With this approach, and by these means, will freedom from the enslavement of the unbelievers be secured – by Allāh’s permission.

The Believers Described

Allāh – the blessed, the Most High – says, whilst describing the qualities of the believers:

“The Believers, men, and women, are protectors of one another.”¹

“Indeed, the Believers are but brothers.”²

The Prophet ﷺ describing them said: “The Believer is a mirror to the Believer. The Believer is a brother to the Believer. Guarding him against loss and protecting him in his absence.”³

He ﷺ also said:

“The Believer to the Believer is like a solid building, one part supporting the other.”⁴

“Therefore – O brother – you are a mirror for your brother and a brick from amongst the bricks in the wall – being built upon the brotherhood of īmān (faith).”⁵ There is no doubt that this bond of īmān which is established upon the two great pillars of correct ʿaqīdah (belief) and correct manhaj (methodology), necessitates that: “We all work together as required by Islām as sincere brothers – not due to partisanship, nor sectarianism – in order to realize that which is of benefit to the Islamic Ummah and to establish the Islamic society that every Muslim aspires for, such that the Sharīʿah (law) of Allāh is applied upon His earth.” ⁶“And the enemies of Islām know , that this overall unity and this comprehensive way to be followed, agreement within the Ummah having a single ʿaqīdah and manhaj that they follow, is the reason for its honour, strength and impregnability – so they worked to destroy and annihilate it completely.”⁷

Concern for the Muslim Ummah

“Allāh – the most Perfect, Most High – has made the believers a mercy and helpers towards each other – which is why the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “The example of the Believers in their mutual love and mercy is like the example of a body. If one part feels pain, then all of it is affected by sickness and fever.” ⁸“⁹

“Indeed, if a person does not have affairs of the Muslims then this, in reality, is a deficiency in ones Islām.”¹⁰ Since how is it possible for the one in whose heart īmān has taken root, and whose allegiance is to and for the Muslims, not to feel anguish and pain for them and their present state of affairs – their trials, tribulations and torture. However, this does not mean preoccupation with western politics and drowning oneself in the abyss of its lies, deceptions and disbelief. Rather, what is obligatory, is to pursue the politics of the Sharīʿah – which is to protect and take care of the affairs of the affairs of the Ummah.” ¹¹

The Prerequisites for Victory

Returning to this Ummah its honour strength and impregnability cannot begin without the Muslims first “preparing themselves for this, by returning to their Lord, holding fast to His Book, following the Sunnah of his Prophet, keeping away from His prohibitions, whilst uniting upon that which is pleasing to Him – the Most Perfect, the Most High.”¹² All of which is to be based upon mutual co-operation for and upon the truth; as Allāh the Most High says:

“And advise one another to the truth and advise one another to patience.”¹³

“Help you one another in righteousness and piety; but do not help one another in sin and transgression.”¹⁴

“So co-operating in righteous, piety and mutual advising necessitates daʿwah (calling) to what is good and helping in that; as well warning each other against evil and not co-operating with the wicked.”¹⁵ This in turn “necessitates a number of types of good: Studying, teaching, learning, daʿwah, giving a reminder, giving guidance, ordering good, forbidding evil, solidarity, brotherhood; and other things too many to be counted – which Islām orders and encourages – that will be the seed for the hopes for change which the Callers to Islām aspire to and gather for:

“Indeed, Allāh will never change the condition of a people until they change themselves. ^{“16”17″}

Cultivating Obedience to Allāh

“So stick – may Allāh have mercy on you – to the Straight Way and what the Revelation cane down with, and the Sunnah of the Messenger ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi salām and what is recording from the Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ. Cling to the Sunnah and the Jamāʿah and you will be rightly guided – if Allāh wills. And there is nothing better for you – O one of understanding – than sticking to what is between the two covers (the Qurʾān), frequently examining what is in it, and gaining an understanding of its meaning.”¹⁸

“And be – O servant of Allāh – a true Muslim, and a Scholar who cultivates himself and is attentive. You learn for Allāh, work for Allāh, view the Muslims equally – none of them gaining precedence in your eyes, or being lesser in your eyes except due to piety and īmān – not due to partisanship, nor to divisions caused by Shaitaan!”(19)And know that the uniting of the Muslims is upon Islām; and upon their clinging to Allāh’s Rope, in their applying and judging by His Sharīʿah (law), in their disassociating themselves from their enemies and making their enmity and hatred of them clear to them. This is the cause of Allāh’s help for them, and of His protection from the plots of their enemies.”²⁰

Lifting the Humiliation

With this approach, and by these means, will freedom from the enslavement of the unbelievers be secured – by Allāh’s permission. However, “a large part of this goal cannot be attained except by educating and cultivating the Muslim youth correctly in ʿaqīdah, knowledge and manhaj – built upon the tasfiyah (purification) of Islām from all the accretions that have been added to it; and tarbiyah (cultivation/education) upon this pure Islām.”²¹ This being the only solution that occurs in the Qurʾān and the Sunnah.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “When you deal in ‘eenah transactions, take hold of the tails of cows, content yourself with agriculture and abandon jihād; Allāh will cover you with humiliation and will not lift this humiliation from you, until you return to your Dīn.”²²

This approach alone will ensure victory and “the wiping away of sin and a great reward. Since Allāh has not given them authority over us except due to the corruption of our actions – and the reward is of the same type as the action. So we should strive hard in seeking Allāh’s forgiveness, repenting, and correcting our action. So if the Muslims desire an end to the oppression of the oppressors, let them cease oppressing themselves. Allāh – the Most High – says:

“And whatever misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your own hands have earned.”²³

“When a single disaster strike you, although you struck them with one twice as great, you say: From where did this come to us? Say: It is from your own selves.”²⁴

“Whatever good comes to you, it is from Allāh, and whatever evil befalls you it is from your own self. ^“25”26

Taken from the magazine, Al-Ibānah (The Clarification)

Endnotes:

[1] Sūrah al-Tawbah (9):71
[2] Sūrah al-Ḥujurāt (49):10
[3] Ḥasan: Related by Abū Dāwūd (no.4918) and al-Bukhārī in Adabul-Mufrad(no.239), from Abū Hurayrah raḍīAllāhu ʿanhu.The isnād of the ḥadīth is ḥasan – as al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī said in Takhreejul-Iḥyā(2/160)
[4] Related by al-Bukhārī (no.481) and Muslim (no.2585) from Abū Moosa al-Ashʾarī raḍīAllāhu ʿanhu.
[5] Ad-Daʿwah ilAllāh wa Akhlāq ud-Du’aat(p.32) of the Shaykh – the noble scholar – ʿAbd al ʿAzīz ibn Bāz.
[6] Fiqhil-Waaqi'(p.24) of the muhaddith, Shaykh Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albanee.
[7] Ad-Daʿwah ilAllāh(p.12) of Shaykh ʿAlī Ḥasan al-Ḥalabī.
[8] Related by al-Bukhārī (no.6011) and Muslim (no.2586) from an-Numaan ibn Bashīr – raḍīAllāhu ʿanhu.
[9] Introduction to Aadaab ul-‘Ishrah (pp.9-10) of Abū al-Barakaat al-Ghazee (d.984H) – raḥimahullāh.
[10] As-Sahwatul-Islāmeyah Dawaabit wa Tawjeehaat(p.77) of Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn
[11] Fiqhul-Waaqi’ (p.38)of Shaykh al-Albānī.
[12] Tahdheerus-Saajid(p.119 – footnote) of Shaykh al-Albānī.
[13] Sūrah-ʿAṣr (103):3
[14] Sūrah-Maa’idah (5):3
[15] From an article by Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz, in al-Furqān Magazine (no.14/p.15)
[16] Sūrah al-Raʿd (13):11
[17] Ad-Daʿwah IlAllāh(p.129) of Shaykh ʿAlī Ḥasan al-Ḥalabī.
[18] Adapted from at-Tanbee war-Radd ‘alal-Ahlul-Ahwaa wal-Bida(p.46) of al-Malatee (d.377H).
[19] Ad-Daʿwah IlAllāh(p.138) of Shaykh ʿAlī Ḥasan al-Ḥalabī.
[20] Nuqdul-Qawmiyyah-‘al-ʿArabīyah (p.47) of Shaykh Ibn Bāz.
[21] Fiqhul-Waaqi'(p.37) of al-Albānī.
[22] Ṣaḥīḥ:Related by Abū Dāwūd (no.3426) and al-Bayḥaqī in his Sunan(5/316) from Ibn ʿUmar raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu. Shaykh al-Albānī authenticated it in al-Ṣaḥihah (no.11)
[23] Sūrah al-Shoora (42):30
[24] Sūrah Āl-ʿImrān (3):165
[25] Sūrah  al-Nisāʾ (4):797
[26] Adapted from Sharḥul-ʿAqīdahtil-Tahaawiyyah (p.381) of Ibn Abīl-Izz (d.792H) – raḥimahullāh.