Narrated jaabir bn Abdullah [RA] who said that Allaah's Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said;
"Beware of committing oppression for on the Day of Resurrection oppression will be darkness, and beware of avarice for avarice destroyed those who came before you, it led them into shedding blood and into making lawful that which was forbidden."[Muslim]
Oppression is of two types:
[1] A person oppressing his own soul
[2] His oppressing others
Both forms of Oppression are forbidden by Allaah, the One free and far removed from all imperfections. So a person oppressing his own soul causes him to feel at home with his sins and to commit them, and causes him to abandon acts of obedience to Allaah. With regards to oppressing others, it is by violating their lights, by behaving unjustly in dealing with them, and by lowering their status in order to raise owns own! On top of this, what oppression is worse than attributing partners to Allaah in ones worship?
And we seek Allaah's refuge from that!
Oppression is, furthermore, the key to sins, since if a person refrains from oppression his heart becomes tender and his certainty increases, whereas oppression will cause sins to take hold of him and corrupt him so that his tongue becomes venomous snake ready with poison and harm, lies with fabrication filled with envy and malice. The true Muslim is far removed from this.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited