The Causes of the Ummah’s Defeat - PART 2

Dr. Rāghib As-Sirjānī
At-Tibyān Publications
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The fourth disease from the disease of the Islāmic Ummah - and it is a very, very dangerous disease - is the abandonment of Jihād, my brothers…
As a natural result of the immersion in the Dunyā and the luxury that exceeds the limit, the Muslims have abandoned Jihād, and they satisfied themselves with marching at the tails of other nations. And the Muslims have accepted what their enemies have called As-Salām (peace), when it is clearly Istislām (submission). The Muslims during the time of the Tattār did not understand, just as many of the Muslims in our time now do not understand, that the fundamental way to return the plundered rights of the Ummah is Jihād, and though peace may be the correct solution in certain circumstances, it cannot be the suggested choice if the rights of the Muslims have been looted, and if their blood is spilled, and if they are expelled from their lands, and if their Religion, their opinion, and their standing are mocked. The Muslims do not understand that peace comes only with the return of all their rights, and it is not made except when we are high and honored, and it cannot be unless we possess the sufficient deterrent power so that we may respond to the enemy if he violates the peace agreement. In any other case, the peace is not really peace, rather it is submission, and this is what is not accepted in our Sharī’ah.
The Muslims have to understand very well that the word “Jihād” is not a shameful matter for us to be shy of or to hide from. It is not a vile word that must be erased from the school curriculums, or from the media, and from the pages of the newspapers and books, and from the Friday sermons, and from the lessons, and other than this. Not at all, my brothers! Al-Jihād is a very great word. Al-Jihād is the camel hump (the peak) of Islām. Al-Jihād is the highest thing in Islām, whether the enemies of the Ummah - any enemies of the Ummah, whether from outside of it or from its sons - like it or not. The word “Al-Jihād” in its various forms came in the Qur’ān over 30 times. The word “Al-Qitāl,” meaning the Ummah’s fighting against its enemies, this word appears over 90 times in the Book of Allāh ‘Azza Wa Jall. The word “An-Nasr” (victory) appears over 140 times. To where will we run from these words? To where will we run from these Āyāt?
To where will we run from the Statement of Allāh, Azza Wa Jall,
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ حَرِّضِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى الْقِتَالِO Prophet! Incite the believers to fight [1]
To where will we run from His Statement,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ قَاتِلُواْ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَكُم مِّنَ الْكُفَّارِ وَلْيَجِدُواْ فِيكُمْ غِلْظَةً وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَO you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you [2]
When will the harshness appear if all the Muslim countries are occupied, and we are still searching for peace?
To where will we run from from the Statement of Allāh, Ta’ālā
قَاتِلُواْ الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَآفَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ كَآفَّةًFight against the polytheists collectively, as they fight against you collectively [3]
My brothers and sisters, how can an Ummah who desires to protect itself and to defend its honor and its sanctities leave Jihād and fighting? In what customs, or in what laws, or in what religion, is a nation who is occupied in the East and the West encouraged to not talk about Jihād and fighting and war and preparation? In what law is this present?? My brothers, I believe that this disease, the disease of abandoning Jihād, and abandoning talking about it, and abandoning preparation for it, is from the greatest diseases of the Ummah. And there has never ever been in our history any upliftment except with it, with Jihād in the Path of Allāh. And there is a lesson for us in history.
The fifth disease : also a dangerous disease, the neglect of monetary preparation for wars.
We saw how the Tattār worked hard in preparing everything they could for victory, whether it be soldiers or weapons or the preparation of roads or the placement of lines of action or giving attention to alliances and the psychological war, or the preparation of alternative plans… It was truly a unique preparation, and review the lesson, “The Preparation for the Invasion of Iraq.” And on the other side, the Muslims were living in another valley. The Islāmic armies were neglected, and their level declined. No ruler cared to modernize his weapons or train his armies. The proper planning was not put in place. There was no meticulous intelligence-gathering. The Muslims were very, very lax in their preparation. Their priorities were set in a humiliating way. While millions were being spent on palaces and marble and gardens and parties, nothing was spent on the countries’ military and educational and economic preparations. While the examples of those who excelled in the educational, military, and management fields lessened in number, there increased the appearance of the male and female singers, and the male and female dancers, and the male and female athletes, and the heedless males and the heedless females. Subhān Allāh. Is this an Ummah that is preparing itself for the emancipation of its lands? Subhān Allāh. An Ummah with such a preparation must be defeated. My brothers, without preparation, the Muslim Ummah will not rise up. Placing our trust in Allāh ‘Azza Wa Jall does not mean that we become lax in taking the necessary steps. And our seeking to prepare does not mean that we become lax in our reliance on our Lord, Subhānahu Wa Ta’ālā. The two must go together. We should expend our utmost effort in the financial preparation of our Ummah, and we should truthfully turn to Allāh ‘Azza Wa Jall and ask Him to grant us victory over our enemies and that He makes it easy for these means to produce their results. So that is a very dangerous disease and it continues to be present, and review the statistics on the educational and economic and military and political state of the Ummah so that you can see the extent of the calamity in which the Ummah is living.
The sixth disease: The Muslims’ need for an example to follow
The upbringing of an exemplary person, as me mentioned many times before, is thousands of times higher than the upbringing of books and sermons. Soldiers feel a huge sense of estrangement and they completely lose enthusiasm if they lose an example to look up to. A thousand sermons inciting to Jihād if the soldiers find that their leader is the first one to hide during calamities. A thousand sermons on bearing difficult circumstances and being satisfied with little and having Zuhd in the Dunyā, and enduring the economic hardships will avail nothing if the people find their leader living luxuriously in palaces, spending millions on his relaxation and his happiness and his luxury and his noisy parties. A thousand sermons on praiseworthy manners will not produce anything within the Ummah if the one who is supposed to be followed doesn’t pray to begin with, and doesn’t fast, and doesn’t adhere to the cleanliness of hand and tongue and heart and conscience. How can a people be attached to its religion and to the Legislation of its Lord, when they rarely here the name “Allāh” spoken by their leader or their professor or their upbringer.
How can the people fix their state while the examples that appear for them are immoral examples, completely far from the path of righteousness?
The commander who is not a living example to his people in Jihād and morals and patience and Zuhd and justice should not expect that his people protect him during hard times or that they would stand with him in the times of calamity.
The seventh disease, a very, very dangerous disease: alliance with the enemies of the Ummah…
TO BE CONTINUED