People are only ever equal when they are all as ignorant as each other or as bad as each other.
Supplication or the Sword? [oppressive rulers]
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
If people called on Allāh when put to trial because of their rulers, Allāh would relieve their suffering; but instead they resorted to the sword, so they were left to it. And not one day of good did they bring. Then he recited (Quran 7: 137): And the good word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel, for the patience and perseverance they had, and We destroyed the works of Pharaoh and his people and what they had erected. Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Al-Tafsīr no. 8897.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Al-Tafsīr no. 8897.
Also read
Related sayings.
Another prohibition from the Salaf against sitting and debating with the people of bid’ah.
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said: One who acts without knowledge is like one who travels off the path; and the one who acts without knowledge corrupts more than he rectifies. So seek knowledge in a way that does not harm your worship, and seek to worship […]