The Obligation to Support Muslims
July 30, 2025
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I pray and give peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all his companions. As for what follows:
Allah the Almighty says in His noble book:
وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا
"And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided." (Al-Imran: 103)
The support of Muslims for one another is among the rights that Allah the Almighty has made obligatory upon them. From Ibn Umar - may Allah be pleased with them both - he said: The Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - said:
"The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim; he does not wrong him nor does he abandon him. Whoever is in need of his brother, Allah will be in his need. Whoever relieves a Muslim of distress, Allah will relieve him of distress from the distresses of the Day of Resurrection. Whoever conceals a Muslim, Allah will conceal him on the Day of Resurrection." Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and Ahmad.
A clear and explicit hadith has come regarding the obligation to support the Muslim. From Anas ibn Malik, he said: The Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - said:
"Support your brother whether he is an oppressor or oppressed."
A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, I support him when he is oppressed, but what if he is an oppressor, how do I support him?" He said:
"You restrain him or prevent him from oppression, for that is his support." Narrated by Bukhari.
Indeed, support in its comprehensive meaning means lifting oppression. The Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - came to bring people out from the darkness of oppression and ignorance to the light of justice and knowledge. For this reason, he made support for the Muslim in all cases obligatory, whether he was an oppressor by restraining him and returning him to the truth, or by helping him if he was oppressed and taking rights for him from others. He made that among the obligatory rights.
Allah says:
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ
"The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers." (Al-Hujurat: 10)
It has come in the hadith from the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - that he said:
"No person abandons a Muslim man in a place where his sanctity is violated and his honor is diminished, except that Allah will abandon him in a place where he would love His support. And no person supports a Muslim in a place where his honor is diminished and his sanctity is violated, except that Allah will support him in a place where he loves His support." The hadith was narrated by Abu Dawud and it is good.
Positions of Supporting Muslims
1. Al-Tabarani extracted in his great Musnad from Ya'qub ibn Utbah that Abu Jahl confronted the Messenger of Allah at As-Safa and harmed him. Hamza was a hunter and on that day he was hunting. When he returned, his wife told him - and she had seen what Abu Jahl did to the Messenger of Allah -: "O Abu Umarah, if you had seen what he did" - meaning Abu Jahl - "to your nephew." Hamza became angry and went as he was before entering his house, with his bow hanging on his neck, until he entered the mosque and found Abu Jahl in a gathering of Quraysh. He did not speak to him until he struck his head with his bow and wounded him. Men from Quraysh stood up to Hamza to restrain him from him, so Hamza said: "My religion is the religion of Muhammad. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. By Allah, I will not turn away from that, so prevent me from that if you are truthful." When Hamza - may Allah be pleased with him - became Muslim, the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - and the Muslims were strengthened by him, and some of their affairs were established, and Quraysh became afraid and knew that Hamza would protect him.
2. From Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-As - may Allah be pleased with them both - he said: A man came seeking help to the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - and said his slave girl, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Woe to you, what is wrong with you?" He said: "Evil, he saw his master's slave girl and became jealous, so he castrated his private parts." The Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - said: "Bring me the man." He was sought but could not be found. The Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - said: "Go, you are free." He said: "O Messenger of Allah, upon whom is my support?" He said: "Upon every believer" or he said: "every Muslim." [Narrated by Abu Dawud and authenticated by Al-Albani].
The positions in this are many, and the hadiths encouraging mutual support are also many. What concerns us through this topic is: How do we support and cooperate among ourselves as Muslims?! Especially at a time when the alienation of the Muslim has increased, evil, corruption and oppression have multiplied, and nations have gathered against us. What is obligatory upon us:
Our Obligations
1. Supporting the Muslim mujahideen everywhere with money and soul as much as we are able to do so. Likewise, we pray for them if we are not able to do the above, for supplication is a great act of worship.
2. Defending the Muslim and defending him when his honor is violated, or when he is mentioned badly in his absence. It should be said to whoever mentions him badly: "Fear Allah and be silent from saying evil." If he remains silent about it, otherwise he should get up from his presence and leave him, for this is among the support that a Muslim provides to his brother.
3. When a Muslim is oppressed in money or land or other than that, it becomes obligatory to support him and stand with him until he takes his right in full. Therefore, we must support our people in Palestine in repelling the oppressor and confronting him in any form, even if it is through social media programs, for it is a weapon that has brought down nations and raised nations.
I thank you for your kind listening, and may you be well every year.