Question

Article on "silence against atrocities"

Answer 1

Silence against Violence is a sinThere is a famous saying that He who does not bellow the violence andoppression even has the tongue makes himself the accomplice ofoppressor and tyrants . It is also said that” It is impossible toremain silent in the face of tyranny with, by this very act ofsilence, becoming an agent of that tyranny”. Infact the silencebecomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out against thetyrannies. To remain silent is simply means to support the oppressorit always encourages the tormentor. When a person keep mum afterwitnessing a crime and violence against his fellow beings infact hepaves the way of this violence for himself in the future. QateelShifai a famous Urdu poet rightly said Dunya main us sa bhe munafiqnahe Qateel Jo Zulm to sehta hai Baghawat nahe krta Infact it is worstkind of hypocrisy that an individual face tyranny, violence andoppression in the hands of powerful but fails to muster courage tospeak about it. It is tantamount to strengthen that oppression andtormentor. Silence is extremely dangerous as it ingrains the seeds ofslavery. In moments of big changes in society, those are the guiltyones that choose silence over their right to object loudly. Islamstrictly says that if you see the oppressor stop his hand by force.The holy prophet PBUH said : A person should help his brother, whetherhe is an oppressor or is being oppressed. If he is the oppressor, heshould prevent him from continuing his oppression, for that is helpinghim. If he is being oppressed, he should be helped to stop theoppression against him. At another place Holy prophet PBUH said :Helping an oppressor is from the gravest of disasters; people shouldnot imitate an oppressor and must prevent him and make him realise thewrong that he is doing; if people assist the oppressor or do not speakagainst him then they will not get to drink from the fountain of theProphet . Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiqu R.A said I have heard the Messengerof Allah saying” When people see an oppressor but do not prevent himfrom (doing evil), it is likely that Allaah will punish them all.'”[Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi] One should prevent the oppressorphysically if possible, and this responsibility is greater withrespect to the rulers and those in authority. If one cannot stop theoppressor physically, then he should do it verbally. Thus it is clearthat if someone does not raise his voice against violence, he commits