39 Preface وَالَّذينَ إِذا أَصابَهُمُ البَغيُ هُم يَنتَصِرونَYusuf AliAnd those who, when an oppressive wrong is inflicted on them, (are not cowed but) help and defend themselves.1This follows from the high value attached to an individual soul’s Personality in Islam. Cf. last note. There are four possible situations that may arise: an individual may have to stand up against an oppressor (1) for his own trampled rights, or (2) for the rights of other within his ken; or (3) a community may have similarly to stand up for its own rights collectively; or (4) for the rights of others. Nos. 2, 3. and 4 are considered highly meritorious for all, though few have the courage or the spirit to rise to so high a standard. No. 1 is specially liable to abuse on account of man’s selfishness; Nos. 2, 3 and 4 are also abused by men pretending to motives of public good when they are serving their own personal interests or idiosyncrasies; hence the qualifications mentioned in the next four verses and the notes thereto.