YEARS AGO, A visiting scholar narrated a short Arabic fable. It remains relevant because many Muslims still ignore the lesson: people are judged by what they do, not by what they say or display.
Two birds notice their companion is missing. They search until they find him captured by a hunter, locked in a cage. From a distance, they watch the hunter sharpen a knife on a stone. He approaches the cage, grips the bird, and raises the blade to kill him.
Then his face changes.
The hunter’s expression softens. His eyes fill with tears. He looks at the bird with apparent compassion and begins to cry. Still holding the knife, still restraining the bird, he brings the blade to the bird’s neck and kills it, while weeping.
One bird says, “Look at this man. He has such a soft heart.”
The other replies, “Do not look at his face. Look at his hands.”
The Qur’an warns against exactly this kind of deception:
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُۥ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا فِى قَلْبِهِۦ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ ٱلْخِصَامِ
وَإِذَا تَوَلَّىٰ سَعَىٰ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ ٱلْحَرْثَ وَٱلنَّسْلَ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْفَسَادَ
There are some who impress you with their views regarding worldly affairs and openly call upon Allah to witness what is in their hearts, yet they are your worst adversaries. And when they leave (you), they strive throughout the land to spread mischief in it and destroy crops and cattle. Allah does not like mischief. (al Baqarah 204-5)
Beautiful words. Religious language. Public emotion. And then, harm.
Allah does not tell us to judge sincerity by tone or tears. He tells us to look at what happens when someone has power.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, actions are only by intentions.” (Bukhari)
We should not misunderstand this to excuse wrongdoing. It also means that true intentions are exposed through action. When decisions consistently produce injustice, suffering, and repression, the intention has been made clear, regardless of what is said.
So in politics, Muslims must stop being impressed by speeches, statements, condolences, or symbolic gestures. What matters is what leaders actually do or enact once they are in control.
Who do they imprison?
Who do they silence?
Who do they protect?
Who do they sell out?
If the hands are committing injustice, the tears are irrelevant.
Consider a few patterns we see today:
- Leaders who speak constantly about Islam, stability, or unity, while imprisoning scholars, banning peaceful dissent, and criminalising basic political participation. The language is religious or nationalist; the actions are repression.
- Governments that issue strong statements about Palestine or the Uyghurs, while maintaining security cooperation, trade, or diplomatic normalisation with those actively oppressing them. The speeches condemn injustice; the enacted behaviour sustains it.
- Rulers who present themselves as defenders of the Ummah, while enabling mass surveillance, torture, or collective punishment of their own Muslim populations. The rhetoric invokes safety; the reality is fear.
- States that host Islamic conferences and quote Qur’an publicly, while enforcing laws that crush civil society, silence journalists, and exile critics. Islam is displayed; injustice is enacted.
None of this is hidden. None of it is accidental. And none of it can be excused by emotional displays, carefully worded statements, or selective religious symbolism.
The Messenger ﷺ warned us: “The believer is not stung from the same hole twice.” (Bukhari)
Yet Muslims keep being stung, because we keep watching faces instead of hands.
The Standard Islam Demands
Islam does not ask you to guess what is in someone’s heart. It asks you to observe what their action produces and judge that according to Islam.
If a leader’s actions consistently harm Muslims, suppress justice, or serve oppressors, then their intentions are no longer a mystery, no matter how often they cry, pray, or quote scripture.
Look at what they do. Look at what they enact. Everything else is theatre.
Living For Islam 