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Evil scheming (al-makr al-sayyi')

المكر السيئ

Omar Abdelkafy holds that evil scheming recoils only on those who scheme, as a law of the world, and that it is not intelligence; he gives Pharaoh, Qarun and Nimrod as examples, and criticises scheming among relatives, colleagues and those around decision-makers.

Depth

At a glance

Region
Global / Diaspora
Review

Ethics and character

Summary

The Sheikh states that evil scheming recoils only on those who scheme, and counts it a law of the world among the laws of life. 1 2 He says many people live to plot against others and harm them, wronging those who do them good and cutting those who keep ties with them, especially relatives, and he cites the sense of a verse by Tarafa ibn al-Abd that injustice from kin weighs more on the soul than the blow of a sword. 2 3 4

Human scheming and God's

He distinguishes human scheming, which for him is twisting and turning and weaving conspiracies in the dark, from God's, which is encompassing and complete, and holds that no one schemes against a creature without his scheming recoiling on him. 5 6 He denies that cunning is a sign of intelligence, holding that the schemer sows the seed of scheming in his heart instead of the seed of good and reaps only what harms him. 6 7 8

Scheming at work

He criticises the colleague who poisons the director's mind against a colleague and files bad reports to take his place, holding that this is common near decision-makers and that it is a doubt in God's decree, which could have given him the same position without scheming; this is his view. 9 10 11 12 He relates that a Commander of the Faithful asked a man he calls Abu Hazim to hand him the inkwell, and he refused, fearing that it would be used to write an injustice against a Muslim and he would share in it (needs_source: the name and story are the Sheikh's narration). 10 13

The end of the schemers

He mentions that Pharaoh was drowned, Qarun swallowed by the earth with his house, Nimrod destroyed, and that the infant Musa was cast into the river and saved while mighty Pharaoh went into the sea and drowned; he counts this God's law in the world. 12 14 15 He holds that a Muslim has no battle except with Satan, so his heart knows no scheming, and mentions the Companion who would put a date in his brother's mouth and taste its sweetness in his own. 16 17

Connections

Explore the connections

Subject of
Wa Nafsin wa ma Sawwaha (programme)

People and things also explored

The gift within the trial (al-minha fi al-mihna)· Speaking well to people (al-qawl al-hasan)· The balance of creation (al-tawazun al-kawni)· The art of dialogue and listening· Slackening of the soul in obedience (futur)· Ghadd al-basar (lowering the gaze)· Hayawan (animal: food, slaughter, zakat and care)· The relation between worker and employer

Sources

  1. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:01:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  2. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:02:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  3. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:02:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  4. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:03:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  5. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:03:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  6. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:04:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  7. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:04:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  8. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:05:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  9. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:05:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  10. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:06:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  11. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:08:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  12. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:08:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  13. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:06:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  14. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:09:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  15. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:09:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
  16. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:07:00 · Open the lesson at the archive
  17. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha, episode 9, at 00:07:30 · Open the lesson at the archive
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Evil scheming (al-makr al-sayyi')”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/al-makr-al-sayyi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

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The gift within the trial (al-minha fi al-mihna)

Starting from the verse 'it may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you', Omar Abdelkafy sets out that the outward appearance of events differs from their inner reality, citing the stories of Musa's mother, Musa, Yusuf, Hajar and Umm Salama to show that the gift may lie within the trial.