The Muslims are at present experiencing the severest of trials and the worst of ordeals. The effective remedy for them lies in the perception of whether their issues are vital or not, and in undertaking of a life and death measure towards every vital issue, especially if the issue in question encompasses all the vital issues put together. As long as this perception is not achieved in a manner that dominates over the souls and the atmospheres, the Muslims will continue to be in a constant decline and degeneration, and they will never rise amongst the nations. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the Muslims to discern their vital issues and to have their perception of these issues find its way to the hearts, the souls and the general atmospheres so that it becomes a perception that drives them towards undertaking what the vital issues necessitate in terms of life and death measures with an unshakable resolve and unrelenting zeal. This is the point at issue, and this is the basis of all that which the Muslims are attempting to undertake to deal with the reality they are currently facing.

The reality of the Muslims today is sensed by every Muslim, it does not require any explanation nor does it necessitate any elaboration. Their lands are ruled by Kufr systems, thus they are conclusively a Kufr household (Dar ul-Kufr). They are divided into more than four entities, ranging from States, Emirates, Sultanates and Sheikhdoms. They are weaker than being capable of standing up to the Kuffar. Hence the issue of every country in the Islamic world is to turn it into an Islamic household (Dar ul-Islam) and then unite with the rest of the Islamic countries. This issue is a vital issue; it is even the whole of the vital issues put together; thus it is imperative to undertake towards it the measure of life and death.

However this vital issue, i.e. the issue of transforming the lands into Dar ul-Islam and uniting them with the rest of the Islamic lands, is an objective the Muslims aim to achieve. The method which ought to be undertaken to achieve this objective is to establish the Khilafah, thus restoring it’s existence. Hence, the issue facing the Muslims today is the establishment of the Khilafah as a ruling system through which the transformation of the lands into Dar ul-Islam is achieved, and consequently, unity with the rest of the lands of Islam. However, it should be made absolutely clear that what is facing the Muslims today is not merely the appointment of a Khaleefah so as to say that this is a duty of sufficiency (Fard al Kifayah), thus making it a non-vital issue. Rather, what is facing the Muslim Ummah today is the establishment of the Khilafah, meaning the generating of the Khilafah system as a ruling system. The responsibility of this task is huge, and the reality of it is other than merely appointing a Khaleefah, although the establishment of the Khilafah necessitates the appointing of a Khaleefah. Ibn ‘Umar (r.a.) reported that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “And whosoever dies without having a Bay’ah upon his neck (without a system of Bay’ah existing), he dies the death of Jahiliyyah”.

Establishing the Khilafah is conclusively a vital issue. This is because, in addition to being a method to transform our lands from Dar ul-Kufr into Dar ul-Islam, it’s establishment is also aimed at destroying the Kufr systems thus removing the flagrant Kufr, which is in itself a vital issue. So the Messenger of Allah (saw) ordered restraint from the spilling of blood: “Unless you witness a flagrant Kufr”. Also because it is mentioned in the Hadith: “ … They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should we not resist them with the sword?’ He (saw) said: ‘No, as long as they establish prayer amongst you”. Therefore, by establishing the State the vital issue of removing the flagrant Kufr is attained. Consequently, the establishment of the Khilafah is a vital issue, because it is the method to achieve a vital issue, and because the Shari’ah evidence from the Sunnah indicates that it is so. Thus, it is imperative to undertake towards it the measure of life and death.

Ever since their affairs were controlled by the hands of the Kuffar, the hypocrites and the apostates, the Muslims have not ceased in attempting to break free from the noose of the Kufr authority and the hegemony of its masters and agents. However, they failed to realise that the issue for which they were struggling was vital, and that it had no other measure but the measure of life and death. Hence, it was this lack of perception among the masses of the Muslims, that stripped them in their quality as a community, or an Ummah, from their readiness to endure harm, imprisonment and torture, in addition to enduring poverty, devastation and death, something which can never be detached from the battles of struggle over the vital issues. Therefore, these attempts had been predestined to inevitable failure and they failed to move one single step forward towards achieving the issue they were struggling for.

There was no need for the Muslims to exert extraordinary thought in order to perceive that their issue was a vital one. It was immediately evident to any sighted person, as it is evident today, that it is rationally impossible for the Kuffar to allow Islam to return to the political scene in the form of ruling. As long as the Kuffar persisted in one iota of oppression against those who worked towards the Khilafah it remained self-evident that this was a vital issue. The rank of the apostates and the hypocrites were equally brutal in terms of crime and oppression. They threw everything they had of their power into the battlefield to fight those believers who aimed at exacting the power from them in order to establish the rules of Allah and to protect the sanctities of Allah through establishing the limits (Hudood) of Allah. Thus, it was self-evident that this was a vital issue.

Therefore, it would be impossible for any attempt, undertaken by the Muslims for the sake of this issue, to bear fruit unless they considered it to be a vital issue, whose achievement depended upon the measure of life and death. Due to the fact that the Muslims failed to perceive the nature of the battle and the sound rule of Allah (swt) pertaining to this battle, they set about liberating themselves in a method unworthy of the vital issues. Hence, their measure towards this was below the measure of life and death. Nevertheless, the fact is that the issue whose nature is vital, such as the removal of the Kufr systems and the establishment of the system of Islam, regardless of whether it was perceived on this basis or not, could never be achieved, no matter how great a force or how tremendous an effort used, unless it was considered, and illustrated, during this process as being vital. That is to say, the measure of life and death was undertaken towards it.

Hence, the Muslims should be frankly told, be it individuals or groups, that they have no other choice, but to carry out the struggle against Kufr on the basis of the life and death measure. This is because the nature of their issue necessitates such a measure and because the Shari’ah has in the Book and the Sunnah decreed this measure. Besides, the Messenger of Allah (saw) has taught us how to determine our issues and ordered us to undertake the measure of life and death towards every vital issue. When Allah (swt) sent him with the Message of Islam, and when he started conveying the Da’awah through the intellectual struggle, he (saw) determined his issue as being the triumph of Islam and he undertook towards it the measure of life and death. It is reported that when he (saw) was told by his uncle Abu Talib what the Quraysh had wanted from him, i.e. to make Muhammad (saw) refrain from attacking them, and when Abu Talib said to him: “Spare me and yourself, and do not put on me a burden greater than I can bear.” The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to him: “O uncle, by Allah, if they were to put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left on condition that I relinquish this matter, I would not relinquish it until Allah has made it dominant or I perish therein.” When he (saw) established the State and performed Jihad by the sword, he also determined his issue as being the triumph of Islam and he undertook towards this issue the measure of life and death. It has been reported that, at the incident of al-Hudaybiah, when he (saw) was in Usfan, two junctions away from Makkah, on his way to perform Umrah, he met a man from Bani Ka’ab and asked him whether he had any news about the Quraysh. His answer was: “There are Quraysh who have heard of your coming and have come out wearing leopards’ skins and have encamped at Dhu Tuwa vowing that you shall never enter Makkah in defiance of them. This man Khalid ibn al-Walid is with their cavalry which they have sent in advance to Kura-Al-Ghamim”. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Woe unto Quraysh! War has devoured them. What harm would they have suffered if they had left me and the rest of the Arabs to go our own ways? If they should kill me, that is what they desired, and if Allah should give me victory over them they would enter Islam in flocks. If they do not do that they will fight while they have the strength; so what are Quraysh thinking of? By Allah, I shall not cease to fight for the mission with which Allah has entrusted me until He makes it triumphant or this Salifah gets severed”. The Salifah is the surface of the neck, and its severance is tantamount to death. Then the Messenger of Allah (saw) continued his march until he reached Al-Hudaybiah.

In these two cases: the case of carrying the Da’awah through intellectual struggle, and the case of carrying it through Jihad, the Messenger of Allah (saw) determined his issue as being the triumph of Islam, and he (saw) made it a vital issue, thus undertaking towards it the required and inevitable measure in both cases, that is the measure of life and death. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said in the first instance:

“O uncle, by Allah, if they were to put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left on condition that I relinquish this matter, I would not relinquish it until Allah has made it dominant or I perish therein”, and he (saw) said in the second instance: “By Allah, I shall not cease to fight for the mission with which Allah has entrusted me until He makes it triumphant or this Salifah gets severed.” Had the Messenger of Allah (saw) not made this issue a vital one and had he not undertaken the measure of life and death towards it, Islam would not have triumphed, neither by conveying the Da’awah through intellectual struggle, nor by conveying it through Jihad with the sword. This is similar to the Muslims’ reality today, that is the dominance of the Kufr systems over them and the hegemony of the Kuffar and the hypocrites over them, if they do not treat their issue as vital issue, and if they do not undertake the measure of life and death towards it, their endeavour would not yield anything and they would not be able to move one single step forward.

Therefore, we call upon every single Muslim, amidst this Kufr dominating the Islamic lands, to work towards establishing the Khilafah as a method to transform his own country into Dar ul-Islam and to unite it with the rest of the Islamic lands carrying the Da’awah to the world in order to make Islam triumphant. This work must reflect with truthful belief, enlightenment and awareness the saying of the Messenger of Allah (saw) : “...by Allah, if they were to put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left on condition that I relinquish this matter, I would not relinquish it until Allah has made it dominant or I perish therein”, and his (saw) saying: “By Allah, I shall not cease to fight for the mission with which Allah has entrusted me until He makes it triumphant or this Salifah gets severed.”