The Necessity of Power: Why Simply Explaining the Truth is Not Enough

The Inadequacy of Words Alone

If people were guided merely by the clarification of truth, the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) would never have needed to carry a sword. Furthermore, no reformer would have needed to struggle and suffer, nor would any of them have been subjected to torment and agonizing persecution. Indeed, all manifestations of tribalism, blind fanaticism, and warring clans would have vanished from human history, and concepts like a “state,” an “empire,” or a “world order” would never have emerged in this world.

If humanity were guided purely by the presentation of facts, nations would not require security apparatuses, intelligence agencies, or standing armies. There would be no weapons, combat, soldiers, military equipment, or lethal armaments on earth. However, all of these things exist because the reality is that merely clarifying the truth to people does not guarantee they will follow it. The simple fact is that the mere “existence” of truth is simply not enough.

Human Nature and the Temptations of Power

A human being inherently knows from within that they do not abide by everything they recognize as the truth. Rather, an individual might commit a sin, a transgression, or a crime while fully aware of its wicked nature. It is more accurate to state that those who do not surrender to their desires—who rein in their souls, their lusts, and their inner tyranny—are a virtuous minority. Conversely, the overwhelming majority are only deterred from sin and crime by their inability to commit them, or their fear of the ensuing consequences and punishments.

The human being is the primary battlefield for Satan’s mission, who declared to ALLAH:

“[Satan] said, “Because YOU have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them [i.e., mankind] on YOUR straight path. Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and YOU will not find most of them grateful [to YOU].”“¹

(Al-A’raf, 7:16-17)

The shocking reality is that Satan succeeds with the majority of mankind:

“And most of the people, although You strive [for it], are not believers“²

(Yusuf, 12:103)

and

“And if You obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead You from the way of ALLAH“³

(Al-An’am, 6:116)

The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) even stated that out of every hundred (and in another narration, out of every thousand), only one will enter Paradise!

If this is the condition of the individual human soul, the situation regarding states and nations is infinitely more severe and dangerous. The state is the focal point where lusts, desires, and massive ambitions congregate. The lust for dominion and political power is far stronger than any individual physical desire; as the ancient Arabs used to say, “Kingship is barren” (meaning it recognizes no kinship). For the sake of power, a man might murder his own son, father, or brother, let alone his cousins and tribesmen.

Decreeing the death of people is the easiest decision a tyrant makes to consolidate his rule and secure his throne. If the decision to kill close relatives is so easy, what then of attacking distant strangers? If conspiracies are woven to eliminate the strong and the intelligent, what fate awaits the weak, the broken, and the easily conquered? If the bonds of blood, tribal loyalty, years of affection, long companionship, and past favors cannot stop a corrupt ambition, how can we possibly expect that mere preaching, clarification, and advice will be sufficient to change the situation, deter the criminal, and curb the rampant corruption?!

Severe Corruption Requires Decisive Action

Sometimes, the wound of corruption becomes so deep that its only cure is cauterization. A disease may take such deep root that the only remaining treatment is amputation. Similarly, corruption within souls, minds, and nations can reach a terminal stage where nothing but decisive, forceful action can rectify it.

The deviance of the human soul can lead to astonishingly bizarre behaviors. Consider those who crossed the sea through a massive cosmic miracle—a path formed for them to cross safely before collapsing to drown their enemies. These same people had barely settled when they demanded,

“Make for us a god just as they have gods“⁴

(Al-A’raf, 7:138)

Had they not possessed a prophet who deterred them with forceful decisiveness, they would have adopted an idol and worshipped it at that exact moment!

In fact, that is exactly what they did when he was absent from them for a few days:

“And the people of Moses made, after [His departure], from their ornaments a calf – an image having a lowing sound“⁵

(Al-A’raf, 7:148)

The presence of the Prophet Aaron (Harun) was of no use at that time; they deemed Him weak and nearly killed Him. The falsehood only ended when Moses—the strong, formidable Prophet—returned, burning the calf and scattering its ashes. Even then, their cure required a severe penalty:

“And [recall] when Moses said to His people, “O My people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves [i.e., the guilty among you]. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator.”“⁶

(Al-Baqarah, 2:54)

These very people, who wished to worship an idol and crafted a calf with their own hands, audaciously said to their Prophet:

“O Moses, we will never believe you until we see ALLAH outright“

(Al-Baqarah, 2:55)

Observe how they eagerly embraced blatant falsehood, yet violently refused to believe the ONE who saved them with miracles and blessed them with bounties unless they saw HIM outright. Their punishment was nothing less than severe decisiveness:

“so the thunderbolt took you while you were looking on“⁷

(Al-Baqarah, 2:55)

The Delusions of the Modern Era

How many bizarre human delusions do we witness day and night, especially in this era of corrupt media that transforms people into strange entities? They end up loving those who slaughter and oppress them, while despising those who struggle for their sake and work to serve them. Their minds and hearts become entirely closed to the simplest realities of life, blinding them to what benefits them versus what harms them. To them, the chains of tyranny appear as glorious badges of honor, and anyone who attempts to break free from these chains is branded a stubborn rebel!

You find a person viewing the slaughter of thousands in a single day as a beautiful, necessary act, yet condemning a weak, reactionary defense that kills or injures one person as a criminal, terrorist act! You see them completely unmoved by the massacres of Muslims everywhere, yet deeply shaken by a single act of resistance, screaming slogans against terrorism.

Even though Muslims are the victims of aggression globally, with their blood shed with impunity, the world barely recognizes terrorism except when attributed to them. This cognitive dissonance reaches a level where it becomes an entrenched dogma that obliterates all facts. A perfect example is the British colonial soldier who murdered an African man, then looked at his comrades in sheer astonishment, crying out, “What a savage! Imagine, he bit me while I was killing him!!!”

If spiritual deviance reaches this absurd level, what use is mere preaching, advice, and the simple clarification of the truth?

“Indeed, those upon whom the word [i.e., decree] of Your LORD has come into effect will not believe, even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful punishment“⁸

(Yunus, 10:96-97)

Protecting the Truth Against Arrogance and Vested Interests

The truth may be glaringly obvious, yet souls may adamantly reject it despite internally acknowledging its validity. This rejection could stem from sheer arrogance:

“And they rejected them, while their [inner] selves were convinced thereof, out of injustice and haughtiness“ ⁹

(An-Naml, 27:14)

It could be driven by overwhelming lust:

“But the answer of his people was not except that they said, “Expel the family of Lot from your city. Indeed, they are people who keep themselves pure.”“¹⁰

(An-Naml, 27:56)

It could be due to the tyranny of blind tradition:

“And similarly, WE did not send before You any warner into a city except that its affluent said, “Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are, in their footsteps, following.”, [Each warner] said, “Even if I brought you better guidance than that [religion] upon which you found your fathers?” They said, “Indeed we, in that with which You were sent, are disbelievers.”“¹¹

(Az-Zukhruf, 43:23-24)

Or, it could be out of a desire to protect the worldly benefits tied to the existence of falsehood and corruption:

“And they [i.e., the Quraysh] say, “If we were to follow the guidance with You, we would be swept from our land.”“¹²

(Az-Zukhruf, 28:57)

—notice how they explicitly recognized it as “the guidance.”

In all these scenarios, as long as the truth remains physically weak, no one will respond to it except that rare, virtuous minority. The automatic response of the masses will mirror the arrogant replies given to the ancient Prophets. To Noah, they said:

“O Noah, You have disputed [i.e., opposed] us and been frequent in dispute of us. So bring us what You threaten us, if You should be of the truthful“¹³

(Hud, 11:32)

To Abraham, they said:

“Bring us the punishment of ALLAH, if You should be of the truthful“¹⁴

(Al-Ankabut, 29:29)

To Salih, they said:

“So they hamstrung the she-camel and were insolent toward the command of their LORD and said, “O Ṣāliḥ, bring us what You promise us, if You should be of the messengers.”“¹⁵

(Al-A’raf, 7:77)

To Shu’ayb, they said:

“O Shuʿayb, we do not understand much of what You say, and indeed, we consider You among us as weak. And if not for Your family, we would have stoned You [to death]; and You are not to us one respected“¹⁶

(Hud, 11:91)

The defiance and arrogance can even reach a terrifying peak:

“And [remember] when they said, “O ALLAH, if this should be the truth from YOU, then rain down upon us stones from the sky or bring us a painful punishment.”“¹⁷

(Al’Anfal, 8:32)

Look closely at the Children of Israel, who witnessed ALLAH’s miracles firsthand; their affairs were never truly rectified until the looming threat of punishment overshadowed them, such as when ALLAH raised Mount Sinai above them until they feared it would crush them if they disobeyed. Furthermore, they only achieved their golden age when their Prophets were also sovereign kings wielding power, like David and Solomon (Peace be upon Them). As the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) stated,

“The Children of Israel were governed by Prophets; whenever a Prophet died, another Prophet succeeded Him.“¹⁸

However, when their Prophets lacked sovereign authority, their condition was tragic:

“Whenever there came to them a Messenger with what their souls did not desire, a party [of Messengers] they denied, and another party they killed“¹⁹

(Al-Ma’idah, 5:70)

Without an overpowering authority to keep them in check, they reached such a level of mockery and disdain that they boasted,

“Our hearts are wrapped“²⁰

(Al-Baqarah, 2:88)

boldly replied to ALLAH’s command with

“We hear and disobey“²¹

(Al-Baqarah, 2:93)

and openly distorted ALLAH’s religion in sheer defiance:

“…Distort words from their [proper] places [i.e., usages] and say, “We hear and disobey” and “Hear but be not heard” and “Rāʿinā,” twisting their tongues and defaming the religion“²²

(An-Nisa, 4:46)

For all these profound reasons, protecting the truth absolutely requires strength and power. Otherwise, it will be relentlessly waged war against by people—including those who know perfectly well that it is the truth—simply because it contradicts their lusts, traditions, and vested interests.

The People of the Book knew the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) just as intimately as they knew their own children, and the disbelievers of Quraysh fully recognized His impeccable honesty and trustworthiness. Yet, they fiercely denied Him, fought Him, and nearly killed Him!

Were it not for the swords carried by thousands standing to defend the truth, the mere bearers of this truth would have derived no benefit from holding it, nor would their exhaustive efforts in explaining and preaching it have ever borne fruit.

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Sources:

Mohamed Elhamy. الجهاد.. دواء الفساد. Blog Post.

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18. Al-Bukhari (3268), Muslim (1842). And Al-Hafiz said in Al-Fath: “In it is an indication that the subjects must have someone in charge of their affairs who directs them to the good path and delivers justice to the oppressed from the oppressor.” ↩︎
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