Defending the Faith is Everyone's Responsibility, Not Just Scholars'
This binary division is never found in the Book of God nor in the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, peace be upon him. We do not even like to say "common people and scholars"; for this division makes some people believe that defending the faith and upholding the Sharia is the task of "Islamists," while I should only concern myself with my personal affairs.
Meanwhile, our Lord, glory be to Him, said: {Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties, for that they will have Paradise.} All believers, in every class, male and female, young and old, scholars and followers, have had their lives and properties purchased by Allah.
My beloved, Egypt is going through a critical phase that will determine its future, and indeed affects the future of the entire Islamic nation. Every believer is duty-bound to defend this faith at this stage. And by the mercy and justice of Allah, glory be to Him, He will not say to you on the Day of Judgment: "Why did you not set the world right?" or "Why did you not establish the state?" Rather, Allah, glory be to Him, will ask you about yourself: {And the Day He will call them and say, "What answer did you give to the messengers?"} What have you offered for the religion of Allah, glory be to Him?
The Mistakes of "Islamists" Are No Excuse for Inaction
Some of us are preoccupied with the mistakes of others and believe that Islam has not been represented correctly in this phase, and that those who raised the Islamic banner did not give it its due and did not perform their role as required. And Allah, the Exalted, says: {O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility] for yourselves. Whoever has gone astray [has gone astray] upon [his own] error, and whoever is right, [has attained rightness] for [his own] soul.} The most dangerous thing is that some of us consider the mistakes of those called "Islamists" - and we do not approve of this term as it creates a binary division - as an excuse and a reason for inaction in defending the religion of Allah, glory be to Him, and abandoning the Sharia. This, my brothers, is a deadly satanic mistake.
We say: O brother, if you see that Islam is not being represented correctly, and if you see that those who raise the banner have not given it its due, this only increases your burden and responsibility. Are we not all Muslims in the end? Are you not a Muslim? If you see that its bearers have not given it its due, then it is upon you to take the initiative and raise this banner.
If those who were supposed to raise the banner and give it its due had performed their role, we would have excused you if you had remained inactive, and we would have said that you were weak and only corrected yourself. But since few have taken up the banner and given it its due, it is your duty, O you who call yourself a layman, O you who consider yourself a follower, if you see that the religion of Allah is being abandoned and the banner is not being given its due, it is your duty to raise the banner. It is your duty to rise up to protect the slogan "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," to rise up to protect this slogan from being cast to the ground and trampled underfoot.
Defending the Faith With or Without Others
Do not wait, O brother, for inhabitants from another planet to come and defend the religion of Allah, glory be to Him. None will defend it except you, except you, O children of the Muslims, except you, O those who are pleased with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muhammad, peace be upon him, as Prophet.
The religion of Allah is victorious with you and without you. Allah, glory be to Him, has promised that this religion will reach every house, whether of wool or hair. But the question is: Will we be soldiers in defending the religion of Allah, glory be to Him, or not? It is you who are in need of the religion of Allah, not the religion of Allah in need of you. If you busy yourself with criticizing the bearers of the banner and their mistakes and do not perform your role, if you see "There is no god but Allah" falling to the ground and do not rise up to carry it, then excuse me if I say to you at that time: You have betrayed Allah, betrayed the Messenger, and betrayed the trust.
Listen to the words of Allah, glory be to Him: {O you who have believed, do not betray Allah and the Messenger and do not betray your trusts while you know [the consequence].} Notice, "O you who have believed," He did not say, "O scholars," He did not say, "O Islamists," He did not say, "O party members." He who sees the battle now and considers that Islam has not entered the battle, that Islam has not been represented correctly, and that those who are counted among the bearers of the banner of Islam have greatly failed, will have betrayed Allah, glory be to Him, if he does not rise up to raise the banner of Islam.
For Allah did not bring you into this world and make you of the nation of Muhammad, peace be upon him, except to perform a mission He stated: {You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.} If you see humanity going astray, the Sharia being neglected, and people suffering from the bitterness and ill omen of the neglect of the religion of the Lord of the worlds, and you do not rise up to raise the banner, then you have betrayed Allah, glory be to Him.
The Trust in Following the Sunnah and the Dignity of the Prophet
You betray the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, because you see a poor representation of his Sunnah, you see a turning away from his Sunnah, peace be upon him, you see the image of the Sunnah shaking and its dignity fading from the hearts. Yet you fear to show the Sunnah of the Prophet in your demeanor, in your guidance, in your appearance, in your expressions and speech.
If we were truly lovers of the Messenger of Allah, and if we were to sacrifice for the Messenger of Allah with our souls, our wealth, and our time in reality, we would say at that time: The reputation of the Prophet is more honorable to me than my reputation, the honor of the Prophet is more honorable to me than my honor, and the image of the Prophet is more honorable to me than my image. If you see a poor representation of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and people turning away from the beard, turning away from the Sunni appearance, and turning away from the legal slogans, then I would be a coward and a betrayer of the Messenger of Allah, a traitor to the Messenger of Allah, if I remained inactive and evaded [my duty], hiding the features of the Sunnah from my tongue, my appearance, and my behavior, so as not to be accused by people. This is betrayal of the Messenger, peace be upon him.
But if you are truly a lover of your beloved, the chosen one, peace be upon him, you would say: Rather, I will adorn myself with the adornment of the Prophet, appear in the appearance of the Prophet, speak with the speech of the Prophet, supplicate with the supplication of the Prophet, carry the banner and give it its due and represent it correctly, so that I may restore to the hearts the dignity of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and restore to the Sunni appearances and expressions and to the Sharia love and respect in the hearts of the people. This is if you truly love the Messenger of Allah.
He who does not take the initiative to raise the banner in this time betrays the trust; because Allah, glory be to Him, addressed the believers with His saying: {O you who have believed, be supporters of Allah.} When you claim faith in Allah, you are addressed by this verse: {Be supporters of Allah.} Imagine how beautiful it is when you read this verse and say: "Yes, my Lord, I respond to Your call, I am one of Your supporters and supporters of Your religion and Your Sharia." And imagine the betrayal when you read this verse for blessing while you have betrayed the religion of Allah, glory be to Him.
A Scene from Reality: The Difference Between the Mujahid and the Beneficiary
My brothers, I remind you of a scene that you may have witnessed nine years ago when the Iraqi regime fell and America occupied Iraq, and a great chaos occurred in the official institutions, in the ministries, in the palaces, and in the military institutions. At that time, we saw two consecutive scenes on television screens, separated by only seconds:
- The First Scene: People who are striving in the cause of Allah, fighting and being fought against. These people saw the great chaos that occurred, saw a fortress crumbling, saw people coming out of this fortress, so their only concern was to bring people back to the religion of their Lord, glorified and exalted be He, and to defend the honor of Muslim men and women.
- The Second Scene: At the same time, we saw people entering the official institutions and ministries; some came out with a "cash box," some with a "typewriter," some with a "window curtain," and some who found nothing to benefit from this state of chaos except a "bathroom jug," so they washed it with some water and took it to benefit from it in their home!
So, he does not care if the nation of Islam is violated, he does not care if the honor is violated. When they stand before Allah, glorified and exalted be He, on the Day of Judgment, will Allah look at them with satisfaction? Is the first like the second? I leave the answer to you. You, my brother, are either part of the problem or a solution to the problem, there is no third choice here. It is a binary division: either you are part of the problem in the Islamic nation, or you are a solution to the problem.
What Will You Answer Allah, Glorified and Exalted Be He?
And Allah, glorified and exalted be He, said: {And We did not send any messenger except [speaking] in the language of his people}. I am keen that this meaning reaches the people, so I will say it in colloquial Arabic (dialect) so that the meaning is ingrained:
I say to the driver, to the elderly, to the woman, to the child: Imagine yourself standing on the Day of Judgment before Allah, glorified and exalted be He, and He says to you: "O My servant, how did you answer the messengers? You saw the Sharia being ignored, you saw Allah, glorified and exalted be He, not being worshipped, you saw the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, being misrepresented, what did you do to defend my religion?"
Imagine yourself saying: "What about, O Lord, the secularists, the liberals, the parties, the constitution, the president, the subordinate... and so on." He says to you: "I am asking you how you defended my religion? How did you answer the messengers?" You say: "It is, O Lord, because they expelled me, and they erred in such and such, and in the elections they did such and such..."
How did you answer the messengers? How did you defend my religion? What will you answer Allah, glorified and exalted be He? It will not benefit you to say, "They misrepresented Islam, so I turned away from Islam," but this places an additional burden on you, it places the responsibility on you.
You may say: "Me?" Yes, you. "But I don't have religious knowledge?" This matter - defending the religion of Allah, glorified and exalted be He - is a duty for the young and the old, the imitator and the scholar. Allah, glorified and exalted be He, said: {O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will make for you a criterion}. Fear Allah, glorified and exalted be He, in what you learn, leave the sins, big and small, and Allah will place in your heart a criterion by which you can distinguish between truth and falsehood in this time when there is much deception, confusion, and distortion, and the methods have varied.
And everyone claims to be right, and you are confused and say: "So whose side is the truth on?" Your Lord, glorified and exalted be He, is more merciful and more compassionate to His servants than to make the truth confusing, to make the path leading to it confusing, to make His will from His servants ambiguous. Allah, glorified and exalted be He, is more merciful than that.
But what is required of you, O servant of Allah, is that you fear Allah in what you learn, and that you resolve with sincere and decisive intention that if you learn a commandment of Allah, you will adhere to it, even if it costs you sacrifices and severe consequences; because you hope in Allah, glorified and exalted be He. If you do that, then Allah may benefit the religion through you more than He benefits through great scholars. Allah, glorified and exalted be He, said: {Then have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire, and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge?}
A person may learn knowledge, may have vast and abundant knowledge, but with that, he follows his desires.
So, in this historical stage, you may serve the religion of Allah, glorified and exalted be He, more than some scholars who may follow their desires. Therefore, this message is directed to all of us, to the general public.