the wrongdoers. Yet whoever defends himself after he has been wronged—such people will incur no blame. Blame rests only upon those who wrong others and sow corruption on earth without right; for such there is a painful punishment.”

If everything set out above still fails to convince these people, then at the very least it should be accepted as an excuse for me, for it is said: “It is not just to censure in haste.” The poet likewise advised:

Take your time and do not rush to blame your companion;
perhaps he has an excuse while you reproach.

Indeed, their duty was to turn their rebuke and condemnation upon the tyrannical oppressor, to restrain him from his injustice, and to champion the wronged, in keeping with the Prophet’s—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—words: “Support your brother, whether he is an oppressor or oppressed.” They asked, “How can we support him if he is an oppressor?” He replied, “Prevent him from oppression—that is your support for him.” In another hadith he said: “Let a man support his brother, oppressor or oppressed: if he is an oppressor, let him forbid him, for that is his support; and if he is oppressed, let him aid him.” He also said: “No one who abandons a Muslim in a gathering where his honour is maligned and his sanctity violated will be abandoned by Allah in a place where he longs for His support; whereas whoever supports a Muslim in a gathering where his honour is maligned and his sanctity violated, Allah will support him in a place where he longs for His support.” (1)

In any case, it is well known that pleasing everyone is an unattainable goal, as one proverb puts it:

Whenever one stick strikes another, some people grieve and others rejoice.