Islamic Revival

  “If a ruler has no legitimacy – like a dictator who takes power by force through a military coup, then it is permissible to remove him by the same means. There is no problem with this. This is what many scholars wrote in their books and explained, except during certain times when some jurists, under pressure or fear, said things that people later misunderstood. For example, Malik ibn Anas was asked about joining Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya in his uprising against Abu Ja’far al-Mansur, and he said: “Yes, join him,” and gave a legal opinion to that effect. Likewise, Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil in Andalusia also gave a fatwa supporting rebellion. When Malik was asked, “What if someone rises against our leader – should we protect the leader?” he replied, “If they are like Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, then protect the leader. Otherwise, leave it. Allah will punish the oppressor through another oppressor, and then He will punish both.” Sahnun explained Malik’s words by saying: If the ruler is unj...

  “The scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets.” Yet in every age, some choose to abandon that inheritance, trading divine obligation for state patronage, and truth for stability. The weight of this betrayal becomes more acute in moments of crisis and no moment in our generation has laid bare the bankruptcy of the religious establishment as has the genocide in Gaza. Over the course of Israel’s recent aggression against the people of Gaza, beginning in October 2023, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them women and children. The infrastructure of life – hospitals, schools, bakeries, refugee shelters – has been systematically targeted. The siege on food, water, and medicine, combined with deliberate military attacks, has rendered Gaza a scene of unprecedented devastation. Gaza has been entirely wiped out in front of our eyes. The difference between the scholars of resistance and the scholars of the regime is not one of interpretation. It is one of all...

  Original Arabic “And what is [the matter] with you that you do not fight in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, ‘Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a helper’.” —  Surah An-Nisā’ (4:75) While the Gaza Strip is starved under siege and bombarded from the skies, the world witnesses a continuous genocide broadcast live and direct. Yet, the armies of the Muslims have not moved; not a single battalion has emerged, nor a single detachment advanced. The Arab regimes convene, denounce, and call for restraint, yet they lift no siege, nor do they try to intimidate any enemy. Their borders are sealed, while their skies remain open to the Zionist airline “El Al” and to Israeli diplomatic missions. The Rafah crossing is closed, and Israel continues its massacres without deterrence, even as it partakes in iftar feasts with its friends in the Gulf....

OVAMIR ANJUM - MARCH 9, 2023 Acknowledgements I am indebted to a number of scholars and friends who agreed to read earlier drafts of this essay and gave invaluable suggestions, even though I remain solely responsible for all the opinions and any lingering errors in it. These include Dr. Usaama Al-Azami, Dr. Safaruk Chowdhury, Dr. Sohail Hanif, Prof. Sherman Jackson, Shaykh Amin Kholwadia, Maulana Dr. Haroon Sidat, Mobeen Vaid, and Shaykh Shuayb Wani , among others. I am grateful also to my team at Ummatics, only in conversation with whom have the ideas expressed here developed and crystallized.  1. Introduction Muslims everywhere today face existential threats and exhilarating opportunities, all of which can be summed up in the singular challenge of becoming  ummatic : “Verily, this Umma of yours is one Umma, and I am your Lord, so worship Me” (21:92; 23:52). Our greatest nemesis is not an external agent but a lack of imagination and will within, a learned helplessness that st...