كيف لرجلٍ مثل أبي لؤلؤة المجوسي، بعدما أنقذه المسلمون من الأسر عند الرومان وأكرموا ضيافته في المدينة أن يمدَّ يده فيُصيب عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه وهو قائمٌ يصلي الفجر في المسجد النبوي..

وكيف استطاع ابن سبأ أن يُقنع بعض المسلمين بأن الخليفة عثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنه كان ظالمًا حتى ثاروا عليه وهو يقرأ القرآن ..

وكيف لرجلٍ معروفٍ بالعبادة والقرآن مثل عبد الرحمن بن ملجم أن يقتنع بفكرة إيذاء الإمام علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه وهو يصلي ..

وكيف لخادمٍ عاش في بيت الحسن بن علي رضي الله عنه ولم يرَ منه إلا الخير أن يُسيء إليه بعد كل ما ناله من إحسان..

وكيف استطاع بعض الناس في جيش يزيد أن يؤذوا الحسين بن علي حفيد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهم يظنون أنهم يفعلون الصواب..

The Many Faces of Manipulation

الأمثلة كثيرة وطرق الإقناع متنوعة.

The examples are numerous, and the methods of persuasion are varied.

مرةً باسم الدين ومرةً باسم الوطن وأخرى باسم الحكم أو المصالح..

Sometimes in the name of religion. Sometimes in the name of the homeland. And other times in the name of governance or interests.

Each of these tragedies began with persuasion. Each perpetrator believed—or convinced himself—that he was justified. Each tragedy shocked the community precisely because the victims were universally recognized as righteous, just, and beloved.

Abu Lu’lu’ah struck the man who had established justice across the known world. Ibn Saba’ turned Muslims against the man who had married two daughters of the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn Muljam raised his sword against the man the Prophet ﷺ had called the Gate to the City of Knowledge. Anonymous servants and soldiers harmed the grandsons of the Prophet ﷺ himself.

The Enduring Truth

لكن الحقيقة أن العقل السليم والفطرة النقية لا تنخدع مهما تغيّرت المبررات.

But the truth is that the sound mind and pure natural disposition (fitrah) are not deceived, no matter how the justifications change.

فما كان حقًّا سيبقى حقًّا، وما كان باطلًا لن يغيّره تبرير أو ظن.

The assassins and conspirators had their reasons. They cited principles, invoked grievances, claimed higher purposes. But history—and more importantly, divine judgment—sees through the sophistries and recognizes the crimes for what they were.

The Eternal Legacy

وسيظل عمر وعثمان وعلي والحسن والحسين رضي الله عنهم جميعًا..رموزًا للعدل والإيمان.

Umar, Uthman, Ali, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn—may Allah be pleased with them all—will forever remain symbols of justice and faith.

تاريخهم مشرق في الدنيا ، ومقامهم عظيم في الآخرة.

Their history shines brightly in this world, and their station is exalted in the Hereafter.

The conspirators’ names are mentioned only as cautionary tales. Their justifications are remembered only as examples of self-deception. But the names of those they wronged are invoked with reverence, their memories honored, their examples studied and emulated.

This is the inexorable logic of divine justice working itself out through human history. The oppressor may triumph for a moment, but the oppressed triumph for eternity.

The Divine Scales

والعبرة أن الإنسان حين يُسأل يوم القيامة لن تنفعه الأعذار

And the lesson is that when a person is questioned on the Day of Resurrection, excuses will not avail him.

“I was following orders.” “Everyone else thought it was acceptable.” “The scholars of my time justified it.” “I was defending the faith/the homeland/the ruler.” “I thought I was doing right.”

These excuses may comfort the conscience in this world. They may even persuade others in the moment. But they will dissolve like mist before the perfect knowledge of the All-Knowing, the Perfectly Just.

Lessons for Our Time

These historical tragedies are not merely events to memorialize. They are warnings to heed in every generation:

First: Beware of those who would manipulate your sincere devotion for their corrupt purposes. Religion can be weaponized. Patriotism can be perverted. Justice can be invoked to commit injustice. The most dangerous deceptions wear the garments of righteousness.

Second: Question not just what you’re being told, but who benefits from you believing it. Abu Lu’lu’ah was convinced he was avenging wrongs. Ibn Saba’s followers thought they were purifying Islam. Ibn Muljam believed he was serving God. All were manipulated by those with ulterior motives.

Third: The perpetrators of these crimes were not monsters. They were ordinary people, some known for piety, who were convinced to do monstrous things. This is the terrifying truth: anyone can be led astray if they abandon their moral compass and sound reasoning.

Fourth: Trust the fitrah—the innate moral sense that Allah placed in every human soul. When something feels fundamentally wrong, when every fiber of your being recoils from an action, that is your conscience speaking. Don’t silence it with sophistries and rationalizations.

Fifth: Remember that truth and falsehood will be made clear in the end. History vindicates the righteous and exposes the deceivers. And if history fails to do so completely, the Day of Judgment will leave no ambiguity whatsoever.

The Eternal Question

When we stand before Allah, stripped of all pretense and justification, when our deeds are weighed on scales that measure not just actions but intentions, not just words but hearts—what will we say?

Will we claim we were merely following? That we didn’t know better? That everyone else was doing it? That our leaders told us it was right?

Or will we be able to say, with clear conscience, that we sought truth sincerely, that we acted justly according to our understanding, that we never knowingly oppressed or harmed the innocent, that we listened to our fitrah when it warned us against evil?

These are the questions that matter. Everything else—the political calculations, the social pressures, the clever justifications—will burn away like chaff, leaving only the kernel of truth: did we choose right or wrong when we knew the difference?

May Allah guide us to recognize truth as truth and grant us the strength to follow it, and to recognize falsehood as falsehood and grant us the strength to avoid it.