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And Allah will treat him in the same way that a wartime enemy is treated.3 Allah has promised to defend all of the believers and He protects their honor. That is, He does not wish to see them harmed by anyone. Allah says, ൤ -;,J ,,,. ,.# l5I6 78I 9 :·; &I Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi the law of Allah that these dreams are never fulfilled if pursued in that manner. In fact, Allah makes it clear that such people are simply hypocrites who lose both this life and the Hereafter. Note the following verses from the Quran: bte ., / ,,. ., .,. ,.. ,.. ࣯ Ó/1 _;j Vj:JT w 1; :.:JT ; r:.a·! 6 -) ...:_s J -'» J¼ ) '_J---4 Ý LJ:!/ ""'r.! - ., A. .... J ,,. (. ,.. ;_;1JT 0Ǝ 2 IT 01 ੀ JੁG ੂ Hadith #38: "Whoever Shows Enmity to . . . " "O you who believe, take not the Jews and Christians for friends (auliyaa). They are friends one to another. He among you who takes them for friends is one of them. Lo, Allah guides not wrongdoing folk. And you see those in whose heart is a disease race toward them, saying, 'We fear lest a change of fortune befall us.' And it may happen that Allah will vouchsafe unto you the victory or a commandment from His presence. Then they will feel remorse for their secret thoughts" (al-Maaidah 51-52). Commenting on this verse, Maudoodi has written, This refers to the condition of the hypocrites during the period when the conflict between Islam and kufr had not come to any decisive conclusion. Although Islam had become a power by dint of the sacrifices of its followers, the opposing forces were also very powerful and there were equal chances of the victory of either side. The hypocrites, while living among the Muslims, wanted to keep good relations with the Jews and Christians so that if the conflict ended in the defeat of the Muslims, they might safely take refuge with their enemies. Then there was also the economic factor; at that time, the Jews and the Christians were economically the most powerful people in Arabia. The money-lending business was almost entirely in their hands and they had a strong economic hold upon the people. Moreover, the most fertile regions of Arabia were in their possession. This also led the hypocrites to preserve their old relations with them. In short, they considered it very dangerous to break relations with these people because of the conflict between Islam and kujr, for they feared that it might ruin them economically and politically.1 A cursory look at history will demonstrate that the enemies of the believers have time and again met the same fate. There is a sunnah of Allah or a "law of nature" at work here. For example, after the Muslims had ruled Spain for centuries, the Muslim rulers began to conspire and work with the Christians against their fellow Muslims. Abu Abdullah conspired with Ferdinand against his father Muhammad ibn Saad and against his uncle. Abu Abdullah and Ferdinand were victorious. Then Ferdinand turned against Abu Abdullah and also drove him out of Spain. It was Abu Abdullah who turned over the keys of the last Muslim city in Spain to the Christians. Abu Abdullah spent the last years of his life in poverty and begging in the streets of North Africa. 1 Abu! Ala Maudoodi, The Meaning of the Quran, vol. 3, pp. 52-3, fn. 84. 1 141 . Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Another more recent example is the fate of the Russian allies in Afghanistan. Leaders such as Dawood Khan, Nur Turaqi and Hafeedhullah Ameen were killed by the Russians whenever they were finished using them. Some of these Afghani leaders had been members of the Communist Party and close associates with the Russians for over twenty years but when their usefulness to the Russians came to an end, the Russians killed them. The Shah of Iran, the close ally of the West, could hardly find a country to accept him to live out the last days of his life in misery. The punishment from Allah is not just for the leaders who fall in line with the unbelievers but, instead, it applies to anyone who supports the unbelievers and shows enmity to the believers. A case in point is ibn Abu Dawood who pleaded with the caliph to have Ahmad ibn Hanbal killed. The result, though, was that ibn Abu Dawood was the one who met a terrible death in this world while to this day Ahmad is still held in high esteem by the Muslims. Similarly, many of the people who tortured the Muslims in the prisons of Egypt during the 1 950's and 1 960's have, to this day, psychological problems and have troubles coping in this world that they are living in.1 But the greatest punishment that those who show enmity to the auliyaa of Allah will have to face will occur in the Hereafter. Allah says, ....