the trials and upheavals that arose. They came to him complaining of the hardship they were suffering at the hands of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi, one of the Umayyad governors, a man notorious for oppression and bloodshed, a defiant tyrant—may Allah protect us.

He was the one who besieged Mecca to fight ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) and hurled catapult stones at the Kaʿbah until he demolished it, or at least part of it. Having been harmed by him, the people turned to Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), and Anas said to them, “Be patient.” Thus he commanded them to endure the injustice of the rulers, for rulers are often set over a people because of the people’s own wrongdoing, as the Exalted says: “And so We appoint some of the wrongdoers over others because of what they earned” (al-Anʿām 6:129).

So, when you see those in authority wronging the populace—taking their wealth, harming their bodies, or preventing them from calling to Allah, and the like—reflect on the state of the people themselves. You will find that the root of the calamity lies with them: they deviated, so Allah placed over them such rulers. In the transmitted maxim—though it is not a prophetic hadith—“As you are, so will those put in authority over you be.”

It is related that one of the Umayyad caliphs—most likely ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan—assembled the notables when he heard that people were criticising the government. He said to them, “O people, do you wish us to be for you what Abu Bakr and ʿUmar were?” They replied, “Indeed, that is what we want.” He answered, “Then be like the men over whom Abu Bakr and ʿUmar ruled, and we shall be for you like Abu Bakr and ʿUmar.” In other words, the condition of a people mirrors that of their rulers; when those in authority oppress the subjects, it is usually a consequence of the subjects’ own deeds.