Episode 11 - The backbone of the Islamic Ummah

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.

Introduction: Loyalty and Disavowal and Its Importance

People gather around different meanings, and among the members of a single group, loyalty and belonging arise among them based on this meaning. A group may gather based on creed, living in a geographical area, ethnicity, tribe, language, profession, supporting a certain sports club, a party, political goals, or others. When interests and desires conflict, this loyalty results in disavowal of other groups to varying degrees.

What we will do in today's session is that we will review the problems of loyalty and disavowal on these bases and how they lead to injustice. Then we will see how Islam came to address this issue and build loyalty on the greatest basis. Then we will see the aesthetics and features of Islamic loyalty that do not exist in others. Then how the international system works to break the loyalties and affiliations that oppose its control in societies in general and in Islamic societies in particular.

Loyalty and belonging to a group increases its strength even at the level of the smallest human community, which is the family. Its members gather on a bond and strive to achieve common benefits and strive to repel common danger. Every community that gathers on a description and distinguishes itself from others is based on the cohesion of its members, their solidarity, and their concern for what they have gathered upon. The more they increase in this cohesion, the more capable they are of achieving common goals or the values upon which this community was based.

Problems of Worldly Loyalties

However, the interests and desires of different groups will eventually conflict, and here arises bigotry and disavowal of other groups. An individual may belong to one group and disavow groups that oppose it to varying degrees, seeking to prioritize the interest of his group over others.

A few days ago, a British football team fan attacked Italian team fans after the Italian victory, and shocking clips of barbaric behavior spread. This has happened many times, and even wars and feuds have been based on it, such as the war between El Salvador and Honduras, which claimed the lives of thousands of people.

Members of a single tribe belong to it and are loyal to each other so that if there is a dispute with another tribe, some of them support their tribe over the other even if it is in the wrong. This involves disavowal of the other tribe. Many party members belonging to their parties find in one of them loyalty to his party and a degree of disavowal of other parties, seeking the interest of his party at the expense of other parties by reducing their popularity in favor of his party. He may be expelled from his party just for doing something that would raise the credit of other parties.

Loyalty Based on Homeland, Race, and Corrupt Creed

In loyalty based on homeland, if your country wages a war against another country, should you fight on the side of the homeland whether it is oppressor or oppressed? Similarly, loyalty and disavowal based on race, which has led throughout history to wars that have claimed the lives of tens of millions.

In loyalty based on creed, if this creed is not the correct one, then this loyalty leads to disavowal of the owners of other creeds and religions. Man does not live without loyalty and disavowal, and the concept of loyalty and disavowal is inherent in human societies in different forms, but it is usually based on worldly values that have no real weight in the comparison between humans, such as geographical boundaries, color, race, or language, or on creeds that have been subjected to human distortion and have lost their sublimity and have become worldly from this aspect as well.

These forms of loyalty and disavowal are not regulated by the values of truth and justice, but are built on a false comparison between humans that leads to injustice. It is therefore a worldly loyalty and disavowal, isolated from the guidance of revelation, blind, lacking the standard of truth and justice, often closed, based on meanings that man cannot change, such as bigotry against blacks, for example, and injustice falls upon those who are outside the circle of loyalty.

Loyalty and Disavowal in Islam: Foundations and Features

Come, dear guests, let us see in contrast how loyalty and disavowal in Islam are divine, based on a sublime, natural meaning, regulated by truth and justice, available to all, and no injustice falls upon those who are outside the circle of loyalty.

First: Its Foundation is Heavenly and Innate (Love for Allah)

Islam bases loyalty and disavowal on a heavenly, not earthly, meaning. It is founded on servitude to Allah the Almighty. Servitude is the perfection of love with the perfection of submission. Love for Allah the Almighty is an innate nature, deeply rooted in the human soul, regardless of one's color, race, or place on earth. Islam addressed this innate nature with a preserved heavenly revelation, becoming a rope hanging from the sky to gather people around a meaningful value and mend their disunity after earthly loyalties and disavowals had torn them apart: "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together, and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you might be guided."

An innate love for Allah and a preserved revelation from Allah establish for Islam the bond of loyalty, which means support and love for the common meaning that is love for Allah, worship of Him, and glorification of Him.

But why do we say that this love is a true value unlike other values that people are loyal to and enemies over? Why should our love, hatred, loyalty, and disavowal be based on love for Allah? Because Allah, glorified and exalted be He, loves for His own sake and for His eternal attributes. Allah, glorified and exalted be He, is eternal in His attributes, so worship of Him is a right upon you even before He bestows His blessings upon you, for it is His right that you worship Him with love and submission to His beautiful names and attributes, glorified and exalted be He. And when this meaning exists, worship of Allah is firm in every condition, regardless of whether Allah blesses you or tests you. So how, when Allah, glorified and exalted be He, has created you and blessed you with various blessings, then you return to Him to determine your fate and guide you to what achieves eternal happiness for you?

This is the love of worship, love for Allah for His own sake and His eternal attributes, then for His blessings. And no one in existence deserves this love except Allah, glorified and exalted be He, because these attributes do not exist in a father, a son, a wife, wealth, or anything else. It is not rational to make the love of anything rival the love of Allah, glorified and exalted be He, preventing you from fulfilling His right of obedience or causing you to disobey Him. Rather, it is rational that your absolute loyalty be to Allah, glorified and exalted be He: "It is Allah who created you, then provided for you, then will cause you to die, then will bring you to life. Is there any of your partners who does that for you? Glorified and exalted be He above what they associate with Him."

But for the love of Allah to be saving, we must love Allah in the way He, glorified and exalted be He, wants, not in the way we want. This is by singling out the love of worship mentioned by singling it out for Allah, and by loving what Allah loves and hating what Allah hates. From this, there branches out love for the religion of Allah, the messengers of Allah, and the believers in Allah, and love for obedience, and hatred for disbelief and disbelievers in Allah, and hatred for the disobedience of Allah. This leads us to loyalty to faith and its people, and disavowal of disbelief and its people, with principles that we will clarify in these episodes.

But where did other nations go astray? Are not the Jews, Christians, and people of other religions also lovers of Allah? Yes, but they did not love Him in the way He, glorified and exalted be He, approved for Himself. They ascribed to Allah what does not befit His attributes that necessitate love for Him, as in their corrupted books. They associated with Allah others in the love of servitude that necessitates humiliation, submission, glorification, and perfect obedience, which is only befitting for Allah. And they did not love what Allah loves and hate what Allah hates. They lied about messengers, opposed believers, and loved sins that Allah hates. So Allah's statement about them is true: "And of the people are some who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah." Notice that Allah, glorified and exalted be He, did not deny that they love Him, but their love is rejected as long as they did not single Him out with it, glorified and exalted be He. And even the believing monotheists, if they want Allah to reciprocate their love with His love, glorified and exalted be He, must have actions, not just beliefs and heart actions: "Say, 'If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.'" Love for Allah as Allah loves is the distinguishing mark of the Muslim from others of the people of religions.

Upon this solid foundation, upon this heavenly innate meaning, love for Allah as He, glorified and exalted be He, loves, Islam established the principle of loyalty and disavowal. This love becomes your greatest motivator in life. A man said, "I have not prepared for it much prayer, fasting, or charity, but I love Allah and His Messenger." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him, "You are with whom you love." Look at these four words: "You are with whom you love." What did Anas bin Malik say? Anas said, "We were not more joyful with anything than with the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying, 'You are with whom you love.' So I love the Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr, and Umar, and I hope to be with them through my love for them, even if I do not do like their deeds." Do you see, my brothers, what we are talking about? It is a topic that if you master it, it will be a cause for your entry into Paradise and companionship with the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his noble companions.

Love for Allah must manifest in the Muslim's feelings towards others and his relationships with them. Our Lord, glorified and exalted be He, said, "O you who have believed, whoever of you should renounce his religion, Allah will bring forth a people He will love and who will love Him, humble toward the believers, powerful against the disbelievers." You humble yourself to your brothers who share this love with you, while you are honored over the disbelievers who did not love Allah as He, glorified and exalted be He, loves Him. And He, glorified and exalted be He, said, "And those who took precedence in the abode and [in] faith say, 'We were the ones who pledged allegiance to you before and sought [His] favor through submission.'" The Ansar's love for the Muhajireen was a sign of their faith and true love for Allah. And our Prophet (peace be upon him) said that with this love, you find the sweetness of faith. Our Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Three [qualities] will find the sweetness of faith: to love Allah and His Messenger more than all else, to love a person only for Allah's sake, and to hate to return to disbelief as much as one hates to be thrown into the fire." Love, love, and hate: love for Allah and His Messenger, love for the believers in Allah, and hate for disbelief.

So if you love your simple, poor, humble Muslim brother with dusty feet, seeing him hear the call to prayer and turn to perform ablution and pray, and you prefer him over the wealthy, intelligent, honorable, handsome polytheist, you have understood the meaning of loyalty and disavowal in Islam. Look, on the other hand, at the condition of one who finds no distinction for his Muslim brother in his Islam, and at the same time humbles himself to the disbelievers for worldly reasons of position, wealth, or material superiority. This is the first characteristic of loyalty and disavowal in Islam: its foundation is divine, based on a heavenly innate value, which is love for Allah, glorified and exalted be He.

Secondly: Loyalty Based on Truth and Justice

Secondly, loyalty and disassociation are based on truth and justice. The matter is not about civil status or lineage, so we do not love and support someone just because they were born Muslim, no matter what they do. This is a very important concept, and although it is obvious, some Muslims do not understand it. They imagine that we draw a geographical circle or classify based on what is written about a person's religion in official documents, and say here is the circle of love and loyalty, whoever is inside it deserves love, loyalty, and eternal happiness no matter what they do, and whoever is outside it deserves woe and ill-treatment. This is a false notion.

Rather, since we are talking about love, hatred, loyalty, and disassociation based on the love of the Lord of the Worlds and His names and attributes, one of His names is "Al-Haqq" (The Truth). Exalted is Allah, the Sovereign Truth. And Allah, the Most High, is the Just Judge: "And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice." Therefore, loyalty is to the truth, and loyalty to Muslims is to the extent of their closeness to the truth. It is a rational and just bias towards the truth, not blind or savage. The Sovereign Truth does not allow you to support your Muslim brother against a peaceful non-Muslim (meaning the one with a treaty or in a similar condition) if the Muslim is depriving the non-Muslim of his right, nor does it allow you to refrain from supporting the truth, loyalty, disassociation, and the strength of the nation. The Muslim revolves with the truth wherever it goes. If a Muslim oppresses a peaceful non-Muslim, it is your duty, O Muslim, to support the peaceful non-Muslim until he gets his right from the Muslim, because you only support the Muslim out of love and submission to the Sovereign Truth, and thus you also support your Muslim brother who is the oppressor.

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "Support your brother, whether he is the oppressor or the oppressed." A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, I support him if he is oppressed, but how do I support him if he is the oppressor?" The Messenger of Allah said: "Prevent him from oppression, for that is supporting him." In the religion of the Most Merciful, there is no tribalism among Muslims, nor is there support for oppression, nor is it permitted to mix up the papers. Therefore, notice the greatness of the Quranic expression when Allah said: "Only forbids you Allah from those who fought you in religion and expelled you from your homes that you make allies of them." They fought you in religion, so a disbeliever may fight you because you oppressed him, and here it is not permissible for you to bring up the issue of his disbelief to justify aggression against him.

Allah did not make loyalty and disassociation based on the name of Islam but on the description of realized faith. Allah, the Most High, said: "Your allies are Allah and His Messenger and those who believe, those who establish prayer, give zakah, and bow." We love Muslims and support them to the extent of their closeness to the truth and justice, and we hate their actions and disassociate from them if they move away from the truth and justice, and there is no consideration for names and religion according to official documents. Allah, the Most High, said: "You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His Messenger." Ibn Ashur, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his interpretation of this verse: "As for the absence of loving those who oppose, it is comprehensive of the disbeliever and others, general to everyone who has a meaning of opposing Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him, by breaking the fence of His Shariah intentionally, belittling the sanctities of Islam, and little concern for the religion."

This is a very important speech, my brothers, very important in all our dealings and at all levels. How many officials demand loyalty and obedience from Muslims while they themselves break the fence of Shariah intentionally, belittle the sanctities of Islam, and do not care about the religion, and perhaps even fight it. Because his name is Islamic and his religion in official documents is Islam, and this is completely false. If the Muslim leaves Islam, we hate him and disassociate from him.

Thirdly: Available to All Humans

The third characteristic of loyalty in Islam is that it is available to all humans, not based on meanings imposed on man that he cannot change. If the disbeliever enters Islam, we love him and support him. Allah, the Most High, said: "Say to those who disbelieve, if they desist, their past will be forgiven for them." So simple. He said, the Most High: "If they repent and establish prayer and give zakah, they are your brothers in religion, and we clarify the verses for a people who know." If you were fighting an idolater who was eager to kill you, and you overpowered him and raised your weapon over him, and he testified to the two testimonies of faith, he has become one of us in an instant, and he has the right to our loyalty, as derived from the hadith of Usamah ibn Zayd.

There is no one excluded, and the door is not closed to anyone to join the loyalty and love of Muslims. It is a high bond, transcending borders, races, and nations, and open at all times. Where do you find this in the blind wars waged by the Crusaders or the Tatars or the warring states throughout history? Where do you find it in people who gather on geographical considerations and exclude others based on the color of their skin, their race, or other things that are not in their hands? In Islam, no one is excluded for himself but for what he chooses for himself in terms of actions. Brotherhood and loyalty in Islam are a blessing available to everyone: "Thus you have become, by His grace, brothers."

Then you find someone saying, how do you call those who chose a religion other than Islam disbelievers, as if we are judging them for something not in their hands. They chose for themselves to deprive themselves of the blessing of Islam, its love, and its loyalty. If they accept Islam, welcome and easy, otherwise, they are treated with justice and kindness as long as they are peaceful, as Islam itself commanded and as we explained in the previous episode with many examples.

Fourthly: Does Not Oppress Those Outside the Circle of Islam

This brings us to the fourth characteristic of loyalty and disassociation in Islam, which is that it does not oppress those outside the circle of Islam. Disassociation from those who rejected the blessing of Islam, its brotherhood, and its love does not mean oppressing them, nor does Islam impose on others to enter it to be just with them, but it treats them peacefully if they treat it peacefully. While in earthly loyalties, oppression occurs. Even when the slogan of loyalty to the state and the law is raised, individuals are obliged to show loyalty to these meanings, not just to be peaceful with them, but they must show loyalty to them and let their children imbibe them in schools without objection, otherwise, they are accused of treason and threatening the state's entity.

The slogan of loyalty to the state, the law, and the nation is raised, which in reality means loyalty and subjugation for the benefit of a dominant clique. If a conflict arises between a state and another state, loyalties clash, and oppression occurs, and the international law and system intervene. These are the characteristics of loyalty and disassociation in Islam compared to earthly loyalties and disassociations.

The International System and Combating Islamic Loyalty and Disavowal

Therefore, when we are asked to dissolve this loyalty and disavowal and replace it with loyalty and disavowal based on earthly meanings created by humans, cut off from Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, we say: if others have been lax in their loyalty and disavowal based on their religion, that does not concern us, and we are not obligated to follow their example. Loyalty and disavowal based on the love of Allah is founded on rational, evidentiary, instinctive arguments connected to revelation and based on a true value. It is a loyalty established on truth and justice, open to all to enter, without injustice to those outside its circle. There is no tribalism, no favoritism, no falsehood, nor injustice in it, unlike any other loyalty and disavowal based on earthly meanings or a distorted perception of Allah. Therefore, the believer should not be told to act as others do.

Imagine the heavy disappointment when it is claimed that the banner of equality among humans is raised, regardless of race, language, gender, or religion, as if communities can exist without loyalty and disavowal, as if Islam, like other religions or meanings upon which loyalty and disavowal are based, can be disregarded. Despite all that has been mentioned, Islam has not abolished considerations that do not conflict with truth and justice, such as the kinship among members of a tribe, those who share a language, or a geographical location. However, it did not make these the basis of loyalty and disavowal but refined them so that they would not be a force for destruction but rather motivations for competition in goodness, as in the distribution of tribes into army divisions, where each tribe strives to ensure that the army is not harmed from their side.

Loyalty and disavowal based on the love of Allah is what makes the Muslim nation a nation. It is the backbone of the nation, making it strong and united. Allah the Almighty says: "Only Allah is your Wali (Protector, Helper, etc.), and His Messenger, and those who believe, those who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and give Zakat, and they are Raki'un (those who bow down or submit themselves with obedience to Allah in prayer). And whoever takes Allah, His Messenger, and those who believe as protectors, then the party of Allah they will be the victorious. Therefore, the enemies of humanity work to destroy this backbone so that the body of the nation remains weak and paralyzed. Concealing the concept of loyalty and disavowal is extremely destructive to everything that benefits Muslims.

The modern international system dismantles societies in general. After drawing borders, it arms minorities and fuels sectarianism to dismantle societies from within. It promotes individualism, where a person lives for themselves and their desires. This makes it easier to sustain the subjugation of peoples to the moneyed elite and prevents the emergence of opposing forces that threaten the structure of the international system that enslaves people. The political borders were established and reinforced, and loyalty and disavowal were strengthened according to the ruling political systems and their affiliations, regardless of the authentic relationships between peoples. North America weakened the countries of South America, ignited civil wars, changed political systems, and made loyalty and disavowal based on these systems to keep them enslaved, as Noam Chomsky explained in his book "What Uncle Sam Really Wants."

The Muslim world has been subjected to more than other countries. The main work of our enemies through directed media and changing curricula is to combat the faith-based bond among Muslims, to combat the creed of loyalty and disavowal, and to create aversion to Islam and its people while beautifying disbelief and its people. The international system allows sexually deviant individuals to show loyalty and affiliation to each other based on what unites them in practices opposing nature, allowing them to implement their agendas, hold their celebrations, marches, and events. Meanwhile, it combats the loyalty of Muslims based on creed and sound nature, pushing the slogan of loyalty based on the Islamic creed.

When a Muslim names things by their names, calling faith "faith" and disbelief "disbelief," this is considered hate speech. The enemies of humanity and nature combat the concept of loyalty and disavowal, erasing its features from children's curricula in Muslim schools, and pursuing those who use it as spreading hate speech. This is a form of disavowal they practice against Muslims, but it is loyalty and disavowal of falsehood, using lies and falsehood. Meanwhile, sexual deviants are allowed to spread hate speech against those who stand in their way, inciting against them, labeling them as homophobic, and preparing laws against them.

In the face of all this, Muslims need to revive the concept of loyalty and disavowal, to revive the concept of loyalty and disavowal based on the love of Allah, remembering their great mission not only for themselves but for all humanity. After commanding Muslims to take care of each other, Allah says: "And those who disbelieve are allies of one another. If you do not do it, there will be Fitnah (shaking, ruin) and oppression on earth." In the earth, all the earth, not only in the countries of Muslims. Muslims are the safety valve for humanity.

Conclusion and What is to Come

In conclusion, dear guests, the greatest motivator for the Muslim should be the love of Allah and what branches from it. It is part of Islam to love your Muslim brother, support him, and defend him, but on the basis of truth and justice. This concept is the backbone of the Muslim nation.

But what about the non-Muslim in all of this? How do I regulate my feelings towards them and deal with them in a way that achieves the meaning of love for the sake of Allah and hatred for the sake of Allah, so that my love for Allah is sincere, while not clashing with the natural inclinations of love that may exist within me towards this other? How do I live in harmony, pride, sincerity, and psychological balance? This will be the topic of our next episode, God willing. Follow us.

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.