English translation of Aḥmad Bawādī’s “Revolutions Are No Substitute For Jihād” from Issue #62 of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s al-Ṣamūd Magazine

NOTE: To view issue number sixty-two of the Ṭālibān’s magazine al-Ṣamūd see here.
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In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Mistaken are those who think that the establishment of Shari’ah will emerge from the womb of revolutions which are calling for freedom, and mistaken are those who believe that these revolutions are an alternative to the way of the Believers or the path to a sound manhaj. When the banners of truth are borne by those
who are not of its people, then these banners become blind guides colored by desires and caprice. Who said that truth could be championed by falsehood, the very argument used to refute it? Who claimed that the banner of truth is being raised by those gangs of falsehood who oppose it? Those proclaiming these revolutions must devote their banners to the Deen of Allah in order to achieve their security and faith. The Shari’ah of Allah is sufficient to guarantee a good lifestyle and a secure life.

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُم بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

“Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him will We give a new life, a life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.”

فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ

“Those who believe and work righteousness, for them is forgiveness and sustenance most generous.”
A person may be oppressed in his person, dispossessed of his wealth, his family humiliated and his dignity wasted. This does not give him the right, if he triumphs over the one who wronged him, to become a regent over others and to set up for them regimes and constitutions that accord with his whims and desires. He who thanks Allah after being delivered from oppression should comply with the command of his Lord by establishing the rule of Shari’ah. The fortune of those might change after Allah aids them, but they will never arrive at the divine program while raising partisan banners, calling for democracy and demanding freedoms.
The state of Islam will not be established by a revolution for a loaf of bread, if that revolution was not undertaken for the sake of the Deen and Shari’ah of Allah. No one should think that a revolution over unemployment will close the wine shops and nightclubs. They will not prevent women from going outside wearing make-up and unveiled and will not prevent them from showing their nakedness at pools and on the beaches. The networks of singing, dancing, prostitution and shamelessness will not be shut down by these revolutions, if they are not indeed the catalyst and motivator for these sins, when freedom and democracy become the religion and constitution of the people and are an alternative to Jihad. When people rebel and bring down despotic regimes for the sake of unemployment and a loaf of bread, and these revolutions are conducted by people from all walks of life who come to terms over (being governed by) other than the Shari’ah of Allah, we are back where we started from. If the revolution is carried out by such as these then undoubtedly the state would be like the Buyid state and require new Seljuqs to deal with them.
We must know and understand that what has occurred in Egypt and Tunisia comes from the promise of Allah to support His oppressed and defeated servants to aid them against their oppressors. Our merciful Lord aids even the infidel against those who oppress him, even if the oppressor is Muslim. How much more (will He do so) when the oppressed is a Muslim? This lesson is a warning and admonishment to the unjust (ones) so that they may turn away from their injustice and oppression, and it is assistance to the oppressed, so that he may thank Allah for His grace. This is what we must understand so that we do not make this aid into a way to attain empowerment on earth, while we call for foul constitutionalism without guidance from the Deen and Shari’ah of Allah and neglect to aid Deen and its partisans.
Read, if you will, the Book of your Lord:

وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا وَمَنكَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

“Allah has promised , to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), and He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion – the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: ‘They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me.’ If any do reject faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked.”

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ

“O ye who believe! If ye will aid the cause of Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly”.
These revolutions and their people will not recover Palestine, nor will they take the place of Jihad and the Mujahideen and expel the invaders and conspirators from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Their banners are a morsel of bread and eliminating unemployment, drowning in worldly desires and following whims and keeping a distance from Jihad fi Sabeel Allah.

الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِن دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ إِلَّا أَن يَقُولُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللَّهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُم بِبَعْضٍ لَّهُدِّمَتْ صَوَامِعُ وَبِيَعٌ وَصَلَوَاتٌ وَمَسَاجِدُ يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا اسْمُ اللَّهِ كَثِيرًا وَلَيَنصُرَنَّ اللَّهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَقَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ

“(They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right, (for no cause) except they say, ‘our Lord is Allah.’ Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who aid His (cause), for verily Allah is full of strength, exalted in might (able to enforce His will).”
Events which change the face of history and watershed moments of change and transformation are rarely repeated. What is happening in Egypt and Tunisia and what might happen elsewhere is extraordinary and emanates from the aid Allah has given to these countries and peoples at this time. Were it not for the kindness of Allah towards them, tens of thousands of people would have been killed, even half the population would have been destroyed without the ruler being shaken in his reign. Look if you will at other Islamic countries and the oppression, domination and tyranny that occur there. They are as close as possible to those great historical events which may only be repeated after a long period of time, or may not be repeated at all, even those events which are (not) outside the control of the people.
Look at how many earthquakes occur, and yet we’ve had only one tsunami over a long period of time. And look at how many bombings have occurred, but we have only one September (11).
The Battle of Badr changed the face of history and was a turning point between truth and falsehood. The battle changed the scales and confused the forces of falsehood and tyranny. Did matters stop there and were all the battles and issues then decided? Or did it act to change views, ideas and beliefs after striking fear into arrogant hearts while bringing aid to the broken-hearted, becoming the spark that lit the fire which engulfed the people of falsehood and served as a torch illuminating the darkness for the people of the truth so that they could proceed with firm steps and confident in the support of Allah.
He who defeated the hosts at Badr is capable of bringing down those who are weaker than they. He who brought down the towers of America as if they were the least of its structures, and he who removed Shain al-Abidin in all his wickedness and Hosni with his might, will not be unable to remove that which is more oppressive and powerful. But Allah laid low their prestige and humbled their state before the eyes of the people so that mankind may know the power of the truth of the Almighty and Sublime and remove from them the dust of disgrace and shame and work to aid His Deen and its adherents after He had humiliated the people of falsehood and strengthened the people of truth to make use of these events for their own advantage. Events such as these do not allow us to stop and stand upon them or await similar events. Rather we must exploit these events and their consequences in a sound and correct manner to use these opportunities and realize satisfactory results through sound and good methods.
Scholars and preachers must make use of these events and advise the Ummah to employ the situation in a way that serves Islam and the Muslims and alert them to their duty to raise the banner of Islam in these revolutions. The concern of preachers should not be merely issuing Shari’ah rulings or becoming occupied in disputes, because these revolutions are the offspring of a vast accumulation of injustice and oppression. The people are not waiting for a Shari’ah ruling because they are acting spontaneously and not deliberately due to the injustice and oppression inflicted upon them by those who have held dominion over them and starved them, (keeping them) ignorant, weak and backward.
The Islamic historian Mahmoud Shaker al-Dimashqi, discussing the crisis during the time of the dominion of the ameers, soldiers and commanders over the lands and the believers in the second Abbasid state and those that followed them, wrote:
“The danger and evil of military rule lies in relations among people. For when soldiers are one party, and a dispute arises between two opponents, one of whom is armed, then the mind is compelled into silence, freedom disappears, injustice occurs, thought is suppressed and people are humiliated. The people hate those in power and there is a separation between officials and citizens. But the population cannot reveal that and it is maintained in secret. The country then falls behind socially and economically when the tyrants seek to exploit their situation and amass what wealth they can, leaving aside the looting, plundering and transgressions committed by the military and their followers, whether this is directly or indirectly through their soldiers who imitate them. Production drops because the population neglects it so as not to be targeted by plundering, oppression and tyranny. Morale drops because the people cannot fight – in whose name should they fight? For whom should they wage war? Why should they march?” [al-Tarikh al-Islami 6/15].
The duty incumbent upon scholars and preachers is, before issuing a Shari’ah ruling on a matter that is already over and done with, is to work to correct mistakes and direct them in a direction that is consistent with and serves the interests of Shari’ah. They must not leave matters in the hands of the people of falsehood to plot against Islam, exploiting and stealing these revolutions in order to use them for their own schemes and purposes. They must speak the truth and raise the banner of Tawheed and al-Sunna and let the people hear their voices so that among them a loaf of bread is not held to be of greater importance than the Deen of Allah and the rule of their Lord’s Shari’ah, so that they will accept no substitute for it.
The courses of these revolutions must be diverted onto this path. Time must be invested and efforts must be made to respond to those calls which aid and support the choice of the people, no matter what it is, only in order to thrust them back, thwarted and defeated.
When our Muslim preachers and scholars speak about aiding the cause of their Ummah and the Deen of their Lord, they must not flatter, be deferential, paper over (issues) or err when it is they who are the leaders of the Ummah, its guiding light and strong fortress. Let not their position be as the poet said:

وما أنا إلا من غزية إن غوت … غويت ، وإن ترشد غزية أرشد

What am I but a Ghaziah. If they are tempted… I am tempted. If they follow the right course, I follow the right course
The Ummah has no alternative for Jihad. It will continue until the Day of Judgment.
Translate From The Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan: Al-Somood Monthly Magazine Issue #62
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