Our relationship with our enemies:

Dear brother, this is our 35th lecture of Surat Al Nisaa, verse 71. Allah the Almighty has said:

﴾O you who believe! Take your precaution, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body.﴿

[An Nisaa – 71]

First of all, I need to say that the one who illusively understood that religion consists just of five ritual worships knew nothing about religion. Religion is a whole system that starts by the way you deal with your body, passes by your relationship with the closest people to you and ends with the international relations. If we understand religion as ritual worships and personal conditions, we are the farthest from understanding the truth of this religion.
The above verse speaks about dealing with our enemies. Moslems' major problem is that their enemies emerged with such an invincible strength. The attitude Allah expects us to adopt is to be cautious and detect our enemies before they impose their power, as if He orders us to keep holding our arms. Allah Almighty orders the believer to be cautious.
The naïve understanding of the world around is in total contradiction with the true faith. Allah, our creator and instructor, who granted us the freedom of choice and said:

﴾Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful. ﴿

[Al-Insan-3]

﴾The truth is from your Lord, so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve﴿

[Al Kahf - 29]

We should anticipate antagonism of disbelievers:

Perfectly know that humans will fall in two parts: good and evil, right and wrong, disciplined and undisciplined. The battle between Right and Wrong is eternal. Suddenly the whole World is fighting the Moslems, and where were we before that? Incautious!

﴾O you who believe! Take your precaution﴿

The ultimate wisdom is to detect danger before it happens, and to expect the hostility of the infidel before he shows it. Therefore, Allah Almighty says in a wonderful decisive verse:

﴾ And prepare against them ﴿

[Al Anfaal – 60]

Allah speaks to us about a third part, who actually is the enemies of the Moslems:

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

We must mobilize all of our capacities:

﴾ whatever force you can﴿

All kinds of force. We must prepare all available force and power to face our enemy: money is power, raw materials are power, discipline is power, improving one self's skills is power. The difference is quite big between having a wide ignorant segment of the society that needs to be fed, and being in the profit account. The profits realized by an Asian country - that possesses no petrol, no raw materials, no steel, no copper- from selling softwares totalize USD 83 billions. Unskilled people turn into burdens on the loss account, while highly skilled individuals are listed on the profit account. One must expect the worst before it happens.

We must prepare all kinds of force against enemies:

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

Money is power, discipline is power, improving one self's skills is power, information are power, using modern sophisticated methods is power…

﴾ whatever force you can﴿

"Whatever force" means all kinds of force. We must mobilize all kinds of force to face our enemies. The latest inventions of our enemies to conquer people consist of bombs that completely destroy communications, and nuclear bombs that kill humans only and keep buildings, bridges, infrastructures and facilities undamaged. All this took place while Moslems are in heedlessness. They (our enemies) were alerted ages ago and when they got the chance, they revealed their insatiable greed for wealth. Disregard all that is otherwise said. All that they want is to control the oil wells with their power. Allah Almighty says:

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

They prepared against us, but we prepared nothing against them. A wise man said once: "Woe to the nation that eats what they do not cultivate. Woe to the nation that wears what they do not weave." And I would add: "Woe to the nation that uses the devices they do not manufacture."
We need a four engines aircraft that costs USD 20 millions. How many tons of wheat and cotton you must pay in return? They take our raw materials at the lowest possible prices and sell us their sophisticated achievements with the highest possible prices. We are poor while they are wealthy.

Examples of what our enemies prepare against us:

A thousand and four hundred years ago, Omar Ibnul Khattab realized that the producer is strong while the consumer is weak. He was strolling around town once and found out that all economic activities are controlled by non-Muslim people. He severely reproached the Moslems and said: "What if you become their slaves????"
Allah Almighty says:

﴾Take your precaution﴿

And in another verse He says:

﴾ And prepare against them﴿

In modern history, countries that have not built strong armies were devastated and destroyed. Sometimes, even unused, weapons achieve great tasks.

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

I read a scientific article about taking pictures from outer space. The whole Earth was photographed and there was a 1mm square in one picture that, when magnified in the next picture, shows most of America. In that picture, there was another 1mm square that, when magnified in the next picture, shows North America, and there was also another 1mm square that, when magnified in the next picture, shows one of Florida's coasts, and there was another 1mm square that, when magnified in the next picture, shows a man lying on the beach wearing a watch and reading a novel, and one can easily read the title of the novel on that picture. Next to him, there was a dish full of apples. All these pictures were taken from the moon!

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

They invented those satellites to monitor our every single move while we were not even noticing.

It is a battle of survival or extinction:

Dear brother,
It is now a battle of survival or extinction. No meaningless speech is allowed nowadays. These are the Quran words:

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

Now, what is your role? As a student, when you master your study, you prepare against them the force you can. As a merchant, when you import goods from the cheapest possible suppliers and sell them at an acceptable price, you contribute in building this Islamic nation. As a manufacturer, when you bring a plant to satisfy the needs of your country and dispense from importing you contribute in the building of this nation. As a doctor, when you work with enough care and professionalism you dispense the patients from traveling to the remote ends of the world to seek treatment and spend millions. Everyone has a role to achieve, and by fulfilling our duties we shall be prepared against any upcoming aggression.

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

The power is absolute. Communications, information, satellites, aviation, all is power. A country is totally exposed if it does not possess an air force that protects its air space, no matter how powerful its army is. Air force is No 1 weapon. A month-long bombing destroys both the upper and the infrastructure. No electricity, no communications, no phones, no refineries; everything is destroyed. Everything is over!

﴾O you who believe! Take your precaution ﴿

We must detect the strengths of enemies before they show us:

One must detect danger before it really happens, get to know their enemy's plans before they take them by surprise and uncover the points of strength of their enemy before they are openly displayed.

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

In order to avoid any misinterpretation of the power, Allah Almighty said:

﴾ and horses tied at the frontier﴿

At the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, the strength is reflected in horses tied at the frontier. It was reflected afterward in catapult, then in armored corps, aircrafts and bombs. The concept of power is wide. Allah said "whatever force" for the concept of power to be wide and inclusive of every kind of power. The media is power. The high moral is power. News could either take you high or break you down. Media is power and may be the most powerful weapon nowadays.

Not equivalent force, but available force:

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can and horses tied at the frontier﴿

The scholars said this verse coordinates the particular to the general.

﴾ and horses tied at the frontier to frighten thereby ﴿

A brother Moslem from an East-Asian Muslim country told me once: "In my home country, we are about 90 million Moslems, all persecuted." But he swore that when a neighboring Muslim country made an experimental nuclear explosion, Moslems in his country were then treated differently. Sometime, we do not need to use a weapon, but we need to possess it in order

﴾ to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy ﴿

The verse made it clear: your enemy must be Allah's enemy as well. Otherwise, you are in such a big trouble!

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can and horses tied at the frontier to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy﴿

However, Allah never asked us to be evenly matched, but to mobilize all available force:

﴾ whatever force you can﴿

then to rely on Him. I keep on saying that no matter how powerful he is, an enemy may frighten the weak believers but never the true monotheists who fear no one but Allah.

Very weak enemy frightens only weak Muslims:

﴾Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them﴿

Thouban said, the Messenger of Allah said:

﴾The nations are about to have their teeth in you like the eaters have their teeth in their bowl." Someone said:"Is it because we are few that day?" The Prophet said: "No, you are too many, but as helpless and as useless as a torrent scum. Allah will take away the fear of you from your enemy's heart, and will put weakness in yours." Someone said: "What would be that weakness?" The prophet said: "The love of life and the hatred of death.﴿

[Abi Daood]

This hadith is told in mosques for many years since, but its true meaning has never been as evident as it is nowadays: "The nations are about to have their teeth in you like the eaters have their teeth in their bowl." Someone said:"Is it because we are few that day?" The Prophet said: "No, you are too many, but as helpless and as useless as a torrent scum. Allah will take away the fear of you from your enemy's heart, and will put weakness in yours." Someone said: "What would be that weakness?" The prophet said: "The love of life and the hatred of death."

﴾O you who believe! Take your precaution ﴿

He who studies the life of the Prophet will find that his commandment was of the highest level. He dispatched squadrons to observe the other side's moves, even to frighten him. But he who lives in heedlessness, will be taken by surprise to find that his country was devastated, his properties stolen and his power extinguished.
Then Allah says:

Each aggression is dealt with equivalent force:

﴾O you who believe! Take your precaution, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body.﴿

A limited atheist force should be confronted by a limited detachment. But when the danger is clear and present, we must go forth in a body.

﴾O you who believe! Take your precaution, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body (71) And surely among you is he who would certainly hang back! ﴿

Some are weak and some are frightened, but Allah Almighty said:

﴾ Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith, and they said: Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the Protector (173) So they returned with favor from Allah and (His) grace, no evil touched them and they followed the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace. ﴿

[Al Imran 173-174]

Each of us can prepare available force:

There has been the Mongol invasion... There have been the Crusades from the West... Nowadays, we are experiencing one of the cruelest ordeal. This is the course of Allah with respect to His creatures. Life is all about trials, not equality. It is a place of sorrow, not a place of joy.
He who knows it well will never rejoice in prosperity or lament for misery. Allah made it a place of ordeal, while He made the hereafter a place of enjoyment. He made the ordeal of life a reason for the giving of the hereafter, and made the giving of the hereafter a reward for the ordeal of life. He takes to give and test to reward.

To the one who would ask: "What is my relationship with this verse?", I would say: "The relationship is close." It is quite impossible to see someone who has no role within the community. Whether you are a student, a teacher, an instructor, a professor, an engineer, a doctor, a merchant, an officer, can't you optimize your job? Can't you serve the Moslems, lighten their burdens, and facilitate their work? Can't you be at their service and sell them what they need at a moderate price? Each one of us can prepare for the enemies whatever force they can.
I was giving a lecture in certain district when a six year old boy came to me and said: "I cannot listen to the news, Sir. What shall I do?" A child that Moslem's burden severely ran over his childhood. I said: "Study well. This is the force Allah asked you to prepare against the enemy". When we optimize our specializations and our jobs, we prepare against them.
Dear brother,
I swear to Allah, who beside Him there is no god, those powerful people will never respect our religion if we are weak. We must be powerful and outstanding.

When we depend on Allah and obey Him, He gives us strength:

I need to speak about this experience: I went to an East Asian country whose inhabitants do not exceed 23 million. They were living in the woods 25 years ago. Nowadays, their exports to the world surpass the exports of the whole Arab world, including oil. Last year, their cash surplus exceeded USD 60 billion. They adopt the Islamic banking system. The famous credit cards, well known all over the world, are Islamic and usury free in that country. The insurance system is Islamic. The education is Islamic. The veil (hijab)is obligatory. A satellite dish costs a fortune there because they are jealously keen to preserve the morality of their children. When a highly ranked man from a powerful country tried to interfere in their affairs, a female Minister firmly said to him: "Put your shoes in your mouth and mind you own business." When we seek honor in Allah, when we glorify Allah, when we build our life on Allah's doctrine, Allah will surely exalt our esteem.
Dear brother,
I am talking about something that concerns all of us. Everyone can optimize his work, and by doing this he responds to Allah's order:

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

Dear brother,
The other side sells us equipment that, only Allah knows how, quickly break down, and need like hundred millions to be fixed. I met a young man whom Allah granted the gift to fix such equipment and consequently save lots of money. Such a man contributes in strengthening the nation and saving the money that was meant to go to the other side unnecessarily.
Everyone who optimizes his work and study, does certainly profit Moslems, lightens their burdens, solves their problems, facilitates their affairs and contributes in strengthening the nation.

﴾ And prepare against them whatever force you can﴿

﴾O you who believe! Take your precaution, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body (71) And surely among you is he who would certainly hang back! ﴿

The wise takes precaution before danger comes:

I have to tell you a story that I have mentioned many times before. It is a story of three fish living in a brook: one was too subtle, the second one was of lesser intelligence and the third one was stupid. Two fishermen passed by that brook and, seeing the fish, agreed to come the day after to catch them. The fish heard what the fishermen said and the smartest of them all took its precautions and acted in a timely manner before the worst happens and left the brook to the river, and consequently survived. The fish of lesser intelligence stayed in place and kept hesitating until the fishermen got back. It faked death and floated on the water, and the fisherman caught it and placed it on the ground between the river and the brook so it jumped and survived miraculously. The stupid fish stayed there doing nothing, hesitated a lot and got caught.
The one who hesitates, actually does nothing, but keeps complaining and only listens to the news.
The smartest fish took its precaution long before the danger happens, while the one of lesser intelligence took precaution only when the danger was present and the stupid one did nothing but faced the danger with total inability and dependence.

﴾O you who believe! take your precaution, then go forth in detachments or go forth in a body. (71) And surely among you is he who would certainly hang back! If then a misfortune befalls you he says: Surely Allah conferred a benefit on me that I was not present with them. (72) And if grace from Allah come to you, he would certainly cry out, as if there had not been any friendship between you and him: Would that I had been with them, then I should have attained a mighty good fortune. ﴿

[An Nisaa 71-73]

We shall explain these verses in the next lesson, Allah willing.