About the Author:
Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi (1926 – 2022) was an Egyptian influential Islamic scholar and thinker, and the chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.
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Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi begins his book with a conversation with a friend, dripping with pain and sorrow over the massacres committed against Muslims around the world, the slaughter of women, children, and the elderly, and the demolition of houses over the heads of their inhabitants, while Muslims are asleep and helpless as the dead, and the civilized world sees the tragedy and remains unaffected. The Sheikh recalls the massacres and invasions of Muslim lands, the demolition of mosques, and the violation of Muslims' honor, while no one moved. Muslims instead exert all their energy fighting each other. His friend asks when Muslims will wake up, wash away their disgrace, stand up for each other, and return to their days of glory.
The Sheikh reassures us that Allah's laws of the universe require that after the darkness must come light. The only way to revive our Ummah is to focus on its spirit, which is Islam, that united, revived, and guided us. Islam spread justice among us, directing us to worship Allah alone, and mobilizing us to repel invaders and resist the hordes of enemies.
Some of our greatest problems lie in the fact that our Ummah is numbed, unaware of its true mission and reason for existence, oblivious to the conspiracies being woven against it in the dark. Not to mention the gap we feel among ourselves due to national, regional, or linguistic biases, so our paths have diverged, and we have come to prefer personal whims over the greater interest of the Ummah. Then there is the gap between rulers and the people in every country, due to the rulers' upbringing and education in camps hostile to Islam. Another gap lies between the educated elites and the masses. The masses are generally religious in thought, feelings, and behavior, while most elites have been invaded by cultural colonialism, inheriting flawed feelings about Islam and its Sharia, so they believe in secularism (irreligion) as an idea and method, confining religion to a private relationship between the individual and their Lord, not allowing it to interfere in any aspect of life.
Laws of Victory
Victory does not come randomly, but it has laws that Allah recorded in His Holy Book:
- Victory is from Allah alone: No matter the equipment and preparation, as Allah says, “If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who is there that can aid you after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely.” (Al Imran: 160)
- Allah's help is for those who support His religion: Allah says, “And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.” (Al-Hajj: 40)
- Victory is for the believers: Allah may use natural phenomena to aid them or to strike their enemies, as in the Battle of Badr: “And sent down upon you from the sky, rain by which to purify you and remove from you the evil [suggestions] of Satan and to make steadfast your hearts and plant firmly thereby your feet.” (Al-Anfal: 11)
The Sheikh emphasizes that believers do not descend from the sky but are raised on sincere faith, which requires truthful and patient cultivators who tend to it in all stages.
The Greatest Concern of Islamic Reformers
The greatest concern of aware Islamic reformers is the emergence of a new Muslim generation that understands Islam correctly and comprehensively, the Islam that the Quran revealed and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) called for. Islam makes the entire life of an individual for Allah without duality or conflict between the authority of the state and religion. Islam calls for justice, resists communism and capitalism, rejects oppression and class and sectarian conflicts. Islam supports the weak and takes their rights from the strong and fights the rich if they refuse to give Allah’s right to the poor. This is the desired generation of victory.
The Role of Women in Supporting Islam
Victory is not a duty for men alone; women have their prominent share in supporting Islam and empowering its message on earth. We do not forget the stances of women in the dawn of the call, like Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Sumayya, the mother of Ammar, and other Mothers of the Believers during the Prophet’s life and after his death. Women are the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters, so it is no wonder that they have today, as they had yesterday, a role in calling to Islam through education, inspiration, defending the call, and doing good deeds.
Characteristics of This Generation in the Quran and Sunnah
This generation loves Allah and shows mercy to believers, is stern against the disbelievers, only strives in the cause of Allah, enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong, and does not fear the blame of a blamer. They are the people of Tawhid (monotheism), worshiping Allah alone, seeking His help, and relying on Him. Allah says, “And among those We created is a community which guides by truth and thereby establishes justice.” (Al-A'raf: 181) In the Sunnah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw in them his brothers who believe in him after his death without having seen him, the strangers who hold onto their religion during times of tribulation as if they were holding onto embers. He saw in them the group standing for the truth, the victorious group that will liberate Palestine and severely defeat the Jews.
Realism and Scientism
This generation believes in realism and scientism and transcends randomness and illusions. They are a generation with great hopes but realistic thinking, striving in the way of Allah and not despairing of Allah’s mercy. They know their capabilities and do not hasten things before their time. They respect the mind and learn from the Quran and Sunnah that thinking is an obligation, contemplation is worship, and seeking knowledge is jihad. This generation believes that collective work to support Islam and restore its sovereignty is an obligation and necessity and that reforming the individual is the foundation that can only be completed in a righteous collective environment. Allah addresses them collectively in His book with obligations: “O you who have believed” so that they feel equivalence in executing what Allah has commanded and refraining from what He has forbidden, so individuality dissolves for the sake of the nation, and they learn to hold fast to the rope of Allah together and cooperate in righteousness and piety, not separating as those before them did, leading to their demise, for the hand of Allah is with the group.
A Divine Generation
It is important to establish a generation that lives in the world with hearts yearning for the Hereafter. What distinguishes them most is their sincerity to Allah, aiming for His pleasure, not seeking status, wealth, chasing after desires, or fame, nor making the world their greatest concern. They are Muslims not just by name or inheritance but through study, evidence, and insight, seeking no religion other than Islam and no path other than its Sharia, acting upon Allah’s words: “And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (Al Imran: 85)
Rejecting Dependence
This generation rejects dependence on both the East and the West, working only for Islam and through Islam, affiliating only to Allah, taking pride only in faith, and holding fast only to the Quran. They are the generation of jihad as the Companions were before them, following their guidance, drawing from their light, striving against their inner selves as they strive against their enemies both within and without. They strive in every battle that calls them, whether with money, weapons, or lives, not withholding their wealth or lives in the cause of Allah, striving with good words, sincere call, good behavior, and being a good example, meeting evil with good. They carry in their hearts a zeal for Allah’s sanctities, supporting Islam and the oppressed everywhere.
Conclusion
The Sheikh concludes his book with a call to the sons and daughters of Islam to move beyond the stage of weakness to the stage of strength and building, not sitting with the heedless idlers so as not to lose themselves in this world and the Hereafter. With this spirit and continuous jihad, the generation of victory can achieve the promised triumph and raise the banner of Allah across the land.
