In order for this Deen to be established and the trust is fulfilled, the Prophet ﷺ followed – with his Lord’s Revelation – a clear path to change the reality that was drowning in the darkness. It is the light that people wrote and reported its greatness and uniqueness.
The Prophet ﷺ laid down the Shariah foundation that moved Qurayish and changed their thoughts and situations and transferred them from the people of ignorance to leaders of the world, who taught people about the life and spread the good among them. Islam changed them from “the people of ignorance worshipping idols, eating the meat of dead animals, and practicing immorality, and cutting off family ties, and abusing neighbours, and their strong who devoured the weak, to people who follow Tawheed (oneness of Allah) and His worship, and stopped worshipping what they and their forefathers worshipped of stones and idols.
Islam ordered them to be honest in their speech, and look after their trusta (amenah), observe the family ties and good neighbourliness, and stop practicing the prohibited and the shedding of blood, and forbade them from immorality, telling lies, eating the orphan’s money, and stopping defamation of the married women, and ordered them to pray and give Zakat and to fast” (From the sermon of Jaafar bin Abi Talib before the Negus: editing was applied). They live in the darkness, but the light of Islam was brought to them by the Prophet ﷺ and they believed and followed him and took what he ﷺ brought to them fully and did not leave any of it out. They faced torment and sedition in attempts to bring them back to worship idols and to leave the worship of Al-Rahman. They were oppressed and harassed but they did not change, and adhered to their Deen. And how can those who see the light of truth and taste its sweetness return back to live in the darkness of falsehood and taste its bitterness?!
The Prophet ﷺ worked to make his Ummah the best nation that leads and dominates the world. He ﷺ fulfilled the trust and he asked Allah to be his witness «أَلَا هَلْ بَلَّغْتُ اللَّهُمَّ فَاشْهَدْ» “Have I conveyed (the message) O Allah be my witness”.
And he ﷺ left it strong feared by other nations. He ﷺ left it with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet and advised them to adhere to them so as not to fall back into the darkness that he ﷺ brought them out of. «إِنِّي قَدْ تَرَكْتُ فِيكُمْ مَا إِنْ أَخَذْتُمْ بِهِ لَنْ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدَهُ: كِتَابَ اللهِ وُسُنَّةَ نَبِيِّهِ» “I left you with that which if you hold on to, you will never be lost, the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.”
Allah (swt) chose the Ummah of Islam to be the just nation, to implement His law and spread it in the world, so that it will be brought out of the darkness of kufr and ignorance to the light and justice of Islam وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطاً لِتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيداً “And thus we have made you a just community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you.” [Al-Baqara: 143]
Allah characterised this Ummah by carrying the trust, and to call for the good “Islam” and implements and propagates it.
However, in the absence of the State of Islam, which protected it and defended its laws and propagated it, this light subsided, and Islam, the divine order, was removed from governing the life of the Muslims and was replaced by the capitalist civilization, which imposed its corrupt concepts on the Muslims and brought back to the life of ignorance and hardship of living. The Ummah and all humanity returned to the darkness of the limited and incomplete man-made laws. Today, secular concepts have dominated and separated life from the Deen and transformed the Muslim into a man who cares only of this false life that will perish and made him forget the eternal life. It moved man from the lofty life in which he worked to please His Lord to pleasing his desires, and fulfilling his needs and instincts.
The Prophet ﷺ followed a clear way to get people out of darkness into the light. He followed the best methodology that can transform the dark side of life into a bright, shining face. A complete and flawless Divine methodology that is perfect and decreed by Allah (swt) to guide His slaves to the light and teach them the meaning of life يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ “O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. And know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that to Him you will be gathered.” [Al-Anfal: 24]
Today, since the Ummah of Islam has abandoned the Islamic intellectual leadership and the capitalist system imposed its secular leadership on it, the Ummah and humanity in general are suffering many tragedies and their lives, are in terrible darkness and are eager for a glimmer of light that brings them out of it. Thus, until the Ummah returns as a just nation and reclaims its natural place, chosen for it by Allah (swt): The best just leader guiding the rest of the nations, it has to follow the path of the Prophet ﷺ and come out of the darkness of the rotten capitalist system and come back to live under the light of Islam and elevated rules that can solve all the problems of life and provide solutions and allow Muslims to live in prosperity, and to propagate it to the world to reveal this darkness that it lives under.
It is from Allah’s grace and mercy upon the Islamic Ummah that the final message is comprehensive and covers all that Muslims need in their Deen and worldly lives, addressed to all the Worlds until Allah inherits the earth and all that is on it. The objective of the message is the guidance of Allah to man, without limiting the call to one gender, or place; the call of the Prophet ﷺ is addressed to all people, Allah (swt) says: قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعاً “Say, [O Muhammad], “O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all” [Al-A’raf: 158] وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ “And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds” [Al-Anbiya: 107] وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا كَافَّةً لِلنَّاسِ بَشِيراً وَنَذِيراً “And We have not sent you except comprehensively to mankind as a bringer of good tidings and a warner.” [Saba: 28]
Every Muslim must perform his duty to call to Allah and not keep the message to himself only, but to work on guiding others to Allah. This is only under the shade of a state that rules by Islam and works to spread it and carry it to the world, like the work of our master and example peace be upon him.
And because young people are the pioneers of change and they are the category on which the greatest burden is placed upon for the restoration of glory of the Ummah and its merit to be just and be the witness to the world by carrying the light and guidance of Allah, they are the most in need to know the right way and understand the laws of their Deen to carry the call and convey the trust in the best way. In addition to their sincerity, Allah has bestowed these young people with energy and enthusiasm; they may rush to harvest the fruits of their efforts to experience the taste of success in their work and their adherence to the obligation. This may have a negative impact, and they may divert from the correct and straight methodology. And so they have to follow the path of their Prophet ﷺ step by step and to understand His Deen to restore its glory and authority, thus reclaiming the status of the Ummah because it is the only one among the nations that Allah (swt) described as the just nation, a witness to the creation in this world – because of the truth it carries – and will be the witness for other nations on the Day of Resurrection.
It is able to reform itself, and reform others with the guidance it carries of the Book of its Lord and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. كُنْتُمْ خَيْر أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ “You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah. If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient.” [Al-i- Imran: 110]
The work of propagating this light and bringing people out of the darkness to the light is an obligation but guidance in Allah’s hand alone إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ “Indeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills.” [Al-Qasas: 56]
The task of the Dawah carrier is to convey the message, explain and clarify it فَإِنَّمَا عَلَى رَسُولِنَا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ “then upon Our Messenger is only [the duty of] clear notification” [At-Taghabun: 12].
He should exert effort in this work, and this is how he conveys the trust and carries out the obligation. أَفَأَنْتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ “would you compel the people in order that they become believers?” [Yunus: 99]
This is the path of our Prophet ﷺ and his companions (ra) who followed him and became also stars that Ummah is guided by in the darkness of life. The Prophet ﷺ said: «النُّجُومُ أَمَنَةٌ لِلسَّمَاءِ، فَإِذَا ذَهَبَتِ النُّجُومُ أَتَى السَّمَاءَ مَا تُوعَدُ، وَأَنَا أَمَنَةٌ لِأَصْحَابِي، فَإِذَا ذَهَبْتُ أَتَى أَصْحَابِي مَا يُوعَدُونَ، وَأَصْحَابِي أَمَنَةٌ لِأُمَّتِي، فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ أَصْحَابِي أَتَى أُمَّتِي مَا يُوعَدُونَ» “The stars are a source of security for the sky and when the stars disappear there comes to the sky, i. e. (it meets the same fate) as it has been promised (it would plunge into darkness). And I am a source of safety and security to my Companions and when I would go away there would fall to the lot (of my Companions) as they have been promised with and my Companions are a source of security for the Ummah and as they would go there would fall to the lot of my Ummah as (its people) have been promised.” [Muslim]
The call is through three means: Wisdom (which is what Allah has revealed to His Messenger from the Qur’an and Sunnah, which attracts the people of intellect and correct nature), and the good advice (which is what is in the Qur’an and Sunnah of orders to abstain from the evil and what create problems for people, and they are reminded and warned from the wrath of Allah) and to debate for the right intention and with good conduct, (with those who need to understand, it can be through debating, but must be in good conduct, gentle and good speech) as indicated by the Allah (swt) in the verse: ادْعُ إِلَى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُمْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ “Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best” [An-Nahl: 125]
Therefore, enjoining of good and forbidding evil requires that the one who carries it is a model for others, a star that lights the way in front of them to know the true path. Allah (swt) condemns those who says and do not do: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ * كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَقُولُوا مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ “O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? * Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.” [As-Saff: 2-3]
He also has to be sincere and work only for the sake of Allah alone, and he must follow the path of the Messenger and know that the reward is from Allah (swt).
Islam is Allah’s Deen which He chose for the people and obliged it as the intellectual leadership to lead their lives in security and tranquility – Muslims or non-Muslims – and those who are governed by the rules of the Creator live in safety and security. أَلَا لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالأَمْرُ “Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command” [Al-A’raf: 54]
It should be noted that the implementation of Islam has to be complete and comprehensive, without compromising any of its rules وَاحْذَرْهُمْ أَنْ يَفْتِنُوكَ عَنْ بَعْضِ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللهُ إِلَيْكَ “…and beware of them, lest they tempt you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you.” [Al-Ma’ida: 49]
We have in the Messenger of Allah an example and a model, as he did not give up any of the rules of Allah, despite what he and his companions suffered from the torture and injustice of Quraysh, and did not compromise despite the temptations. He explained to us how to call for this light that Allah sent as guidance and mercy to the worlds.
In his seerah, through which we learn how to restore this Deen and its status and how to preserve it and defend it with the precious and good. We have learned how Islam is a compass that shows us the proper way to live safely and survive the great storms caused by the concepts of the kafir Western civilization that brought us back to living in terrible, terrifying darkness. The Prophet ﷺ taught us that our Ummah- with what Allah bestowed of legislation- is the only Ummah capable of bringing humanity out of this cycle in which it is lost and burdened by the problems that are exacerbated and that increase day by day which the man-made system is unable to resolve. Allah made this Ummah a just Ummah to guide people to the light to live by it and implement the rules of Islam, which is the basis for measuring things and the weighting of things and solve problems. He ﷺ taught us that Allah’s Shariah alone can run the life of the creation and that all other systems will make us return to darkness and far from the light and guidance of Allah.
Let every sincere person roll up his sleeve and strive for the return of the Khilafah state (Caliphate), which will bring together the diaspora of Muslims and resume life with this light and rule them with it. Let them do everything in their power to bring it back to life after the capitalist system has taken it away and threw people into the darkness in order to shine again. And the Ummah regains its glory and might and takes the place that its Creator chose for it and honoured it by: the just nation!
Zeina As-Samit