“……以真主发誓，即便他们把太阳放在我的右手，月亮放在我的左手，条件是我放弃这件事，我也不会放弃，直到真主使它获胜，或者我为此而死。”

“...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”

求生的本能使世界上每个民族、地上每个族群都必然拥有自己的根本性事务，为此，一个民族或一个族群会毫不犹豫、不加争辩或讨论，满怀最大的热忱，心甘情愿地付出鲜血。这些根本性事务，要么关乎灭亡或存活，要么关乎一个民族从世上消失，或关乎其生存的保全。这类措施对所有民族而言都是独特而几乎相同的，针对它们所采取的措施也相似或非常相似，因为它们切实威胁生命。因此，措施相同，事务也相同。然而，这些与求生本能相关的事务并非全部的根本性事务，根本性事务也不只限于与求生本能相关的事务；因为还有与精神本能或繁衍本能相关的其他根本性事务。不过，各民族在这些事务上因其对生命的看法不同而有所差异，因此在针对它们所采取的措施上也有所不同。这是因为使这些事务成为根本性事务的，正是特定的生命观；因此它们各不相同，措施也随之不同。所以，各民族与各国之间的根本性事务，正是依据这种生命观的差异而有所不同。穆斯林是一个乌玛，无疑拥有许多根本性事务。乌玛的根本性事务，无论关乎求生本能、精神本能还是繁衍本能，都应当依据其生命观而定。而其生命观完全由伊斯兰决定。因此，决定根本性事务的是伊斯兰，同时决定措施的也是伊斯兰。

The instinct of survival makes it incumbent upon every nation in the world and every people on earth to have its own vital issues, for which a nation or a people would give its blood with consent and with utmost fervour, without any hesitation or any argument or debate. These issues are those related to either perishing or staying alive, or related to the removal of a people from existence or the safeguard of its survival. Such measures are unique and almost identical to all people and the measures undertaken towards them are similar or very similar to all people, because they are tangibly life threatening. Hence, the measure is the same and the issues are also the same. However, these issues related to the survival instinct are not all the vital issues, nor are the vital issues only those related to the survival instinct; for there are other vital issues related to the spiritual instinct or to the procreation instinct. However, people differed in these issues according to the difference in their viewpoint about life; thus they differed in the measures undertaken towards them. This is because what makes these issues vital is the specific viewpoint about life; thus they differ and the measure also differs. Therefore, the vital issues differed between peoples and nations according to this difference in the viewpoint about life. The Muslims are one Ummah and they undoubtedly have a host of vital issues. The Ummah’s vital issues, whether these are related to the survival instinct, the spiritual instinct or the procreation instinct, should be according to their viewpoint about life. Their viewpoint about life is determined by Islam alone. Hence, it is Islam that determines the vital issues and also determines the measure.

伊斯兰已经向人们阐明了生死攸关的重大问题，并使人们有义务对其持有相应的生死态度。因此，穆斯林在确定自身的生死攸关问题上没有选择的余地。伊斯兰视为生死攸关的问题，穆斯林也必须如此看待。同样，穆斯林在对待这些问题所采取的生死态度上也没有选择的余地，因为伊斯兰在确定生死攸关问题的同时，也确定了穆斯林应当采取的态度。伊斯兰曾面临威胁其存在的事件，穆斯林以穆斯林的身份面对威胁其生存的事物，这是不可避免的。任何生命运动都必然要面对威胁其存在的事物，这是显而易见的，尤其是改革运动，更具体地说，是健康的改革运动。

Islam has explained to people the vital issues and made the measure of life and death towards them an obligation. Hence, the Muslims have no choice in determining their vital issues. That which is considered by Islam to be a vital issue must be viewed by the Muslims as such. Likewise, they have no choice in the measure of life and death undertaken towards such issues; because when Islam determined the vital issues, it also determined the measure that Muslims should undertake towards them. For Islam to have faced events which threatened it and for Muslims to have come up against what threatened their existence, in their capacity as Muslims, was inevitable. It is self evident for any movement in life to face that which threatens its existence, especially the movements of reform and more specifically the sound movements.

自伊斯兰教诞生之初起,伊斯兰与库夫尔(Kufr)之间的斗争就最为激烈。这场斗争关乎库夫尔的命运,也关乎伊斯兰的命运。自伊斯兰国家在麦地那建立以来,这场与思想斗争并行的血腥斗争,是为了捍卫攸关根本的重大问题而进行的。因此,对穆斯林而言,重大问题的存在是不可避免且不言自明的,他们为之承担生死考验也是不可避免且不言自明的。正因如此,圣战被列为最重要的义务之一。先知ﷺ说:“事情的根本是伊斯兰,它的支柱是拜功,它驼峰的顶点是圣战。”这件事也将持续到末日来临,因为先知ﷺ说:“自从真主派遣我以来,圣战就一直存在,直到我的民族中最后一代人与敌基督(Dajjal)作战,它不会因暴君的暴虐而取消,也不会因公正者的公正而取消。”先知ﷺ还说:“圣战与虔诚者和放荡者同在。”因此,穆斯林在坚守重大问题上从未有片刻松懈,在面对每一个重大问题时,也从未犹豫是否要为之承担生死考验。

Ever since the dawn of Islam, the struggle has been at its fiercest between Islam and Kufr. This struggle has been about the fate of Kufr and the fate of Islam. The bloody struggle that has been added to the intellectual struggle since the establishment of the Islamic State in Madinah was in defence of the vital issues. Hence, the existence of vital issues was to the Muslims inevitable and axiomatic, and their undertaking of the measure of life and death towards them was also inevitable and axiomatic. It is a matter for which Jihad has been made one of the most important duties, in which the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the Salah and the peak of its hump is Jihad”. It is also a matter for which Jihad will continue until the Hour comes, for he (saw) said: “And Jihad has been constant since Allah sent me until the last generation of my Ummah fight the Dajjal, it will not be revoked by the tyranny of a tyrant nor by the justness of a just”. The Messenger of Allah (saw) also said: “Jihad is constant with the pious and the dissolute”. Hence, the Muslims did not slacken for one moment in standing for the vital issues, nor did they ever hesitate in undertaking the measure of life and death towards every vital issue.

因此,当十字军东征威胁到穆斯林作为乌玛和国家的命运时,他们以生死相搏的态度对待此事,与异教徒十字军展开了持续一个多世纪的激烈战争。伊斯兰乌玛终于挡住了威胁其存亡的致命一击。同样,当蒙古人入侵伊斯兰土地时,穆斯林也采取了相同的做法。伊斯兰乌玛将这次入侵视为威胁其存在的大事,于是以生死相搏的态度应对,穆斯林与蒙古人展开战争,他们舍命作战,不求任何世俗利益,直至取得决定性的胜利。

Therefore, when they were faced with what threatened their fate as an Ummah and as a State during the Crusades, they undertook towards this the measure of life and death; thus they engaged the Kuffar Crusaders in a fierce war for more than a century. The Islamic Ummah managed to repel the fatal blow that threatened her. Likewise, the Muslims acted in the same way when the Mongols invaded the Islamic lands. The Islamic Ummah considered this invasion as a matter that threatened her existence, thus she undertook towards it the measure of life and death, and the Muslims engaged the Mongols in a war in which they sacrificed their lives without seeking any worldly gains until the decisive victory was theirs.

因此,穆斯林过去能够洞察攸关存亡的重大问题,并履行其在这些问题上的义务,这正是生死的尺度所在。这是因为伊斯兰在攸关存亡的问题上所作的阐释,被穆斯林视为确定无疑的事实,他们紧紧地把握着,而忽视这些事实的危险也是显而易见的。因此,他们若面对威胁其生存的局面,却不履行伊斯兰所规定的义务,即生死的尺度,是不可想象的。过去,无论是伊斯兰乌玛还是伊斯兰国家,从未未能洞察和认识攸关存亡的重大问题,也从未未能认识和理解应采取的措施,因此他们从未忽视这些问题。然而,当对伊斯兰的理解退化到偏离正道的程度,当心中的敬畏衰弱到对公然的怫逆(Kufr)保持沉默的地步时,这些攸关存亡的问题便失去了其重大性,生死的尺度也不再被用于应对它们。结果,对他们生存的威胁逼近了,穆斯林未能慷慨地献出鲜血和生命来抵御这一威胁。于是,哈里发制度被摧毁,伊斯兰的制度被废除,整个伊斯兰乌玛都面临灭绝的威胁。

Therefore, the Muslims used to perceive the vital issues and used to undertake towards them what was obligatory upon them, that is the measure of life and death. This was because that which Islam had explained in terms of vital issues was considered as fact by the Muslims, which they clutched with a tight grip, and the danger of neglecting them was clear. Hence, it was inconceivable for them to face a situation that threatened their existence without undertaking towards it that which Islam had obliged upon them, that is the measure of life and death. Neither the Islamic Ummah, nor the Islamic State ever failed in the past to perceive and be aware of the vital issues, nor failed to perceive and be aware of the measures. Thus they never neglected them. However, when the perception of Islam receded to the level of deviation and when the piety in the souls weakened to the level of keeping silent over the flagrant Kufr, these vital issues lost their consideration as being vital, and the measure of life and death was not undertaken towards them. Consequently, the threat to their existence loomed and the Muslims failed to give their blood and their lives generously in order to repel this threat. Hence, the Khilafah was destroyed, the system of Islam was abolished and the whole of the Islamic Ummah was threatened with extinction.

因此，必须从伊斯兰的视角来认识那些重大问题，即伊斯兰在《古兰经》和圣训中所规定的视角。也必须认识针对这些问题应当采取的强制性措施，即《古兰经》和先知穆罕默德ﷺ的圣训所阐明的措施。唯有如此，对重大问题及其应采取的强制性措施的认识才会产生，而对它们的忽视也就变得不可想象。

Hence, it is imperative to perceive the vital issues from the Islamic viewpoint as Islam decreed in the Book and the Sunnah. It is also imperative to perceive the compulsory measures which ought to be undertaken towards them as outlined by the Qur’an and by the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw). Only then will awareness of the vital issues and of the compulsory measure towards them be generated and their neglect then become inconceivable.