Being Defeated an evidence for Deviation?

Answered by: Shaykh Turki ibn Mubarak al-Bin’ali (Abu Sufyan as-Sulami)

Question: Is defeat considered evidence of having a deviation in Manhaj?

Answer: Materialistic or military defeat, in a battle or in battles, is not evidence of having a deviation in Manhaj or having a mistake in the path, as some people might misunderstand. The Awliya and the prophets might be tested, Allah said, “And these days (of varying conditions) We alternate among the people.” [3:140] Imaam ibn Kathir said regarding this Ayah, “We allow the enemy to overcome you sometimes, though the final outcome is for you, due to what We have of wisdom regarding that.”

In “Sahih Muslim,” from ‘Abdillah ibn ‘Amr that he said, “Prophet (saws) said, ‘There is no raiding party that raids, retrieves ghanimah, and returns safely except that they have hastened a third of their rewards. And there is no raiding party that raids, loses ground, and is wounded except that they receive all of their rewards.’”

And Imaam Ahmad, and others, have narrated from ‘Abdillah ibn Salamah that he said, “I have seen ‘Ammar (ibn Yasir) on the Day of Siffin; an old man, brown and tall, and the spear in his hands is trembling while saying: ‘By He whom my soul is in His Hand, I have fought with it with the Messenger of Allah (saws) three times and this is the fourth, and if they fight us, until they push us back to the leaves of Hajar, I would have known that we are on haqq and they are on baatil.’”

And the Prophet (saws) informed us, as in the two books of authentic Ahadith, the story of the boy and that he became victorious once he was killed, along with him the people of the Trench; they were all killed. No one dare say that was because of a deviation in their Manhaj, or because of some evil in their actions.

Also in the two books of authentic Ahadith, from Anas ibn Malik (ra) that Haram ibn Milhan, who is the uncle of Anas from the side of his mother, was stabbed and (then) took his blood with his hand and threw it on his head and proclaimed: “I have won by the Lord of Ka’bah!”

And how beautiful is what Shaykhul-Islam ibn Taymiyah said when he stated, “What can my enemies do to me? My Jannah and Garden are in my chest, wherever I may roam they are with me, not departing me. Prison is a chance for seclusion (with Allah), my death is shahadah, and them kicking me out from my land is siyahah.”

The real victory is being firm upon the ‘Aqeedah until death, so that if the last part ends, and the crowd of hypocrites clap, my shoe will remain above the heads, if my head is hung on the gallows, and Allahul musta’an.