LEADERS OF THE EVIL'S ALLIANCE

In the Qur'an, God states that the doers of mischief on earth, who are struggling to hinder believers from their noble cause, are guided by certain people who are, in Qur'anic terms, called the "the chiefs of the nation". A close read of the Qur'an reveals that such leaders existed in every society and throughout history. These people attempted to provoke the masses against believers and, deriving power from their prosperity and social status, remained arrogant, aggressive and unyielding. In the face of these leaders' apparent grandeur, based on wealth and temporal power, people generally feared them, and out of this fear, followed their way. As the Qur'an informs, however, complying with these people, and putting one's trust in them without listening to the voice of one's conscience, will be a reason to be dragged into hellfire. God explains this fact in His verses as follows:

We sent Moses with Our Signs and clear authority to Pharaoh and his ruling circle. They followed Pharaoh's command but Pharaoh's command was not rightly guided. (Surah Hud: 96-97)

We made them leaders, summoning to the Fire, and on the Day of Rising they will not be helped. We pursued them with a curse in this world and on the Day of Rising they will be hideous and spurned. (Surat al-Qasas: 41-42)

Those causing unrest and corruption in society are some of the people who hold power and wealth. This is expressed in a verse as follows:

When We desire to destroy a city, We send a command to the affluent in it and they become deviant in it and the Word is justly carried out against it and We annihilate it completely. (Surat al-Isra': 16)

And Thus have We placed leaders in every town, its wicked men, to plot in it. They plot against themselves alone, but they are not aware of it. (Surat al-An'am: 123)

When we talk about the leaders of a society, the first thing that occurs to our mind is the wealth they hold, and the power they wield through such wealth. These people, who maintain under their control some of the most important institutions that constitute the social structure of societies, can thus indoctrinate masses without difficulty and impose on them their life style and outlook which is far removed from Qur'anic values. Another method they use is to intimidate the good by way of their power. This trait in leaders is stated in the following verse:

No one had belief in Moses except for a few of his people out of fear that Pharaoh, and the elders, would persecute them. Pharaoh was high and mighty in the land. He was one of the profligate. (Surah Yunus: 83)

The masterminds of this evil alliance and those directing it are actually those leaders who have influence over the masses. Coming together, these leaders ally against the good; and scheme to defeat them or to render them ineffective. In their endeavour, they receive help from those people sharing the same views. A story about Moses in the Qur'an provides examples: 

A man came running from the furthest part of the city, saying, 'Moses, the Council are conspiring to kill you, so leave! I am someone who brings you good advice.' (Surat al-Qasas: 20)

So Pharaoh went away and concocted his scheme and then he arrived. (Surah Ta ha: 60)

As these verses also state, the leaders of the evil ones gather and take decisions against the good, and enhance their alliance by bringing together those whom they hope to use against the good. Throughout history, those following the evil alliance, either out of fear, timidity or by being impressed by its power, followed the leaders of the evil. For instance, those who were ruthless enough to massacre millions of innocent people under the command of leaders like the Pharaoh, Mao, Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, or those who joined terrorist groups and killed people, would also maintain that they committed such acts because they feared the cruelty of their leaders or were impressed by their power. In this world, there may be some people who may be fooled by their insincere explanations. In the hereafter, however, these explanations will be rendered useless. Such is the ultimate end of the wicked and their leaders:

He (God) will say, 'Enter the Fire together with the nations of jinn and men who have passed away before you.' Each time a nation enters, it will curse its sister nation, until, when they are all gathered together in it, the last of them will say to the first, 'Our Lord, those are the ones who misguided us, so give them a double punishment in the Fire.' He will say, 'Each will receive double. But you do not know it.' The first of them will say to the last, 'You are in no way superior to us so taste the punishment for what you earned.' As for those who deny Our Signs and are arrogant regarding them, the Gates of Heaven will not be opened for them, and they will not enter the Garden until a camel goes through a needle's eye. That is how We repay the evildoers. (Surat al-A'raf: 38-40)

However, the power held by the leaders of the disbelievers would then bring neither benefit nor harm to them or the people following them. The possessor of all might and property is our Lord, God. No one can do any good or any harm to another person unless by the Will of God. Throughout history, believers having faith in this truth remained neither under the influence of Pharaoh, nor Nimrod, nor any other evil leader. Fearing God alone, they always sought God's good pleasure and firmly guarded against evil. For instance, in the Qur'an God informs us that the majority of the people of Moses feared the cruelty of the Pharaoh and his immediate circle, and hence, did not submit to the right path. Only a few young people took sides with Moses. Similarly, the magicians assigned by Pharaoh to hatch a plot against the prophet Moses (as) saw the truth and immediately followed him. Pharaoh's threats did not alter the belief of these brave and faithful followers. The good conduct of the magicians is told in the Qur'an:

The magicians threw themselves down in prostration. They said, 'We believe in the Lord of all the worlds, the Lord of Moses and Aaron.' Pharaoh said, 'Have you believed in him before I authorised you to do so? This is just some plot you have concocted in the city to drive its people from it. I will cut off your alternate hands and feet and then I will crucify every one of you.' They said, 'We are returning to our Lord. You are only avenging yourself on us because we believed in our Lord's Signs when they came to us. Our Lord, pour down steadfastness upon us and take us back to You as Muslims.' (Surat al-A'raf: 120-126)

As these verses make clear, no condition, threat, or attack, can hinder the alliance of those who are sincere and conscientious. In the same way as the wicked have leaders luring them to wickedness, insolence, and ultimately to hell, so the good have people guiding them to the truth, to the good pleasure of God, and God's compassion and Paradise. Some verses make mention of those who summon people to goodness:

And in addition to that We gave him Isaac and Jacob and made both of them righteous men. We made them leaders, guiding by Our command, and revealed to them how to do good actions and establish prayer and pay alms, and they worshipped Us. (Surat al-Anbiya': 72-73)

We appointed leaders from among them, guiding by Our command when they were steadfast and when they had certainty about Our Signs. (Surat as-Sajda: 24)

These were the righteous people who throughout their lives summoned mankind to faith and the right path of God.