O Allah, treat harshly those who have any charge over my Ummah and treat them harshly, and treat gently those who have any charge over my Ummah and treat them gently

Explanation

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated against anyone who takes charge of some affairs of the Muslims, be they little or significant, and whether his authority is public or a private and specific one, and he puts them into difficulty and does not treat them gently, that Allah Almighty give him recompense of the same type of his action: putting him into difficulty. And he supplicated for anyone who takes charge over the Muslims and treats them gently and makes things easy for them that Allah treat him gently and make things easy for him.

Lessons

• Whoever assumes any authority over the Muslims should treat them as gently as he can.
• Recompense is of the same type as the deed.
• The criterion governing whether something is considered to be harsh or gentle is that it should not contradict the Qur’an and the Sunnah.