Are We Close to Victory?

Peace be upon you, my brothers.

What do we say about a man who wishes for children but is too lazy to get married and take on its responsibilities, so he sits and prays to Allah the Almighty saying: "O Allah, You are the One who said: 'Call upon Me; I will respond to you.' O Allah, I call upon You to grant me sons and daughters, so grant them to me as You have promised me," while he does not even want to get married in the first place?

What do we say about a student who has finished high school and wishes to study medicine, but he is preoccupied with seeking livelihood, so he says: "O Allah, You are the One who said: 'And He provides for him from where he does not expect.' O Allah, so provide me with the medical certificate without my effort"?

What do we say about this man and that student? Isn't their supplication a kind of transgression that Allah has forbidden, as He said: "And call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors"? One of its meanings is that they transgress in their supplication by asking for what should not be asked.

But allow me, my brothers, to say: We also transgress in supplication like this man and that student. We transgress when we say: "O Allah, Your victory which You have promised," as if we have taken the causes of victory that Allah has commanded, and all that is left is for Allah to fulfill His promise for us.

My words are not to discourage, but praise be to Allah, we see the vanguards of faith achieving much, and we see the weakness of the international system that wants to deliver an airstrike then hesitates and does not dare to land ground forces because of what it has tasted before, and hopes for Mujahideen to negotiate with him and open an office for them, while they are directing painful strikes at him. May Allah grant us hope thereby to feel the path of victory and take its causes.

What Are the Causes of Victory?

Many, let us review them from the Book, the Sunnah, and history. But my brothers, before we begin with them, I would like to emphasize a very important meaning: we know these causes beforehand, but we deal with them as if they are optional improvements, while they are, as the evidence indicates, causes for which we are not promised victory without taking them. Causes like marriage for that man and study for that student.

Our problem is that we focus on one of them and think that taking care of it will make up for the lack in the other causes, while Allah may have made a certain measure for each thing. Victory has its causes that must be taken to a certain extent, and Allah the Almighty only rewards those who strive the required striving, not just any striving, as He said: "And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with the striving due to it while he is a believer - it is those whose striving will be appreciated." So the required is the specific striving.

Today, we will review some of these causes briefly, and we will elaborate on them in other words, God willing.

The First Cause: Soundness of the Method

The first cause of victory: the soundness of the method for which we fight and sacrifice. But the majority of people have differed in this cause into three groups:

1. The First Group: They have exceeded in the method and worked their minds to find ways to achieve victory and empowerment even if they contradict the evidence.
2. The Second Group: They have held firmly to the method and paid attention to the purification of Tawheed, the rejection of democracy, and the adherence to the rule of Allah, but they have treated this cause as if it were everything, and thought that the soundness of the method is a remedy for every breach and a force against every deficiency, so they did not pay attention to the many other causes nor did they take care of them properly.
3. The Third Group: And this is the vast majority of Muslims. To obtain a doctorate degree which is in itself without dedicating it to the service of religion is not a cause for entering Paradise nor salvation from the Fire, he spends a quarter of his life for the sake of the world. And yet, if he is asked to read a research or listen to a series that will help him understand the correct method that will lead him to the pleasure of Allah and His Paradise, he becomes lazy and thinks that the soundness of his intention is sufficient for him with his Lord, and then he is content with general emotional impressions about individuals, groups, and methods whose form he has seen through passing glances and scattered news he has heard here and there. And yet, he defends these impressions of his, and pride takes him to sin if he is wrong in them.

And I think that most of us, the Muslims, are distributed among these three groups, and yet we raise our hands in the Tarweeh prayer and after the Friday sermon to affirm in supplication: "O Allah, Your victory which You have promised." No, by Allah, we have not been promised victory for such a thing.

The Second Cause: Deeds of the Heart

The second cause, my brothers, of victory: deeds of the heart. Allah the Almighty said: "Indeed, Allah was pleased with the believers when they gave bay'ah to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility upon them and rewarded them with an imminent conquest." So the conquest was a reward for what was settled in the hearts of the Companions.

These deeds of the heart include sincerity, disassociation from what is around us and our strength, and the purification from the presence of our own selves. All of these are required, not just the will to victory of the religion. Allah the Almighty said: "And the day of Huneyn, when you were pleased with your numbers, but they availed you not at all, and the earth became narrow for you despite its spaciousness; then you turned back retreating." So wonderment is a deed of the heart that causes defeat, and the soundness of the method will not remedy the flaw at that time.

The Third Cause: Unity of the Muslims

The third cause of victory: the unity of the Muslims. Allah the Almighty said: "Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in a row as if they are a firmly built structure." This simile contains a beautiful indication, for the structure is not strong except with two conditions: the strength of the bricks (meaning the bricks), and the strength of the mortar (i.e., the material that sticks the brick to the brick). If any of these two conditions is lacking, it is easy to demolish the building as it is not firmly built.

Even if the Mujahideen are strong in themselves, each of them has a pure creed and a sound method, but the bonds between them are weak, then they are like a wall whose bricks are made of iron but the material that sticks the bricks together is weak, so how easy it is for this wall to collapse. And what if there is discord among them? And Allah the Almighty said: "And do not dispute lest you lose heart and your strength depart."

Often, my brothers, we do not make the soundness of the method a cause for our discord with others who have not gone out of Islam due to their mistakes, and although it is possible for us to deal with their mistakes in a way that preserves the unity and cohesion of the ranks without distorting the method, and we do not know that by cutting off our ties with them in the name of exposing falsehood, we disobey Allah and His Messenger by denying the evil in a non-Sunnah manner that causes us to fail and lose our strength.

Brothers, there is a forgotten incident in history and many do not know that this gathering of Muslims defeated the Tatars in a severe defeat in the region of Ghazni in Afghanistan, then another severe defeat in Kabul. And yet, we do not hear about these two victories of the Muslims, but we know that the Tatars invaded the Islamic world afterwards and killed millions and destroyed entire cities. Why? Because the army of the Muslims, after the two victories mentioned, differed over the spoils to the point of fighting, which led to the withdrawal of the Turkish forces led by Baghrak, so they all failed and their strength departed. Did those who fought over the spoils at that time know that this trivial matter they differed over would be the cause of the killing of millions of Muslims, their displacement, and their torture? And how many sins befell them due to their discord that led to all of this.

The Fourth Reason: Good Administration and Planning

The fourth reason for victory: good administration and planning. Brothers, who among us has ever sat down, taken a piece of paper and a pen, and said, "I want to plan for my religious service, I want to arrange priorities and define the message, vision, and goals"? Or do we give our religion the scraps of time to relieve our guilt whenever we feel we have fallen short in its regard?

We must reflect on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) excellent planning, which placed secrecy in its rightful place, openness in its rightful place, confrontation at the right time, and patience in the face of harm at the right time. The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (peace be upon him), succeeded, along with the delegation of the Ansar, in conducting the second Bay'ah of Aqabah in complete secrecy. Seventy-three men and two women sneaked out at night from among hundreds of polytheistic pilgrims to meet the Messenger of Allah and agree on the next phase without the knowledge of the people of Mecca, not even the Muslims among them.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would, when he set out for a destination, conceal it with another, making the army march behind him without knowing the direction until he confused the hypocrites and the spies of the disbelievers. Meanwhile, many of us think that blessings and good intentions will save us from the consequences of poor planning, leaking secrets, and gossip, the harm of which extends to our brothers among the Muslims and the Mujahideen. We forget that by doing so, we disobey Allah the Almighty, who says: "Take your precaution." Then, after this, if he is tested by his actions, he says, "O Allah, Your support which You promised, O Allah, Your relief which You promised." By Allah, Allah has not promised victory to such a person.

The Fifth Reason: Good Character

The fifth reason, my brothers, for victory: good character. In the agreed-upon hadith of the beginning of revelation, our mother Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) said to the beloved Prophet (peace be upon him): "Nay, rejoice, for by Allah, He will never disgrace you." Why will Allah not disgrace His Prophet but rather honor and support him? What are the reasons? She continued, may Allah be pleased with her, saying: "By Allah, you maintain the ties of kinship, you speak the truth, you bear hardships, you give to the needy, you honor the guest, and you help in the causes of truth." All of these are virtues whose result is that Allah the Almighty will not disgrace His Prophet. This is what we need today, that Allah does not disgrace or abandon us in our battle with our enemies. Therefore, we must take care of our character and take care of our morals.

The Sixth Reason: Preparation

"And prepare against them what you are able of power." Lack of preparation is a sin. Are we, my brothers, a nation of preparation or a nation of worthlessness? Students in their schools, teachers, employees, researchers, and nurturing mothers. How many of our students neglect acquiring beneficial worldly knowledge and indulge in eating and sleeping, yet they call upon Allah to grant them martyrdom. If they intended to go out, they would prepare for it. Even if Allah grants them a field of jihad and places in their hands and the hands of their brothers a stockpile of equipment, they may be deprived of benefiting from it due to their shortcoming in engineering, which they registered for but neglected to study, and they did not respond to His saying, the Almighty: "And prepare against them what you are able." Can he then say afterwards, "O Allah, Your support which You promised"?

Brothers, we have mentioned six reasons, and there are others. I only wanted with this word to expand our horizons so that we do not limit the causes of victory to the correctness of the methodology or the goodness of intention. And for what has been mentioned, I am amazed at our boldness with Allah and Allah's patience with us as we transgress in supplication and say, "O Allah, Your support which You promised." By Allah, Allah has not promised us victory in such a manner. Therefore, it is not appropriate for us to supplicate with this supplication in front of our children who, for years, hear this supplication from us and do not see victory, as if we are attributing the breaking of the promise to Allah the Almighty, while in reality, we are like a thief without marriage and medicine without study. We think that good assumptions and good intentions fill every gap and mend every tear, and we think that what is required is some work, any work.

Questions and Answers

Of course, this presentation will raise many questions: Is it not permissible for us to say, "O Allah, support Islam and the Muslims"? Does my speech mean that all Muslims must be of one heart, fulfilling the causes of victory? Did the Muslims not achieve victory in a period of history despite their flaws? We will answer these questions in upcoming words, by the permission of Allah.

And I conclude by answering the question: Are we close to victory or far from it?

The answer contains two truths: a sad truth and a joyful one.

The Sad Truth

As for the sad truth, based on what has been mentioned, my brothers, we are very far from victory because we have not taken its causes to the required extent. Opposing the Sunnah and seeking an abnormal state will not avail anything. There is no path that leads except the one that is taken, even if it seems long.

The Joyful Truth

As for the joyful truth, it is that we are very close to victory. Yes, very close to victory. Why? Because we hold the initiative. We are the ones who, with the help of Allah, can take the causes, and all the forces of disbelief will not be able to hinder our will at that time, just as they are unable to uproot faith from our hearts. At that time, Allah the Almighty will bless the little that we have been able to do, exerted ourselves in, and striven for, and Allah the Almighty will make miracles for us because we simply obeyed Him by preparing what we were able to. At that time, we will supplicate with certainty, saying, "O Allah, Your support which You promised, O Allah, Your support which You promised."

Conclusion

In conclusion, my brothers: Allah's victory is near, very near, but we are the ones who approach it or distance ourselves from it.

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.