The Causes of the Ummah’s Defeat
10-10-2008
The Causes of the Ummah’s Defeat - Part 1
Dr. Rāghib As-Sirjānī
At-Tibyān Publications
We have heard in the last lesson, and in the previous lessons generally, we
heard the causes for victory in the days of [Sayf Ad-Dīn] Qutuz, may Allāh have
Mercy upon him. And they are the same causes for victory in all the battles of
the Muslims. beginning from the days of the Messenger, صلى الله عليه و سلم، and
continuing with all of the Muslims’ victories, and until our time today. Indeed,
until the Day of Resurrection. And this is because the causes for victory are
from the Divine Sunan, and the Divine Sunan do not change and are not exchanged.
He, Ta’ālā, Said,
وَلَن تَجِدَ لِسُنَّةِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلاً
And you will not find any change in
the Sunnah of Allāh [1]
And the one who examines the causes of victory will see clearly that the Islāmic
Ummah in the time of its defeat and weakness had greatly abandoned these causes.
And it was tried with many dangerous illnesses, which are, simply, the opposite
of the causes for victory that we mentioned in the previous lesson. Let’s flip
the causes for victory and present the diseases the Ummah is suffering from now,
and then [see] how we can free ourselves from these diseases.
The first disease : The absence of clarity about the Islāmic identity.
And the fundamental, sublime Islāmic rule that became clear to us after ‘Ayn
Jālūt is that if you give victory to Allāh, Allāh will give victory to you. And
the Victory of Allāh comes by implementing His Sharī’ah and rallying around one
single Islāmic banner. And the banner must be Islāmic, with complete clarity.
Islāmic. Not racial or tribal or nationalistic.
As for distance from the Manhaj of Allāh ‘Azza Wa Jall, and accepting the
Eastern and Western substitution, and turning away from the Book of Allāh ‘Azza
Wa Jall and the Sunnah of His noble Messenger, صلى الله عليه و سلم, then this is
the root of the calamities and the location of the disease. And the Muslims did
not change the situation of the Tattār until there appeared the one who called
out with the beautiful, deep call, “Wā Islāmāh,” as we clarified before [when
talking about] the causes of victory at ‘Ayn Jālūt. No matter how much any
commander tries to incite his people with something other than Islām, he will
never be successful, and his nation will never be successful.
Allāh, ‘Azza Wa Jall, refused to give us victory except if we bind ourselves to
Him on the outside and the inside. Our outside is Muslim and our inside is
Muslim. Our politics is Muslim. Or economics is Muslim. Our media is Muslim. Our
judiciary is Muslim. Our army is Muslim. Like this, with clarity. Without
concealment or dread or fear or apprehension.
My brothers and sisters, there is nothing for us to be ashamed of. Rather, the
one who frees himself from the religion is the one who should be ashamed. Subhān
Allāh, look at our present reality. Those who speak about the religion must be
very careful, and every word is counted against them, and they must say the
words with precision so the words do not have other [unintended] meanings. And
as for those who speak about corruption and pornography, then as they wish. No
restriction or condition. The music videos, and the shameless programs, and the
dirty advertisements, without a watcher or a reckoner. How can a nation that
lost its identity to this degree be victorious? How can a nation be victorious
where the scholar feels ashamed to say the word of Truth, and the evil one does
not feel ashamed to openly proclaim his evil and shamelessness? There must be a
pause, O Muslims. The loss of the Islāmic identity is the first and primary
disease that enabled the enemies of the Ummah to overtake our lands.
OK, what is the second disease?
The second disease is: Division between the Muslims, the opposite of unity
amongst the Muslims.
As the disputes, my brother, were present between all different Muslim provinces
in the days of the Tattār, and as Jalāl Ad-Dīn [ibn Khawarizm-Shah] was causing
mischief in the lands of the Muslims, while the armies of the Tattār were a few
steps away from them, likewise we see differences and disputes creeping between
all almost all the Muslim countries. Think, and you will not find two Islāmic
lands neighboring one another except that you will find they are disputing over
borders, or are differing about [another] issue. The Muslims have become
completely busy with themselves. They left the occupying armies to carouse in
the territories of the Islāmic world, and they made their preoccupation throwing
words and sermons, and sometimes rocks and weapons, back and forth with their
Muslim brothers. Subhān Allāh.
And there is no doubt that disputes between the Muslims is a companion of
failure. As our Lord clearly Said in His book:
وَلاَ تَنَازَعُواْ فَتَفْشَلُواْ وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ وَاصْبِرُواْ إِنَّ اللّهَ
مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ
And do not dispute (with one
another) lest you lose courage and your strength depart, and be patient. Surely,
Allāh is with the patient ones [2]
So this is a one of the dangerous diseases that we definitely see with our eyes,
and explains for us the ability of the Americans and others to [overpower] the
Muslim lands.
The third disease: Luxury and attachment to the Dunyā:
The Dunyā became very large in the eyes of the Muslims in the days of the Tattār,
and likewise in our time. There are whole generations of the Muslims who do not
live except for their Dunyā, though this Dunyā is despised and lowly. Every
individual lives for himself. Every individual lives to gather wealth, and to
beautify and make his living nicer and to enjoy the different types of luxuries
and food, drink, transportation, and housing, and to enjoy the different types
of singing and the different new forms of music. And so on. The Muslims drowned
in their Dunyā. Many of the youth, my brothers, memorize from the shameless
songs more than what he memorizes of the Qur’ān. Many of the youth know in
detail the lives of the male and female “artists,” the living and the dead of
them, and know, with certainty, the life story of every athlete in our country
or other countries, and do not know anything about the life stories of the
heroes and scholars and commanders of the Muslims. Rather, they do not know
anything on the life stories of the companions of the Messenger of Allāh. Rather
they might not know anything about the life story of the Messenger of Allāh
himself! Subhān Allāh. Is this not a disease that requires treatment?
Luxury, my brothers, is from the clear causes of destruction. Allāh, ‘Azza Wa
Jall, says in His Book:
وَإِذَا أَرَدْنَا أَن نُّهْلِكَ قَرْيَةً أَمَرْنَا مُتْرَفِيهَا فَفَسَقُواْ
فِيهَا فَحَقَّ عَلَيْهَا الْقَوْلُ فَدَمَّرْنَاهَا تَدْمِيراً
And when We decide to destroy a
town (population), We (first) send a definite order (to obey Allāh and be
righteous) to those among them who are given the good things of this life. Then,
they transgress therein, and thus the word (of torment) is justified against it
(them). Then We destroy it with complete destruction. [3]
The extravagance in the Muslim countries today has reached to the level of the
regular Muslims, it even reached to the poor. Can you imagine? To the poor. A
man might not find his day’s sustenance, but will not be able to give up
cigarettes. Subhān Allāh. It may be that he cannot find what will support
himself and his children, but he will sit for hours at the cafes and cafeterias
and coffee shops, and so on. He might not be able to educate his children, but
he is avid and keen on obtaining a video [player] or a satellite dish.
And the ideological extravagance. Subhān Allāh. And what will make you know what
is ideological extravagance? Very, very dangerous. It preoccupies the minds of
many of those who consider themselves to be cultured with things that do not
nourish or avail from hunger at all. Philosophical ideas, secular schools,
materialistic notions, statements and insights from people who amount to nothing
on the scale of Truth.
Should this be the case for an Ummah that is suffering from a crisis? Should
this be the case for an Ummah that is occupied in more than one of its lands?
Should this be the case for an Ummah that is backwards in most of the fields of
life? The military, political, economic and educational fields, as well as the
moral field? This can never be right. But this is the reality that we see with
our eyes. Yes, it is a painful reality, but we do not wish to be like ostriches,
burying our heads in the sand, and hide these realities from our eyes so that we
can live in happiness. This cannot be, this is stupidity and foolishness. We
cannot do this. Rather, we should confront these diseases and take a serious
pause with our diseases so that we can cure them. And the state of the Muslims
will not get better, and their lands will never be freed except through
implementing the Sharī’ah of our Lord, and except with our conformity to our
Lord’s Sunan of Victory. And this is witnessed in history, and is witnessed in
the present.
Minutes 10:34-19:15 from the lecture “Baghdād, Between Two Falls” by Dr. Rāghib
As-Sirjānī; which is part 12 of 12 from the series “The Story of the Tattār,
From the Beginning Until ‘Ayn Jālūt”
————
[1] Al-Fat’h; 23
[2]Al-Anfāl; 46
[3] Al-Isrā’;16
The Causes of the Ummah’s Defeat - PART 2
Dr. Rāghib As-Sirjānī
At-Tibyān Publications
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 الْقِتَالِ
O 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 الْمُتَّقِينَ
O 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 كَآفَّةً
Fight 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
Minutes 19:15-26.16 from the lecture “Baghdād, Between Two Falls” by Dr. Rāghib
As-Sirjānī; which is part 12 of 12 from the series “The Story of the Tattār,
From the Beginning Until ‘Ayn Jālūt”
————
[1] Al-Anfāl; 65
[2] At-Tawbah; 123
[3] At-Tawbah; 36
Submitted by a Mujahid