The development of secularism was a necessary step in the war against Islam. After hundreds of years of fighting, it became clear that Christianity didn’t have what it takes to defeat Islam on a moral or spiritual level. Christians, with financial support from Jews, first had to subjugate the world’s pagan populations in South America, Africa, and
Asia in order to gather enough resources develop an ideology capable of confronting Islam. This ideology is called secularism; it is the culmination of centuries of effort by Christians and Jews to prevail in their war against the Truth.

Islam is the perfection of religion, so it was necessary to develop an ideology which could claim superiority to the concept of religion itself. Christians and Jews did not truly gain total dominance over the Muslims until secularism was fully developed, because it is apparent to anyone who cares to see that going back to Christianity after Islam is a
step backwards. It was necessary to invent an ideology that could claim to be more advanced than Islam— a religion which, like Islam, rendered all previous religions obsolete.

This superiority of Islam is manifest in the historic failure of Christians to ever convert Muslims to Christianity in large numbers. While many Christian countries freely embraced Islam, no Muslim country has ever converted to Christianity except through mass slaughter and exile. This has nothing to do with laws of apostasy; in fact, Christian countries historically executed all converts to Islam, while Christians lived peacefully in Muslim lands for centuries.

Christians have had more success in converting Muslims to secularism, however, than they ever did with Christianity. This is why depoliticized or democratic versions of “Islam” must be treated with extreme prejudice; these are wolves in sheep’s clothing, variants of secularism dressed to look like Islam.

These distorted versions of Islam act like anesthesia. If someone is drugged in order to have a kidney stolen, they are usually drugged so they don’t feel the knife cutting them. Likewise, Muslims don’t realize they are losing their religion because these fake versions of Islam are there to soothe their conscience and tell them that they are “good
Muslims,” fulfilling all of their religious duties. Secular “Islam” works in harmony with the kuffar just as anesthesia works in harmony with the scalpel of the kidney thief.

There is a narration from the Prophet ﷺ that is useful for refuting these “Islamic” forms of secularism.

قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَأَنَا آمُرُكُمْ بِخَمْسٍ اللَّهُ أَمَرَنِي بِهِنَّ السَّمْعُ وَالطَّاعَةُ وَالْجِهَادُ وَالْهِجْرَةُ وَالْجَمَاعَةُ فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ فَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ قِيدَ شِبْرٍ فَقَدْ خَلَعَ رِبْقَةَ الْإِسْلَامِ مِنْ عُنُقِهِ إِلَّا أَنْ يَرْجِعَ وَمَنْ ادَّعَى دَعْوَى الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْ جُثَا جَهَنَّمَ فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَإِنْ صَلَّى وَصَامَ قَالَ وَإِنْ صَلَّى وَصَامَ فَادْعُوا بِدَعْوَى اللَّهِ الَّذِي سَمَّاكُمْ الْمُسْلِمِينَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عِبَادَ اللَّهِ

The Prophet ﷺ said: “And I command you with five that Allah commanded me: Listening and obeying, jihad, hijra, and
the jama’ah. For indeed whoever parts from the jama’ah the measure of a hand-span, then he has cast off the yoke of Islam from his neck, unless he returns. And whoever calls with the call of jahiliyyah then he is from the coals of Hell.” A man said: “O Messenger of Allah! Even if he performs salat and fasts?” So he said: “Even if he performs salat and fasts. So call with the call that Allah named you with: Muslims, believers, worshipers of Allah.”

Jami at-Tirmidhi, 2863

This hadith explains that one can leave Islam, in spite of praying and fasting, simply by separating from the jama’ah and calling the call of jahiliyya. The meaning of the call of jahiliyya is clarified in another hadith.

حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيٌّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ عَمْرٌو سَمِعْتُ جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ كُنَّا فِي غَزَاةٍ ـ قَالَ سُفْيَانُ مَرَّةً فِي جَيْشٍ ـ فَكَسَعَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ رَجُلاً مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ فَقَالَ الأَنْصَارِيُّ يَا لَلأَنْصَارِ‏.‏ وَقَالَ الْمُهَاجِرِيُّ يَا لَلْمُهَاجِرِينَ‏.‏ فَسَمِعَ ذَاكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ ‏”‏ مَا بَالُ دَعْوَى جَاهِلِيَّةٍ ‏”‏ قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَسَعَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ رَجُلاً مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ‏.‏ فَقَالَ ‏”‏ دَعُوهَا فَإِنَّهَا مُنْتِنَةٌ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَسَمِعَ بِذَلِكَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أُبَىٍّ فَقَالَ فَعَلُوهَا، أَمَا وَاللَّهِ لَئِنْ رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الأَذَلَّ‏.‏ فَبَلَغَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَامَ عُمَرُ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ دَعْنِي أَضْرِبْ عُنُقَ هَذَا الْمُنَافِقِ‏.‏ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ دَعْهُ لاَ يَتَحَدَّثُ النَّاسُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا يَقْتُلُ أَصْحَابَهُ ‏”‏ وَكَانَتِ الأَنْصَارُ أَكْثَرَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ حِينَ قَدِمُوا الْمَدِينَةَ، ثُمَّ إِنَّ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ كَثُرُوا بَعْدُ‏.‏ قَالَ سُفْيَانُ فَحَفِظْتُهُ مِنْ عَمْرٍو قَالَ عَمْرٌو سَمِعْتُ جَابِرًا كُنَّا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.

We were in a Ghazwa (Sufyan once said, in an army) and a man from the emigrants kicked an Ansari man (on the buttocks with his foot). The Ansari man said, “O the Ansar! (Help!)” and the emigrant said. “O the emigrants! (Help!) Allah’s Messenger ﷺ heard that and said, “What is this call for, which is characteristic of the period of ignorance?” They said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! A man from the emigrants kicked one of the Ansar (on the buttocks with his foot).” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Leave it (that call) as is a detestable thing.” `Abdullah bin Ubai heard that and said, ‘Have the (the emigrants) done so? By Allah, if we return Medina, surely, the more honorable will expel therefrom the meaner.” When this statement reached the Prophet. `Umar got up an, said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! Let me chop off the head of this hypocrite (`Abdullah bin Ubai)!” The Prophet ﷺ said “Leave him, lest the people say that Muhammad kills his companions.” The Ansar were then more in number than the emigrants when the latter came to Medina, but later on the emigrant increased.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4905

This illustrates that the meaning of the “call to jahiliyyah” is calling to allegiance or loyalty on the basis of something other than Islam, whether it be nationality, tribe, or ethnicity. The Prophet ﷺ instructed us instead to identify as Muslims, believers and servants of Allah, and to base our identity on this distinction on the most fundamental level.

By this, we can understand that secularism is the creed (aqeeda) of the religion of modernity, while nationalism is its legal expression (fiqh). Thus, the one who calls to nationalism is one who has internalized the beliefs of secularism. So, in fact, nationalism and secularism are inseparable from each other. Ideology is ultimately inseparable from identity, so the development of secularism roughly parallels the development of nationalism.

Thus, an understanding of Islam which is compatible with nationalism will also, sooner or later, become compatible with secularism. This is because the international order is secular, and any embrace of nationalism entails embracing a place within that order.