26- Chapter: The Prohibition of Wrongdoing and the Command to Restore Usurped Rights

Allah the Exalted says, “For the wrongdoers there will be no devoted friend and no intercessor whose plea will be accepted” (40:18). He also says, “The wrongdoers will have no helper” (22:71).

As for the hadiths, among them is the report of Abū Dharr ⦗mentioned at the end of the previous chapter on strenuous striving⦘.

203- Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Guard yourselves against oppression, for oppression will become layers of darkness on the Day of Resurrection. And guard yourselves against miserliness, for miserliness destroyed those who came before you: it drove them to shed one another’s blood and to violate what Allah had declared sacred.” Recorded by Muslim.

Explanation

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—states: “Chapter on the prohibition of wrongdoing and the obligation to return injustices,” meaning to restore them to their rightful owners. This chapter covers two points:

1. The prohibition of wrongdoing.
2. The obligation to return injustices.

Realize that ẓulm (wrongdoing) literally means “deficiency.” Allah the Exalted says, “Each of the two gardens produced its fruit and did not fall short in anything” (18:33), meaning: it did not diminish anything. Such deficiency may arise either from encroaching upon what a person has no right to, or from neglecting what is due from him. Hence wrongdoing revolves around these two: either abandoning a duty or committing a forbidden act.