DHÂLİM - ظالم

Literally: Unjust, barbarous, cruel, or oppressive; a tyrant. One who does not place a thing in its rightful place.

Etymology: Derived from the Arabic root dh-l-m (ظ - ل – م), dhâlim etymologically signifies "placing a thing in other than its rightful place" or violating rights. Sharing a deep semantic link with dhulmah (darkness), it denotes veiling the haqq, overstepping Allah’s boundaries, and plunging into ma’nawî darkness by deviation from as-sirât al-mustaqîm.

As an Islamic Term: The one who perpetrates dhulm by transgressing the Sharî’ah, which defines the sacred limits ordained by Allah, denying the rights of the Creator and His creation, and knowingly deviating from as-sirât al-mustaqîm.

Through the decree of 1 وَلاَ تَرْكَنُوا اِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ, the noble âyah terrifyingly and severely threatens, not only those who support dhulm and are the tools of it but also those who incline slightly towards it. For, just as consenting to kufr is kufr, so too, consenting to dhulm is dhulm.

Thus, one of the people of perfection perfectly interpreted one of the many jewels of this âyah as follows:

One who assists a dhâlim in the world is the man of despicableness

That is a dog who receives pleasure from serving the unjust hunter.

The Twenty-Eighth Letter - The Fourth Matter which is the Fourth Risale

Third Question: What is the reason for this calamity, which arises from the wrongdoings of some individuals, taking the form of a general calamity in the country to a degree?

The Answer: From the point of general calamity being aroused from the wrongdoings of the majority, since most people, in a ma’nawî manner, participate in the actions of those dhâlim individuals by supporting them through their actions, by having iltizâm for the actions of those dhâlim individuals, or by joining them, they cause the general calamity.

The Addendum to The Fourteenth Word-Third Question