Moulana Yunus Patel Rahimahullah

The sound of his words “Allah! Allah!” still vibrate not only within the four walls of Masjid Nur in Asherville, Durban, but in the crannies of thousands of Muslim homes. His ardent plea of “O My Beloved Allah! O My Most Merciful!” continues to be etched in the hearts of thousands, layman and scholars, young and old, from the East and the West, all alike. This blessed soul who captivated the hearts of any who were even favoured with a glimpse at his illuminated face or had an eavesdrop on his charismatic voice was laid to rest in the soil of the most blessed land on earth after Fajr Salah on Wednesday, 13 July 2011.

The skies above the Noble Ka’bah witnessed a spiritual entourage, very seldom seen, moving in Tawaaf around the House of Allah shortly before Maghrib Salah on Tuesday, 12 July 2011. A short while after Salah this trail settled down in one area of the Mataaf benefiting from his pearls of wisdom and subsequently Maulana began experiencing chest pains which was followed by his soul tranquilly departing into the mercy of Allah. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un…

Maulana Yunus Patel rahimahullah was born in about 1945 in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Stanger. As a young boy, a personality which left a lasting impression upon his heart and served as an inspirational role model for him was Haji Bhai Padi rahimahullah. 
As Maulana himself narrated, “One day in 1962, when Haji Bhai just began his efforts of Tabligh, an announcement was written on the notice board in Grey Street Masjid that Haji Gulam Muhammad Padia will be delivering a lecture. After completion of the lecture, Haji Bhai called for help but nobody stood up. So Haji Bhai’s father-in-law volunteered, together with me (a 17 year old young boy at the time) and another elderly man. On another occasion, I decided to accompany Haji Bhai to sleep in the Umzinto Masjid as he was going to be sleeping alone in the Masjid. For hours that night, Haji Bhai kept busy in Tahajjud crying before Allah.

We travelled from Durban to Escourt, then to Ladysmith and further on to Johannesburg. At every town, Haji Bhai implored the people regarding the importance of Deen, however nobody was interested to assist. Throughout the journey, it was Haji Bhai’s crying of two hours every night that never stopped.” (Haaji Bhai Padia Rahimahullah encouraged Ml Yunus Patel Saab to become an ‘aalim)

In the early 1960s Moulana Yunus was one from among the early group of youth who travelled to Darul Uloom Deoband, India, to pursue the studies of Deen. Together with being a student par excellence, he was the confidante of many of his illustrious teachers and served them diligently at home and on travel. 
Upon his return, he served the community of Mooiriver as an Imam and teacher. He was motivated to go there by the fact that at the time there was not a single Aalim serving the Muslim communities between Pietermaritzburg and Newcastle. Even though people in the Transvaal offered him a much higher salary together with house, lights and water, the need of Deen took him to the icy cold town of Mooiriver where he accepted meagre pay and had to live in a tin shanty home. For him the need of Deen was greater.

After four years or so, he moved back to Durban and was instrumental in establishing the first offices of the Jamiatul Ulama (KZN) upon the insistence of Maulana Ansari rahimahullah. For many years thereafter, Maulana Yunus served the Ummah under the auspices of the organisation and subsequently was the secretary general and later the president of the Jamiatul Ulama (KZN). 
During the famous Qadiani Dispute in Cape Town during the early 1980s, Maulana Yunus was part of the team of expert ‘Ulama who prepared the required expert evidence in the court case to defend the honour of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam and the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah.

At a time when general indifference towards Deen prevailed and signs of Deen were noticeably rare in the South African society, Maulana established a girls’ Madrasah in 1982 in Asherville, Durban. Students who initially had very little inclination towards Deen, would be motivated with his perseverance and dedication to change their lives within a short space of time.

In recent years, Maulana Yunus became deeply concerned about the unity and wellbeing of the ‘Ulama. He constantly strove to harmonise relations between them at junctures when situations were adversarial. His emphasis was to focus on the broader picture and greater benefit for the Ummah. In his words, “The need of the time is that we can maintain of our different opinions, but if someone has been instrumental in the service of Deen we can differ with him with respect and dignity. On other issues however, we should work together.”

Maulana Yunus was honoured with the mantle of Khilafah from two great luminaries, Mufti Mahmoodul Hasan Gangohi rahimahullah and later on Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb. Over the many years, thousands around the globe drank from his fountain of wisdom, piety and knowledge. Scores of people are known to have changed their lives just by sitting in our of his gatherings.
His humility, generosity, concern for the well being of the young and old coupled with his burning love of Allah and his Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam were remarkable traits all embodied in one personality.

Compiled by: Jamiatul Ulema, South Africa (Fordsburg)

The fruits that were eaten by Sayyidina Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam are mentioned here. Seven ahaadith are mentioned in this chapter.

(188)  Hadith 1: Abdullah ibn Jaafar radiyallahu anhu says, “Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam ate Qith’thaa (cucumbers) with dates.”
Commentary:
Cucumber has a cold effect and dates have a hot one. By combining the two it becomes mild. From this hadith we gather that it is recommended that the effect (hot or cold) of things eaten should be taken into consideration. Cucumber is insipid and tasteless, and dates are sweet which results in the cucumber also tasting sweet.

(189)  Hadith 2 Aisha radiyallah anha reports that, “Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam ate watermelon with fresh dates.”
Commentary:
In Tirmidhi and other narrations, in explaining this, Sayyidina Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam also said, “The cold effect of one removes the heat of the other, and the heat of one removes the cold effect of the other.”

(190)  Hadith 3 Anas radiyallahu anhu says, “I saw Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam eat together musk-melon and dates.”
Commentary:
Some ulama have translated this also as watermelon’ instead of musk-melon, the reason being, as in the first narration, here also the cold effect is intended. But it is clear that musk-melon is meant here. The reason for eating dates is also that it gives the melon a
sweeter taste. It is not necessary that one’s benefit be gauged everywhere. It is possible that this is due to some other benefits. According to this humble servant the eating of watermelon with dates has its own benefit and that is to create evenness in the effect of both, so that it becomes mild. The eating of musk-melon with dates has its own benefit and that is that if the melon is insipid and tasteless, many a time, due to it being insipid sugar is mixed before it is eaten. Therefore it is not necessary to give the same reasons for both watermelon and musk-melon.

(191)  Hadith 4  Aisha radiyallahu anha says, “Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam ate watermelon with fresh dates.”

(192)  Hadith 5 Abu Hurairah radiyallahu anhu reports, “When the people saw (picked their) new fruit, they used to come and present it to Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam. Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam then recited this du’aa:-
Transliteration:
Allahumma baarik lana fi thimaa-rina wa-baarik lanaa
fi madinatinaa wa-baarik lanaa fi saa-’i-naa wa-fi
muddinaa-Allahumma-inna Ebraahima ‘ab-duka wa-kha-li-luka
wa-nabiy-yuka wa-inna ab-duka wa-nabiy-yuka wa-in-nahu da’aa-ka
li-makkata wa-inni ad’u-ka lil-madinati bi-mith-li maa da’aaka bihi
li-makkata wa-mith-lahu ma’a-hu

Translation: O Allah! Bless us in our fruits. Bless us in our city. Bless us in our Saa’, and bless us in our Mudd’ (these are two measures used in Madinah to measure dates, etc.). O Allah verily Ibrahim alaihis salaam is Your servant, friend and Nabi (since it was an occasion for humbleness Sayyidina Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam did not mention here his being the habib – beloved – of Alah.) And (whatever) he has supplicated to You for (colonising) Makkah. (Which is metioned in the aayah, “…so incline some hearts of
men that they may yearn towards them, and provide Thou them with fruits in order that they may be thankful.”- Surah Ibrahim, 37) I supplicate the same to You for Madinah.’ He then called a small child, to whom he gave that fruit.”

(193)  Hadith 6  Rubayyi bint Mu’awwidh ibn Afraa radiyallahu anha says, “My uncle Mu’aadh ibn Afraa sent me with a plate of fresh dates, which had small cucumbers on it, to Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam. Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam relished cucumbers. I took this to him. At that time some jewelery had been sent to Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam from Bahrain. He took a handful from it and gave it to me.”
Commentary:
Besides the previously metioned benefits of cucumbers and dates, it makes the body plump too. Sayyiditina Aisha radiyallahu anha relates that, “After my marriage, when the time came for me to go and live with Rasoolulla sallallahu alaihe wasallam, my mother thought I be a bit plump and my build become better. She gave me cucumbers and dates to eat. As a result my body became nice and plump.” It is related in a weak hadith that Sayyiditina Aisha radiyallahu anha said that Sayyidina Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam ate cucumber with salt. It is possible that he at times ate it with salt and at times with dates. Sometimes one prefers something that is sweet and at other times a thing that is salty.

(194)  Hadith 7 Rubayyi bint Mu’awwidh ibn Afraa radiyallahu anha said, “I took a plate of fresh dates and small cucumbers to Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam. He gave me a handful of jewelery, or a handful of gold.”
Commentary:
This is the same hadith mentioned above. Here it is mentioned briefly. The narrator doubts if it was jewelery or gold.

Shamaail Tirmidhi

Courtesy: www.everymuslim.net

In the year 1000 A.D, Cordoba, Spain (formerly known as Al-Andalus) was the largest city on earth. It contained hundreds of libraries, schools and universities. Scholars from Europe, Africa and the Middle East flocked to this enlightened center of civilization and knowledge. The city streets were lit up for miles in any direction and running water was available in every quarter. What was the real story of this vibrant society?This dynamic lecture presents an overview of the development of Islamic Spain, the legacy that Muslims left for the world and the reasons for their amazing rise and fall in this neglected, yet decisive period of history.

click here to listen online or download the mp3 files.

Born in the Ottoman Principality of Wallachia, Romania in 1435 AD, he was known as Radu al III-lea cel Frumos to his Romanian countrymen, Yakışıklı Radu Bey to the Turks, Radu al-Wasim to the Arabs, and Radu the Handsome in English. This ally and childhood friend of Sultan Mehmet II was instrumental in the conquest of Constantinople for Islam. Radu’s participation in that conquest ensured that Mehmet II would go down in history as “Fatih,” or “Conqueror.” Radu was the Ottomans’ secret weapon against the Safavids to the East and the Serbs, Romanians and Hungarians to the West. The Muslim world owes much to this hero of Islam, yet they recorded little other than cursory references to him, perhaps for fear of taking away from Fatih Sultan Mehmet’s limelight. The Byzantines recorded Radu as a reviled despot due to their hatred for his conversion to Islam and instrumental role in ending the Byzantine Empire.

Yet, this Ottoman general had a greater war, a war against darkness. He hunted the very progenitor of the vampire legend who impaled his enemies and drank their blood – Vlad al III-lea Ţepeş, also known as Vlad Drăculea, who would go down in infamy as, simply, Dracula. The character of Professor Abraham Van Helsing was no more than a figment of Bram Stoker’s terrifying imagination, but Sultan Mehmet II and Radu cel Frumos were perhaps the first and only true vampire hunters in history.

The Blood Brothers

Looking back, Radu’s devotion to Islam and to Sultan Mehmet II could be traced to the political alliance of their respective fathers before them. Vlad II from the House of Drăculeşti (“House of the Dragon”) was an ally and vassal of Sultan Mehmet’s father, Sultan Murad II. Vlad II had 4 sons: Mircea II, Vlad IV Călugărul (“The Monk”), Vlad III who would come to be known as Dracula, and Radu III cel Frumos (“The Handsome”). As a gesture of unity with the Sultan, Vlad II offered his sons, Dracula and Radu, to serve the Ottoman Sultan. Under the Janissaries they studied the Qur’an, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Islamic Theology and Jurisprudence, and, coveted above all, Turkish military strategy and tactics of war.

The Ottoman special forces who held a higher status both militarily as well as socially than the rank and file were the Janissaries and the Sipahis. The Janissaries were the elite infantry of the Ottoman military as well as the personal bodyguards of the Sultan and his family. The Sipahis were the elite cavalry who surrounded the Sultan in battle and would be sent to deal with the most stubborn of adversaries. They were the commandos and special forces of their day. Though the Sipahis were almost exclusively Turkic in origin as demanded by Sultan Mehmet II himself in his treatise of law entitled Kanun Nameh-e-Sipahi (“Law Book of the Sipahis”), the Janissaries, within whose ranks Dracula and Radu found themselves, were conversely converts to Islam.

The young Dracula continually abused and rebelled against his hosts earning himself imprisonment and castigation. Due to the heavy handedness of the Turks in response to his insolence, he developed a compounded and complex series of grudges. He hated his father for allying with the Turks, which he saw as a betrayal of the Order of the Dragon to which his father had sworn an oath. The Order of the Dragon was a Christian fraternity whose sole aim was to wipe out Islam from the Balkans forever. Dracula hated Radu for his successes and the favor the Turks bestowed upon him. He was filled with jealousy for the then young Mehmet II who, like him, was a prince, but, very unlike him, lived in splendor. He was also jealous of his brothers Mircea and Vlad the Monk due to what he perceived as his father’s preference for them. His sentiments for Mircea however, would teeter between jealousy and awe. It is from him that the young Dracula learned the terror tactic of impaling thousands to create forests of the dead.

Radu remained faithful to Islam and the Sultan and spent his entire life in battle on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, vanquishing the most difficult adversaries of the Empire. His natural knack for battle was unparalleled even amongst the Janissaries and elite Sipahis of the Ottoman military, and he would be called upon frequently to subdue any foe that seemed insurmountable. It is reported that he turned the very course of Near Eastern history when he stopped the mighty Ak Koyunlu from overrunning the Ottomans, an event that, if not stopped, would have definitely changed the faces of both the Middle East and Europe today. For this very reason, he was called upon to face the threat from his homeland of Wallachia that neither the elite Janissaries nor the Sipahis could route.

The Conquest of Constantinople

“On the third day after the fall of our city, the Sultan celebrated his victory with a great, joyful triumph. He issued a proclamation: the citizens of all ages who had managed to escape detection were to leave their hiding places throughout the city and come out into the open, as they were to remain free and no question would be asked. He further declared the restoration of houses and property to those who had abandoned our city before the siege, if they returned home, they would be treated according to their rank and religion, as if nothing had changed.” (George Sphrantzes, 1401-1478, Byzantine Christian chronicler and witness of the fall of Constantinople)

It was a time of relief and rejoicing. It was a relief for the inhabitants of Constantinople who expected a prompt culling following the fall of their city. It was a time of celebration for the entire Muslim world for this historical conquest of a city that has remained, to this very day, the capital of the Turks. Yet as Sultan Mehmet II rode into the city victorious, a glance over to his childhood friend and chief of the Janissaries, Radu cel Frumos, son of Vlad II Duke of Wallachia, may have served as a sobering reminder that to the North, beyond the spoils of Byzantium, their fiercest enemies lay in wait. Among those enemies was the most feared of them all, Dracula, who just so happened to be Radu’s own brother.

The Rise of Dracula

Opportunistic betrayal was the way of Wallachia’s rulers and in one such brief betrayal, Vlad II silently allowed his older sons, Mircea and Vlad IV, to launch an insurrection after which Mircea impaled all his prisoners upon stakes. The young Dracula loved the sight of this and later joined Mircea in further insurrections against the Ottomans as well as the rival Dăneşti clan supported by the Hungarian warlord, John Hunyadi. Ultimately, Hunyadi overran Dracula’s father, slew him in the marshes of Bălteni and blinded and buried Mircea alive at Târgovişte. Hunyadi installed a Dăneşti prince, Vladislav II, over Wallachia. In his ambition and lust for power, Dracula put aside any vengeful sentiments for his slaughtered father and brother and allied with Hunyadi and served him as an adviser. As John Hunyadi went to face the Turks at Belgrade in modern day Serbia, Dracula attacked and slew Vladislav and took the throne for himself. As fortune would have it, a plague broke out amongst Hunyadi’s camp, infecting him which lead to his death. Sultan Mehmet was severely wounded in the battle. These events left Dracula to rule Wallachia uninterrupted for 6 years. It was the only time he ruled his home for so long.

The Impaler

“I have killed men and women, old and young… We killed 23,884 Turks and Bulgarians without counting those whom we burned in their homes or whose heads were not cut by our soldiers.” (Dracula, in a letter to Matthias Corvinus bragging of his tyranny)

As Sultan Mehmet approached what appeared to be a fetid balding forest of rotting trees in the distance he soon realized the horror of what he approached. They were so close to their destination – the Wallachian capital of Târgoviște -that he was in no mood for this puzzling sight. But the figures became more clear as the steeds in the cavalry grew unruly and the infantry felt ill. Before him stood 20,000 impaled bodies of innocent men, women and children, all victims of Dracula in that winter of 1462.

Dracula’s Muslim upbringing, albeit abandoned in deference to opportunity, and fluency in Turkish enabled him to move about the Ottomans’ most secured camps freely as a Turk without being noticed. This had deadly consequences for the Muslims. Dracula had entered Serbia with his men all dressed as Turkish Sipahis and slaughtered all the Muslim villagers, and those non-Muslims friendly to them that they could find. The intent was to leave a horrifying memento for Sultan Mehmet whom they knew to be soon taking their capital city. They erected this unholy monument in a bid to alarm the Sultan and terrorize his troops in hopes that they might turn around and retreat home.

What is remarkable is that there are no records of mass desertion of Ottoman troops after witnessing this. They pressed on unflinchingly. However, some historians have suggested that Sultan Mehmet II lost his taste for hunting down the ‘vampire’ following this invasion of Wallachia and left the task up to the only one who was capable of hunting down Dracula and killing him. After taking the Wallachian capital of Târgoviște, Mehmet returned home, leaving the hunt to Radu. After all, it would take someone who knew the mind of Dracula to defeat him, and none fit this bill better than his own brother.

This event earned Dracula the name of Vlad Ţepeş, the Romanian word “Ţepeş” meaning “Impaler”. Legend has it that if you look closely at the word you can see Dracula’s fangs dangling beneath as a hidden warning to the vampire’s terrible lust for blood.

Radu vs. Dracula: Brothers in Blood

As Târgoviște was taken, Dracula fled towards Transylvania in hopes of finding refuge with John Hunyadi’s son Matthias Corvinus. As was typical of Dracula’s opportunism and lack of reverence for religion, he offered to become Catholic in order to win Corvinus’ favor. He scorched the earth and slaughtered all the living in his path leaving a wake of desolation and writhing impaled bodies. He would not give up his homeland to the Muslims that easily. He began a beleaguering campaign of guerilla warfare that the elite Ottoman Sipahis could not endure. It is said he slaughtered 15,000 of the Ottoman soldiers in one single night. Still, as the mightiest of the Ottomans fled, Radu was undeterred seemingly driven by what can only be interpreted as an austere piety, to end the bloody reign of his haplessly misguided brother. None remained to fight Dracula save Radu and his fellow Romanian Muslim Janissaries.

The brothers fought lingering battles for the throne of Wallachia and Radu’s control of the region increased staggeringly with Dracula receiving less and less support from Matthias Corvinus in Hungary. In a strange twist of fate, Corvinus, the one to whom Dracula retreated, had him imprisoned for 12 years on charges of high treason. The people of Wallachia and their Christian nobles had enough of Dracula’s terror and put their support behind Radu who was pronounced Voivod, Prince and Ruler of Wallachia in 1462. Radu ruled the land prosperously for 11 years until his death while Dracula wasted away in a Budapest prison patiently waiting to rise again from the darkness.

Dracula’s Release and Final Battle

After Radu’s death in 1473, Dracula was released from prison. He immediately assembled an army and invaded Bosnia, slaughtering its Muslim population and impaling 8,000 on stakes in a forest of human bodies. Once again, Dracula had arisen from the darkness with the objective of eliminating Islam from the Balkans forever. He finally acquired the throne of Wallachia after his departed brother, but only for a month. Sultan Mehmet invaded Wallachia to remove this profanity from the throne his dear friend Radu had vacated in death. In 1476 the forces of Sultan Mehmet faced the forces of Dracula in Bucharest, Romania. Dracula’s army was overrun in a blitz and all were killed, including Dracula himself. The vampire had been slain. News of this did not suffice. His head was cut off and preserved in a jar of honey and sent to Constantinople. There, in a fitting end, Dracula’s head was impaled upon a stake in the center of Constantinople for all to see. There was to be no doubt or mystery.

The Muslims had finally, at last, killed Dracula.

by: Shibli Zaman via: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/

Any discussion about Africa conjures up images of poverty, starvation, famine and civil war. Since the scramble for Africa in the 20th century for the continent’s coveted minerals and resources by the European colonialists, Africa was carved up to act as mere supply lines for their attempts at Empire. For the Western colonialists African crown jewels were too good an opportunity to give up.

The Muslims on the other hand have an illustrious history in Africa, this is why 52% of Africa’s population today is comprised of Muslims. Islam came to North Africa after Al Sham came under Islam. Islam’s initial launch pad into the continent was through the conquest of Egypt. Egypt was inhabited by a mixture of people, such as Copts, Jews and Romans. Similarly North Africa was where the Berbers lived under Roman dominance. The Romans viewed Africa as their colony and through patron rulers it maintained its grip on the continent.
An official campaign to conquer North Africa began in 663, and the Muslims soon controlled most major cities in Libya. Tripoli fell in 666 and by 670, the Muslims had taken Tunisia. The Maghreb territory consists of present-day Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, and was collectively known as the Byzantine province of Africa which eventually capitulated and sent shockwaves across the Roman territories. The loss of Egypt, which was the breadbasket for the Roman Empire, was a loss the Romans never recovered from.

The largest African cities and kingdoms were located in the Sahel, a desert and savannah region south of the Sahara. After 750 AD, these cities and kingdoms arose because they served as hubs for the trade routes across northern Africa. By the 1300′s, these large Sahelian kingdoms became Islamic and, more importantly, centers of Islamic learning. By 675 North Africa was under the Khilafah and as the Muslims has done in all the territories that came under its authority, the Khilafah worked to consolidate Islam which led to economic development. The Muslims constructed the city of Qairouan (roughly eighty miles south of modern Tunis). This city became the capital of Islamic Africa. Initially the location of a military base, like many bases these became cities and centers of learning.

The Al Qayeawm mosque (Jamil Uqba) was constructed by the Muslims and it became established as a centre of learning throughout the Islamic lands. By the 9th century the city attracted scholars from all over the Islamic World. Imam Sahnun and Asad ibn al-Furat became famous for their contribution to science and philosophy. Muslim scholars from Walata came to Timbuktu and solidified the position of Islam. Timbuktu become a center of Islamic learning, with its Sankore University becoming an esteemed institution, it comprised 180 Quranic schools and collected over 100,000 manuscripts in subjects such as astronomy and botany.
There are a number of important practices that Islam gave to Africa. The most important was literacy. Egypt and the Nilotic kingdoms of the Kushites and the Nubians had long traditions of writing, and the Ethiopians had acquired it through their ties to the Semitic peoples of southern Arabia. But these writing systems did not spread throughout Africa. Islam, however, as a religion of the book, spread writing and literacy everywhere it went. Many Africans dealt with two languages: their native language and Arabic, which was the language of texts. However, this gradually changed as Africans began using the Arabic alphabet to write their own languages. To this date, Arabic script is one of the most common scripts for writing African languages. With literacy, the Islam brought formal educational systems. In North Africa and the Sahel, these systems and institutions would produce a great flowering of African thought and science.

Africa Today
Fast forward to today and Africa is a far cry form where it was in the past. The first scramble for Africa began when Henry Stanley claimed the Congo River Valley for Belgium. France then invaded Egypt and built the Suez Canal. Britain invaded Egypt in order to have control of the canal, which was crucial to their shipping routes. Britain and Egypt then took control of Sudan. France began to colonize Tunisia and Morocco. Italy took Libya. Britain fought a war with and defeated the Boers in order to gain control of the resource rich Southern Africa. Cecil Rhodes became rich from the Kimberly diamond fields, which produced 90% of the world’s diamonds at the time. By the early 1900′s most of Africa was taken by European colonialists. Today, political power has been reordered, America is now the leading world power replacing the European nation’s influence. But while the control over the world’s resources has passed into different hands the objectives have not changed.

While the western Capitalist nations traditional interest in Africa has been ‘cash crops’, diamonds and other minerals, it has gained significant attention in recent times due to oil discoveries and increased oil production in existing fields. This has happened as the realization has dawned of the instability of the Middle East oil supply in the future, due to the rise of political Islam.

Africa represents a highly significant portion of the world’s oil resources. Capitalist nations are preparing the grounds in Africa through explorations on land and under the sea, oil companies issuing significant bribes to African government officials, increased military expenditure for US ‘Peace Keeping’ forces in Africa and several presidential visits to secure political allegiance to oil exports. Western oil companies and African governments come from the same style of Capitalism and therefore the wealth generated from oil exports tends to circulate amongst themselves, leaving the average man to become even poorer, a fact documented by several organizations. Therefore, whatever the resource finds in Africa, poverty will continue to be the lot of the African continent.
In contrast, the Islamic Khilafah system fully integrated the peoples and lands it governed over with statesmen from the Khilafah marrying from and intermingling with the indigenous people. The spread of Islam to Africa was not driven by material gains rather the aim was the furthering of the message of Islam and its noble values. The Islamic economic system facilitated the well being of Africa via the distribution of wealth. The strong injunctions to ensure that wealth does not remain in the hands of the wealthy led to wealth flowing throughout society. The current international competition between the US, EU and China on Africa’s immense oil and mineral resources highlights the need for the return of the rightly guided Khilafah Rashidah to the continent.

This article is written by Adnan Khan
via: Islamic Revival

The Pew report "Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population," concluded that the world wide Muslim population was 1.6 billion and that the majority of Muslims today reside beyond the birth place of Islam. It is estimated that over 30% of Muslims – the largest – reside in Hind, which comprised of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Contact between the Muslims from Baghdad – the Abbasid Khilafah [800-1300 CE] – took place before the expedition of Muhammed bin Qasim, which has come to be seen as a seminary period in the regions history books. The Arabs used to visit the coast of Southern India, which then provided the link between the ports of South and South East Asia. After the Arab traders became Muslim, they brought Islam to South Asia. A number of local Indians living in the coastal areas embraced Islam through contact with the Muslim traders.

Over a period of 500 years Islam expanded across the Indus plains. By the 12th century Islam had reached Delhi. The Islamic conquests were different compared to the previous invasions into the region, as many conquerers did nothing regarding the prevailing customs and in many cases assimilated into the existing architecture. Hind had an abhorrent caste system which differentiated between people on ethnic lines which led to the supremacy of princely rulers who enslaved many to work in their fields in return for basic wages. As Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms came under the fold of Islam, the Khilafah became a highly centralising force that facilitated the creation of a common legal system that gradually replaced the caste system.
Letters of credit issued in Egypt or Tunisia were honoured in India and in order to create and sustain such an internationally consistent legal system, local and traditional systems of governance were uprooted.
In an analysis of the Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent, one researcher highlighted: "Unlike earlier conquerors who assimilated into prevalent social systems, Muslim conquerors retained their Islamic identity and created legal and administrative systems that challenged and destroyed existing systems of social conduct, culture, religious practices, lifestyle and ethics.

The Muslims when they came to the region introduced a new culture, which was very different from the existing cultures. Muhammad bin Qasim set up an administrative structure that incorporated a newly conquered land, inhabited by non-Muslims. He adopted a conciliatory policy, asking for acceptance of Muslim rule by the natives in return for non-interference in their religious practices, so long as the natives paid Jizya, without forced conversion. Shari’ah law was applied over the people of the region; however, Hindus were allowed to settle their marital disputes according to their own laws. Hindus and Buddhists were inducted into the administration as trusted advisors and governors.A Hindu, was at one point the second most important member of Muhammed bin Qasim’s administration.

Islam created a system where political power, law and worship became fused in a manner so as to safeguard the interests of all people. This stability led to the subcontinent to become the hub between the Far East and the Mediterranean. The Khilafah has also been credited for creating the Karkhanas – small factories in the subcontinent. New towns were created that specialised in a particular category of manufactured goods, which led to development and prosperity that had not been seen for centuries.
While the spread of Islam in the Sub-continent is the story of untiring efforts of numerous saints and Sufis who dedicated their lives to the cause of Islam, by the time the Muslims conquered Delhi and established what came to be known as the Delhi Sultanate, Sufi fraternities had come into being and the Sufi influence was far more powerful than it was in earlier days under the Arabs in Sindh.
One Hindu historian described this period as follows: "Throughout its existence the Delhi Sultanate (1205-1526), remained a legal part of the worldwide Muslim empire functioning under the de jure suzerainty of the Abbasid caliphs. Sultans considered themselves the deputies of the caliph and derived their validity of their administrative and legal authority only on the basis of delegation. Since the supreme authority of the community legally remained with the caliph, every king and potentate claimed to exercise governmental power for, and on behalf of the Imam of Islam."[iv]
In this way many people who were discriminated against due to the caste system embraced Islam.
It was only the weakness that overcame Muslims in understanding Islam that became the cause of their decline as under Islam the people of the region only saw progress.

Hind today
Today, Hind is widely, though incorrectly, recognised as encompassing India alone. In spite of the apparent economic growth of India today, the region is the most poverty stricken in the world after Africa. The resources of the region have not been marshalled for the people and corruption runs rampant as it was before Islam came to the region.
We also unfortunately see the ancient caste system return to the region which has turned the region into hereditary groups creating huge fault-lines which has led to the ugly head of sectarianism returning to the region when the early Muslims dedicated their lives to removing it.
The Hind region today is a far cry from the heights it achieved in the past.
Adnan Khan

http://islamicsystem.blogspot.com/2010/07/al-hind-and-islam.html

For thirteen centuries, the Muslim Ummah enjoyed unmatched prosperity in this life through the implementation of the rules of Islam. This prosperity was not limited to the advancement in science and medicine, as we often hear, but it spanned all aspects of life including social well being, healthcare and education. Even during the weaker periods of the Islamic State, the well being of its citizens, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, was always one of the primary functions of the State. This is not surprising since Allah (swt) said in Surat Al-Anbiya:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ
“We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures”[TMQ 21:107]

And in Surat Taha:
فَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَى (123) وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى
“… whosoever follows My Guidance, will not lose his way, nor fall into misery. But whosoever turns away from My Message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment”[TMQ 20:123-124]

In this issue, we will provide some examples of how people lived under the rule of Islam throughout Islamic history. This will inshaAllah, help us appreciate and better understand the reality of life under the rule of Islam.

Healthcare
In Islam the health of an individual is highly valued, and is considered one of the basic needs of man, along with food and security. RasoulAllah (saw) said:
“Whoever becomes free of illness, secure and safe among his people, and has food for his day, then it is like if he owns the dunia”[Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah]
Consequently, in Islam, providing free and competent healthcare has been made a responsibility on the Islamic State towards all its citizens – rich, poor, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. RasoulAllah (saw) said:
“The imam (khalifah) is the caregiver and he is responsible for his people”[Al-Bukhari]
Providing free healthcare to people was exemplified by RasoulAllah (saw) in Madina. Ibn Ishaaq reported in his sirah book that a tent was built in the masjid and a woman named Rofaydah from the tribe of Aslam used to provide diagnosis and medication to people free of charge for both the rich and poor. When Saad Ibn Muadh (ra) was hit by an arrow during the Battle of the Trench, RasouAllah (saw) told the companions to take him to the tent of Rofaydah. Rofaydah was paid by the State through shares from the booties of war as Alwaqidi mentions in his book Almaghazi.

Providing healthcare services to the citizens of the State continued throughout the Islamic history and the kuffar themselves bear witness to this. For example, Mr. Gomar, one of Napoleon’s leaders during France’s campaign (1798-1801) to occupy Egypt, described the healthcare services and 600 year-old health facilities that he saw, “all sick people used to go the Bimaristan (i.e. hospital) poor and rich, without distinction. Doctors were hired from everywhere in the east, and they were well paid. There was a pharmacy stocked with medicine and instrumentations. Two nursing personnel were serving every patient. Those with psychological disorders were isolated in a separate section and were taken care of. They were entertained by storytelling among other things. Those who recovered (from either physical or psychological illness) would spend some time in the rehabilitation section. When discharged, each patient would be given five pieces of gold so the patient would not need to work as soon as he/she left”. The French Orientalist, Prisse D’Avennes, describing the same hospital, said, “the patients’ halls where either cooled down by using huge fans spanning from one side of the hall to the opposite side, or warmed up by burning perfumes. The floors of these halls were covered by branches of the (Hinna) or pomegranate trees or other aromatic trees”.

Well Being.
The well being of citizens is exemplified by the hadeeth narrated by Abu Hurayra in Sahih Muslim stating that RasuolAllah (saw) said:
“whoever leaves money, then it is for the inheritors, and whoever leaves weak offspring then it is to us”[Muslim]
That is, the State is responsible for providing the basic necessities like food, shelter, and clothing to those who cannot afford it for any reason. The well being of the people under the rule of Islam is a result of implementing the ahkam of Allah (swt). The understanding of the responsibility that the khaleefah and State have towards people is what made Abu Bakr (ra), as the khaleefah, serve an old blind women living in the outskirts of Madina. Omar Ibn Alkhattab (ra) wanted to serve her too, but he found that Abu Bakr (ra) had already cooked food, cleaned the house and washed her clothes for her. It is the same understanding and feeling of responsibility that made Omar (ra), when he was the Khaleefah, go back to Bait-ul-Mal (treasury) and carry bags of wheat and food on his own back all the way to a woman and her kids living outside the Madina and cook food for them. He (ra) refused his servant’s offer to carry the bags for him by saying, “will you carry my sins and responsibilities for me on the day of judgment?”

The care for people extended to children too. During the Khilafah of Omar, there was a policy to pay a stipend whenever a child finished breastfeeding. However, one day Omar (ra) heard a baby crying so he asked the child’s mother to “Fear Allah (swt) in your baby and take care of him”. She explained that she stopped breastfeeding early in order to receive the stipend from the Islamic State. The very next day, after Fajr, Omar revised the policy to pay the stipend at birth. Omar (ra) feared Allah’s (swt) accounting and said while crying “even the babies O Omar!” – meaning he would be accounted for harming the children.
Animals are also safeguarded by the Khalifah. Ibn Rushd Alqurtobi reported on the authority of Malik that Omar (ra) passed by a donkey burdened by blocks of stones. Realizing the animal was in distress he removed two blocks from its back. The donkey’s owner, an old woman, came to Omar and said “O Omar, what do you have to do with my donkey? Do you have an authority to do what you did”. Omar said “what do you think makes me fill this post (khaleefah)?” Omar (ra) meant that by assuming the responsibility of Khaleefah Omar (ra) was responsible for all the ahkam of Islam, which includes acting on the hadeeth of RasoulAllah (saw) that was narrated by Abu Dawood, on the authority of Abu Hurayra (ra): “Beware not to take the backs of your animals as (minbars), for it that Allah (swt) has made them to carry you to a place that would be hard for you to reach, and made the earth so you fulfill your needs on its surface.” That is, we must be merciful to animals and not overburden them.

This pattern of providing for the people and caring for their well being continued throughout the khilafah until its destruction in 1924. Ibn Aljawzi reported in his book about the lifetime of Omar Ibn Abdulaziz that Omar asked his governors throughout the State for the counts of all blind people, those with chronic diseases, and the disabled. He then assigned a guide for every blind and two servants for every chronically ill or disabled person throughout the whole Islamic State that spanned from China in the east to Morocco in the west, and Russia in the north to the Indian ocean in the south. Ibn Aljawzi also reported that Omar asked his governors to bring any poor person in need. Once they did, he covered all their needs from Bait-ul-Mal. He then asked for those who had debt and could not pay back. He paid their debt, in full, from Bait-ul-Mal. Then he asked for those who wanted to marry but could not afford to, and he paid for their marriage. The well being and prosperity of the people under the Islamic rule was such that during the khilafah of Omar Ibn Abdulaziz, the State could not find poor people to pay the zakat money to.

Ibn Jarir reported during the time of khaleefah Alwaleed Ibn Abdulmalik that the State built and took care of the masjids, built roads, fulfilled the needs of people, paid the disabled and ill people, and ordered them not to beg people but rather ask the State if they did not have what sufficed them. He was the first khalifeeah to build and institutionalize Bimaristans (hospitals). He assigned a servant for every disabled person, a guide for every blind person, salary for the imams (of masjids), and built “guest houses” for strangers and travelers everywhere in the State.
During the Ummyads and Abbasid khilafah, the travelers’ routes from Iraq and bilad-uSham (today’s Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine) to Hijaz (region of Makkah) were setup with “guest houses” along the routes which were equipped with water, food and shelter supplies everyday to ease the travel for people. The remnants of these facilities can be seen today in bilad-uSham. The records of the charity trusts (Waqf) for some hospitals in bilad-uSham testify to this. For example, the records for the charity trusts of Alnnoori hospital in Allipo (Syria) mentions that each mentally-ill person was assigned two servants who are responsible, everyday, for giving him/her a shower, dressing in clean cloths, assisting in prayer (if he/she can) and listening to Quran, and walking him/her outside in the open air to relax.

The Uthmani Khilafah carried out this obligation too. This is evident in servicing the people by building the famous Istanbul-Madina “Hejaz” railway during the time of Sultan Abdulhameed II to facilitate travel for the pilgrims to Makkah as well as to improve the economic and political integration of the distant Arabian regions. While the Muslims rushed to donate and volunteer to building the railway, the Uthmani khilafah offered the transportation service to people free of charge.

This is only a snapshot of how the life of people under the rule of Islam used to be in the days of khilafah. May Allah (swt) help us all to work for it and make us witness and enjoy its existence again… Ameen.

Source: http://islamicsystem.blogspot.com/2010/06/prosperity-of-muslim-ummah.html

After 88years of oppression, on Friday, the 27^th Rajab (2 October 1187), Allah SWT allowed the Muslims and Salaah-Udeen to reclaim Jerusalem. Every dervish, Fakir and learned man joined Salah-Udeen and voices were raised in praise of The Almighty. The hills and valleys echoed with proclamations of His unity and power.

The liberation of Jerusalem came at the hands of a Kurd from Tikrit, in Iraq. As usual, the Arabs were unable to lead. They had become experts in division and tribalism. Legacies the prophet Muhammad SAW had explicitly abrogated in favour of an Islamic identity and the building of the Islamic brotherhood. Muslims the world over are now indoctrinated to favour nationalism over an Islamic identity. And it is for this reason that Muslims are unable to remove the stranglehold that corrupt Arab leaders have on the Muslim populace. Racism is rife in these countries. Perhaps worse than in many non-Muslim countries.

Sadly, the two countries most closely linked to Salaah-Udeen, Palestine and the prophet Muhammad SAW are today the most pathetic examples of  Islamic unity and trust (Tawwakul) in the Almighty. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are examples of what Islam and Muslims are not supposed to be

Egypt has the glory of claiming that it is totally Sunni because of the efforts and dedication of Salaah-Udeen, Saudi Arabia is prosperous and wealthy (albeit mostly for its ruling class and monarchy) because of the prophet’s barakah, yet both have chosen to squander these gifts in favour of power which they believe can only be guaranteed by selling their souls and the freedom of their people to the U.S and Israel. For without doubt, if your dependence lies with and in the US, it is by automatic association implied that your trust and alliance lies with Israel, which basically controls the US.

So claiming that Saudi Arabia has no ties with Israel and that they have been active in proposing the Saudi-Arab initiative for peace in Palestine and are trying to do something- actually amounts to nothing. Saudi Arabia and Egypt today are instrumental in the suppression and oppression of the Palestinian people. And as usual, they are unable to lead the Muslims to unity and victory.

So why do Muslims keep asking the same stale questions about the Arab league? They know full well that the Arabs are incapable- actually, the Arabs are impotent.

It is up to Muslims in the west to engage their governments and fellow citizens. It is up to them to reach the citizens of Muslim Majority countries and initiate in them a revolutionary change of perceptions and identity.

For without a doubt, western democracies have more ethical values in terms of justice, freedom and human rights than all of the Arab countries combined. And because western Muslims have access to these freedoms and justices from non-Muslim countries, they are the ones who can make a difference.

And it is for this reason that many visionary scholars have always advocated the need for Muslims to become role players in their relative countries- in politics, health care, social welfare and most significantly in the media. Without the ability to challenge injustices using the media and cyberspace, and the tools of government and influence within the world’s populations, Muslims might as well prepare for total onslaught. Muslims are 1.5 billion, and Islam is the second largest religion in the world. The Jews are only 14 million, of which approximately 7 million are in Israel. Judaism is only the 12^th largest religion in the world. And not all Jews are Zionists!

Muslims have the numbers, the wealth and the friends to turn things around, why can’t they?

Because it is important for the scholars in countries like South Africa, India and Pakistan to correct their own injustices first- the kind of injustices that have made women subservient to oppression and abuse, the kind of injustices that have propagated the poor educational development of Muslims by continuously bedevilling secular education and technological progress, the kinds of injustices that have preached lengthy sermons but provided little practise and much hypocrisy from the those that preach. The kinds of injustices that have made the scholars in these countries like the Saudi and Egyptian regimes- because many are incapable of earning a livelihood for themselves. As a result they are dependent on corrupt wealth and power, becoming the typical ‘ya baas’, and have thus had little success in uniting and strengthening the Muslims. The kinds of injustices that prevent Muslim citizens from engaging and participating in their countries on all levels yet the same scholars cry foul with the government or expect government help when things go wrong. Double standards and confused teachings that have harmed the Muslims the world over- injustices perpetuated by the scholars.

Islamic training and education has become mediocre and there are no evaluation standards. To build scholars of calibre and integrity, Muslims need standards of testing and learning in the Madrassahs that can hold candle to the best of the world’s institutions. But this takes work; it demands physical and mental effort, stresses vigilance on those who claim to hold knowledge of the religion and the ability to sanction those who are not qualified.  Do our scholars have that potential or political will? And do we, the Muslim followers have the intelligence and integrity to question these shortcomings and demand improvement?

Allah has clearly said that He will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves- Muslims can change, but they need to be led, not brainwashed. Can the scholars provide such leadership?

By: Quraysha Ismail Sooliman (Freelance Journalist and Political Science Honour’s Student, UP)

What would you do if the world turns against you and difficulties become almost unbearable? Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) went through tremendous problems in the path of Islam.

It is related that when Abu Talib died, the Prophet (peace be upon him) went out on foot to Taif to call its people to Islam. They rejected his call, and he walked away until he got to the shade of a tree. So, he prayed two Rak’at and said:

“O Allah, I complain to You of my weakness and my insignificance in the eyes of the people. You are the most Merciful. No matter who You have put me at the mercy of – an enemy who will be stern with me, or a friend to look after my affairs – as long as You are not angry with me, then I don’t care. However, the relief You bring would be more comfortable for me. I seek refuge with Your Face – for which the darkness has lit up, and the affairs of this world and the next are organized – from being afflicted with Your Wrath or deserving of Your Anger. You have the right to admonish as You please, and there is no might nor power except by Allah.”

This was related by Al-Haythami in ‘Majma’ Az-Zawa’id’ (6/35), and he mentioned in it that Al-Tabarani related it in ‘Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabir’ on the authority of Abdullah Bin Ja’far Bin Abu Talib.

Look at how even in such moments of his life, all he cared about (peace be upon him) was whether or not Allah was pleased with him

The 3rd of March is a date that is etched into the history of the Muslim Ummah as one of its darkest days ever. It was on this date in the fateful year of 1924 CE that the last vestige of legitimate Islamic rule was ended. The office of Khilifah was abolished by the treacherous Mustafa Kamal and the Muslim Ummah has since then been plunged in to darkness and humiliation. Thus any trace of the Uthmani Khilafah was extinguished as the 101st Khaleefah of Islam, Abdul Mejid II was exiled from the now secular Republic of Turkey.

His banishment from the land of Anatolia with little more than a suitcase and some cash was the beginning of the humiliation that the Muslim world has suffered to this very day. With what was described as the shield of the Muslims by the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم – now in exile, the Ummah was set to be subjected to numerous tragedies that would involve against it murderous wars, foreign occupation, economic strangulation, political manipulation as well as a cultural colonialism that sought to distance the Muslim world from the concept of Islamic ruling and the obligation of living under the Khilafah.

With the sole legitimate leadership of the Muslims, the Khilafah, destroyed the lands of Islam were divided in to numerous statelets and disputed territories. These new entities were established along the lines of ethnicity, sectarianism and racism by the colonialist powers of the day in an attempt to ensure that Muslim Ummah would never rise again. Nationalism that was nurtured by the colonialists in the run up to the destruction of the Khilafah helped to ensure that these new entities would remain at loggerheads, never to think of uniting again. In addition, the blessed land of Palestine was occupied, its inhabitants dispersed so as assuage the West’s guilt and a great injustice was committed in establishing the state of Israel. Any attempts to replicate the power of a unitary leadership of the Muslim world were replaced by pathetic and impotent bodies such as Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC). These organisations were designed to perpetuate disunity and division as they preserved the borders and barriers betweens Muslims that the colonialists had established. These states have never had the interests of Islam and the Muslims at heart. This can be seen to this day, as the OIC and Arab League issue countless resolutions on issues such as Palestine and Iraq without ever actually doing anything to change the status quo. These resolutions are but lip service by the insincere leaders of these entities to the cause of Islam, designed solely to pacify their Muslim populations into thinking that Islam cannot solve the Ummah’s problems.

These rulers have committed far more heinous crimes against the Muslims than simply issuing empty resolutions. Western colonialism put in place a motley crew of dictators, monarchs, autocrats and downright puppets that have served their colonial masters in a manner more loyal than their own populations. Successive rulers have betrayed the interests of Muslims. With their brutality and lack of self-respect seemingly having no limits, the Muslim rulers are falling over themselves in an attempt to please. For example, Qatar today hosts the largest airstrip in the Middle East, to be used exclusively by the US Air Force to bomb Muslim lands and control the skies of the Middle East. Bahrain, which previously hosted the naval forces of the British Empire, now serves as the base for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. Almost every nation in the Muslim world today has facilitated the military aims of the various colonial at some point. Present day Pakistan, in a clear contradiction of General Musharraf’s own motto of “Pakistan First”, is engaging in a war with his own people whilst compromising the sovereignty of the country in allowing US troops to act with impunity. Deploying his powerful military not to defend Muslims from aggression, he has made the Pakistani Armed forces nothing more than mercenaries. They are forced to act as mercenaries by the regime for some paltry economic aid for a corrupt government whilst the blood and honour of their brothers and sisters is violated on a global scale. Due to these tyrannical rulers the armies of the Muslim world have been held back, shackled to their bases, unable to come to the aid of their brethren in Chechnya, the Balkans, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere else that conflict rages.

Since the destruction of the Khilafah in 1924 there has been an assault on the resources in the Muslim lands. Starting with the 100-year contracts signed with western oil companies to drill for oil in the 1930’s, lucrative contracts are being signed by western agencies for natural resources that rightfully belong to the Ummah. The most recent of which have been the colonial style Production Sharing Agreements (PSA’s) for Iraqi oil. These agreements mean that Iraq oil will be privatised, ending up in the hands of foreign, mostly US, oil companies. In addition to this, these agreements spell out that these oil companies will make up to a massive 75% profit on the oil, with 65 of Iraq’s roughly 80 known oil fields being offered to these companies for exploration. In the words of Dick Cheney during his time as Haliburton CEO in 1999 who said, "By 2010 we will need [a further] 50 million barrels a day. The Middle East, with two-thirds of the oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize lies.” Even the wealth that has been generated has not been utilised by the rulers for the benefit of the people or to secure long-term independence and self-sufficiency. A lack of investment in education, employment and technological infrastructure means that billions of dollars are wasted on importing resources, which could be developed at home. It is shocking that Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, can only produce 57% of the nation’s daily petrol consumption due to a lack of refineries.

The Muslim world has indeed seen destruction, devastation and calamity for the past 83 years. However, the signs of awakening for the return of the Khilafah are now clear for all to see. The proof of this can be seen in the growing gulf between the rulers and the ruled; the speeches and Khutbahs in universities and mosques throughout the Muslim world that call for a sincere and rightly guided Khaleefah to lead the Ummah; witness the mass demonstrations against the bombing and killing of innocent Muslims by US and UK forces in Karachi, Jakarta, Hebron, Dhaka and other places; the increasingly brutal methods and oppression that the regimes are forced to use to quell the desire for political change such as in Egypt and Uzbekistan. It can also be seen by the actions of the colonial powers who realise that the rulers they imposed upon the Muslim world have no support and no legitimacy, hence they are forced to resort to occupying Muslim lands and cementing their presence through military bases. The global reawakening for Khilafah can also be seen in the desperate and pathetic attempts by the regimes and their scholars, who they have bought for a cheap price, to malign, slander and attack the idea of Khilafah. They lie by saying that the Khilafah cannot be established in the modern age, that Islam and politics do not mix, that sectarian differences are too great, that the western powers are too powerful and that the Ummah of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم can never be unified. All of the efforts of the enemies of Islam will be in vain for Allah سبحانه وتعالى has promised the believers that the Khilafah will return on the method of the Prophet and there is no power or might other than Allah سبحانه
وتعالى.