Bismillahi Al-Rahman Al-Raheem
THE CHANGING OF THE CORRUPT STATE OF
AFFAIRS IS FARD ON THE MUSLIMS
Ever since the Khilafah was destroyed and the situation of the Muslims began to decline
from bad to worse, after being an Ummah that had held together like one body - if a part
were to hurt then the entire body would call out to the part with sleeplessness and fever,
and being of the same blood, as one hand against the rest- (despite this) they became
divided and disunited. When the Kuffar attacked some of them the rest stood as
bystanders as if the problem did not concern them. And after possessing a single
powerful state which the world used to regard with fear and apprehension they came to
live as numerous statelets, as week, dependent and hired entities, sought after by those
who desire (to use them) and their resources exploited by the Kafir colonialists.
Most certainly the corrupt situation and weakness of the Muslims is due to their
abandonment of Islam as a system of life and thereafter their silence concerning the rule
of secular/man made systems over their relationships. Indeed, changing the corrupt
situation of the Muslims is not a miracle but a (distinct) possibility within the ability of
Muslims to undertake. Allah ta'ala has legislated a method and rules for this objective
and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing be upon him and his family) and his
companions proceeded according to its guidance until they changed the jahili society to
an Islamic society by establishing the Islamic state which at that time transformed most
of the inhabited world from dar al-kufr to dar al-Islam.
There are many Shari'a texts which demonstrate that changing the corrupt and munkar
situation is fard on the Muslims. Allah ta'ala said : 'The believers, men and women, are
Awliya (helpers) of one another, they enjoin the good (ma'ruf) and forbid the evil
(munkar)'. [9:71] And the Prophet (saw) said : 'Whoever of you sees a munkar let him
change it by his hand, and if he could not then let him do that by his tongue, and if
he could not do that let him deny it by his heart (i.e. hate it), and this is the weakest
(degree of) Iman.' And he (saw) said : 'There will be leaders (Ameers) where you
acknowledge true some of their actions and deny some others; whosoever hated (the
wrong) he will free himself (of the sin), and whosoever denied he will be safe but
what of the one who accepted ( their wrong) and followed !' (ie. they will not be free
of the sin). And he (saw) said : 'O people ! Verily, Allah 'azza wa jalla says ; Enjoin the
good and forbid the evil before you supplicate to me or I will not answer your call,
before you ask of me for something and I will not grant it, before you turn to me for
assistance and I will not help you.'
These texts decisively request the Muslims to change any munkar which they see : by
hand and action, by the tongue and speech, and by the heart and aversion depending on
their ability. However there are some which are of the greatest munkars ; the corruption
of the life of the Muslims resulting from the rule of non-Islam. Allah ta'ala has ordered
the Muslims to work to change it and He has made the work for change an obligation of
sufficiency (fard 'ala al-kifaya). He ta'ala said : ' Verily ! Allah will not change the
condition of a people as long as they do not change what is within themselves'. [13:11]
It is a request which has come in the form of a statement to indicate its certainty and
importance. Thus, it has become one of the laws of the universe which Allah ta'ala has
created. This law demands that people work for change as a community until Allah
changes what is within themselves. This is indicated by the wording of the ayah which
has come in the plural : 'people, they change, themselves'. And he (saw) said : 'Any
people amongst whom sins are committed, and they could change them but they did
not (change), Allah will be about to bring a punishment which envelopes all.' It is a
decisive request for the community to change the corrupt reality in which it lives. If they
do not do that Allah will punish them all irrespective of whether they were amongst
those who committed the transgressions or not since they did not involve themselves with
the obligation of sufficiency despite their ability to engage in change. Thus, the changing
of the munkar is fard on the Muslims. And there is a munkar which no individual on his
own or separate individuals can change and that is the reality such as the one we live
today which is due to the absence of the Khilafah state. Thus, Allah has legislated a
method for the community to change this munkar by obliging on the Muslims to form a
group from amongst them which will work for the return of the Khilafah state. He ta'ala
said : 'Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to the good (khayr),
enjoining the good (ma'ruf) and forbidding the evil (munkar). And it is they who are
the successful'. [3:104] The definite order in this verse is directed towards the forming
of a group from amongst the Muslims which will invite the people to Islam and enjoin
the good (ma'ruf) and forbid the evil (munkar). The call to Islam requires that Islam is
brought into the reality of life in terms of its creed and system, and this cannot take place
without a state which will implement and carry Islam to the rest of the people. So the
obligation of this group which is required (by the text) is to work to bring about this
state, the Khilafah state.
There are hadiths of the Prophet (saw) which decisively require the Muslims to enjoin the
good and forbid the evil as a community otherwise Allah will punish them in this life
and in the Hereafter. He (saw) said : 'By the One in Whose hands my soul rests, you
have to enjoin right and forbid the wrong, other wise Allah will be about to send upon
you a punishment from Him, then you would pray to Him but He would not answer
you'. He (saw) said : 'Any people amongst whom sins are committed, and they could
change them but they did not (change), Allah will be about to bring a punishment
which will reach everybody'. And he (saw) said : 'Nay, by Allah, you have to enjoin the
good and forbid the wrong, and to hold against the hand of the tyrant, and to force
him on the truth and restrict him to the truth, otherwise Allah will strike the hearts of
some of you against others, then He will curse you as He cursed them.'
So it is incumbent on the Muslims who wish to be saved from the punishment of Allah in
this dunya and in the Hereafter to embark upon the work to change the evil situation in
which they live, following the lawful path towards change, to re-establish Islam in life
as a state and system.
And this method which Allah ta'ala has made obligatory and clarified to His Messenger
cannot be accomplished by the building of mosques and Qur'an memorisation classes and
nor by increasing the number of times one performs the hajj, Umra or gives in charity
even though these actions are required by the Shari'ah from the state and individuals.
Rather it should be according to the method Allah ta'ala has obliged and clarified to His
Messenger (saw) which is the structuring of a bloc/group from amongst the Muslims
which will work to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing the Khilafah state.
And that is undertaken by the intellectual and political struggle. By intellectual struggle
is meant the challenge to all non-Islamic creeds, thoughts and concepts and as well to the
existing relationships in society which are based on anything other than Islam. And then
the clarification of the thoughts, concepts and rules of Islam which should prevail in the
society in order for it to become an Islamic society. And by political struggle is meant ;
the challenge to the rulers who do not implement Islam in all spheres of life, and the
exposing of the plans and conspiracies which they weave against the Islamic Ummah, and
fearlessly accounting them without compromise or partiality/favouritism. And this is so
that Ummah gains awareness of Islam and embraces the group which works to
re-establish Islam in life by the establishment of the Khilafah state. So just as Allah
ta'ala addressed His messenger (saw) by His saying : 'Read!' He has addressed him by
saying : ' O you (Muhammad [saw]) enveloped (in garments) ! Arise and warn'.
[74:1-2]. And by His saying : 'Therefore proclaim openly that which you are
commanded, and turn away from the Mushrikin'. The address to the Messenger (saw) in
these verses is an address to the Muslims for all time. So it is incumbent on them to
undertake the actions which the Messenger (saw) undertook until he established the state.
So that they can reclaim their authority which was usurped from them and then give
bay'a to a Khalifah to rule by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.
And despite the presence of an aware party - Hizb-ut-Tahrir - which has responded to
the decisive request in His ta'ala's saying : ' Let there arise out of you a group of
people inviting to the good (khayr), enjoining the good (ma'ruf) and forbidding the
evil (munkar)...' [3:104] Thus, it has structured itself on the Islamic thought and has
passed through the stages in the method which Allah ta'ala has made obligatory and
clarified to His Messenger. However, the realisation of the objective for which it works
has not been completed ; the re-establishment of the Khilafah state, which means that the
decisive request on the Muslims still stands. Thus, they should hasten to respond to it and
structure themselves with a group which satisfies the Shari'a requirements in order to
change, together, the corrupt reality in which they live or else they will be sinful and
deserve the punishment of Allah in this life and in the Hereafter.
And in spite of the fact that it is obligatory to follow this method, those who followed a
path other than it have clearly failed which has made the Ummah to suspect every
movement and dismiss the possibility of change occurring at their hands, even at the
hands of the sincere movements amongst them, without realising that the sincere
movement is a part which cannot be separated from the Ummah. And without realising
that the Ummah is not able to engender radical change or revive without a sincere
ideological movement which the Ummah embraces and to which she grants her
leadership, in order to work together to change the corrupt reality by establishing the
Khilafah state.
As for the fear of losing the possessions of the dunya in terms of the rizq (provision) and
other such things resulting from the work for change. Indeed Allah is the one who
provides : 'To Him belongs the keys of the heavens and the earth, He enlarges the
provision for whom He wills'. [42:12] There is no provider (raziq) except Him : 'Who is
he that can provide for you if He should withhold His provision ?'. [67:21] And He has
divided the provision (rizq) between His servants : 'It is We Who portion out between
them their livelihood in this world'. [43:32] And He ordered them to have taqwa (God
fearing) : ' And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way
out for him (from his difficulty) and He will grant him provision from whence he
could never imagine'. [65:2-3] So let us fear Allah ta'ala and let us begin the serious
work to change the corrupt situation in which we live by joining forces with the sincere
and aware carriers of the da'wa to re-establish the Khilafah, until we attain the honour
and dignity in this world and the reward of the Hereafter. And we are from those Allah
ta'ala has intended in the hadith of His Messenger (saw) : Verily, the deen began strange
and it will return strange. So, blessed are the strangers who make good what the
people after me have corrupted of my Sunnah'.
25 Ramadhan 1419 A.H.
12 January 1999
Hizb ut-Tahrir