6. POLITICAL STRUGGLE
Assaults on the Islamic State
These factors began to operate within the substance of the Islamic state and the Ummah as a whole, suppressed nations thought that the time was ripe to take their revenge and bring to ruin the very Islamic state which had earlier conquered their lands and changed their entire way of life. The Tartars swept across the Islamic state like a devastating flood, tearing it apart piece by piece such that when they arrived at Baghdad, the capital of the ‘Abbasid Khilafah, they trampled it and disgraced the Khalifah , Al-Musta’sim. Thus the unity of the state and the knot of the Khilafah was undone for the first time. The nations fell apart into small states, every tribe having it’s own pulpit and an Amir Al-Mumineen. Europe saw the resurgence of Christianity, whose forces gathered and hurled back the Muslim East in both Asia and Africa through nine crusading assaults, in which the best of their cavalry, royalty, and arms were deployed. These invading forces were able to establish a Crusader state in Jerusalem, threatening the Islamic nations of the East and West, and attacking Egypt – the most powerful of these states at that time.
Revival
But Allah (SWT) did not allow falsehood to vanquish truth. Egypt was able to draw together the scattered forces of some of these minor states, and hurl them at the necks of the Crusaders, under the leadership of Salah-ud-Din. It regained Jerusalem from the Christians, and showed them the meaning of defeat at Hitteen. Then Egypt stood in the face of the Tartars under the leadership of Alzahir Baybars, throwing them back on their heels, at Ayn Jalut, and restoring the lines of the Khilafah once again. It was the will of Allah that an Islamic state re-emerge, extensive in domain, bold in courage, and formidable in power, welding its people into one and uniting most of the Islamic nations under its banner. Its lofty ambitions meant that an attack on Christianity in its very lair was crucial. Thus It conquered Constantinople, and its authority extended to the heart of Europe reaching as far as Vienna. This came the state of the Ottoman Turks.
Fruits of the Renaissance in Europe
The Islamic state was tranquil under the banner and authority of the Ottomans, it remained passive was heedless of what was happening around it. But Europe, which had come into contact with the light of Islam in the West through Andalus, and in the East through the Crusades, wasted no opportunity and did not fail to benefit from these lessons. It began to build up and unite her forces under the banner of the Franks in the land of Gaul, where it was able to stem the tides of an onslaught against the Islamic West and sow dissension within the ranks of the Muslims in Andalus, employing people to fall upon others, until finally it drove them overseas back to the African coast. The young Spanish state took it’s place, as Europe continued to build up it strength, to unite, to plan, to acquire knowledge, to traverse foreign lands, and to discover new countries, such that America was discovered by Spain and the route to India by Portugal. Cries for reform followed swiftly in each state within Europe. Numerous reformers arose, while natural science and fruitful, productive knowledge was eagerly embraced. The Reformation resulted in the creation of a number of nationalities and the rise of a strong state – it’s sole purpose to dismember the Islamic state, which Europe had already shared among its nations and whose place it had taken control of in Asia and Africa. These young states formed alliances for this purpose, which at times rose to the level of sacred pacts
A New Attack
European power expanded, thanks to discoveries, expeditions, and travels to far and distant lands as far as many of the remote Islamic countries like India, as well some of the neighbouring Islamic provinces. Europe began to work earnestly at dismembering the powerful and far flung Islamic state proposing numerous plans toward this end, referring to them at times as ‘the Eastern question’ and at others as ‘dividing up the inheritance of the Sick Man of Europe’. Every state began to seize any opportunity as it arose, adopting the flimsiest of excuses to attack the peaceful yet careless Islamic state, and to reduce its periphery or demolish parts of its integral fabric. This onslaught continued over a long period of time, during which the Ottoman Empire was stripped of much of it’s Islamic territory which then fell under European domination, e.g., Morocco and North Africa. Many non Islamic areas previously under Ottoman rule became independent during this time, e.g., Greece and the Balkan states. The final round of this struggle was the First World War, from 1914 to 1918, which ended in the defeat of Turkey and her allies, providing a perfect opportunity for the strongest nations of Europe, (England and France, and under their patronage, Italy). They laid their hands on the huge legacy left behind by the Islamic nations, imposing their rule over them under the various titles of occupation, colonialism, trusteeship or mandate dividing them up in the following manner:
1) North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis) became French colonies lying in between a zone of international influence in Tangier and a Spanish colony in the Reef.
2) Tripoli and Barca became Italian colonies in which Italy did not wish a single trace of Islam to remain. It forced Italian citizenship upon the people giving it the name of ‘South Italy’ and filling it with thousands of hungry families and wild beasts in human form (Italian outcasts).
3) Egypt and the Sudan fell under English authority, neither one possessing a shred of independent authority.
4) Palestine became an English colony, which England took the liberty of selling to the Jews so that they might establish therein a national Zionist homeland.
5) Syria became a French colony.
6) Iraq became an English colony.
7) The Hijaz possessed a weak, unstable government dependent on charity and clinging to false treaties and worthless covenants.
8) Yemen possessed an outmoded government and a poverty stricken populace exposed to attack anywhere and at any time.
9) The remaining nations of the Arabian peninsula consisted of small emirates whose rulers lived under the wing of the British consuls and who fought one another for the crumbs falling from their tables, their souls burning with mutual resentment and hatred. This was the case despite the reassuring promises and binding treaties drawn up by the Allies with the mightiest monarch of the Peninsula, King Hussain, stating that they would help him achieve the Arab independence and support the authority of the Arab Khilafah.
10) Iran and the Afghanistan possessed shaky governments beset by power hungry people on every side, they would be under the wing of one nation at one time and under that of another at other times.
11) India was an English colony.
12) Turkestan and the adjoining regions were Russian colonies, subjected to the bitter harshness of the Bolshevik authorities.
Apart from these, there were also the Islamic minorities scattered across many countries, knowing no state to whose protection they might have recourse, nor any well armed government to defend their nationality, as the Muslims in Ethiopia, China, the Balkans, and the lands of Central, South, East and West Africa. Under such conditions, Europe won in the political struggle, and finally accomplished its goal in dismembering the Islamic empire, annihilating the Islamic state and erasing it politically, from the list of powerful, living nations.
Return to Power
However this flagrant hostility and contempt for treaties and covenants tormented men’s hearts and aroused their spirits. These nations began to demand their independence and struggled to regain their freedom and glory. Towards this end, revolts flared up within their borders: Turkey revolted, Egypt revolted, Iraq and Syria revolted, while repeated revolts took place in Palestine and the Reef in Morocco. Every where people began to stir, and as a result the Islamic people regained some of their rights. Turkey became independent within her new frontiers, Egypt and Iraq were recognised as sovereign states, the Saudi state rose in the Hijaz and Najd, while, Yemen, Iran, and Afghanistan preserved their already existing independence, Syria came close to winning recognition of her independence. Palestine drew the attention of the world to itself through its struggle. The Muslims, without any doubt, took significant steps, even if they were few and slow, towards the noble goal of restoring their freedom and glory and rebuilding their state. With each nation demanding its right to freedom as an independent entity, concepts of localised nationalism arose, and many states working towards this revival purposely ignored the idea of unity. Without a doubt the outcome the of these steps will result in the consolidation and return of the Islamic empire as a unified state embracing the Muslims that have been scattered around the World, raising the banner of Islam and carrying its message. There is no nation in the world that is held together by linguistic unity, participation in material and spiritual interests, and similarity of suffering and hope in the same that the Muslims are.
A New War
The European nations emerged from the First World War with the seeds of rancour and hatred deeply implanted within many of them. The peace conference took place and the ensuing treaties were sharp slaps in the face to some and painfully, false expectations to many others; furthermore, many new concepts and ideologies, strongly fanatical, made their appearance. Such a situation will inevitably lead to renewed opposition and a terrible, devastating war which would tear these nations asunder and end their unity, bringing them back to their senses and deterring them from injustice. It will give the Islamic nations another opportunity to straighten their ranks, to unite, and finally achieve their freedom and independence, thus regaining their state and their unity under the leadership of the Amir Al Mumineen:
‘And We desired to show favour to those who had been rendered weak in the earth, and to make them leaders and make them inheritors.’
(Surat-al-Qasas (28), ayah 5).
Source: IslamBasics by Hassan Al-Banna
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