Today, the Muslims are facing tyrannical rulers who are armed with the weapons of fear and force. In Syria, Washington is orchestrating a war that is a world war in all but name, mobilizing all the forces it can muster, from Russia, to its regional agents that include Iran and Turkey. It is a barbaric war which has employed barrel bombs, sieges, toxic chlorine gas and white phosphorous. The Muslim World, from Jordan to Pakistan, is awakening to its true purpose on this earth, which is the cause of Islam. As a result the current rulers have mobilized their thugs as never before against the callers to Islam and its Khilafah. In a last ditch bid to halt the inevitable return of Islam as a state, the tyrants are implementing new oppressive laws that extend to even Islamic expression on the internet, surveillance, arrest, interrogation and torture.
Yet, despite all their wielding of the weapons of force and fear, the current rulers and their masters from the people of Kufr will fail to prevent the rise of the Ummah. The tyrants believe that using force and spreading fear will dissuade or even stop the Muslims in their powerful movement for Islam. However, they are deluding themselves, estimating the Ummah as if she were of their own lowly disposition, that of clinging to this fleeting life, fearing any loss of comfort, luxury or life. Indeed, the weapons of fear and force are ineffective before men and women of Imaan, who through their love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and His Messenger ﷺ will not be overwhelmed by either.
The people of Kufr estimate that if they all gather against the Muslims, as they have done in Syria, they will overwhelm them and cause them to relinquish their commitment to Islam. The agents of the West in the Muslim world similarly use this fear to seek to dissuade the armed forces from giving Nussrah for the Khilafah, warning that upon its re-establishment, the Khilafah will have to face the entire world in its hostility. However, for the Muslims the gathering of the enemies against them does not incite fear, rather it consolidates Imaan in their hearts that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is sufficient for them. Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,
الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ
“Those to whom hypocrites said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.”
(Surah Aali Imran 3:173)
As for facing the Kuffar on the battlefield, the Muslim armed forces throughout the ages overwhelmed forces far greater in number, propelled by the promise of martyrdom or victory.
قُلْ هَلْ تَتَربَّصُونَ بِنَا إِلاَّ إِحْدَى الْحُسْنَيَيْنِ وَنَحْنُ نَتَرَبَّصُ بِكُمْ أَنْ يُصِيبَكُمُ اللَّهُ بِعَذَابٍ مِنْ عِنْدِهِ أَوْ بِأَيْدِينَا فَتَرَبَّصُوا إِنَّا مَعَكُمْ مُتَرَبِّصُونَ
“Say, “Do you await for us except one of the two best things (victory or martyrdom) while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with punishment from Himself or at our hands? So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting.”
(Surah At-Tawba 9:52)
Allah سبحانه وتعالى exhorted the believers to fight the disbelievers whilst emphasizing,
أَتَخْشَوْنَهُمْ فَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَخْشَوْهُ إِنْ كُنتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ
“Do you fear them, Allah is more worthy to be fearful of, if you are Believers.”
(Surah At-Tawba 9:13)
And RasulAllah ﷺ clarified that even the entire world is not enough wealth for the one who has felt the pleasure of martyrdom, saying,
«مَا أَحَدٌ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ، يُحِبُّ أَنْ يَرْجِعَ إِلَى الدُّنْيَا وَلَهُ مَا عَلَى الأَرْضِ مِنْ شَىْءٍ، إِلاَّ الشَّهِيدُ، يَتَمَنَّى أَنْ يَرْجِعَ إِلَى الدُّنْيَا فَيُقْتَلَ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ، لِمَا يَرَى مِنَ الْكَرَامَةِ»
“Nobody who enters Paradise likes to go back to the world even if he got everything on the earth, except a Mujahid who wishes to return to the world so that he may be martyred ten times because of the dignity he receives (from Allah).” [Bukhari]
Force and fear are ineffective in silencing the voices of the Muslims because Islam establishes the conviction that life and sustenance and wealth are in the hands of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and that the loss of either is in the exclusive control of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Al-Hai, Ar-Razaaq. So the threats of the regimes’ thugs with respect to striking at the means of livelihood of the Dawah Carriers, imprisoning them or even threatening their lives does not work. RasulAllah ﷺ said,
«أَلَا لَا يَمْنَعَنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ رَهْبَةُ النَّاسِ أَنْ يَقُولَ بِحَقٍّ إِذَا رَآهُ أَوْ شَهِدَهُ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يُقَرِّبُ مِنْ أَجَلٍ وَلَا يُبَاعِدُ مِنْ رِزْقٍ»
“Do not fear the people from speaking the Truth, when it is witnessed or seen, for it will neither shorten the life span nor cause loss in Rizq.” [Ahmad]
Such a fearless disposition before force is clarified by Allah سبحانه وتعالى and His Messenger ﷺ in the numerous accounts of the previous Prophets (as), facing the tyrants of their time. As for RasulAllah ﷺ himself, he ﷺ personally marched onwards despite the pelting and wounding by stones, the strangulation and the attempted assassination. And following his ﷺ example we remember how noble Sahaba (ra) bravely stood against Yazeed for his violation of Islam. Yazeed did not come to power with a legitimate Bayah of consent and choice and so they moved fearlessly against the one who usurped the authority, for that is the right of the Ummah granted by Allah سبحانه وتعالى and His Messenger ﷺ. Seeing this brave and righteous stand, the Muslims rallied around the Sahaba (ra), enduring hardship, giving sacrifices and embracing martyrdom in a manner that has been praised throughout the ages. So how must we be at a time when the current rulers have not only usurped the authority, they rule openly by Kufr, collaborate unreservedly with our enemies and fight all those who raise the Dawah to Islam?
No, the advocates of the Khilafah do not yield through fear or force, for they are the ones who raise their hands in Dua for protection from cowardice and being overwhelmed by mere mortal men. RasulAllah ﷺ said,
«اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَالْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ، وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ، وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ»
“O Allah! I seek refuge with You from worry and grief, from incapacity and laziness, from cowardice and miserliness, from being heavily in debt and from being overpowered by (other) men.” [Bukhari]
No, they do not yield for they are men and women who are able to act with reason and will not allow it to be clouded by fear. They are ever mindful that fear plays on the mind and cripples its capability, as the Arabic wisdom states الذي تلدغه الأفعى يخشى من الحبل “The one bitten by a snake, fears the rope.” So, they do not allow fear to make the plea for caution an excuse for inaction. They know that caution is to prevent unnecessary harm but it is not to stop action altogether. They know well that RasulAllah ﷺ did not ever deviate from his call or lessen its ferocity through caution. This was despite all the force that the Quraysh used against him ﷺ and his noble Companions (ra). Caution was used only in its place and can be seen in how RasuAllah ﷺ meticulously planned the Hijrah to Madinah. He used caution and secrecy in securing the Second Bayah from the Ansaar of Madinah, which secured Nussrah (Material Support) for the implementation of Islam, such that the matter was hidden from the Quraysh. As for his Hijrah towards Madinah once the Nussrah had been secured, caution was exercised to conceal his movement from the Quraysh, to the point of leaving someone in his bed, changing directions and covering tracks. So, today the Dawa Carrier that is seeking to establish the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood must follow his ﷺ footsteps exactly, using caution to progress wisely and with sure-footedness and never as an excuse to retreat.
It is the brave stance in front of fear and force that has demoralized the current rulers of Muslims. It has opened for them the realization that their defeat is impending. They realize more than ever before that they possess nothing of Truth by which to defeat the call to the Truth. They despair that they possess nothing of promise and reward by which to motivate their thugs, who are stretched beyond their resources in their mad folly to police the entire Ummah at a time the Muslims are awakening wherever they are found. All the tyrants had as weapons are fear and force and when they faced those who succumb to neither, they were made to realize that their end is nearing. Fearless and undaunted, the Dawah Carriers continue as before, or even quicken their steps, making the thugs realize, as the Quraysh did before them, that their efforts are in vain.
Be assured, O Muslims, those who employ the weapon of fear will fail, because they are dealing with an Ummah that believes in the promise of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that after their fear, they will be given security, should they believe and do righteous deeds.
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا
“Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security.”
(Surah An Nur 24:55)
Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir said that,هذا وعد من الله لرسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم. بأنه سيجعل أمته خلفاء الأرض، أي: أئمة الناس والولاة عليهم، وبهم تصلح البلاد، وتخضع لهم العباد، وليبدلن بعد خوفهم من الناس أمنا وحكما فيهم وقد فعل تبارك وتعالى ذلك “This is a promise from Allah – the Most High – to His Messenger, may the prayers of Allah and the peace be upon him, that He will make his Ummah the khulafa’ (successors) upon the earth. Meaning that they will be the leaders and rulers over mankind, by which nations will be corrected and to whom mankind will submit. And that He will replace their state of fear in which they lived, to one of security and dominion.”
Be assured, O Muslims, those who employ the weapon of force will fail, because they are dealing with Muslims who are striving for the glad tidings of RasulAllah ﷺ, who declared that the rule of force will make way for the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood. RasulAllah ﷺ said,
«ثُمَّ تَكُونُ مُلْكًا جَبْرِيَّةً فَتَكُونُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَكُونَ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةً عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ ثُمَّ سَكَتَ»
“Then there will be an oppressive rule, and things will be as Allah wishes them to be. Then Allah will end it when He wishes. Then there will be a Khilafah on the Method of Prophethood. Then he fell silent.” (Ahmad).
Be assured, O Muslims, and quicken your steps for the little distance that remains for victory.
Musab Umair – Pakistan