Ruling by Islam is the only Choice for the Ummah
https://www.al-waie.org/archives/article/19693
(Translated)
Al-Waie Magazine: Issues 462, 463, and 464
Thirty-ninth Year, Rajab - Sha'ban - Ramadan 1446 AH, corresponding to January - February - March 2025 CE
Eng. Baher Saleh – Palestine

With respect to the anniversary of the destruction of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate), we address an issue at the heart of the anniversary and occasion: the issue of Islamic governance, in terms of its Shariah obligation, its constraints, and its challenges. This is especially true given that the Ummah is currently embroiled in a political, intellectual, and revolutionary movement in ash-Sham related to this very issue.

As has become clear since the revolutionaries of Syria, by the Grace of Allah (swt), defeated the brutal tyrant Bashar al-Assad and his flight, disgraced and defeated, our people in ash-Sham, along with the entire Islamic Ummah, have been engaged in an ongoing movement and debate about the form of the desired alternative system.

What was self-evident and expected, even before the collapse of Bashar and his regime, was that the revolutionaries and the people of ash-Sham, in their vast majority, would turn exclusively to Islam. They were the ones who raised the Rayah (banner) of Islam from the beginning of the revolution, and wrote slogans and chants that became iconic in the Muslim World, such as phrases such as, هي لله هي لله لا للسلطة لا للجاه “It is for Allah! It is for Allah! No to power games. No to world status,” and قائدنا للأبد سيدنا محمد “Our leader forever is our Master Muhammad,” and إسلامية إسلامية غصب عنك أوباما “Islamic, Islamic, Whether you like it or not Obama,” and لن نركع إلا لله “We will kneel to none but Allah (swt),” and others.

It was truly the purest revolution known to the Muslim World, and that is why all the powers of the West and colonialism conspired against it. That is why America brought in its allies and enemies to suppress it, to provide Bashar with the means to survive, to commit crimes and to be brutal, so that he might be able to suppress the revolution and end it. This alone is what enabled Bashar to hold out, clinging to power for thirteen years.

The Islamic nature of the Syrian revolution was clearly evident from the beginning. Therefore, as soon as the Assad regime collapsed, everyone, friend or foe, near or far, expected the revolutionaries to implement Islam and establish an Islamic state.

Therefore, the West, along with its ministers, envoys, and agents, rushed to ash-Sham to meet with the head of the Syrian administration. They all came either to encourage the secularization of the state, or to warn and threaten against the Islamization of the state, under the pretext of minority rights, women’s rights and human rights, and achieving justice. They began to shed crocodile tears for the Syrian people, the Syrian woman, the Syrian child, and the Syrian sectarian minorities.

They were the same people who had previously been Bashar’s guardians, and provided him with cover for thirteen years of massacres and brutality, with chemical weapons and explosive barrels, until half the people of ash-Sham fled, internally and externally displaced, and nearly two million were killed by slaughter, dismemberment, and bombing.

The certain matter about this issue, the issue of whether or not to rule by Islamic Shariah Law, is that the West is merely using slogans and injustices as a pretext to introduce its poisons and conditions, nothing more. It will not accept anything less from the revolutionaries and the people of ash-Sham than secularism and the abandonment of Islam.

This is a fact confirmed by the Noble Quran. Allah (swt) said,

[وَلَن تَرْضَى عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلاَ النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَاءهُم بَعْدَ الَّذِي جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مَا لَكَ مِنَ اللّهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلاَ نَصِيرٍ]

“Never will the Jews or Christians be pleased with you, until you follow their faith. Say, “Allah’s guidance is the only true guidance.” And if you were to follow their desires after all the knowledge that has come to you, there would be none to protect or help you against Allah.” [TMQ Surah Al-Baqarah 120]. Allah (swt) has assured us with absolute certainty that these people will not be satisfied, no matter how many concessions or compromises we make, until we abandon our De and follow theirs.

Secondly, ancient and modern history confirms and affirms this truth. To avoid excessive digression, let us just look at the two most recent examples of soft Islamization attempts, in attempts to avoid clashing with the West, the examples of Tunisia and Egypt.

The Ennahda Movement in Tunisia, that Islamic movement has been pliant, compliant, and shown the highest degree of flexibility and accommodating secularism, and the demands of the West. It is to the point that its people would discuss the issue of taxing alcohol in parliament, adjourn the session for the Zuhr Salah (Shariah prayer of the afternoon), and then continue the discussion after the Shariah. This is just an example and a sample, because the issue of Islam and secularism is much deeper than this issue. However, it is an indicator of the extent of flexibility they have shown regarding kufr, secularism, and the demands of colonialism. So what can happen after that?!

The West was patient with them for a few years, until the streets calmed down, and they were able to contain the masses and the overwhelming anger. Then they threw them out of the scene altogether, and even pursued them with imprisonment and persecution. Yet, they found no one to mourn their loss.

The same thing happened in Egypt, as the West accepted the Islamists to be in power, then they began the process of subjugation, assimilation and compliance. The Muslim Brotherhood, led by Mohamed Morsi, tried not to anger anyone, even the remnants of the previous regime. They maintained the secular system of government in the country, the structure of the capitalist state, and relations with the colonialist West. They thought they had the middle ground, but the colonialists and the remnants quickly turned against them, killing them in the squares, throwing them in prisons, and pursuing their members and leadership in the streets, homes, and even across countries. So they also left without anyone mourning them.

So the West will not accept or be satisfied with anything less than apostasy and denial of Islam. The West may calm down a little, when it sees concessions and flexibility. However, it will be the calm of deceit and trickery. It will continue its work secretly and openly in order to achieve its goal.

The West’s goal in the Muslim countries can be summarized in two matters: the first is to ensure that Islam will not return, and the second is to ensure that the West secures colonialism of our countries and plunders our resources.

The Western mentality is a colonialist one, and when it promotes its outdated, shabby ideology and civilization in our countries, it seeks to do so because this is the path to acceptance as a colonialist and guardian over us and our countries.

For example, if we imagine that the revolutionaries, like the rest of the rulers of Muslims, accepted the secularism of the state and embraced democracy and capitalism, the West would not be satisfied with that alone. Instead, the West would also stipulate that the state be built in a way that would keep it as a colonialist in our country. I.e. our country would remain subservient to the colonialists, with them plundering its wealth, and controlling its decisions. We would then be their servants, and agents for their schemes.

This is the Erdogan model in Turkey. Although Erdogan is a fierce secularist who believes in, and defends secularism, and has preserved Turkey as a secular republic, and built state institutions on that basis, America was not satisfied with that alone. Instead, it made Erdogan its godfather in the region, serving its projects and promoting American schemes. Erdogan sends Muslim soldiers to fight wherever America wants them under its command in NATO, and hosts the American Incirlik base in the former capital of the Ottoman Caliphate. Erdogan participates in persecuting Islamic activists, movements and factions, and making them submit to what America loves and approves. Erdogan leaves our people in Turkey to struggle to live, and burn in the fires of colonialism, capitalism and secularism, suffering poverty and oppression. The economic situation has reached the point where the father, mother, son and daughter in the same family work long hours, just to be able to bear the costs of life.

The same thing happens, more or less severely, in the rest of the Muslim countries, in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Central Asia, and others. The Western colonialists and their agents turned all of them into secular systems of government, impoverished their people, and left them as a breeding ground for colonialism and its interests.

The overarching message is that the West will not be satisfied with anything other than its colonialization of us and its transformation of us into secular countries that fight Islam and deny the civilization and identity of the Islamic Ummah.

We must be certain that the Ummah has been suffering under the fire of agent rulers for more than a hundred years. The Ummah is in fact burning under the fire of the colonialist West itself. The rulers are merely its servants, tools and agents, empowered to control us. Criminal rulers, both dictatorial and democratic, are the creation of Western colonialism and are loyal servants to the West.

The alternative that saves Muslims and the Islamic Ummah is pure, unadulterated Islam, and nothing but Islam.

Islam is what can honor Muslims and preserve their dignity, their country, and their independence. It is what protects sanctities and safeguards minorities, and it is what achieves justice and tranquility in society.

It is the same Islam that transformed the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era from a scattered, warring people subservient to the Romans, Persians and others into the masters and rulers of the world. They subjugated the Persians and Romans, and their Khaleefah addressed the Roman ruler, Nicephorus I, as كلب الروم “the dog of the Rome,” and their Khaleefah addressed the clouds, saying, أمطري حيث شئت فإن خراجك عائد لبيت مال المسلمين “Rain wherever you wish, but your kharaaj (agricultural tax) will be for the baytul maal (state treasury) of the Muslims.”

Islam, which brought honor to the people of pre-Islamic times and the desert, is capable of bringing honor to us today and returning us to the ranks of leadership, honor, and dignity.

Islam is the only guarantor of achieving justice among its citizens, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The Shariah rulings of Islam preserve people’s dignity, wealth, honor and rights, without discrimination between Arab and non-Arab, strong and weak, or black and white.

Islam has given non-Muslim subjects rights that are no less than the rights of Muslims. The Messenger of Allah (saw) treated anyone who harmed a dhimmi as if he had harmed a Muslim. He (saw) left the people of religions to what they worship, and what they believe. There is no compulsion in religion. He (saw) made them equal in litigation and arbitration before the state and the law. They have what Muslims have, and are subject to what Muslims are subject to in terms of fairness and justice.

This is not a theory. Instead it is a reality. The Dhimmi (non-Muslim citizens) lived in well-being throughout the history of the Islamic State, to the point that they felt, of their own accord, that they had to stand with the Muslims against their own coreligionists. So the Christians of the state fought side by side with the Muslims, against the Christian Crusaders when they invaded the lands of the Muslims. The fair-minded among them testify today that they lived a dignified life under the Islamic State, unlike the lives they lived under the current kufr secular regimes.

This is the reality of Islam and its system, a system of justice, mercy, and light. Islam came to lead the servants of Allah (swt), all servants, away from distress, hardship, and torment towards spaciousness, tranquility, and justice.

Islam alone is capable of liberation (tahrir) from colonialism and uprooting its influence from our lands. Islam alone is capable of unifying the Ummah into one state, the Ummah of two billion, because no Ummah will submit to anything other than Islam, and nothing can unify the Ummah except Islam. If the Ummah is unified, it will become an Ummah of two billion, that possesses armies sufficient to conquer all the countries of the world, wealth sufficient to enrich all its subjects, and men sufficient to rule the world. This is what the West fears and is desperately trying to prevent.

When we talk about Islam, we are talking about that unique system of government, in its form, structure, and rules.

The discussion is not about Islamizing aspects of government or the state. Instead, Islam is a belief and a system, a comprehensive ideology that regulates human life from belief to foreign relations, government, and politics.

Islam has a unique system of government that is neither similar to, nor overlaps with, democratic, capitalist, republican, monarchical, nationalist, patriotic, federal, or any other form of government that is currently common, or that has existed in the past.

Islam is a system of unity, based on fixed Shariah rulings that cannot be changed or altered, divine Shariah rulings that are not subject to the biased whims and limited intellect of humans.

The system of government in Islam is based on four fundamental principles that cannot exist without them. If any of these four principles is lost, Islamic governance, the authority of Islam, is lost. These principles are: 1. Sovereignty belongs to the Sharah Law, not to the people. 2. Authority belongs to the Ummah. 3. The appointment of a single Khaleefah for all Muslims is a Shariah obligation upon Muslims. 4. The Khaleefah alone has the right to adopt Islamic Shariah rulings, when a Shariah difference of opinion exists, as he is the one who enacts the constitution and all other laws. These are, of course, principles derived by deduction from abundant Islamic Shariah evidences that space does not allow to elaborate here.

Once these four principles are fully established, we have overcome the first and major hurdle in the matter of Islamic governance. We can then move on to the remaining pillars and details that address every aspect of the state, from the state’s administrative and governing apparatus, to the economic and social system, education and media policy, foreign relations, management of the public welfare, the Consultative Council of the Ummah (Majlis al-Ummah) and provincial councils of consultation (Majlis ash-Shuraa). All of these elements are present in Islam, and ready for implementation when the will is present.

This issue, ruling by Islam, is not an optional matter for us Muslims. Instead it is a Shariah obligation imposed upon us by the Lord of the Worlds, in accordance with the Saying of Allah (swt),

[وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْراً أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالاً مُّبِيناً]

“It is not for a believing man or woman—when Allah and His Messenger decree a matter—to have any other choice in that matter. Indeed, whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has clearly gone far astray.” [TMQ Surah Al-Ahzab: 36].

The ruling of Islam is a confirmed matter for us according to Islamic Shariah Law, as Allah (swt) says,

[إِنِ الْحُكْمُ إِلاَّ لِلّهِ أَمَرَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّاهُ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ]

“Ruling is only for Allah (swt). He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That is the upright faith, but most people do not know.” [TMQ Surah Yusuf: 40] and He (swt) says,

[وَأَنِ احْكُم بَيْنَهُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءهُمْ وَاحْذَرْهُمْ أَن يَفْتِنُوكَ عَن بَعْضِ مَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ إِلَيْكَ]

“Rule between them O Prophet, by all that Allah (swt) has revealed, and do not follow their desires. Beware, so they do not lure you away from even some of what Allah (swt) has revealed to you.” [TMQ Surah Al-Maaidah: 49]. And He (swt) says,

[وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ] “And those who do not rule by all that Allah (swt) has revealed are truly the disbelievers.” [TMQ Surah Al-Maaidah 5:49]. These and many other Quranic verses obligate us to rule by all that Allah (swt) has revealed.

The form of government in Islam that the Beloved Prophet (saw) outlined for us is the Khilafah (Caliphate), which is the general leadership of all Muslims in the world, to implement the Shariah rulings of Islamic Shariah Law and carry the Islamic Dawah to the world. Khilafah is the same as the Imamate.

The Khilafah (Caliphate), the Islamic system of government, mandates that there be nothing in the state other than the Shariah rulings of Islam, neither in international nor foreign relations, nor in the care of citizens, nor in any detail of the state, except in accordance with the Shariah rulings of Islam.

This is the only way to achieve the Pleasure of Allah (swt), first and foremost. Our only endeavor in this worldly life is to seek His Pleasure. This is what brings us victory, empowerment, and honor, secondly.

I conclude by saying: The issue of ruling by Islam must be a vital issue, one in which we must take as a life-or-death decision, not subject to bargaining or bartering. We must not pay attention to Western fearmongering about the consequences of adopting Islam and ruling by Islam, for Allah (swt) said,

[إِنَّمَا ذَلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءهُ فَلاَ تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ]

“That scaremongering was only from Shaytan, trying to prompt you to fear his followers. So do not fear them. Fear Me Alone if you are true believers.” [TMQ Surah Aali Imran: 175].

We do not incline to unjust, oppressive guardians, the rulers and agents, because Allah (swt) says,

[وَلاَ تَرْكَنُواْ إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاء ثُمَّ لاَ تُنصَرُونَ]

“And do not be inclined to the oppressive, or you will be touched by the Fire. For then you would have no protectors other than Allah, nor would you be helped.” [TMQ Surah Hud: 113].

Allah (swt) has warned us not to be lenient with the desires of the kuffar, saying,

[وَدُّوا لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ] “They wish you would compromise so they would yield to you.” [TMQ Surah Al-Qalam 9].

When we resolve to respond to Allah’s command to rule by Islam, that is, by the Khilafah system, then Allah (swt) will grant us victory, for victory comes only from Him. The Ummah will unify around Islamic ruling, just as the Aws and Khazraj unified around the Messenger of Allah (saw). Then we will return to being a proud and strong Ummah that will not tread a path without Allah (swt) decreeing for us victory and empowerment therein, in accordance with saying of Allah (swt),

[إِنَّا لَنَنصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ]

“We certainly help Our messengers and the believers, both in this worldly life and on the Day the witnesses will stand forth for testimony.” [TMQ Surah Al-Ghafir 51].