Page 52 - Slanders on Muslims in History

50 SLANDERS ON MUSLIMS IN HISTORY

faith. Just as sincere Muslims before them faced such accu-
sations, they too are tried by Allah as a general rule. Looking
at it from this perspective, it is an honor for them to prove their
patience in the face of insults, slanderous accusations, and
lies.
People like Pharaoh, who trust in their wealth and forget
about the Hereafter, cannot see this reality. Like him, most of
them only drop their conceit and feel remorse when they real-
ize that death has come. However, remorse at the point of
death will not benefit them in the Hereafter. This is why the
end of such people should be a lesson for everyone. Every
material thing that people have in this world is impermanent
and of no use in the Hereafter. The only thing that will last and
benefit them is their fear of Allah and their good deeds. Allah
reveals the thought-provoking fate of Pharaoh and his inner
circle, who were blinded and made conceited by their world-
ly possessions, and thus insulted and rejected Allah's mes-
senger:
In that way he swayed his people, and they succumbed
to him. They were a people of deviators. Then when they
had provoked Our wrath, We took revenge on them and
drowned every one of them. We made them a thing of
the past, an example for later peoples. (Surat az-
Zukhruf, 54-56)
As Allah states in the verse, every deed and word against
Allah's beloved and befriended servants is a cause of punish-
ment in His Presence. Those who commit such deeds may
think that they will get away with it, but Allah is infinitely just.
Slanderers and tyrants will be held accountable in the