01/04/2024
01/04/2024
WE remember the story of Prophet Musa (PBUH) and the knight, the old man and the boy. This story teaches us that divine punishment must come to pass regardless.
Such stories come in handy whenever we look back at the previous years, and how some people facilitated bribery, looting of the public money, and oppressed people, in full view of everyone, under the impression that they are the knights of public work and are above the law.
The story begins when Prophet Musa (Moses) went out one day to speak to his Lord, and asked him, “O Lord, how does the weak get their rights from the strong?”
Almighty Allah said to him, “Go in the afternoon to such-and-such place, on such-and-such day to see and learn how the weak get their rights from the strong.”
Prophet Musa went to the place told by Almighty Allah, and saw a waterfall emanating from a mountain. As he sat there in contemplation, a knight came on the back of a camel, as he wanted water. He dismounted, took off his belt, which was hindering his movement, put it aside, drank, washed, then left but had forgotten to take his belt.
Then a young boy came riding a donkey to the waterfall, washed and drank as well. As he was about to leave, his eyes fell on the belt. He took it and opened it to realize it was full of gold, money, and jewelry. He took the belt with him and left.
Shortly after he left, an old man came to drink and wash himself. While he was there, the knight came there and was looking for his belt. When he did not find it, he asked the old man, “Where’s the belt I left here?”
The old man replied, “I don’t know. I didn’t see any belt here”. The knight got angry, drew his sword, and cut off the old man’s head.
Prophet Musa (PBUH) was watching this scene and thinking. He said, “O Lord, this knight has wronged your old slave, the old man”.
The Almighty answered him, “O Musa, the old man had killed the knight’s father a long time ago. As for the boy, his father had worked for the murderer’s father for twenty years, and he did not give him his due. Thus, the latter took his father’s right from the old man, and the boy took his father’s right from the knight.”
This story shows how Almighty Allah gives respite but never neglects, and that divine retribution is certain even if it takes long to come to pass.
Therefore, there are those who believe that they are above the law and retribution, and that they are untouchables, either because of their position, immunity, tribe, sect, or any other matter. Such a person wreaks corruption, whether it is in public funds, institutions, or other things for which he is responsible. In fact, he builds a gang around him, under the belief that by spreading corruption he has become immune to accountability, but all of this becomes a mirage when the hour of reckoning approaches.
In Kuwait, we have witnessed a lot of corruption over the past years, to the point where an honorable person who performs his work honestly is called a “fool” while the thief is referred to as the smart one who knows which side of bread is buttered.
Therefore, the corruption that we have witnessed in the past years cannot be tolerated. The late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad was on point when describing one of the institutions. He said: “Two camels are not enough to carry the corruption found in that institution”. Here he was talking about just one institution, so imagine what the situation would be if it became widespread and even became a feature that stuck to Kuwait globally?
Today, the courts are full of lawsuits against corrupt people, as are the prisons. We are still far from achieving complete justice by punishing those who spread corruption in all state facilities, because they are like contagious viruses.
However, Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran, “This is only the result of your deeds. Allah is not unjust to His slaves.”
Therefore, those who still believe that they are beyond accountability should look at those the hand of law has caught and thrown in prison, the retribution that was imposed on them, and how they have been completely forgotten.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times