Summary of the Concepts of Ahl al-Sunnah
Machiavellianism:
It was named after Machiavelli, author of the book *The Prince*, published in the year 1513 CE,
and it is considered the initial seed that paved the way for secularism.
In his aforementioned book, Machiavelli advocated
an explicit call to exclude religion from the realm of governance and politics,
establishing three interconnected foundations
derived from a purely non-religious worldview.
The first is that man is evil by nature,
and his desire for good is artificial, aimed solely at achieving personal gain;
therefore, in his view, there is no harm in this innate nature,
nor any blame in being swayed by it.
Second is the absolute separation between politics, religion, and morality,
emphasizing that there is no connection whatsoever between them;
while he did not reject religion and morality in themselves,
he freed the ruler from adhering to their constraints,
arguing that religion and morality should be confined exclusively to individual citizens.
Third is that the end justifies the means,
which served as his practical substitute for religion and ethics,
and through this principle, Machiavellianism became widely recognized and renowned,
though in reality it is merely one of its three pillars,
not the entirety of Machiavellianism.
Machiavellianism was a source of inspiration for most fascist, communist, and capitalist leaders:
Mussolini chose *The Prince* as the subject of his doctoral dissertation,
Hitler kept the book close to his bed,
reading from it every night before going to sleep,
and Lenin and Stalin were likewise disciples of it.
The spirit of Machiavellianism is clearly evident in the statement of Engels:
"The morality in which we believe
is any action that leads to the triumph of our principles,
no matter how much that action contradicts prevailing moral standards."
Lenin stated:
"The true communist fighter must
master all forms of deceit, deception, and misdirection,
for the struggle for communism
blesses every means that brings communism about."
Miles Copeland,
author of *The Game of Nations*, affirms
that Machiavellianism is the methodology of American capitalist politics.
The Definition of Secularism:
It is a mistranslation of the English word *secularism*
or the French *sécularité*.
As defined by the *Encyclopædia Britannica*, it means
a social movement
that aims to divert people
and direct them away from concern for the Hereafter
to an exclusive preoccupation with this worldly life alone.
The *Oxford English Dictionary* defines
the word *secular* with two meanings:
the first is worldly or temporal,
neither religious nor spiritual,
such as non-religious education,
non-religious authority,
or government as opposed to the church;
the second is the view which holds
that religion should not be the basis for morality and education.
Thus, it becomes clear from the definitions of the *Encyclopædia Britannica*
and the *Oxford English Dictionary*
that secularism
denotes irreligion or temporalism—
that is, whatever has no relation to religion,
or stands in direct opposition to religion.
It is a movement and concept aimed at separating religion
from the entirety of practical life,
not merely from politics.
This began to emerge in the late Middle Ages
as a resistance against the intense urge
toward worldly renunciation
and contemplation of Allah and the Last Day,
which were predominant during those ages.
Thus, secularism arose,
calling for devotion to humanism
and human achievements in this worldly life,
while antagonizing and opposing religion;
it continued to evolve
until it culminated in an explicit call
to separate religion from the entirety of practical life.
As for "knowledge" in English,
it is "science,"
its adjective is "scientific,"
meaning based on science,
and scientism denotes the scientific doctrine.
Perhaps translating the term
*secularism*
and the concepts it entails
into the Arabic word *'almaniyyah* (suggestive of knowledge)
instead of *la-diniyyah* (irreligion)
was deliberate,
so that the doctrine would not collide
in direct confrontation
with the faith of Muslims in the Arab East
and their understanding of the Hereafter,
and so that the movement would be able
to propagate its ideas
smoothly and quietly,
while Muslims remained unawares.
There is no doubt that this concept
does not exist in Islam whatsoever;
rather, it is apostasy
and a complete shedding of the religion.
There is no secularism in Islam;
rather, such a concept
falls under the category of
*Jahiliyyah* (pre-Islamic ignorance).
The Qur'an mentions four pillars
of Jahiliyyah,
which are the very same pillars of secularism:
the assumption of Jahiliyyah,
the ruling of Jahiliyyah,
the wanton display of Jahiliyyah,
and the chauvinistic zeal of Jahiliyyah.
And a fifth pillar
was mentioned in the Sunnah:
the lord of Jahiliyyah.
These pillars of Jahiliyyah
are implemented today
in Muslim lands
with malice and cunning:
keeping people ignorant of their Lord
is the assumption of Jahiliyyah;
setting aside the Sharia of Allah
and rejecting His judgment is the ruling of Jahiliyyah;
the westernization of women
and their unveiling is the wanton display of Jahiliyyah;
the wanton display of Jahiliyyah;
basing loyalty and disavowal
on a homeland, ethnicity, or any banner
other than the banner of Tawhid
is the chauvinistic zeal of Jahiliyyah;
and the worship of wealth and capitalism
founded on usury
and gambling
is the lord of Jahiliyyah.
Kemalism:
It is Turkish secularism
as advocated by
Mustafa Kemal,
known as Atatürk,
who waged a relentless war against Islam
and its sacred rites:
he banned the call to prayer in Arabic
and banned the wearing of the hijab
in workplaces and public spaces,
among other measures,
aggressively combating everything related
to Islam and its outward manifestations.
Between Religion,
Politics, and Corruption:
The separation of religion
from politics emerged in the West
because their religion was corrupt
and would corrupt politics;
whereas this separation was introduced in the East
because politics was corrupt,
and religion prevents its corruption.
Secularism
and Worship:
Secularism pays
no regard to religion and worship
as long as they remain a private matter
between the servant and his Lord,
confined strictly to the mosque
without extending into practical life.
But if anyone attempts
to establish the principles of religion in governance
and politics, secularism confronts
and fiercely fights against them,
which
explains why its war is focused
against Islam specifically, unlike other
religions. The case of
secularists is just like that of
the people of Madyan with their prophet
Shu'ayb, peace be upon him,
when he forbade them from giving short measure
and weight,
and they said to him: "Does your prayer
command you that we should abandon
what our forefathers worshipped?"
“They said: O Shu'eyb! Doth thy way of prayer command thee that we should forsake that which our fathers (used to) worship, or that we (should leave off) doing what we will with our own property. Lo! thou art the mild, the guide to right behaviour.” (11:87)
It is the very same case as the disbelievers of Quraysh
with the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:
they did not initially oppose
him when
he worshipped Allah alone in the cave of Hira;
but when he called people
to adhere to the religion of Allah,
establish the societal order
upon its foundation, and renounce
disbelief, they fought him
with the utmost hostility.
Secularism
is a Defiance of Truth:
Reason dictates that the Maker
is best aware of what He made;
so whoever advocates
separating the religion of Allah from politics
either does not believe
that Allah is the Creator
the universe and its Sustainer,
and He knows best what He created;
or he is simply a follower of base desires,
stubbornly defying the truth.
Secularism is ruling
by other than what Allah has revealed.
Since secularism
is basing life on something other than religion,
it inherently means
ruling by other than what Allah has revealed.
Accordingly,
it is an order of ignorance (Jahiliyyah)
that has no place whatsoever within the fold
of Islam.
"Is it then the judgment of the time of ignorance they seek?
And who is better than Allah
in judgment for a people who are certain in faith?"
It is an order
of explicit disbelief,
by the explicit text of the Qur'an:
"And whoever does not judge by what
Allah has revealed, then it is they
who are the disbelievers."
Refutation of those who do not
declare secularism to be disbelief:
Most
of the verses concerning the excommunication
of those who do not judge by what Allah revealed
and the negation of their faith
were revealed regarding those who claim
faith from among the People of the Book,
or the hypocrites
who outwardly profess Islam.
That is—and Allah
knows best—only because
whoever makes no claim to faith at all
does not
need to be proven as such; he is necessarily a disbeliever,
and there is no doubt about his disbelief.
This is unlike someone who claims faith
yet still rules by other
than what Allah has revealed;
his case requires affirmation
that he is indeed among the disbelievers,
and his mere claim
to faith will avail him nothing.
Thus, the words of Allah Almighty:
"And whoever does not judge
by what Allah has revealed,
then it is they who are the disbelievers,"
and His saying:
“Hast thou not seen those who pretend that they believe in that which is revealed unto thee and that which was revealed before thee, how they would go for judgment (in their disputes) to false deities when they have been ordered to abjure them? Satan would mislead them far astray.” (4:60)
"...that they believe in what
was revealed to you and what
was revealed before you?
They wish to seek judgment
from the Taghut, even though
“Hast thou not seen those who pretend that they believe in that which is revealed unto thee and that which was revealed before thee, how they would go for judgment (in their disputes) to false deities when they have been ordered to abjure them? Satan would mislead them far astray.” (4:60)
and Satan wishes to
mislead them far astray,"
as well as His saying:
"But no, by your Lord, they do not
believe until they make you judge
in what disputes arise between them
“But nay, by thy Lord, they will not believe (in truth) until they make thee judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no dislike of that which thou decidest, and submit with full submission.” (4:65)
in themselves any hesitation
regarding what you have decided and submit
completely"—
were revealed concerning the hypocrites.
For these hypocrites
used to pray
and fast, and they claimed
to have faith, observing
many outward rituals of Islam;
yet that did not prevent
them from being branded with disbelief
and stripped of true faith,
because they abandoned ruling by what
Allah revealed and seeking judgment from Him.
Therefore, let no one argue
against the disbelief of secularism
by claiming that it does not deny
the existence of Allah, nor does it forbid
performing acts of worship,
and that it outwardly respects
religious institutions
and clerics; for religion
is an indivisible whole,
as the Almighty said:
"O you who
have believed, enter into Islam
completely,
and do not follow the footsteps of Satan.
Indeed, he is to you
a clear enemy."
"Al-Silm" means Islam,
as the exegetes have stated.
And the Almighty said:
"Indeed, those who disbelieve
in Allah and His messengers,
and wish to discriminate
between Allah and His messengers,
saying, 'We believe in some
and disbelieve in others,'
and wish to adopt
a way in between—
those are the disbelievers,
in truth.
And We have prepared
for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment."
The constitution:
The constitution
is the basic law
or fundamental statute
of any country,
to which all laws are referred;
hence, it is called
the mother of all laws.
It may be amended or repealed
in democratic systems
through a referendum,
or a ruler may suspend it
in positive-law systems
when ruling under what they call
emergency law.
But the constitution of the Muslims
is the Book and the Sunnah,
for they reign supreme over governance
in the Islamic system,
and to them every subsidiary law must refer.
If the Muslims
in any country draft
a numbered constitution for themselves
in the form of main articles,
its primary, foundational article—
which can never
be abolished, amended,
or put to a referendum—must be
that Islamic Sharia
is the sole source
of legislation, nullifying
any law that contradicts it;
and this article
must be effectively implemented on the ground,
not merely stated
as dust in the eyes
through cunning,
twisted phrasing, such as when some omit
the definite article from it
to make it just one source
among multiple sources,
rather than the sole source.
With this aforementioned
condition, any
constitution in any Muslim land
would be a branch of the Book
and the Sunnah, governed by them,
and incapable of contradicting
them.
Civil law
is the set of penal or criminal
rules
that govern any country
based on its constitution,
to which secularists resort for judgment—
seeking judgment from the Taghut
while casting Islamic Sharia
behind their backs.
The first person to initiate
codified legislation in the modern era
was Napoleon,
in the year eighteen hundred and four
CE,
and from him Easterners adopted it.
Yet Islamic fiqh,
especially in the section on commercial and civil dealings,
is the true reference for Muslim judges
regarding penal rulings
or criminal matters,
in place of this so-called
civil law.
Civil society
is an ambiguous term
with multiple meanings,
which its proponents employ
for various purposes;
it lump-sums anything
with everything.
It emerged through a long evolution
and carries within its folds
tensions and contradictions
that are the very cause of its ambiguity.
Within this term,
the concepts of
the believer versus the non-believer,
man and woman,
and tribal member versus Bedouin,
and so forth, disappear entirely,
and they are all replaced
by the concept of the individual citizen.
Among the most essential pillars
civil society,
the principle of individual freedom,
and secular citizenship
eliminate any other allegiance,
whether based on religion, ethnicity,
or the like,
and lay the foundation for separating religion
from the state.
Nowadays, the term
"civil society organizations" may also be applied
to non-profit organizations
that aim to
serve the community in which they are established.
There is no objection to that
in such a case,
provided that none of these
organizations operates
on concepts contrary to Islam,
and that they are not
tied to foreign entities—
which are often
intelligence agencies—
that actually exploit them
to serve their own interests.
And this is indeed the reality of many
such organizations,
as events reveal after
a period of time,
during which the goals of these
suspicious entities are fulfilled,
or once they are exposed by the security services
of the countries where they operate.
The summary of the doctrine of
Ahl al-Sunnah