Since America’s recent war on Iran, hardly a day goes by without someone emerging to discuss straits, seas, the movement within them, and who controls them. Those who claim to be thinkers—yet who, regrettably, operate not from Islamic concepts but from Western ideas and pragmatic acceptance of the painful reality the Ummah is enduring—dominate the media landscape on channels like Al Jazeera and others, misleading the public and steering the compass away from its true direction.

Here, we offer a reminder:

The straits they discuss are located on Islamic land; their legal status is that of territory conquered and ruled by Muslims. They are subject to the Islamic rulings governing land, sea, and air—all of which are purely Islamic. Whether natural or man-made, control over these straits is the right of all Muslims. Hormuz, the Suez Canal, the Bosphorus, Malacca, Gibraltar, and the Dardanelles are indisputably Islamic straits, as are the associated seas: the Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea. These sensitive geographic points must be governed and controlled by the Islamic Ummah, not by the international law devised by disbelievers during their war against the Khilafah (Caliphate) to safeguard their own victories.

Then come the conspirators—particularly agent subordinate regimes—and the media, especially Al Jazeera, which hosts so-called experts in international law and maritime navigation to speak of the “Law of the Sea.” Naïve Arab media figures and politicians fall into the trap, debating whether a strait is natural or artificial. They speak of respecting international law, freedom of navigation, and maritime movement, questioning how Muslims could possibly control these waters or levy fees for passage through them. They argue that this is a special case—unlike the Bosphorus Strait, where Turkey collects transit fees despite it being a natural waterway. Here, we see them interpreting the law to suit their own whims, the interests of disbelieving nations and agent regimes, and the dictates of arrogant powers!

Yet, where are these justifications when Trump speaks of his sinister plans to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz and impose fees on shipping traffic there under the pretext of ensuring security? Why do these arguments vanish from sight and hearing, then?

Do they not understand that land, sea, and air belong to those who rule them? The legitimate ruling—which they fail to articulate—is that these are Islamic domains; the Ummah permits or denies passage through them in accordance with Shariah rulings on state relations, existing treaties, and the specific status of each state—whether belligerent or non-belligerent, treaty-bound or not.

Are they unaware that the Mediterranean was considered an Islamic sea for thirteen centuries—remaining so until 1820—when the criminal ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, conspired with European fleets to cut off Ottoman supplies, leading to the destruction of the Islamic Ottoman fleet in Algiers?

The administration of seas and straits must return to Islamic control. We are unconcerned with the pretexts of colonialist international law—laws enacted by colonialist disbelievers to dominate the Ummah and its resources, and indeed the entire world. We are committed solely to the Law of Allah (swt), as set forth in the true Shariah, including the Shariah rulings governing lands, seas, rivers, and public ownership. The time has come for the Ummah to reclaim its unity, sovereignty, wealth, seas, and straits. This can only be achieved by establishing the Khilafah on the method of the Prophethood—to dismantle existing regimes, unify the Ummah, expel the colonialist disbelievers, pursue them and teach them an unforgettable lesson, and gain control over the remaining seas following their conquest; for this matter shall surely reach wherever the night and day reach. Allah (swt) said,

[وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هُوَ قُلْ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ قَرِيباً]

“And they say, ‘When is it?’ Say, ‘Perhaps it is near’” [TMQ Surah Al-Israa 51].