“GHOUTA: Rising from the Ashes”

A Talk Delivered in London, Britain, on Saturday 10^th March 2018

by Dr. Nazreen Nawaz

Director of the Women’s Section in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhumdullialah, Alhumdullialahi rabil aalamin. Wasalaatu wassalam, wa alaa Sayidena Muhammad, wa alaaa aalihe, wa sahbehi, ajmain. Rabb ish-rahli sadri wa-yassirlee amri wahlul uqdatum-minlisaanee yafqahu qawlee.

(1)Introduction:

“We are standing before the massacre of the 21^st century. If the massacre of the 1990’s was Srebrenica, and the massacres of the 1980’s were Halabja and Sabra and Shatila, then Eastern Ghouta is the massacre of this century right NOW.”

• These were the words of a doctor in Eastern Ghouta, one of the suburbs of Damascus, Syria.
• Sisters, when the massacre of Srebrenica in Bosnia happened in 1995, where 8000 Muslim men and boys were executed in cold blood by Serbian forces in what was supposed to be a UN Safe-Haven, the world said….NEVER AGAIN!....But here we are again witnessing a GENOCIDE, and absolute bloodbath, right now against our brothers and sisters in Eastern Ghouta. The horrors that we are seeing and the suffering that our Ummah is enduring is beyond imagination – in a place that was designated as a safe-zone.
• In a matter of just one week in February, more than 500 civilians, including 150 children were killed, as well as around 2000 injured, by the ferocious unrelenting bombardment of the savage Syrian and Russian regimes…and the death toll continues to rise day after day after day - despite the farce of the 30 day UN ceasefire resolution on February the 24^th. At one point, airstrikes were coming at 1 every minute.
• They are indiscriminately targeting civilians – men, women, children, babies - in homes, shops, schools, hospitals, ambulances and markets, leaving children buried in the rubble of buildings. Even after the so-called UN truce – Assad’s forces dropped chlorine bombs on the Muslims of Ghouta – a chemical which produces a highly corrosive acid in the lungs and severe breathing problems…hence the heartbreaking unbearable images of children and babies gasping for air.
• As a result of the bombardment, families have been forced to take refuge in caves, dugouts or the cold, dark and cramped basement of buildings as they ‘wait their turn to die’. Infact, in the town of Harasta, it is said that 80% of the population are living underground. More than 20 medical centres have been destroyed. And so doctors have now resorted to caring for patients, including premature and newborn babies in incubators, in cellars where they face dying from the severe winter cold. The UN Secretary General described the situation as ‘Hell on Earth”.
• But sisters, this is only the latest chapter of the genocide against the Muslims of Ghouta….because over the last 7 years, since the beginning of the uprising in Syria, 13,000 civilians have been killed in Eastern Ghouta by Assad and Russian forces, including around 1500 children, 1200 people have died due to torture, and there have been 46 chemical attacks (Syrian Network for Human Rights)….including the horrific one in August 2013 which left more than 1400 dead, including 400 children.
• Alongside all this, Eastern Ghouta has been under a brutal siege by the Syrian regime for the last 5 years, described as the longest siege in modern history, leading to severe shortages in food, medicines and fuel. 400,000 people are trapped in this death hole. Doctors are using expired medicines to treat the ill and injured and there is mass starvation that has impacted children the most. According to the UN, around 12% of children under 5 are said to be acutely malnourished and hundreds face dying from starvation.
• In one video that’s been circulated widely, there is a mother standing next to her son who has just died from an attack, crying the words – “He died hungry! He didn’t eat! He didn’t eat. Atleast he will have food in Jannah.” Subhaanallah sisters, the dying wish of mothers – is just that their children have the comfort of food in their stomach before they die! La hawla wala quwatta illah billah! While other mothers are praying that Allah takes the soul of their children – WHY?...to end their pain, to end their suffering….because at least they will not have to endure the unbearable pangs of hunger and the excruciating agony from their injuries - in Jannah. Ya Allah! Can you imagine the scale of suffering sisters, when a mother prefers her own child, the one she loves with all her heart, to die rather than live, because death will stop their agony!

OR can you imagine the level of despair, when the doctors of Eastern Ghouta are so broken having treated child after child, injured from the relentless bombing, with limbs missing, blinded, their tiny bodies ripped apart….that they no longer have the heart to deliver babies from the wombs of dying mothers because they cannot bear the thought of the horrors of the world they will be born into.

(2) Muslims of Ghouta have been Abandoned by the World:

• Sisters, we see the bombs raining down on the heads of the starving children of Eastern Ghouta as they face annihilation. We see row after row of slain children wrapped in their bloodied kaffan (death shroud). We see the tears of the mothers of Ghouta crying out for a morsel of food to feed their young who are dying from hunger. And we see the utter destruction of this blessed land, and our brothers and sisters being slaughtered into submission, bracing themselves for the ground invasion by Assad’s butchers and a massacre, perhaps worse than that which we saw in Aleppo.
• And all this is of course alongside the hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters who have been massacred across Syria over the last 7 years by Assad’s killing machine, aided by his allies. And the tens of thousands who have died in Assad’s prisons - 65,000 since 2011 according to some reports - many of them tortured to death.
• And yet despite all these horrors, this unimaginable scale of suffering and bloodshed, the international community, the UN, Western governments, and the regimes of the Muslim world watch on, turning the other way, ignoring the genocide, and giving the butcher Assad and his criminal allies – a free-hand to continue the slaughter with impunity. They have torn up all their conventions on the protection of human life, human rights, and the rights of the child! Clearly, even this ‘Living Hell’ is not enough to shake their conscience!
• So WHY? Why has the attack on Ghouta intensified over the past few months? And WHY have the Western powers, the UN, and the regimes of the Muslim world ignored this bloodbath of our brothers and sisters?
• To answer this question, sisters, we have to understand the nature of the revolution in Syria. We have to understand that this revolution is no ordinary revolution. NO! It is a BLESSED revolution. Indeed, this whole land of Bilad Al-Sham that Syria is part of is a blessed land and its people are a blessed people.

عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ، قَالَ كُنَّا عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ r نُؤَلِّفُ الْقُرْآنَ مِنَ الرِّقَاعِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِe: «طُوبَى لِلشَّأْمِ». فَقُلْنَا: لأَىٍّ ذَلِكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: «لأَنَّ مَلاَئِكَةَ الرَّحْمَنِ بَاسِطَةٌ أَجْنِحَتَهَا عَلَيْهَا»

-      Zaid bin Thabit (ra) said, “We were with the Messenger of Allah (saw) collecting the Qur'an on pieces of cloth, so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'Tuba is for Ash-Sham.' So we said: 'Why is that O Messenger of Allah?' He said: “Because the angels of Ar-Rahman spread their wings over it.'"

-      The land of Ghouta also has great significance to us as Muslims.

‏»إِنَّ فُسْطَاطَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ يَوْمَ الْمَلْحَمَةِ بِالْغُوطَةِ إِلَى جَانِبِ مَدِينَةٍ يُقَالُ لَهَا دِمَشْقُ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَدَائِنِ الشَّامِ‏«

Abu al-Darda narrated that the Prophet (saw) said: “The place of assembly of the Muslims at the time of the war will be in al-Ghutah near a city called Damascus, one of the best cities in Syria.” (reported by Abu Dawood)

• In accordance to these words of the Prophet (saw), the uprising in Syria was different to the uprising in the other countries of the Arab Spring like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. For in Syria, the Muslims were not only calling for the removal of Assad and his regime but they had a distinct call…..and that call was to replace this corrupt oppressive regime with ISLAMIC rule in their land….this was their goal….and you saw it in their chants, in their slogans, in their huge demonstrations from Homs to Aleppo, Damascus to Idlib, Dar’aa to Douma– “Our leader forever is Muhammad (saw)”, “It is for you Allah, it is for you”, “Labayk, Labayk, Labayk Ya Allah” (We are are your service Allah), and “Al-Sha’b urid Khilafah Islamiya” (the youth, the people, want the Khilafah).
• So over the last 7 years, regardless of the political games and posturing that they play on screen….the Western powers, aided by their tools - the UN and their puppet regimes in the Muslim world – Turkey, Saudi, Qatar and others have been united with Assad and his allies – Russia and Iran – in one aim - to crush and contain this Islamic revolution at all costs, no matter how much destruction it takes, no matter how many lives are lost.
• AND it’s the carrot and stick approach that’s been used – bombing them into submission – in places like Homs, Idlib, Aleppo and Ghouta to try and force them to come to the negotiating table to accept their secular political future for Syria and abandon their Islamic call – and ALL their so-called peace initiatives and proposals – from Geneva to Vienna, Riyadh to Astana – has been for this objective solely – to crush the Islamic revolution for real change and to keep the oppressive secular Syrian regime in power – regardless of whether Assad is at the head of it or not – ALL to maintain Western influence over that region of the Muslim world and its resources.
• Sisters, this is why this genocide has been ignored and continues to be ignored by the Western and Muslim governments, because for them…the rivers of blood, formed from the children of Ghouta and across Syria is a price worth paying for their bloodstained political interests in this region! Indeed, it seems there is no limit to the barbarity they are willing to witness to secure their aims.
• Even the funds and weapons given by certain Muslim regimes like Turkey and Saudi to some of the rebel fighters and brigades were never aimed at toppling the Syrian regime – they were never sufficient for that – they were simply a means to divide the brigades, weaken and manipulate them into accepting the plans of the western masters of these regimes…and when they did not achieve their objectives, they simply abandoned them to their killers as we saw in Aleppo and as we see in Ghouta.
• But Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, the Muslims of Syria, as the blessed people described by the Messenger (saw), have kept steadfast to their Deen, rejecting all attempts to terrorise them into abandoning their Islamic call and vision, and fighting on to remove this tyrant regime….and so the bombardment became more and more vicious and bloodthirsty in the hope that it would break their will and force them to surrender.
• So what we see in Ghouta now, which was always a stronghold of the Islamic resistance, is the Syrian regime’s attempts to crush and drive out what they see as one of the most significant and remaining pockets of resistance, especially since Ghouta is in a crucially strategic location being near the country’s largest military base and international airport, and only a 30 min drive from Central Damascus, the seat of the regime.
• (3) We as an Ummah Cannot Abandon the Muslims of Ghouta:

• Dear sisters, the UN and the governments of the world have abandoned the Muslims of Ghouta and Syria, but we as their Ummah CANNOT!
• We cannot abandon them, because the Prophet (saw) said,

«مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادِّهِمْ وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَوَاصُلِهِمْ كَمَثَلِ الْجَسَدِ الْوَاحِدِ، إِذَا اشْتَكَى مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالْحُمَّى وَالسَّهَر»

“The parable of the believers in relation to the kindness, mercy and compassion they have for each other, is that of the body: when an organ of it falls ill, the rest of the body responds with fever and sleeplessness.” [Muslim]

-      This Ummah is one BODY and as such it is impossible for us to ignore their pain.

• We cannot abandon them because the Prophet (saw) said,

«قَتْلُ الْمُؤْمِنِ أَعْظَمُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مِنْ زَوَالِ الدُّنْيَا»

“Killing a believer is more grievous before Allah than the extinction of the whole world.” [an-Nisa’i]

-      Telling us about how sacred the blood of a Muslim is and how responding to its spilling is one of the highest actions in Islam.

• We cannot abandon them because Allah(swt) said,

﴿وَإِنِ اسْتَنصَرُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ﴾

“And if they seek help of you for the religion, then you must help” [Surah al-Anfaal 8:72]

• And we cannot abandon them because the Prophet (saw) said,

 «الْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ، لاَ يَظْلِمُهُ وَلاَ يُسْلِمُهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ فِي حَاجَةِ أَخِيهِ كَانَ اللَّهُ فِي حَاجَتِهِ، وَمَنْ فَرَّجَ عَنْ مُسْلِمٍ كُرْبَةً فَرَّجَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ كُرْبَةً مِنْ كُرُبَاتِ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَمَنْ سَتَرَ مُسْلِمًا سَتَرَهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ»

Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) narrate that the Prophet (saw) said, “A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection.” [Sahih Bukhari]

• So as Muslims, we have a heavy, heavy responsibility to end this bloodshed urgently and to NOT ABANDON our brothers and sisters to their oppressors.
• (4) Reject Hopelessness:

• But to not abandon them sisters, means first to never lose hope in this situation. We cannot lose hope or feel that there is nothing that can be done or no solution to this problem – because when we do this, we abandon them to their slaughter! And we cannot do that!
• And we should not lose hope sisters – because this Ummah is not helpless – it is 1 billion strong and has some of the strongest armies in the world who could defend our Ummah if mobilised – Turkey (8^th most powerful in the world and 2^nd largest in NATO); Pakistan (13^th largest, 1.1 million personnel – more than France, UK, and Germany combined); Egypt (has over 1000 warplanes) Saudi Arabia (spends $56 billion on its defence budget – more than Russia). So we are NOT helpless as an Ummah, sisters….BUT we have been made to feel helpless by these criminal and cowardly regimes of the Muslim world who use the Muslim armies to maintain their thrones OR to fight wars for selfish national interests OR the interests of western powers rather than for the Ummah.

-      Regimes such as in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan who instead of sending their armies to defend the children of Ghouta….send them to slaughter and starve the children of Yemen!

-      Regimes such as in Turkey, who instead of using its fighter planes and immense arsenal to save the Muslims of Syria…..uses its military to fight on behalf of the interests of western powers.

-      Regimes such as in Pakistan, who instead of sending its soldiers to fight the oppressors and killers of this Ummah….send them to fight their Muslim brothers on behalf of the US!

• But most importantly Sisters, we should never lose hope in the help and victory from Allah so that we just accept any proposal for Syria because our DEEN FORBIDS this! Doesn’t Allah (swt) say in Surah al Baqara (verse 214) about the believers who came before us who were tested so severely because they held on to their Deen…

﴿مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّـهِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّـهِ قَرِيبٌ﴾

“They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, "When is the help of Allah?" Unquestionably (there is NO doubt), the help of Allah is near.” [Al-Baqara: 214]

• And sisters, isn’t the Seerah of the Prophet (saw) and the history of Islam full of examples of situations where it seemed dire for the believers and the odds seemed stacked against them, but Allah (swt) granted them victory - because of their tawakkul, resilience, and devotion to Him (swt)? Infact, it was at the times when the Prophet (saw) and Believers of the past faced their darkest hours and their severest hardships because they held on to their Deen that Allah (swt) sent them His Promises of victory and granted them His Nasr in their struggle for Islam.

-      Like the Battle of Ahzab when the enemies of Islam - formed a coalition, 10,000 strong, a well-armed alliance with the shared goal of destroying the Islamic state in Madinah and wiping out Islam. The Muslims were only 3000 in number and the situation in Madinah was dire, they were facing famine and starvation, and it was bitterly cold and there was a drought. They only had a few days to dig a trench all around the borders of the city to try and protect it from the enemy. The ground was hard and they only had spades and pick axes to dig this huge trench.

But it was at this time, that Allah (swt) sent the Prophet (saw) a vision and the Believers His Promise of Victory – a vision that made them look beyond the here and now to something greater- The Prophet (saw) took a spade and struck a rock while digging – He said,

لَمَّا كَانَ حِينَ أَمَرَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِحَفْرِ الْخَنْدَقِ ، وَعَرَضَتْ لَنَا فِي بَعْضِ الْخَنْدَقِ صَخْرَةٌ عَظِيمَةٌ شَدِيدَةٌ لا تَأْخُذُ فِيهَا الْمَعَاوِلُ . قَالَ : فَاشْتَكَيْنَا ذَلِكَ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ " ، فَجَاءَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، فَلَمَّا رَآهَا أَلْقَى ثَوْبَهُ ، وَأَخَذَ الْمِعْوَلَ ، فَقَالَ : بِسْمِ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ ضَرَبَ ضَرْبَةً فَكَسَرَ ثُلُثَهَا ، وَقَالَ : اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ ، أُعْطِيتُ مَفَاتِيحَ الشَّامِ ، واللَّهِ إِنِّي لأُبْصِرُ قُصُورَهَا الْحُمْرَ السَّاعَةَ ، ثُمَّ ضَرَبَ الثَّانِيَةَ فَقَطَعَ ثُلُثًا آخَرَ ، فَقَالَ : اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ ، أُعْطِيتُ مَفَاتِيحَ فَارِسَ ، وَاللَّهِ إِنِّي لأُبْصِرُ قَصْرَ الْمَدَائِنِ الأَبْيَضَ ، ثُمَّ ضَرَبَ الثَّالِثَةَ , وَقَالَ : بِسْمِ اللَّهِ فَقَطَعَ بَقِيَّةَ الْحَجَرِ ، وَقَالَ : اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ ، أُعْطِيتُ مَفَاتِيحَ الْيَمَنِ ، وَاللَّهِ إِنِّي لأُبْصِرُ أَبْوَابَ صَنْعَاءَ مِنْ مَكَانِي هَذَا السَّاعَةَ " .

“Bismillah, Allahu Akbar, the keys of Ash-Sham are mine, I swear by Allah, I can see its palaces at the moment.” Second strike, “Allahu Akbar, Persia is mine, I swear by Allah, I can now see the white palace of Madain.” Third strike and the rock shattered into small pieces, “Allahu Akbar, I have been given the keys of Yemen, I swear by Allah, I can see the gates of San’a while I am in my place.”

-      Sisters, did these Promises of Allah not come true? YES. And Allah also gave victory in the Battle of Ahzab by sending a furious hurricane to destroy the camp of the coalition, forcing them to flee.

• Sisters, it is this strong conviction in the Nasr of Allah that has prevented the Muslims of Ghouta and across Syria from giving up in their revolution for Islam despite 7 years of barrel bombs, airstrikes, chemical attacks, butchery, rape, imprisonment and torture by the Assad regime. As the brutality increased, their tawakkul, resilience and determination to overthrow this tyrant and establish the Rule of Allah increased….For them it was victory or shahada….They are like those described in the verse in Surah Al-i-Imran (verse 173) – When the hypocrites said to them –

﴿الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّـهُ وعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ﴾

"Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them." But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, (Hasbunnallah wa ni’mal wakeel) "Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs."

• Sisters, if our brothers and sisters in Syria can keep steadfast through all of this, then surely it is a powerful lesson to us that we should never give up hope in the victory from Allah, and Bi’ithnillah it will be soon!
• (5) Work for the Correct Solution to End the Bloodshed:

• So sisters what is it that we can do to bring this victory and end this genocide against our Ummah in Ghouta and Syria? Sisters, if we really want to stop this bloodbath then we must, must work for a solution that will truly end the slaughter of our brothers and sisters for good.
• This means FIRSTLY, not just shedding tears, giving some sadaqa and then returning to our everyday lives. This is not to belittle Sadaqa - Of course the action of giving sadaqa is important but we know that it will NOT end the bloodshed. Infact we don’t even know if any of it will reach those who are in desperate need in Ghouta and in other besieged areas! We’ve seen this week how even the UN aid convey had to turn back from Ghouta due to the shelling and threats of chemical attacks.
• SECONDLY sisters, ending the bloodshed, means NOT making the same mistake again and again and again by placing our hopes on the impotent UN and self-serving Western governments to solve our problems as an Ummah and protect our blood – whether that’s through lobbying local MP’s, petitioning these governments, demonstrating outside parliament, or any other similar action. These governments and the UN have witnessed the slaughter of 500,000 people in Syria over the past 7 years, they have seen babies burning and suffocating from chemical attacks, they have seen countless hospitals and schools destroyed, every red line crossed, every convention on human rights broken and yet they have stood idly by doing nothing, abandoning the Muslims of Syria to their death!

-      ALL their so-called peace-initiatives, interventions and proposed solutions have done, is BUY the butcher Assad more time to torture, rape and kill the Muslims. In fact such is the utter farce of the most recent UN resolution, that just hours after they called for this 30 day ceasefire, the Syrian regime began a new ground offensive in Ghouta followed by a chemical attack. Indeed Allah (swt) says,

﴿مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ كَمَثَلِ الْعَنكَبُوتِ اتَّخَذَتْ بَيْتًا وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ الْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ الْعَنكَبُوتِ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾

“The example of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the spider, who builds for itself a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the spider's house; if they but knew.” [Al-Ankabut: 41]

• And history has shown us this again and again and again – whether its Gaza, Myanmar, Kashmir, India, Central Africa or any other land where Muslims have been massacred – that these governments and the UN which is nothing but a tool of these states – will ONLY ever act for the sake of their political and economic interests…..and their interests will never be to aid any revolution based upon Islam that achieves real change for the Muslim world!
• So sisters, we need to stop seeing western intervention in our lands as a solution to our problems….infact it’s been the cause in most instances – we see the mess they made in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya! The Prophet (saw) said:

«لاَ يُلْدَغُ الْمُؤْمِنُ مِنْ جُحْرٍ مَرَّتَيْنِ»

“The believer should not be stung from the same hole twice.”

(6) How the Khilafah can Protect the Ummah in Ghouta and Across the World:

• So an Ummah, what can we do to protect the blood of our brothers and sisters of Ghouta and Syria?
• Of course, the first thing is to make sincere Dua to Allah (swt) that He protects our Ummah, destroys the Assad regime and all its allies and grants the Muslims victory in Al-Sham…for ALL-POWER belongs to Allah alone - La Hawla wala quwatta illah billah….and He is truly capable of all things…..But what did our beloved Prophet (saw) tell us? He (saw) said in one hadith,

«‏والذي نفسي بيده لتأمرن بالمعروف، ولتنهون عن المنكر، أو ليوشكن الله أن يبعث عليكم عقابًا منه، ثم تدعونه فلا يستجاب لكم»

“By Him in Whose Hand my life is, you either enjoin good and forbid evil, or Allah will certainly soon send His punishment to you. Then you will make supplication and it will not be accepted”

• So what is the Marouf that we must command, and the Munkar that we must Forbid to an END this bloodbath Insha Allah?

-      Sisters, is it not blatantly clear, that when the Muslims of Syria are being killed by an ARMY, aided by other armies….then what they need is an ARMY to defend their blood. I ask you sisters, which state is there today, which you sincerely think will send their army to protect the Ummah in Syria?....There is NONE.

-      So what we desperately need is a state, ruled by an Islamic leadership and a ruler of taqwa, who truly sees himself as the GUARDIAN of the Ummah, and defender of this Deen, who will mobilise his army urgently to protect the Muslims.

-      This state is the righteous Khilafah state, based upon the method of the Prophethood, the System of Allah, which is the shield of the Believers….as the Prophet (saw) said,

«إِنَّمَا الْإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ يُقَاتَلُ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ وَيُتَّقَى بِهِ»

“Verily the Imam (Khaleefah) is a shield from behind whom you fight and by whom you are protected.”

• This is what we need to command sisters – an end to the munkar of the rule of these despicable regimes in the Muslim world….each and every one of them…who have kept silent to or conspired in the crimes against this Ummah, and the urgent establishment of the Islamic leadership of the Khilafah. This is the solution from our Deen, the Qur’an and Sunnah, to protect the blood of the believers! Imam Ghazali (RM) said regarding the Khilafah,

“The security of the world, its inhabitants and properties cannot be achieved except with an obeyed ruler (Sultan Muta`)…..This is why it is said that…The deen is the foundation and the Sultan is the guardian…”

• Sisters, it is the Islamic leadership of the Khilafah which will unify the Muslim lands, their resources, their wealth, man-power, strategic assets – such as its waterways, ports, airspace, military bases, and importantly UNIFY the armies of the Muslim world – to create a political, economic and military superpower – a Superpower that will mobilise its soldiers and military arsenal with urgency to defend the believers, remove the oppressors, liberate occupied Muslim land and strike fear into the hearts of those who dare to terrorize or harm the Muslim Ummah – no matter where they live – for this is an Islamic obligation upon the state and the Khalifah, the ruler of the Muslims, from Allah (swt)!
• And this is exactly what happened under the Khilafah of the past:

-      In the 12^th Century sisters, as we know, the Christian Crusaders occupied Jerusalem and many parts of the blessed land of Palestine. They massacred the Muslims of Jerusalem, thousands were killed, infact historians describe how the streets ran ankle deep with Muslim blood. However, under the Abbasid Khilafah – the great military commander and Wali (governor) of Egypt – Salahuddin Ayubi – unified the provinces of the Khilafah which had become semi-independent to the state at that time, and then led the unified army of the Khilafah to liberate Al-Quds which once again became a glorious city of security and prosperity under the shade of Islam. The Battle of Hattin in which Salahuddin defeated the Crusaders took part in Ramadan and in the peak of the summer heat. Prior to the battle, some of his advisors advised him to delay the fighting till after Ramadan. However, Salahuddin responded, “Man’s life-span is short, death gives no appointment and leaving the occupiers in the Muslim lands for more than a single day, despite the ability of driving them out is an abominable act that I could not bear.”

-      So sisters, you have a state, whose capital was in Iraq, a Commander Salahuddin who was Kurdish in origin but governed over the province of Egypt, mobilising an army to liberate Palestine. – This is the nature and capability of the Khilafah which rejects national borders – and views the Ummah as ONE, its land as ONE, its blood as ONE, and its army as ONE.

Conclusion:

• So sisters, will Ghouta and Al-Sham rise from its ashes? Well that depends upon us….it depends upon whether as an Ummah take a stand for our Deen, and whether we focus our attention, time and efforts firmly on the only true solution that will put an end to this nightmare for good- the urgent establishment of this righteous state - the Khilafah.
• If we do, then Insha Allah Ghouta and the whole of Bilad Al-Sham, infact the whole of the Muslim world can and will rise from its ashes, just like the blessed land of Al-Sham, rose in the past under the shade of the Islamic rule of the Khilafah following its liberation by Salahuddin Ayubifrom its Christian crusaders, to become a shining gem of this world, a centre of learning and prosperity…..until its occupation by the Zionists when the Khilafah was destroyed and there was no longer a shield to protect it or its blessed Ummah.
• But if we don’t focus our attention, time and efforts firmly on this true solution – the establishment of the Khilafah - then unfortunately we will continue to see the slaughter of our brothers and sisters in Syria, AND repeated in land after land after land! Just this week, mobs of extremist Buddhists attacked Muslim homes and shops in Sri Lanka…and we pray that this not the next Myanmar Insha Allah.

• For in the absence of this state today, the Muslims have no champion, no shield, no guardian…and so the tyrants, abusers and killers of Muslims have a free-hand to terrorize and massacre the Believers with no fear.
• Please sisters do not see the Khilafah as a dream….NO! Its establishment is an urgent obligation that our Rabb has placed upon us….described as the Umm al-Furaid (mother of all obligations) by the classical scholars of Islam. And please sisters do not see the Khilafah as a long-term vision, to be established sometime in the distant future…NO! It is an urgent necessity now….because while we distract ourselves with patchwork, plaster strip initiatives to cover what is a huge gaping haemorrhaging wound in this Ummah OR put hope in failed self-serving western and international processes…..we simply prolong the suffering and pain of our Ummah!