Some secondary school bullies in the early 80s

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Imam Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymin, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

A Muslim is obligated to feel honoured in his religion, to be proud of his religion and adhere strictly to the guidelines ordained by Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, within this upright religion that Allah has chosen for His servants. He should neither add to nor subtract from it. What is also obligated to a Muslim is that he should not be [إمَّعَةً –  a yes-man] who follows everyone that screams; instead, his character should be in accordance with Allah’s Shariah, aiming to be one who is emulated (in righteousness) and not a follower (in evil), and to serve as a role model rather than merely imitating others. This is because Allah’s Shariah – all praise and thanks be to Allah – is complete in every aspect, as stated in the verse:

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلامَ دِيناً

This day I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion. [Al-Ma’idah 3] [Majmu Fatawa 2/301]

This above statement of the Imam evokes memories of the secondary school bullies, who, while not physically threatening, were exceedingly cunning in their pursuit of divide-and-conquer strategies or in their relentless quest to indulge their insatiable desire for dominance.

One of their strategies for instilling guilt was to declare, “You lack intelligence; you are merely a” tale” or a” yes boy.” They attempted to provide numerous justifications for their negative portrayal of you, ultimately concluding with, “I am no longer your friend,” unless you acquiesced to their unfounded criticisms of others. Their goal was to make you plead for friendship. They aimed to undermine your belief in truth, and did whatever it took to make you their “yes-boy”, while falsely accusing of being the “yes boy” of others. The greatest error made by classmates was when they finally yielded to someone who excelled at making others feel guilty for doing the right thing.

The reason for this is that once they submitted, these opportunists had the opportunity to inundate them with additional propaganda. If they disagree with them again, they could argue more convincingly that you are simply a “yes man”, as they perceive you to be someone who changes your stance whenever it benefits you. In addition, they were never been content with peace, even when you offered assistance in reconciling with others; instead, they desired your allegiance in during lunch time to either fulfill their divide and conquer tactics or to satisfy their insatiable desire for control.

They excelled at making others feel incapable of making their own choices, trying to persuade them that they lack the self-confidence to do so. Another significant error made by some classmates when interacting with such individuals is their pursuit of an illusory self-preservation and the anxiety linked to perceived threats of isolation, rather than focusing exclusively on the facts. Once these fears took hold, the opportunists managed to motivate them through personal gain, leading them to deliberately choose to ingratiate themselves and support these opportunists at the cost of their good relationships values, or principles.