Dear ruler, dear official…
Let it be known that I do not care at all about the length of your beard, nor how dark the patch between your eyebrows is. It neither attracts me nor moves me how many rak’ahs you prayed tonight, how much of the Qur’an you have memorized, or how many days you fast each year. These are your personal matters that concern no one but you, and they do not interest me in the slightest. Your relationship with the One you worship is none of my business, neither near nor far.
Your shouting on pulpits or crying in the dead of night will not grant me paradise, nor will your sins drag me to hell. And know this: even a cat may enter paradise and a dog may be condemned to hell. Paradise and hell are not my concern nor yours, no matter what illusions you may have about it, and we are not held accountable for the efforts of others. “No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another,” as our ancestors said.
What truly matters to me—may God guide you—is the law and justice. Yes, the law that guarantees fairness among people, gives everyone their due rights, and upholds justice for all creation. The law free from defects, favoritism, hypocrisy, and lies; that does not protect thieves and mercenaries, even if they are the ruler’s own children. A law based on facts, evidence, and proofs, not slogans, dreams, or illusions. A firm and clear law that strikes like a sword upon all alike.
This law protects my dignity and those around me—my safety, my family, my livelihood, my present and my future. It stands up for the weak against the tyrants, pulls injustices out of the jaws of the wicked. This is the direct and comprehensive law, the practical translation of what is in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Are not the people’s representatives those who enacted and legislated it? It has accumulated and evolved over time and experience.
Do we seek to live in a state of institutions and law, or do we prefer a jungle where the strong prey on the poor without accountability?
I lived in Europe for some time. I did not know the ruler—whether he was infidel or Muslim, drunkard or scoundrel, male or female. I did not need to know. Yet I practiced every form and meaning of citizenship there. I was with everyone like the teeth of a comb, united by our humanity and dignity. I prayed and fasted alongside dozens of religions. We laughed together and exchanged ideas with love and humanity, far from the darkness that infects many minds and creates false values. Those who find pleasure in this corrupt and filthy trade, this false glory crafted among hypocrites, fools, and the simple-minded.
What is required of a ruler is to spread justice and security—personal, political, food security, intellectual, spiritual, psychological, social, health, environmental, and service security—not his appearance, worship, or rituals. What is required is for him to care for his subjects, not his beard, fasting, slogans, allegiances, origin, or lineage.
O God, I have spoken; witness it.
And the last of our prayers: Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.
Dr. Ahmed Hisham Hilles
