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  • Ritual Evidence of the State Replacing Allah as an Object of Worship

    Taking one’s hat off as a sign of respect is an ancient practice that is still common today. It can also be seen in the expression “My hat’s off to soand-so,” which is intended to show reverence or honor for a virtuous or impressive action. This is in fact a Christian ritual, and it’s still a custom in entering many churches to remove the hat as a sign of deference to God. This has a scriptural basis in the New Testament.

    “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.”

    1 Corinthians 11:4

    This was also a sign of submission— during the feudal period in Europe, it was customary to remove your helmet in the presence of your lord, making it much easier for him to kill you, thus symbolizing the lord’s dominance and the vassal’s subservience. This is the same logic behind the “knighting” ritual, in which the one who will become a knight kneels, and the monarch touches both shoulders with a sword.

    For Christians, submitting to the feudal lord was the same as submission to God. Legitimacy of the ruler in Europe was based on appointment by the pope, regarded as God’s representative on earth, so submitting to the lord, appointed by the pope, was the same as submitting to God.

    This same act of worship is now directed towards the worship of “the nation,” a modern type of idol that is meant to represent a collective identity. In America, during nationalist rituals like singing of the national anthem at sporting events, there is an expectation that men remove their hats as a show of respect to the nation or its symbols, like the flag.

    This also carries over in the courtroom— it’s generally not allowed to wear a hat in a courtroom in Western Europe or North America. In the past, Christian judges would enter the courtroom with a Bible, so the people in the courtroom would honor it by standing, and remove their hats as in any situation where prayer or worship is taking place.

    This ritual also carried over to modern courtrooms, although now the judge is a representative of the state, rather than a representative of God. So in effect, the state and the nation have assumed the place once held by God.

    If you read the Turkish constitution, you can also see that it refers to the state and even Ataturk, the state’s founder, with language which in reality should be reserved only for Allah. The first paragraph:

    “Affirming the eternal existence of the Turkish Motherland and Nation and the indivisible unity of the Sublime Turkish State, this Constitution, in line with the concept of nationalism introduced by the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk, the immortal leader and the unrivaled hero, and his reforms and principles…”

    Turkish Constitution

    This describes the nation as eternal, and Ataturk as immortal, which are attributes that belong to Allah alone. Due to the rituals surrounding the state, it’s necessary to view nationalism or statism as a new form of religion.

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  • On the Meaning of ‘Awliya’

    یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا۟ ٱلۡیَهُودَ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰۤ أَوۡلِیَاۤءَۘ بَعۡضُهُمۡ أَوۡلِیَاۤءُ بَعۡضࣲۚ وَمَن یَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمۡ فَإِنَّهُۥ مِنۡهُمۡۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا یَهۡدِی ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِینَ

    O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.

    5:51

    Considering that this ayah deals with a matter of iman and kufr, the definition of “awliya” (translated here as “allies”) deserves attention. Looking at the tafsir of the ayah, it seems that some of the sahaba, radhi Allahu anhum, understood the definition relatively broadly. Ibn Abbas, radhi Allahu anhu, said that to take them as awliya means to seek help or assistance from them.

    The tafsir of ibn Kathir, rahimullah, mentions a story about Umar, radhi Allahu anhu. Ibn Abu Hatim recorded that Umar asked Abu Musa al Ash’ari to help with a document, and Abu Musa had a Christian scribe. Umar was impressed with his work so asked Abu Musa to bring him to the masjid to record something else. Abu Musa said he can’t because he is not pure. So Umar realized that he wass Christian, and he became angry and quoted the ayah “O you who believe, do not the Jews and Christians as allies…” and then banished the scribe from Medina. This shows that Umar’s understanding was that to have a Christian employee could fall under the definition of mawala.

    It is also related in the tafsir of Tabari, rahimullah, that Harun ibn Ibrahim asked ibn Sirin, rahimullah, about a man who sold his house to a Christian, and ibn Sirin quoted the ayah “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies…” This attitude is shocking when we consider the depth of dependence of the Muslims on the mushrikeen today. Most Muslim countries have entered into some kind of military defense pact with the kuffar, and depend heavily on them for imports, education, and consulting services.

    Muslims living in the West depend entirely on the security and services provided by disbelieving governments. The economic opportunities that are the main attraction for migrating there are also a service provided by the legal framework and trade networks established by the international order of liberalism, which itself depends on subjugating Islam.

    The nations that provide the services afforded by this order are attacking Islam and the Muslims on many levels. Some nations, like the United States, are active in bombing, abducting, torturing, and killing Muslims as part of the “war on terror.” Other nations, like Germany and Scandinavia, contribute to the war through social programs that attack Islam by promoting modernist, industrial and post-industrial visions of social relations, and indoctrinating people to believe that un-Islamic values are universal and transcendent.

    These imperial programs are part of maintaining the West’s dominance, which is necessary to maintain the level of affluence which makes living in the West desirable for Muslims. In this sense, Muslims living in the West, or those who are beneficiaries of regimes allied with the West, are directly sharing in the profits of a war against Islam. They thus have strong material incentives not to oppose this world order which systematically oppresses and victimizes Muslims and assaults the foundations of Islam.

    This is why it’s beneficial to reflect on the fact that the first generations of Muslims feared Allah so much regarding this command that they disliked even to take support and help from Christians and Jews in ways that we regard today as absolutely permissible. Striving to imitate this sentiment will also surely lead to strengthening the bonds of unity between the Muslims and supporting our strength.

    To be dependent on someone means that they have power over you, and it’s understood that the Jews and Christians will never cease their opposition to Islam.

    وَلَن تَرۡضَىٰ عَنكَ ٱلۡیَهُودُ وَلَا ٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمۡۗ قُلۡ إِنَّ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ هُوَ ٱلۡهُدَىٰۗ وَلَىِٕنِ ٱتَّبَعۡتَ أَهۡوَاۤءَهُم بَعۡدَ ٱلَّذِی جَاۤءَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ مَا لَكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن وَلِیࣲّ وَلَا نَصِیرٍ

    And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion. Say, “Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance.” If you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allah no protector or helper.

    2:120

    Given this reality, we can be absolutely certain that if Jews and Christians gain power over us, they will certainly try to use their power to make us leave Islam. In fact, this dynamic is very visible within Muslim communities in the West, for those who care to see it. As such, when it comes to seeking protection, we must seek it as much possible from those who we know to possess sound Islamic belief, and who wish to support us in living according to the guidance of Islam.

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  • Apostasy, Treason, and the Excuse of Ignorance

    Treason is a useful, but incomplete, analogue when explaining the rulings of apostasy to a new Muslim. In studying the issue of executing apostates, I found many analogues in Christian history, and I came to understand that the killing of heretics by the Church in medieval Europe was necessary to preserve the social order, since religion was the basis of peace and security. In the modern system, it is the nationstate and its symbols that are worshiped, so to betray your country is one of the worst crimes imaginable. Betraying the nation in a system of nationalism is a clear and present threat to the prevailing public order, just as heresy threatens the public order in a system based upon religion.

    There’s no question that the breakdown of the social order leads to much evil and killing, as with the reign of terror that accompanied the fall of the French monarchy. Heretical “enlightenment” thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau were instrumental in shaping these events, so there’s no question the Church would have been as justified in executing them as they would be in executing a murderer. And indeed, that’s what would have happened to the likes of Voltaire and Rousseau a few hundred years earlier, when Europe had not yet drifted so far from Christianity. The motto goes “a small amount of prevention is better than a large amount of cure.”

    After coming to this understanding, it was very easy for me to accept the line of thinking that many of the regimes ruling over Muslim majority lands had, generally speaking, fallen into apostasy. The signs of the betrayal of Islam and the Muslims and their service to hostile interests are abundant and apparent for those who care to see, and it was also plain to see that this betrayal was resulting in much killing and corruption.

    For the same reason, however, it has never been easy for me to accept individual takfir of every individual belonging to a governments, especially after living in the Muslim lands and seeing the condition of the people. This goes more so for those who are apparently striving to establish Islam, even if they are very far from the sunnah in their methodology and have many flaws in their aqeeda.

    It’s clear to me that participating in the colonial governments the kuffar constructed to rule over the Muslims is a betrayal of the religion. But I can also see that this is not clear to many of those participating in these governments— in fact, in many cases, if ordinary people realized the extent to which they are complicit to an agenda of their enemies, they would change their actions.

    As far as the comparison to treason goes, it is also complicated by the absence of a unified Muslim polity. The sharia protects us in the dunya and akhira, yet once we are embedded in the global secular order, it is challenging secularism which becomes the true heresy and the main threat to the public order. So confined to the nation-state, it can seem that preservation of a secular order serves the interests of the Muslims.

    So it can appear to someone that betrayal of Islam is actually defense of Islam. In fact, the systems installed over the Muslims were designed with precisely the intent of convincing Muslims to participate in the colonial projects of their enemies. Are the one who participates in this betrayal with awareness and the one who does so without realizing it equal?

    Absolutely not, and the one thinks they are has not grasped the essence of Islam.

    أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: ” لَمَّا قَضَى اللَّهُ الْخَلْقَ، كَتَبَ فِي كِتَابِهِ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ، فَهُوَ مَوْضُوعٌ عِنْدَهُ: إِنَّ رَحْمَتِي تَغْلِبُ غَضَبِي

    The Prophet ﷺ said: “When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: ‘My mercy prevails over my wrath.’”

    Hadith 1, 40 Hadith Qudsi

    عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَضَعَ عَنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَطَأَ وَالنِّسْيَانَ وَمَا اسْتُكْرِهُوا عَلَيْهِ

    Ibn Abbas, radhi Allahu anhu, reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah has overlooked for my nation their honest mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are forced into doing.”

    Sunan Ibn Mājah 2045

    It’s also detrimental treat ignorant Muslims who become unwitting agents of the enemies of Islam the same as those who willingly betray Islam and the Muslims. The sincere Muslims embedded in systems of kufr, but who are deceived by them, can be the greatest assets in the struggle to reestablish Islam, because they understand the operation of systems of kufr and are well positioned to oppose them.

    This doesn’t mean to participate in these systems and play by their rules, but rather to either provide information to those fighting them from the outside, or by leaving and building institutions capable of exploiting the weaknesses of the occupation governments. For example, having informants inside of the Iraqi government was one of the reasons for ISIS’s success in taking over territory in Iraq. Likewise, in the Afghanistan war, so-called “green on blue” attacks played an important role in disrupting the capacity for US-Afghan cooperation.

    The concept of establishing proof, or hujjah, on the Muslim who has fallen into an action which amounts to apostasy is thus also very important in the modern context.

    In fiqh, this principle states that the apostate is to be warned and given a chance to repent before the punishment for apostasy is carried out. Typically, this would be implemented by the Islamic authorities, but in the modern context, it is often whole governments that have betrayed Islam by choosing to side with invading forces.

    Even in a modern asymmetric warfare context, establishing proof can act as a way of filtering and distinguishing who is simply ignorant of the reality of a situation and who has genuinely chosen to betray their religion. By communicating this warning, it can be possible to determine who is an obstinate enemy, and at the same time recruit supporters from the ranks of treacherous governments.

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  • The Dual Crises of Takfir and Nationalism

    The “universal” declaration of human rights states that:

    1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
    2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

    In Islam, rights are derived from religion. The status of Muslims is distinct from the status of ahl ul dhimma, which is distinct from ahl ul ‘ahd, which is distinct from the status of ahl ul harb. Among these, there is a distinction between ahl ul kitab and other mushrikeen.

    Nationalism replaces this system, and is thus a new invention in both Islam and other religions. In Islamic jurisprudence, there is no difference between betraying your country and betraying your deen. Treason and apostasy do not exist as separate crimes. This is more suitable to the nature of reality; any betrayal of the true religion is a betrayal of the homeland, because Islam is a mercy to the entire universe. Choosing to reject Islam means to betray both your homeland and your people.

    Takfir is thus a method of defining someone who is a clear enemy to the ummah, whether by word or deed. This is similar to how the body’s immune system identifies a cell that has become cancerous or an infection, and terminates it before the disease spreads.

    The condition of Islam is one of justice, unity, and leadership, while the condition of ignorance is one of tribalistic anarchy and injustice. The basis of jahiliyyah is acting based upon desires, pride, loyalty to kin, or other worldly interests, while in Islam, life is structured according to obedience to Allah and seeking the well being of all in this world hereafter.

    The basis of the unity of a group is the strength of its identity. The stronger a sense of shared identity becomes, the stronger the bond between members of a group will become. This shared identity depends strongly on the definition of the other, and takfir is how we define the other. Takfir is fundamental to the maintenance of Islamic identity. Takfir defines someone who has committed manifest disbelief in Allah, and cannot exist in harmony with an Islamic system.

    The Muslim ummah is facing two crises; one is the rampant spread of nationalism as a basis for identity, rather than Islam. The other is a crisis of takfir in response to modern maladies like nationalism, whereby many Muslims go too far in attempting to defend and preserve Islam.

    The crises of takfir and nationalism are intimately related. Both relate directly to an underlying identity crisis. Maintaining a clear definition of Islamic identity is integral to the strength of the ummah, so the condition of weakness and humiliation in which the Muslims are currently living is partly a result of this identity crisis. Both nationalism and takfir are seen as ways to seek honor and security— one by seeking an alternative to Islamic identity, and the other by seeking to restore the strength and integrity of Islamic identity.

    Even recently, the boundary which defined Islamic identity in a political sense was maintained. For example, just a few hundred years ago, kuffar were not allowed to travel through the Red Sea by ship because it was understood that allowing them this close to the Two Holy Mosques would be a form of contamination.

    Ideas and ideologies foreign to Islam have penetrated the hearts and minds of the Muslims to such an extent that some Muslims have gotten into the habit of takfir on Muslims, so that they do this very easily and lightly, although it is essentially passing a death sentence on them. This is one extreme of this crisis, while the on the other extreme are those who assign rights that belong to Islam and the Muslims to their nation and those who share their nationality instead. Resolving these crises is dependent on the reconstitution of Islam as a political entity, because a common identity depends on common interests.

    In relation to takfir, this is a delicate issue. The Prophet ﷺ said:

    ‏”‏ وَأَنَا آمُرُكُمْ بِخَمْسٍ اللَّهُ أَمَرَنِي بِهِنَّ السَّمْعُ وَالطَّاعَةُ وَالْجِهَادُ وَالْهِجْرَةُ وَالْجَمَاعَةُ فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ فَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ قِيدَ شِبْرٍ فَقَدْ خَلَعَ رِبْقَةَ الإِسْلاَمِ مِنْ عُنُقِهِ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَرْجِعَ وَمَنِ ادَّعَى دَعْوَى الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْ جُثَا جَهَنَّمَ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَإِنْ صَلَّى وَصَامَ قَالَ ‏”‏ وَإِنْ صَلَّى وَصَامَ فَادْعُوا بِدَعْوَى اللَّهِ الَّذِي سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عِبَادَ اللَّهِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ ‏.‏ قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ الْحَارِثُ الأَشْعَرِيُّ لَهُ صُحْبَةٌ وَلَهُ غَيْرُ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ ‏.‏

    “And I command you with five that Allah commanded me: Listening and obeying, Jihad, Hijrah, 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 (ﷺ) 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

    The differences of opinion of the definition of the jama’ah are very important here. In one sense, the jama’ah, in the shari’ sense, is understood as the unified political entity which encompasses and represents the main body of the Muslims. If we understand that a small group of Muslims is the jama’ah, it can easily lead to takfir of other groups, as we end up equating a single group to Islam itself.

    At the same time, there are many Muslims with iman living within nation-states. This can lead to some conceptual challenges. For example, Abu Bakr Shekau, the leader of Jamaat Ahlus Sunnah li-Dawah wal Jihad in Nigeria, insisted that a person must either identify as Muslim or Nigerian. If the bond of loyalty is foundational to identity, which is foundational to Islam, it logically follows that one whose identity is based upon a bond of loyalty other than Islam cannot be a Muslim.

    The Prophet ﷺ dissociated himself from and freed himself of responsibility for Muslims who settled among the mushrikeen.

     أَنَا بَرِيءٌ مِنْ كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ يُقِيمُ بَيْنَ أَظْهُرِ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

    “I am free from every Muslim who settles among the mushrikeen.”

    Sunan Abi Dawud 2645

    He ﷺ wanted to make it clear that if Muslims were killed in the battles, he was not responsible for their deaths. Of course, since nationalism has been imposed on most of the ummah by force, rather than by choice, Shekau’s stance is problematic, to say the least. On the other extreme, during the Rabaa massacre in Egypt, government scholars labeled the pro-Ikhwan protesters as khawarij— meaning “those who go out.” This is based on an understanding of the nation-state as being the jama’ah. Since the Ikhwan opposed the state, they were labeled as having “gone out” of the jama’ah.

    Discussions of takfir have taken on much importance in our time, because the reestablishment of an Islamic polity requires negotiating the boundaries of identity. Takfir acts as a filter for the constituent members of the jama’ah, and is a major active force in shaping the character of the jama’ah. It’s very important, then, to seek a careful balance when defining the boundaries of Islamic identity; if an approach is too tight, it will lead to isolation from the general masses of Muslims, and if it is too loose it will lead to a lack of cohesion and catastrophic internal dissension.

    One should not be disappointed when efforts to unify the ranks of the Muslims fail, just as one should not be despair at military defeats in jihad. These actions entail striving towards a goal, but first and foremost, they are acts of worship. In reality, we know that the goal of unity will not be achieved, because the Prophet ﷺ said:

    سَأَلْتُ رَبِّي ثَلاَثًا فَأَعْطَانِي ثِنْتَيْنِ وَمَنَعَنِي وَاحِدَةً سَأَلْتُ رَبِّي أَنْ لاَ يُهْلِكَ أُمَّتِي بِالسَّنَةِ فَأَعْطَانِيهَا وَسَأَلْتُهُ أَنْ لاَ يُهْلِكَ أُمَّتِي بِالْغَرَقِ فَأَعْطَانِيهَا وَسَأَلْتُهُ أَنْ لاَ يَجْعَلَ بَأْسَهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ فَمَنَعَنِيهَا ‏”‏ ‏.‏

    “I asked my Lord three things and He has granted me two but has withheld one. I asked my Lord that my ummah should not be destroyed because of prevailing famine and He granted this to me. And I asked my Lord, that my ummah should not be destroyed by drowning (by deluge) and He granted this to me. And I asked my Lord that my ummah not be destroyed by fighting among themselves, but He did not grant it to me.”

    Sahih Muslim 2890a

    Nonetheless, it is upon us to work towards unity, and these efforts carry their own benefit and their own reward, regardless of the outcome.

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  • The High Priests of Secularism

    Opposing the ruling classes of the liberal world order necessarily means opposing the intellectual and moral precepts upon which their power is based. Liberalism’s appeal is based on the idea that science and technology bring improvements in standard of living and the realization of human potential, and that liberalism is the most effective system for realizing these benefits.

    On a moral level, this is seen to be a sign of superiority because relieving human suffering is understood as be a fundamentally good moral action. In a specific sense, this is true, but in a generalized and unlimited sense, it is completely wrong on at least two levels.

    First, suffering can carry spiritual benefit, which is why the highest degree of faith is to be pleased with Allah’s decree, even when it entails hardship. Hardship is one way that Allah calls us to turn to Him and repent. In fact, the sahaba, radhi Allahu anhum, would become afraid if they did not get sick for a long period of time, because they feared it might be a sign that Allah was deferring their punishment to the next world. This is because suffering in this world can be a purification and an expiation for our sins.

    Suffering is not something to seek out, but it’s not something to attempt to eliminate or avoid entirely either— to attempt to eradicate suffering entirely is a rejection of Allah’s decree.

    وَلَنَبۡلُوَنَّكُم بِشَیۡءࣲ مِّنَ ٱلۡخَوۡفِ وَٱلۡجُوعِ وَنَقۡصࣲ مِّنَ ٱلۡأَمۡوَ ٰلِ وَٱلۡأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَ ٰتِۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِینَ

    And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient.

    2:155

    Viewing human societies and other facets of nature as systems, destruction has a vitalizing and renewing effect, and suppressing it leads to stagnation and decay. There’s no need to invite suffering, but speaking the truth and striving to act according to it naturally brings its fair share of hardship. This was the case with the prophets and saints of the past, and it remains the case today.

    The idea of eliminating suffering is core to the United Nations, which seeks to eliminate hunger, disease, war, and poverty, an idea based in Christian doctrines of post-millennarianism, exemplified by Woodrow Wilson’s appeals to “progressive” Christians during the formation of the League of Nations.

    Secondly, modern technology is a failure even according to the twisted standards of the modern secular, Judeo-Christian-pagan world order, because it does not actually relieve suffering, but only transfers it. Air conditioning is a good example of this logic of transferring suffering. Air conditioning can cool the interior of a building. This makes the interior of the building more comfortable, providing relief to the people inside of it.

    However, large amounts of waste heat are generated in the process and expelled into the outside air, making it even hotter outside. The effect of one air conditioner is infinitesimal, but millions of air conditioners combined contribute to an overall process of warming. Warmer air worldwide contributes to the intensity and frequency of extreme weather conditions like flooding, droughts, wildfires, and storms which cause a lot of suffering. To make matters worse, as the world heats up, there is more pressure on the people to buy air conditioners.

    This suffering is deferred into the future, but other suffering is also hidden in the past. It was only possible to develop air conditioners using surpluses of wealth that required causing extreme suffering to millions of people, and the viability of the global economy still depends on cruel, exploitative labor practices.

    If nationalism as a legal paradigm were dismantled, regional wage disparities would level out, resulting in better living conditions for most of the world’s people, but this would also render most multinational technology corporations unprofitable. So this illusion of moral superiority depends on amplifying the significance of what humans can perceive, and denying the relevance or existence of what is beyond our perception. It also requires systematic deception in the form of deliberately covering up some facts while emphasizing others.

    To summarize, by disobeying Allah and rejecting the truth, humans destroy themselves.


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  • The Solution to All Our Problems

    There are a few simple steps that can resolve any difficulty in your life:

    1. Read the Quran.
    2. Watch for the commands of Allah.
    3. Implement them in your life.
    4. If the difficulty persists, return to step 1.

    The evidence for this is Allah’s statement:

    وَمَن یَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ یَجۡعَل لَّهُۥ مَخۡرَجࣰا

    And whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out.

    65:2

    Obeying Allah in His commands and prohibitions is the evidence of taqwa. That obedience to Allah is a path out of difficulty is not only a reality related to the ghayb; it’s also an apparent reality. Many times our problems are actually attitude problems.

    Many conflicts with family can be solved with patience and gratitude. Gratitude for the good in them leads to patience with the bad in them. Obeying Allah increases faith. Ibn al Qayyim, rahimullah, said:

    “Iman is two halves; half is patience and half is gratitude.”

    Tools for the Patient and Provision for the Thankful

    Another was in which this dynamic is visible is that it makes our problems seem so insignificant that they don’t even seem like problems any more. If we are busy with sadaqa or jihad or helping weak and oppressed Muslims or other acts of obedience, our focus shifts to those in much worse circumstances than our own. In this way, a difficulty may remain externally, but our internal condition is that we have exited from it, because it is no longer difficult to bear when compared to what others are facing.

    Sometimes our lack of acceptance of a situation harms us more than a difficult situation itself. A very concrete example of this are cases of heavily intoxicated people miraculously emerging from car accidents. There are numerous reports of accidents where drunk or unconscious people survived unharmed while the sober passengers died. This is because injuries can be caused by the way a person responds to an event. Someone in a state of relaxation is less likely to be injured than someone in a state of tension. So trust in Allah is actual visible protection.

    Of course this doesn’t mean it’s okay to drink alcohol; Allah told us there is benefit in it, but its harm is greater than its benefit. This same effect can be achieved, however, through strong iman.

    Allah is الظاهر) adh-Dhahir) andالباطن) al Baatin) – the Manifest and the Hidden. The signs of Allah’s favor are everywhere to see, but it requires patience and gratitude to see them.

    إِنَّ فِی ذَ ٰلِكَ لَءَایَـٰتࣲ لِّكُلِّ صَبَّارࣲ شَكُورࣲ

    In that are signs for every patient, grateful one.

    14:5

    And what we cannot see is much greater.

    والحمد لله رب العالمين

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  • Secularism as a Weapon of War

    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.

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  • Cultivating Love and Unity

    Kindness and mercy towards the believers and harshness and strength towards the kuffar are evidence of sincerity and correct knowledge. So it is wise to seek knowledge from the people of jihad.

    وَٱلَّذِینَ جَـٰهَدُوا۟ فِینَا لَنَهۡدِیَنَّهُمۡ سُبُلَنَاۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمَعَ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِینَ

    And those who strive for Us – We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of
    good.

    26:69

    From kindness and mercy towards the believers is to avoid excessive disputing and arguing. Imam Shafi’i, rahimullah, said:

    من إِذَالَةِ العلم أن تناظر كلَّ من ناظرك وتُقاوِلَ كلَّ من قَاوَلَك

    “Debating everyone who debates you and arguing with everyone who argues with you is degradation of
    knowledge.”

    Manāqib al-Shāfi’ī lil-Bayhaqī 2/151

    And Imam Malik, rahimullah, is reported to have said:

    الجدال مع الناس ينزع بركات العلم من قلبه

    “Arguing with the people removes the blessing of knowledge from the heart.”

    Harshness towards the kuffar and gentleness towards the believers are interconnected. Someone who leaves off fighting the kuffar will become harsh with the believers, and someone who abandons kindness with the believers will become soft against the kuffar.

    So if we are affected by excessive argument with the Muslims, one of the cures is to increase focus on fighting and combating the kuffar. If we find ourselves unmotivated to fight the kuffar, one solution is to cultivate mercy, love and compassion for the believers within ourselves. This can be accomplished by seeking to help and support Muslims who are in a vulnerable position, whether it be orphans, prisoners, or the poor.

    In attempting to help these Muslims, we will become more aware of their suffering and its causes, and we will be more motivated to act to remove the root cause of the problem. The root cause of the problems we are facing in the world today is our failure to implement the command of Allah, and the spread of injustice, or dhulm, as a result— shirk being the foremost instance of dhulm.

    Acts of kindness toward believers create a bond of love in both directions; for the one making du’a for his brother, and the one for whom the du’a is made. For the one giving a gift, and the one receiving it. As this compassion for the Muslims increases, its natural result is increasing enmity towards the ones who harm and attack Islam and the Muslims. So if you have difficulty with motivation to jihad, connect with your brothers and sisters who are facing difficulty.

    Connect with them by making du’a for them, by supporting them materially, by offering words of support and kindness, by listening to the hardship they are facing, by informing other Muslims about their situation, and by trying to help improve their situation in any way you can. Then contemplate the causes of their hardship and how to relieve it.

    The nature of love is that the stronger it grows, the more you hate whatever harms your beloved. If you claim to love someone, but do not hate injustice to be done to them, this is not a true or sincere love. This points to the wisdom and benefits of following the sunnah. For one, helping your Muslim brothers and sisters is in itself a powerful act of worship.

    عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ وَأَحَبُّ الأَعْمَالِ إِلَى اللَّهِ سُرُورٌ تُدْخِلُهُ عَلَى مُسْلِمٍ أَوْ تَكْشِفُ عَنْهُ كُرْبَةً أَوْ تَقْضِي عَنْهُ دِينًا أَوْ تَطْرُدُ عَنْهُ جُوعًا وَلَأَنْ أَمْشِيَ مَعَ أَخِيهِ فِي حَاجَةٍ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ أَنْ أَعْتَكِفَ فِي هَذَا الْمَسْجِدِ يَعْنِي مَسْجِدَ الْمَدِينَةِ شَهْرًا وَمَنْ كَفَّ غَضَبَهُ سَتَرَ اللَّهُ عَوْرَتَهُ وَمَنْ كَظَمَ غَيْظَهُ وَلَوْ شَاءَ أَنْ يُمْضِيَهُ أَمْضَاهُ مَلأَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قَلْبَهُ أَمْنًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَمَنْ مَشَى مَعَ أَخِيهِ فِي حَاجَةٍ حَتَّى أَثْبَتَهَا لَهُ أَثْبَتَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قَدَمَهُ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ يَوْمَ تَزِلُّ فِيهِ الأَقْدَامُ

    Ibn Umar reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “The most beloved people to Allah are those who are most beneficial to people. The most beloved deed to Allah is to make a Muslim happy, or to remove one of his troubles, or to forgive his debt, or to feed his hunger. That I walk with a brother regarding a need is more beloved to me than that I seclude myself in this mosque in Medina for a month. Whoever swallows his anger, then Allah will conceal his faults. Whoever suppresses his rage, even though he could fulfill his anger if he wished, then Allah will secure his heart on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever walks with his brother regarding a need until he secures it for him, then Allah Almighty will make his footing firm across the bridge on the day when the footings are shaken.”

    al-Muʻjam al-Awsaṭ 6/139

    This support is also beneficial to our worldly lives. If you are facing any difficulties in your own life, helping and supporting your brothers and sisters in need can also help to resolve your problems.

    The Prophet ﷺ said:

    وَاللَّهُ فِي عَوْنِ الْعَبْدِ مَا كَانَ الْعَبْدُ فِي عَوْنِ أَخِيهِ

    “And Allah helps the servant as long as he helps his brother.”

    Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2699

    Contrary to the claims of humanists, this harshness towards the disbelievers and kindness with the believers is actually the most compassionate course of action for all of humanity.

    كُنتُمۡ خَیۡرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنكَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِۗ وَلَوۡ ءَامَنَ أَهۡلُ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ لَكَانَ خَیۡرࣰا لَّهُمۚ مِّنۡهُمُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ وَأَكۡثَرُهُمُ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقُونَ

    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 only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for
    them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient.

    3:110

    Even with the degraded state of the ummah today, the Muslims still are at the forefront of opposing the world’s destructive riba-based economic system, preserving the integrity of the family, and opposing idolatry and materialism. A strong and healthy Muslim ummah is the best thing that can happen to humanity, because a strong ummah will act as a beacon of guidance and a proof of Islam, and a force for establishing morality and opposing immorality.

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  • Renewable Energy: False Promises of Immortality

    The global economy is unsustainable in its present form. At the current pace, resources will eventually become more and more scarce until some kind of a gradual or sudden collapse takes place. The present world order depends on the presumption that technological advancement will prevent this from happening.

    The idea is that renewable energy will become more and more efficient until the entire world economy can run on it. Yet technological advancement itself is closely correlated to energy consumption. We’ve actually been using renewable energy very effectively for a long time. The nature which Allah, subhanahu wa t’ala, created is very efficient at capturing and conserving energy and making it available to humans. We access this energy in different forms, including plant and animal
    life.

    Consider hydroelectric dams. They currently account for about 60% of renewable energy produced worldwide, but people rarely talk about the energy losses they cause. Damming rivers leads to a decline in soil fertility, because high quality silt is no longer deposited in floodplains by seasonal floods. Instead, synthetic fertilizers are manufactured and imported in a very energy intensive manner.

    Likewise, solar farms block sunlight that could otherwise cause plants to grow underneath, which in turn could feed livestock and generate manure, milk, and meat. This doesn’t happen in arid areas like deserts, of course, but desert areas are usually sparsely populated, so you have to solve the problem of transporting the energy over long distances.

    Currently, manufacturing, transporting, and installing this transmission infrastructure is a very energy intensive process.
    All of this infrastructure, whether wind, solar, or hydroelectric, also has a limited lifespan. To continue operating it needs spare parts, lubrication, and repairs. The entire supply chain that makes this possible is completely dependent on non-renewable energy sources. Electric cars and even electric freight trucks are currently gaining popularity, but no viable alternatives exist for heavy industrial processes, mining, and large scale ocean freight.

    When people try to argue that a fully renewable economy is viable, they do so by looking at the pace of technological development over the last hundred years, and then extending that pace into the future. They usually overlook that these developments were entirely dependent on an explosion in the amount of available energy in the form of petroleum products.

    There is no way this rate of growth in energy availability can continue, especially considering current demand levels and the rising cost of extraction. In other words, innovation is dependent on excess energy— people who are busy with bare subsistence cannot dedicate themselves to developing new technologies.

    Even if we have large amounts of excess energy, the basic subsistence requirements of humanity are much larger than they were in the past. This means that even if the amount of available energy increases, there will not necessarily be enough to fuel innovation at the same rate we’ve seen in the past hundred years.

    At the same time, innovation is getting more difficult and resource intensive. As time goes on, more researchers are required to achieve the same level of productivity growth achieved in the past. For example, doubling the capacity of computer chips today requires approximately 18 times more researchers than doubling the capacity of computer chips 50 years ago.

    These patterns are consistent across diverse fields including computers, agricultural productivity, and medical technology. All of this suggests that the likelihood of a miraculous technological breakthrough that makes renewable cargo ships or mining technology possible is extremely low, and grows lower as the demand for energy relative to supply rises.

    Even assuming we create cargo ships and power mines with nuclear reactors, the world supply of uranium is estimated to last for less than 100 years at present rates of consumption. If we begin to power cargo ships and other heavy equipment with uranium, these supplies will dwindle more quickly.

    Historical records of major civilizations also indicate that when energy extraction rates begin to decline, centralized concentrations of political power break up into fragments. These smaller units of organization are typically less capable of extracting energy and maintaining technology and the productive capacity to maintain technology. Allah asks:

    أَوَ لَمۡ یَسِیرُوا۟ فِی ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَیَنظُرُوا۟ كَیۡفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِینَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡۚ كَانُوۤا۟ أَشَدَّ مِنۡهُمۡ قُوَّةࣰ وَأَثَارُوا۟ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ وَعَمَرُوهَاۤ أَكۡثَرَ مِمَّا عَمَرُوهَا وَجَاۤءَتۡهُمۡ رُسُلُهُم بِٱلۡبَیِّنَـٰتِۖ فَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِیَظۡلِمَهُمۡ وَلَـٰكِن كَانُوۤا۟ أَنفُسَهُمۡ یَظۡلِمُونَ 

    Have they not traveled through the earth and observed how was the end of those before them? They were greater
    than them in power, and they plowed the earth and built it up more than they have built it up, and their
    messengers came to them with clear evidences. And Allah would not ever have wronged them, but they were
    wronging themselves.

    30:9

    The pyramids of Egypt, for example, are a feat of engineering that is in some ways unsurpassed until today. In spite of the great power and technological prowess that they had, their civilization collapsed, so how is it that people today somehow think this instance of technological civilization will continue to grow forever?

    The promise of renewable energy somehow staving off a collapse is a complete lie. The idea that we will not have to face a reckoning for the wasteful lifestyle we are currently living is based on corrupt aqeeda in which the creation is assigned the attributes of the Creator, leading people to view material reality as infinite or everlasting.

    This is the essence of Satanic deception, as with Iblis’s promise to Adam in the Garden, when he promised Adam that if he violated Allah’s command, he could become immortal.

    وَقَالَ مَا نَهَىٰكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنۡ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّاۤ أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَیۡنِ أَوۡ تَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلۡخَـٰلِدِینَ

    He said, ‘Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal.

    7:20
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  • Mixing the Divine and Human and the Cult of Youth

    People tend to underestimate what a powerful impact fundamental beliefs can have on the world. This is part of why it’s difficult for some to understand how someone who seems to have good character could be punished with hell because of wrong beliefs. It’s not that good deeds performed by an idol worshiper don’t count— it’s that the severity of the sin of idolatry is such that it outweighs all of the good deeds.

    Consider how much suffering a lack of faith, or misplaced faith, can cause. Many people who lack faith spend a lot of time worrying about the future, and as a result take actions to try to secure their future. This is a major factor that drives people to hoard wealth or amass power, and the process of seeking this wealth or power leads to a large number of criminal actions and wars. Conversely, someone who relies on Allah, subhanahu wa t’ala, will not have anxiety about the future, but rather can live according to the hadith:

    عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مِحْصَنٍ الْخَطْمِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ أَصْبَحَ مِنْكُمْ آمِنًا فِي سِرْبِهِ مُعَافًى فِي جَسَدِهِ عِنْدَهُ قُوتُ يَوْمِهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا حِيزَتْ لَهُ الدُّنْيَا

    ‘Ubaydullah ibn Mihsan reported that the Messenger of Allah, sal Allahu alaihi wa salam, said, “Whoever among you wakes up secure in his property, healthy in his body, and he has his food for the day, it is as if he were given the entire world.”

    Sunan at-Tirmidhi, 2346

    The present world order is shaped primarily by a combination of Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman beliefs. These belief systems, as most forms of polytheism, blur the line between the human and divine. Both Christians and Greco-Roman pagans worship humanoid statues, and both of them believe in the concept of the divine having children.

    Likewise, the modern worldview of salvation through science is based on the notion that human beings have the power to reshape the natural order. There’s an idea that disease, hunger, natural disasters, war, and even death itself can be negated by human ingenuity.

    One of the most grotesque manifestations of this is the Western obsession with youth. Plastic surgery, face lifts, botox and even stem cell research are expressions of this desire to defy and overcome death and achieve eternal youth. This obsession has a theological antecedent — if you look at Christian iconography, one of the most common images is that of baby Jesus, which carries the concept of God as a child. The Western obsession with youth has a Biblical basis.

    ‘And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

    Matthew 18:13

    Christian civilization is also obsessed with the concept of “child prodigies.” This is also related to some notion of the divine manifesting in youth, in the form of children performing impressive feats of art or science. This may also be related to the deification of Jesus— one of the miracles of Jesus was the ability to speak articulately at a young age:

    وَیُكَلِّمُ ٱلنَّاسَ فِی ٱلۡمَهۡدِ وَكَهۡلࣰا وَمِنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِینَ

    He will speak to the people in the cradle and in maturity and will be of the righteous.

    3:46

    The problem is that the word “genius” is derived from “jinn,” which refers to an invisible entity which may or may not be malicious. In other words, this obsession can be an indirect path towards revering or worshiping demonic entities. For example, take child prodigy Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart. Already at a young age, Mozart was composing complex symphonies that outclassed the work of his adult contemporaries. He has now achieved a quasi-mythical status as an archetype of divine artistic inspiration for this reason.

    However, if we look not only at the artistic prowess of his work but the broader social impact, there’s nothing divine about it. His work dazzled audiences at a time when the rise of secularism was in full swing. This was a period in which the role of religion and worship in people’s lives was relegated to the shadows, and music was one of the main areas where secularization was apparent.

    There’s a long tradition of a Satanic connection to musical ability— Giuseppi Tartini, composed a violin piece of astonishing technical difficulty around 300 years ago, and reportedly said that he was inspired by a vision of the devil playing violin at the foot of his bed. A century later, Nicolo Paganini, a famed violinist renowned for his skill, was rumored to have gained his ability through a pact with the devil.

    Robert Johnson was an American guitarist and founder of Blues music as a genre. He is credited with being the major inspiration for the Rock and Roll genre, and he sung a song about selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads in exchange for musical ability. Bob Dylan also referenced the theme of the crossroads, and once referenced making a bargain with a mysterious entity which resulted in him getting inspiration for his music.

    Some famous inventors and scientists are also reported to have received demonic inspiration for their discoveries. An advisor to Queen Elizabeth, John Dee, spent much of his life communicating with invisible entities to derive scientific knowledge from them. He was one of the first proponents of an overseas British empire, and developed some of the mathematics and navigational techniques later used in the establishment of the British empire.

    Later on Jack Parsons reported conducting a ritual in which he attempted to summon an entity named “Babylon” to help humans travel to the moon. He later developed a jet fuel which is used by NASA until today.

    As Muslims, we know that there is an entire class of jinn, or demons, that try to dupe us into worshiping them or falling into idolatry by other means. The exact cause of child prodigies is unclear, but it can’t be ruled out that some element of possession by jinn is involved. This phenomena, especially in combination with the portrayal of divine children, can certainly reinforce the notion of the divine contained within the human, which could ultimately help Satan to achieve his goal of drawing humanity away from the worship of Allah and towards the worship of other things.

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