructive situations, trials, and calamities without being qualified for it? He is neither from the people of knowledge, nor does he know the clear truth from the clear falsehood. But the important thing is:
“Here I am, so recognize me!”

A trial arises in Algeria, and he involves himself in it! A trial arises in Morocco, and he involves himself in it! A trial arises in Yemen, and he involves himself in it! While Allah has spared you, why do you bring these fires upon yourself? And if only there were some return (from these actions), after it has become clear that these trials are invalid! Instead, people keep engaging in them. We ask Allah for safety and well-being.”

ℹ️ Summarized benefit from a lecture titled: [Knowing the Truth and Acting Upon It].

💎[How can he feel safe?]

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH رحمه الله) said:

“How can one be safe who has a wife that shows him no mercy, a child who makes no excuse for him, a neighbor he cannot trust, a friend who does not advise him sincerely, a partner who is unjust to him, an enemy who does not relent in his enmity, a soul that constantly inclines toward evil, and a world adorned in allure? — One who has destructive desire, overwhelming lust, overpowering anger, a devil who adorns evil, and a weakness that overtakes him?

If Allah takes him under His care and draws him near, then all of these are subdued for him. But if Allah forsakes him and leaves him to his own self, they all gather against him, leading to his ruin.”

📚 (al-Fawā’id, p. 64)

💎[Neither wealth, power, knowledge, nor technology can shield oppressors from divine justice]

Al-Saʿdī (d. 1376 AH رحمه الله) said [Al-Ḥaqq al-Wāḍiḥ al-Mubīn p. 466]:

وَمِنْ آثَارِ قُدْرَتِهِ أَنَّكَ تَرَى الْأَرْضَ هَامِدَةً، فَإِذَا أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْهَا الْمَاءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنْبَتَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ.

“Among the signs of His power is that you see the earth lifeless, and when He sends down water upon it, it stirs, swells, and produces from every delightful kind.

وَمِنْ آثَارِ قُدْرَتِهِ مَا أَوْقَعَهُ بِالْأُمَمِ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ وَالْكُفَّارِ الظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْوَاعِ الْعُقُوبَاتِ وَحُلُولِ الْمَثُلَاتِ، وَأَنَّهُ لَمْ يُغْنِ عَنْهُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ وَمَكْرُهُمْ، وَلَا أَمْوَالُهُمْ، وَلَا جُنُودُهُمْ، وَلَا حُصُونُهُمْ مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ لَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُ رَبِّكَ، وَمَا زَادَهُمْ غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ.

And among the signs of His power is what He inflicted upon the denying nations and oppressive disbelievers in terms of various punishments and the descent of exemplary retributions. Their scheming, plotting, wealth, soldiers, and fortresses could avail them nothing against the punishment of Allah when the command of your Lord came. It only increased their ruin.

وَخُصُوصًا فِي هَذِهِ الْأَوْقَاتِ، فَإِنَّ هَذِهِ الْقُوَّةَ الْهَائِلَةَ وَالْمُخْتَرَعَاتِ الْبَاهِرَةَ الَّتِي وَصَلَتْ إِلَيْهَا مَقْدِرَةُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَمِ هِيَ مِنْ إِقْدَارِ اللَّهِ لَهُمْ، وَتَعْلِيمِهِ لَهُمْ مَا لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَعْلَمُونَهُ.

Particularly in these times, the immense power and astounding inventions that these nations have achieved are from Allah enabling them and causing them to know what they did not know.

فَمِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ أَنَّ قُوَاهُمْ وَقُدَرَهُمْ وَمُخْتَرَعَاتِهِمْ لَمْ تُغْنِ عَنْهُمْ شَيْئًا فِي صَدِّ مَا أَصَابَهُمْ مِنَ النَّكَبَاتِ وَالْعُقُوبَاتِ الْمُهْلِكَةِ، مَعَ بَذْلِ جِدِّهِمْ وَاجْتِهَادِهِمْ فِي تَوَقِّي ذَلِكَ، وَلَكِنَّ أَمْرَ اللَّهِ غَالِبٌ، وَقُدْرَتَهُ تَنْقَادُ لَهَا عَنَاصِرُ الْعَالَمِ الْعُلْوِيِّ وَالسُّفْلِيِّ.

Among Allah’s signs is that their power, capabilities, and inventions did not avail them in repelling the calamities and destructive punishments that befell them, despite their utmost effort and diligence in trying to prevent that. However, Allah’s command prevails, and His power subdues the elements of both the higher and lower worlds.”