- Youth throughout history have had the greatest role in facing the dangers to our Ummah and achieving its historical victories.
- The struggle with the enemy is civilizational, between two contrasting systems, which necessitates the development of our Islamic project.
- The path to the revival of the Islamic Ummah requires strong hands and insightful vision, dedicated to Allah.
Youth in every nation are the backbone of its renaissance, the secret of its strength, and the determination of its path. They are looked upon when times get tough, and they are the hope on which nations rely. In every situation, they bear the burden of learning from past lessons, meeting present challenges, and shaping the future. This is their role in leading and rising nations, as well as in struggling nations rising from the ruins of a harsh past. In times of historical decline and the search for future paths, their burden is even greater.
Throughout history, youth have played the greatest role in facing the dangers to our Ummah and achieving its historical victories. They were the majority of the fighting force on the day of Badr, took the initiative to meet the enemy at Uhud, and led the Islamic conquests in the East and West. Muhammad ibn al-Qasim led the conquest of Sindh, Qutayba ibn Muslim led the conquest of Turkestan, and Mahmud of Ghazni was in his thirties when he began his campaign to conquer India.
Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi was 32 when he ruled Egypt and started preparing for the liberation from the Crusaders. Qutuz and Baibars were young when they won the Battle of Ain Jalut and ended the Mongol threat that endangered the world. Muhammad Al-Fatih was not yet 20 when he ascended the Ottoman throne, and two years later, he conquered Constantinople, which had resisted conquest for centuries.
Today, the afflicted peoples of our Ummah still place their hopes on their youth to lift them out of prolonged hardship and deep disgrace. Observing our current reality, one can hope for those expectations to be met. The youth of Palestine give us hope that victory is possible and near, in Allah’s will.
Conditions for Victory
An examination of history and the present necessitates certain conditions to achieve these hopes:
First: The realization in the minds and hearts of the victorious generation of the truth that our enemies have long tried to obscure: the core of our battle is our faith. The essence of victory lies in our awareness of this truth and our efforts to match it with intellectual, spiritual, and practical readiness.
We see Zionist leaders and their state affirm their distorted Torah foundations and false Talmudic premises openly and without hesitation. Western leaders also affirm them, sometimes subtly and other times plainly. Their actions clearly reflect these beliefs.
Understanding the motivations behind the enormous crimes and genocides they commit in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and throughout their history is impossible without understanding these religious myths that the state of Israel was founded upon, as warned by the French Muslim thinker Roger Garaudy. These distorted religious texts incite the killing of women and children, and are enacted by their current government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes ministers who take pride in their bloody ideologies.
For instance, Amihai Eliyahu, the Minister of Heritage, called for the extermination of the people of Gaza with a nuclear bomb. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a follower of the infamous Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the extremist Kach movement, praises the perpetrator of the Hebron mosque massacre, Baruch Goldstein, calling him a “hero,” hanging his picture on his home wall. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich denies the existence of a Palestinian people altogether, claiming it was invented a hundred years ago to fight the Zionist project in the land of “Israel.” He arrogantly declares the necessity of expanding their state to include the “Greater Israel” as “allegedly” promised in the Torah.
Religious beliefs were not far from American presidents, who were influenced by Evangelical Zionism, which views the existence of “Israel” and its support as essential for the return of Jesus Christ.
Achieving the desired victory requires understanding the enemy’s essence, motivations, and plans, which will only happen by comprehending their religious drives and preparing suitable countermeasures; “And Allah is most knowing of your enemies. And sufficient is Allah as an ally, and sufficient is Allah as a helper.” (An-Nisa: 45)
Developing the Islamic Project
Second: Recognizing that the struggle with the enemy is a civilizational conflict between two contrasting systems. This necessitates developing our Islamic project in its political, economic, and intellectual aspects, and possessing equivalent scientific and technological foundations. We must acknowledge the enemy's scientific and technological lead and find ways to surpass it, employing it for the benefit of humanity and saving the world from a bleak future controlled by an aggressive system that holds the means to its destruction with its nuclear capabilities. These capabilities are already threatening the world, coupled with their hostility towards others and readiness to annihilate them to maintain their superiority and dominance.
This also entails the necessity of generational solidarity in the path of change; youth and elders must unite. The discord and disconnect between generations must end, and youth must not be incited to belittle the first generation of dawah carriers and path pioneers. Achieving the enemy's goal of creating a generation disconnected from its history, rich with lessons and experiences, must be avoided.
Our history is filled with exemplary elderly leaders who led the Ummah to glory and pride. The devil did not sow discord regarding their status and significant roles. Starting with the two sheikhs, Abu Bakr and Umar, and passing through Musa bin Nusayr, who was nearing eighty when he completed the conquest of Africa and moved towards Andalusia. Yusuf bin Tashfin was also nearing eighty when he won the Battle of Zallaqa, saving Andalusia in 479 AH. He continued his honorable jihad until he was nearly a hundred at his death. This legacy extends to Ahmad Yassin and others.
Third: The advocacy role of the best Ummah brought forth for mankind is immense. It is not confined to a specific group or team, nor can it be carried solely by a leading elite without the support of the masses and the supportive popular bases. Youth groups alone cannot bear it without the guidance of elders and teachers hardened by life, shaped by experiences, and driven by the ambition to pass on this legacy to promising young generations. This must be done in a spirit that embodies the blessed divine revelation, the righteous prophetic method, and the ongoing divine and universal laws.
Fourth: The path to reviving the Ummah requires strong hands and insightful vision from those troubled by the remembrance of the Hereafter, dedicating their efforts to Allah; “And remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—those of strength and [religious] vision. Indeed, We chose them for an exclusive quality: remembrance of the home [of the Hereafter].” (Sad: 45-46) This path is paved through the deceit of night and day and the forces of arrogance and oppression, yet it is the only path to salvation in this world from the evil machinations of enemies we have seen firsthand, and salvation in the Hereafter from Allah's judgment, who entrusted us with His religion and the legacy of His Prophet; “And We had already destroyed generations before you when they wronged, and their messengers had come to them with clear proofs, but they were not to believe. Thus do We recompense the criminal people. Then We made you successors in the land after them so that We may observe how you will do.” (Yunus: 13-14)
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