A summary of the concepts of Ahl al-Sunnah.
External obstacles.
These are the obstacles and challenges that come from outside the Islamic ranks.
Among these are:
Firstly,
the outright disbelievers,
who openly declare their enmity, hatred, and war against Islam and its people.
Secondly,
the hypocrites,
those who outwardly profess Islam but inwardly conceal disbelief,
from among our own kind,
who speak our language.
Such as secularists and those who plot against this religion,
and ally themselves with those who disbelieve, be they Jews, Christians, or others,
and support them against the Muslims.
Thirdly,
regimes that are in opposition to Allah and His Messenger,
which rule by other than what Allah has revealed,
and persecute the callers to Islam and reformers,
under the pretext that they are extremists and terrorists.
And all those who follow their lead and stand in their trench follow these regimes.
And these tyrants use them to fight the callers to Islam and reformers,
such as evil scholars and evil judges,
and the media, security, and military apparatuses.
Internal obstacles are more dangerous than external ones.
For if the Muslims were safe from internal obstacles within their souls,
the external obstacles would not harm them.
Allah, the Exalted, says:
“If a lucky chance befall you, it is evil unto them, and if disaster strike you they rejoice thereat. But if ye persevere and keep from evil their guile will never harm you. Lo! Allah is Surrounding what they do.” (3:120)
And Allah, the Most High, says:
“For him are angels ranged before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah's command. Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts; and if Allah willeth misfortune for a folk there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside Him.” (13:11)