The Call of the Book and the Sunnah: A Call of Knowledge and Action. What is the reality of this phrase in light of practical reality and the hoped-for aspirations?

The Shaykh : Now, tell us what you have to say.
Al-Halabi : May Allah reward you with good. Our professor, the first question asks:The questioner : The Call of the Book and the Sunnah: A Call of Knowledge and Action. What is the reality of this phrase in light of practical reality and the hoped-for aspirations?

The Shaykh : The reality is as stated in the question. However, I mentioned earlier, in a comment on the hadith of that Bedouin who said: , and I continued my speech by saying that among the obligatory duties is avoiding forbidden things, and that a person must combine performing the obligatory duties with avoiding forbidden things. I said during this talk that one should do what he is able to do of that, and if he is able to add to that some of the other acts of obedience and worship that are not obligatory, that is better and more lasting. The point is: . People today, in reality—and by people I mean those who care about their religion and adhere to the rulings of their Shari'ah, not those others who...
The first category of people, those who adhere to the rulings of the Shari'ah, are confused about what or how they should proceed and how they should act in Islam. Islam today is governed by non-Islamic rulings and by states that do not rule by what Allah has revealed. So what is to be done? We say a brief word, though the research on this is long and complex. We say a very brief word that we read from one of the Islamic callers (may Allah have mercy on him), which to me seems as if it is from heavenly inspiration. There is no revelation after the Messenger of Allah, but there is inspiration. That word says: "Establish the state of Islam in your hearts, and it will be established for you on your land."
Today there are many groups, each claiming that it works for Islam and for establishing the rule of Islam and the Islamic system on earth. Some of them have been going for nearly a century, yet there is nothing but shouting and slogans. What is the reason, do you think?
The reason is that we do not start where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) started. Some of these groups do not think at all about refining the soul and reforming individuals, and laying the foundation upon which the state is built or by which the Islamic society is realized. We all know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent to an ignorant, pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) that committed various sins and crimes. Yet he remained for more than ten years, or exactly thirteen years, calling to tawhid (the oneness of Allah), to worshipping Allah alone with no partner. He did not fight or wage jihad, and he did not prohibit intoxicants, gambling, or the killing of the innocent soul without right, and so on. Rather: . Thirteen years it was like this. Then the Messenger (peace be upon him) migrated to Madinah, and there the rulings began to be revealed with some detail. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began to establish the Muslim state after he had created the individuals and raised them under his own eye (peace and blessings be upon him), and he taught them well and trusted in his upbringing of them. He became certain that they would sacrifice everything for him, their souls, their wealth, and everything dear to them. After that, the battle began between him and the Arabs and the Jews; this has a long history that you know.
The point is that the Messenger (peace be upon him), when he first began, started by establishing the foundation of Islam, which is the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Many of the Islamic groups today are eager to establish Islamic rule, but the saying of that Arab poet applies to them:
"Sa'd drove them in, and Sa'd was wrapped up. This is not, O Sa'd, how camels are driven in."
Whoever opposes the methodology of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And now, after I have clarified to you the meaning of the Sunnah, whoever opposes the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—and you have known the meaning of the Sunnah, the path that the Messenger (peace be upon him) followed—will never succeed in this life, will never succeed. Because he has not followed the path that the Messenger (peace be upon him) established for us. He said in the first hadith: . So those who want to establish the rule of Allah on earth, if they do not follow the path that the Messenger (peace be upon him) followed, they will never reach their goal. Rather, the more time passes for them, the further they move away from the goal they have set before their eyes. How could it be otherwise, when the general public of the Islamic world today—and among them are individuals who belong to many of those groups—do not yet know the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah). They do not know this testimony, this good word. And Allah Mighty and Majestic says in the Noble Qur'an: . If this divine command, directed to the Ummah of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in the person of the Messenger, to whom is the address? . The address is to an individual; but in reality, the address is to the Ummah of the Messenger (peace be upon him). Because Allah Blessed and Exalted is He, when He chose His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a Messenger to all the worlds as a mercy to all of them, He undoubtedly knows the meaning of tawhid, the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah." So when He says: , it is in the manner of—and even if this may not be appropriate, there is no harm in it—it is in the manner of: "The speech is to you, O so-and-so, but listen, O neighbor." So this address is not intended for the Messenger in purpose and aim; in wording it is for him, but in purpose and aim, for whom? For the Ummah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The Ummah of the Messenger now numbers millions and millions; I do not mean them by this speech. Rather, I mean by this speech the groups that work to establish the rule of Islam on earth. Has this Ummah learned? Has it obeyed this divine command that was directed to the entire Ummah in the person of their Prophet (peace be upon him)?
I say, with regret, no. I say, with regret, no. Most of them do not know the meaning of this good word. They certainly say it, and it was said by the one who was under the sword's blow, but does he know? Allah knows best. Yet when this man said it, and the Muslim did not trust him when he saw him saying it out of fear (taqiyyah), he did not trust this word and struck him and killed him. But the Messenger (peace be upon him), who came with a Shari'ah that proceeds based on outward appearances, said to him: . So it is not permissible to apply rulings based on inner matters, because only Allah Mighty and Majestic knows them. But the Muslim who first hopes for salvation from eternal abode in the Fire due to associating partners with Allah Mighty and Majestic—and this is not the only thing these people hope for, but they also hope to establish the rule of Allah on earth—these people should truly be the elite of the Muslims, the elite of the Islamic Ummah that was addressed by His saying: . In understanding, action, and character. Where are these people, when they are far, far away from understanding the word of tawhid, let alone detailing this Sunnah in which we mentioned two hadiths? , . We, who belong to many groups, all of which are encompassed by the circle of Islam, must agree on a common word. What is this common word? It is not a word that is merely uttered by one of us, and then he does not know its significance or its aim. Rather, we agree on a common word: . That we do not worship except Allah. Is there among many of the Muslim Ummah that was addressed by that Noble verse anyone who worships other than Allah? The Islamic lands are filled with the worship of Muslims for other than Allah. But most people do not know. But most people do not know, and they do not thank the Lord of the worlds who sent to them this noble Prophet and left them on the clear path, from which only the perishing deviate.
So, the sound word is to return to the Book and the Sunnah, to understand them and act upon them; and without that, there is absolutely no life for the Muslims. This is what we must act upon, and we must not anticipate events or act rashly, or let that joke be true of us that is narrated about that shepherd who was grazing the sheep of the village people. One day he sat in his humble tent, and beneath it hung a pot filled with a little of the fat he had collected from the sheep. One day at midday, he sat to rest and began to think: "Tomorrow, my wealth will increase, I will get married, and our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, will provide us with children, and they will help me. But if one of them does not listen to me, I will do this and that, and I will raise this stick and hit him." Before he knew it, the stick hit the pot over his head, and the fat covered his entire body. So, he was thinking in fantasy, whereas he should have done what Allah has made obligatory upon him of obedience, within the limits of his ability.
We are now anticipating events. We are thinking about how to establish the Muslim state, how to get rid of this injustice and this humiliation that surrounds us from every side, while the small state that the Wise One commanded us to establish by His saying, "Establish the state of Islam in your hearts, and it will be established for you on your earth"—this small state, after we have established it in our hearts, how will we establish this towering structure, this great state? It requires types of Muslims with a general Islamic culture in Islam, as we said earlier, in understanding and application. Then it requires specific types who have gathered the knowledge that Muslims need today in the present age, by which the collective obligation (fard kifayah) is realized in the expression of the jurists. We ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to inspire us with guidance, and to make the path easy for us, so that if we follow it, we will purify ourselves and be a sound brick for establishing the rule of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, on earth.