The Islamic Method to Establish the Khilafah

Truly praise is to Allah (swt). We praise Him (swt), seek His help and forgiveness, and seek His refuge from the evils of our souls and the wrongs of our deeds. He whom Allah (swt) guides none shall misguide him and he whom Allah (swt) misguides none shall guide him; and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah (swt), Alone with no associates, and that Muhammad  is His servant and His Messenger(saw).

Allah (swt) said,

"Let there arise out of you a party, inviting to the good, ordering what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. And they are those who are successful" [Ale-Imran:103]

Ever since Britain and the Western states destroyed our Khilafah on the 3rd of March 1924, this Ummah did not witness a single day of happiness. Our lands were divided, our fathers humiliated, our brothers disheartened, and our mothers and sisters were dishonored. They all cried out for their Imam, the Khaleefah who they lost as a protection and under whose shade they used to live. Since that time onwards, the Ummah has had to face a multitude of problems, including disunity, occupation of our lands by the colonialists, social and economic decline, corruption in our societies and the continuous ruling over them by kufr.

Anyone can see that this array of problems beset the Muslim Ummah after she lost the Khilafah, and few would deny that the return of the Khilafah would once and for all deal with these problems. No one but those who seek to keep the stranglehold of the disbelievers over the believers would deny that the re-establishment of the Khilafah is the vital issue for the Muslims.

My dear Muslim brothers and sisters, Allah (swt) gave us a great honour and bestowed upon a great favour, when he gave us the pure and pristine Deen of Islam, in which he provided guidance for all matters. And He (swt) sent to us a Messenger(saw) whose truthfulness and high position above mankind is known to each and everyone of us. And He (swt) made the Messenger(saw) the best example for the whole of mankind to emulate, by making the Messenger  dearer to the believers than their own fathers, mothers, brothers and selves. Allah (swt) said,

"Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have the best example" [Al-Ahzab: 21]

And anyone who took the Messenger(saw)  as their example would see that Rasoolallah  and his party of Sahaba (ra) struggled hard against all odds, and by overcoming all obstacles, to establish the supremacy of Allah's (swt) Deen on the earth by establishing the Islamic State in Madinah, so that dar al-kufr became dar al-Islam. Anyone who looks to the Seerah, and wanted to follow the Messenger , would not have to look hard to see that in a matter of thirteen years, the Messenger(saw)  and his political party, comprised of his Sahabah (ra) managed to establish the Islamic State. The method by which this result was achieved could be found in any of the books of the Seerah written by the sincere Muslims. This method, which a sincere Muslim party should adhere to both in the generality and the details, is the method by which Muhammad(saw)  brought radical change to the jahil (ignorant) Arabian society. And it is this very method that is the only way by which the Muslims can re-establish the Khilafah 1400 years later. It is not the method of theory or fantasy but rather a method that will shake the thrones of the tyrannical kings, terrify the Presidents and stir the sincere masses to action that will return to them the izza (dignity) in this life and the izza in Akhirah. All those who seek the return of the Khilafah and the radical change that must accompany its return must dedicate themselves to studying this method and following it without the slightest deviation. So they would be required to obey Allah (swt) when he commanded them to collectively work together as an Islamic political party to bring radical change when He (swt) said,

"Let there arise out of you a party, inviting to the good, ordering what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. And they are those who are successful" [Ale-Imran:103]

So let us consider how the Prophet(saaw) built his political party, brought about the radical change of the society and seized the power. Yes! Bi-idhnillah! The Messenger of Allah(s.w.t)established a political party, and he shook the very foundations of society and he sought the power and he challenged the authority of the tyrants and he left no traces of their tyranny and indeed, politics is from the Sunnah of Rasoolallah(saw). Didn’t Rasoolallah(saw)  say to the Quraish:

"I will give you one statement that will make you the rulers of the Arabs and the non-Arabs"

And when questioned as to what that statement was, he(saw) said

"Say Lailaha illallahu, and you will be successful."

If this is not politics and political work then what is?

Part 1- Building a party

From the first day that the message of Islam was revealed to Muhammad it was a message that challenged the very foundations that Makkan society was built upon:

"Read in the name of your Lord, who created you. Who created you from something which clings" [Al-Alaq:1-2]

This ayah commanded Muhammad and all that follow him until Yawm al-Qiyama(Judgement day) to read, and study and gain the Islamic culture in the name of their Lord, not in the name of the idols of Quraish, or the names of the idols of Western civilisation like democracy and freedom, but rather in the name of the Creator and the Sustainer of mankind. After receiving the first revelation the Messenger understood what this message meant when he returned and told his wife, Umm al-Mumineen (the mother of the believers), Khadija (ra):

"After today there will be no rest."

The Messenger of Allah at the start of his call would visit people in their homes, telling them that they had been commanded by Allah (swt) to worship Him and to associate none with Him. He openly invited people to Islam in Makkah, thus abiding by Allah’s command:

"O you wrapped up, arise and deliver the warning." [Al-Mudatthir: 1-2]

After this, the Messenger of Allah would contact people to teach them Islam. Every time someone embraced Islam, Allah’s Messenger would send him or her someone from those who had embraced Islam earlier to teach them the Qur’an. The Messenger of Allah set up the house of al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam as the centre of his call, a place from which he taught Muslims the Qur’an and perfected their knowledge of Islam, encouraging them to recite the Qur’an and understand it. Every time someone embraced Islam, Allah’s Messenger would join him in the house of al-Arqam.

He pursued this task for three years, teaching this group of Muslims, leading them in prayers, and performing tahajjud at night, motivating their souls, strengthening their belief through prayer and recitation, helping them to improve their way of thinking and to reflect on the verses of the Qur'an and the creation of Allah (swt). He taught them how to endure all manner of hardships by submitting to Allah (swt). He built in them the firm Iman so that every trace of kufr and jahiliya was removed from them and they became purified with the Islamic ‘Aqeeda. This prepared them to reject the twisted ways of their forefathers and to throw away the diseases of nationalism and tribalism. Anyone who wants to re-establish the Khilafah must build a party like the Prophet built his party such that all traces of capitalism, communism, nationalism and anything other than Islam are removed from the people so they would become people worthy of carrying this da’wa and capable of shouldering its burdens. The Messenger of Allah created a radical change within his Sahaba (ra) so that they were able to withstand the hardships to come. He changed Umar bin al-Khattab (ra) from the one who buried his daughter alive to the one about whom the Messenger said:

"When Umar walks on one side of the road, Shaytan walks on the other side."

It is this building of the party that transformed Abdullah bin Masud (ra), whose legs used to be blown away in the wind, to the one whose legs became firmer than Mount Uhud. It is this that transformed the 8 year old boy, Ali (ra), to the one who said when asked how he had decided to accept Islam, "Allah did not consult my father when he created me, so why should I consult him to worship him." And it is this that led Abdullah bin Masud to believe that the Muslims would conquer the world when they were only six in number when Allah (swt) revealed the ayah:

"This is but a reminder to all of mankind."

And it was this building that led the Quraish to say about the Messenger , "Here is the man that is going to remove the Caesar."

Part 2 - Interacting with society

After Muhammad had built his party of Sahaba (ra) and created a radical transformation Allah (swt) ordered him to go out and challenge the ideas which the people of Makkah held dear as well as the political elite of Makkah who ruled over the people with kufr. Allah (swt) said:

"Proclaim openly what you have been told and turn away from the Mushrikeen!" [Al-Hijr:94]

After this Ayah was revealed, the Muslims went out in two rows; one led by ‘Umar bin al Khattab (ra) and the other led by Hamza Assadullah (ra) - they circumambulated around the Ka’ba. They headed for the mosque in broad daylight to challenge the practices of the rulers of Makkah, in the same way Members of a political party in Uzbekistan distributed 100,000 leaflets in the same hour and on the same day challenging the practices of the corrupt and tyrannical rulers of Uzbekistan. The Makkan society was shocked since they had seen nothing like this before. The faces of their leaders became pale and resentful. The Quraish were shocked, since this was the first time that they had seen a group like that of Rasoolallah . For the first time they saw white and black, slave and leader, rich and poor, united as brothers with a common purpose challenging the ‘Aqeeda and the political authority of the Quraish. After this, Muhammad took every opportunity to highlight the falsehood of the way of life that Quraish were so accustomed to. He condemned the economic corruption, exposed the social problems and insulted the idols of Quraish. Anyone who desires the re-establishment of the Khilafah would need to emulate the Prophet Muhammad in highlighting the falsehood of the way of the life of the disbelievers, condemning the economic practices of the society and insulting the pillars of Western civilisation that are propagated throughout the Muslim world. This is in order to perform the ground work for the return of the Khilafah in the same manner the Prophet and his Sahaba (ra) did.

The Muslims would recite the ayah of Qur'an, "Woe to those who cheat in the market” [Al-Mutaffifin:1], in their prayers in private and in public as a direct challenge to the economic practices of the society. Today, the Muslims need to challenge the corrupt economic practices such as the free market - as an example a Muslim Party issued a booklet critiquing the Sudanese budget and a booklet explaining the reasons behind the turbulence on the Far Eastern stock markets.

The political party of Muhammad would challenge the leaders of Quraish. For example, when Hamza (ra) embraced Islam he confronted Abu Jahl and asked him "Do you insult my nephew when I am a follower of his deen?" Indeed, Allah (swt) attacked the tyrant of the day when He (swt) said:

"Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he!" [Al-Masad: 1]

Today, we must stand up against the tyrannical political authority of the rulers in the Muslim world, like Abdullah of Jordan and Karimov of Uzbekistan, and show the falsehood of their way of life and authority. Indeed to expose such rulers is one of the noblest actions in the sight of Allah (swt) since the Messenger of Allah said:

"The master of martyrs is Hamza, and a man who stands up to a tyrant ruler and gives him nasiha (advice). And so the ruler kills him."

Many are the shuhadaa (martyrs) who stood up against the tyrants in the Muslim world in emulation of the master of martyrs, and the tyrant rulers of Uzbekistan, Jordan, Syria  spilt their blood.

We must also be at the forefront of con-fronting the idols of the West like democracy and freedom in the same way that the party of the Prophet confronted the idols of Latt, Uzza and Manat. The political elite of Makkah and their way of life were shaken by the struggle of Muhammad and his party such that they came offering him the world in return for him renouncing this call. After they failed in such an endeavour they chased the believers, tortured them, slandered them and boycotted them. Similarly, today, the sincere carriers of the da’wa, who made their sole reference the Messenger of Allah , are pursued the world over in an attempt to extinguish the light of Islam.

They wish to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will not allow except that His Light is perfected even though the disbelievers may hate it" [At-Tauba: 32]

Alhamdulillah! The party of the Messenger was able to withstand the torture, tribulation, and boycott -had there not been a party then this da'wa would not have succeeded - since when Bilal (ra) was being tortured, Abu Bakr (ra) was there to carry the Islamic da’wa, and when Musab bin Umayr (ra) was imprisoned by his own mother, Uthman bin Affan (ra) was there to convey the call. So in essence the Messenger in a matter of a few years built a party that undermined the very foundations upon which the society was built, destroyed the confidence in the system, weak-ened the existing rulers, and was ready and able to assume power over it. Muhammad persisted in shattering the existing way of life and its sys-tems no matter the hardship, struggle and sacrifice that was required. In the same way we cannot afford to sleep in the struggle against kufr, when we know that the disbelievers never sleep in their efforts to thwart the plans of the believers.

Part 3 - Seeking power

Even after all of this, Muhammad had not established the Islamic State. There was still one missing piece in the jigsaw in order to place the final nails in the coffin of dar al-kufr and plant the mighty tree of the Islamic State over its grave. Building a political party was not enough to plant that mighty tree. Undermining the foundations upon which the society was built, destroying the confidence in the system and weakening the existing rulers, was not enough to plant that mighty tree. Rather the Messenger after building his party, and undermining the society exhausted all his efforts in seeking the reins of power.

Indeed without seeking power from those who have it, it would not be possible to establish the Khilafah, and by it Allah’s (swt) Deen on the earth. Look at any book of Seerah and you would see that the Prophet spent three years going from one powerful faction to another, encouraging them to help him seize power, and implement Islam. In total he visited over forty tribes with a view to them entering this Deen and assisting him in seizing power, so that Islam could be implemented upon all and sundry.

This is clear from the discussions that Muhammad used to have with the tribes. After discussions with the tribe of Banu Amr bin Sasa'ah they asked him "who will have the authority after you?" to which Muhammad replied:

"Allah gives authority to whoever He wills."

This makes it clear that the Prophet had come to them seeking power to implement Islam, else why would they ask him about who would have authority?

He used to ask the tribes about their power and this was reflected in the reply of one tribe who said "if we left a plate of food uncovered in the desert nobody would touch it." Obviously Muhammad was seeking more from these tribes than just their acceptance of Islam. He was seeking their power so that he could seize power and implement Allah’s (swt) Deen on this earth.

Indeed there is no doubt that any regime in the world is maintained by the people of power. Seizing the authority by seeking the power from those who have it is central to the Sunnah of the Messenger .

Following this Sunnah requires us to seek the power from those who have it in order to implement Islam, and with-out a doubt the people of power in the Muslim world are the armies, who are the sons, fathers and brothers of the Muslims. They are the ones who are entitled to be the descendants of Khalid bin Walid and Usama bin Zaid, rather than having the banner of humiliation fostered over their heads, as they have done since the destruction of the Khilafah. If the Syrian army were to move against the Ba’thist regime, the Muslims would rejoice after years under Ba’thism. The Muslims of Jordan are fed up with the traitorous Sharif clan and its offspring, and if the people with power were to remove them, the Muslims would indeed rejoice. The very key to transferring these sentiments and this yearning to establish the Khilafah is the power - if the people of power moved against Karimov of Uzbekistan not a single Muslim in Uzbekistan would shed a tear, and indeed this Ummah would once again witness the days of happiness and tranquillity that she was once so accustomed to. The seeking of the power is what allows power to be seized, Islam to be implemented upon all and sundry, and carried to the entire world. The reward for those with the power who respond to this call is immense. Indeed it is narrated in the books of Seerah that when Sa’d bin Mu’adh (ra) died, that Jibreel (as) visited the Prophet and informed him that the recent death of one his Sahaba (ra) had caused the throne of Allah (swt) to shake. It was further narrated that thousands of Mala’ika (angels) accompanied the funeral procession and offered the Janaza (funeral) prayer for Sa’d bin Mu’adh. Sa’d bin Mu’adh (ra) was one of the leaders of Banu Aus of Madinah who accepted Islam and then lent his support to the establishment of the Islamic State of Madinah. He was therefore at the forefront of the Ansar helping the Prophet seize power and implement Islam.

So to everyone who has power and influence in the Ummah and to everyone who cares about the affairs of this Ummah and strives for its revival we say to you would you like to die a death as one who supported this Deen with his power and influence, like Sa’d bin Mu’adh (ra) or would you prefer the death of humiliation to be suffered by the treacherous coward rulers?

Conclusion

This, my dear Muslim brothers and sisters, is the method of Muhammad that we should adopt in order to re-establish the Khilafah. It is the method that removed the likes of Abu Jahl, Al-Walid and Abu Lahab from power and replaced them with leaders of the calibre of Abu Bakr (ra), Umar (ra), Uthman (ra) and Ali (ra). It is the method that established the State that within decades made the empires of the Romans and Persians crumble under its feet.

My dear Muslim brothers and sisters if you seek the return of the Khilafah and the radical change that must accompany its return you must dedicate yourselves to studying this method and following it without the slightest deviation. By Allah (swt) there will be no excuse on Yawm al-Qiyama for your failure to be an inheritor of the most pious of predecessors and the most pious of groups from this Ummah; the party of Muhammad . This work that is required from you is political work not political integration. This method is the method of change not the method of compromise and stagnation and submission to the Kuffar. It is a method to please Allah (swt) not a method to please the rulers or the people.

We ask Allah (swt) to assist us in our endeavour to re-establish the Khilafah with His Help and His Strength, and to accept from us this effort, and to overlook our mistakes. We ask Him also to guide all Muslims to adhere to the Method of Muhammad , to honour them with the re-establishment of the Khilafah, and restoring the rule with the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger .

"And say Do deeds! Soon Allah will see your deeds, and (so will) His Messenger and the believers." [At-Tauba:105]