Tyranny (tughyan)

The Sheikh says a person may be tried by a wrongdoer with power: a tyrannical director, an oppressive minister, a ruler who oversteps the bounds in wronging his people, a violent or miserly husband; all of these come under the heading of the tyrant, and a son, a daughter or a petty official may be a tyrant within what he controls. ^{1 2 3} He says that on reviewing the history of most tyrants he found they had a miserable childhood and psychological complexes; this is his view. ^{3 4}

He holds that the worst of servants before God is one who wrongs a person whose only helper is God, and asks about those who work in homes cooking and driving: have they no right to a siesta and to sleep, are they to work from six in the morning until midnight? He mentions that God answers the prayer of the wronged even if he is an unbeliever. ^{4 5 6}

He notes that God told Musa to go to Pharaoh 'for he has transgressed' and did not say 'for he has disbelieved', holding that unbelief is between the servant and his Lord, while heaven intervenes when a servant tyrannises God's servants; tughyan comes from water overflowing its limit. ^{7 8} He mentions Musa's prayer for an open heart and that Harun be made his helper. ^{8 9}

He mentions the believing man of Pharaoh's household in Surat Ghafir, whom he calls Pharaoh's cousin from the ruling family, who counselled his people, telling them that today the kingdom was theirs, then entrusted his affair to God, and God protected him from the evils they plotted. ^{10 11 12 13} In his commentary he likens the power of today's tyrants to fleets, arsenals and drones that 'wipe villages off the earth', and holds that God raises the tyrant high and then seizes him with the seizing of the Mighty and Powerful; this is his view, in an exhortation. ^{11 12 13}

He holds that hungry Muslims in camps whom aid does not reach have had their rights stolen by the rich, and that a rich man who throws his surplus food into the rubbish and does not give the poor their due has transgressed through his wealth; this is his view. ^{14 15} He closes by calling on people not to be tyrants at home, with their wives, children, neighbours and workers, or over the people whose affairs they hold. ¹⁶