"...kwa Allah, hata wangeniwekea jua mkononi mwangu wa kulia na mwezi mkononi mwangu wa kushoto, kwa sharti niache jambo hili, nisingeliacha mpaka Allah alifanye lishinde au mimi niangamie humo."

“...by Allah, if they were to put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, on condition that I relinquish this matter, I would not relinquish it until Allah has made it dominant or I perish therein”

Silika ya kuishi humfanya kila taifa duniani na kila watu juu ya ardhi kuwa na masuala yake muhimu ya maisha, ambayo kwayo taifa au watu wangetoa damu yao kwa hiari na kwa bidii kubwa, bila kusita wala kubishana wala kujadiliana. Masuala haya ni yale yanayohusu kuangamia au kubaki hai, au yanayohusu kuondolewa kwa watu katika uwepo au kulinda uhai wao. Hatua kama hizi ni za pekee na karibu zinafanana kwa watu wote, na hatua zinazochukuliwa kuhusiana nazo ni sawa au zinafanana sana kwa watu wote, kwa sababu zinahatarisha uhai kwa uwazi. Hivyo, hatua ni ile ile na masuala pia ni yale yale. Hata hivyo, masuala haya yanayohusu silika ya kuishi si yote ya kimuhimu, wala masuala ya kimuhimu si yale tu yanayohusu silika ya kuishi; kwani kuna masuala mengine ya kimuhimu yanayohusu silika ya kiroho au silika ya uzazi. Lakini watu walitofautiana katika masuala haya kulingana na tofauti ya mtazamo wao kuhusu maisha; hivyo wakatofautiana katika hatua walizochukua kuyashughulikia. Hii ni kwa sababu kinachofanya masuala haya kuwa ya kimuhimu ni mtazamo maalum kuhusu maisha; hivyo yanatofautiana na hatua nayo inatofautiana. Kwa hiyo, masuala ya kimuhimu yalitofautiana kati ya watu na mataifa kulingana na tofauti hii ya mtazamo kuhusu maisha. Waislamu ni Ummah mmoja, na bila shaka wana masuala mengi ya kimuhimu. Masuala ya kimuhimu ya Ummah, iwe yanahusu silika ya kuishi, silika ya kiroho au silika ya uzazi, yanapaswa kuwa kulingana na mtazamo wao kuhusu maisha. Mtazamo wao kuhusu maisha unaamuliwa na Uislamu peke yake. Basi, ni Uislamu unaoamua masuala ya kimuhimu na pia unaamua hatua.

The instinct of survival makes it incumbent upon every nation in the world and every people on earth to have its own vital issues, for which a nation or a people would give its blood with consent and with utmost fervour, without any hesitation or any argument or debate. These issues are those related to either perishing or staying alive, or related to the removal of a people from existence or the safeguard of its survival. Such measures are unique and almost identical to all people and the measures undertaken towards them are similar or very similar to all people, because they are tangibly life threatening. Hence, the measure is the same and the issues are also the same. However, these issues related to the survival instinct are not all the vital issues, nor are the vital issues only those related to the survival instinct; for there are other vital issues related to the spiritual instinct or to the procreation instinct. However, people differed in these issues according to the difference in their viewpoint about life; thus they differed in the measures undertaken towards them. This is because what makes these issues vital is the specific viewpoint about life; thus they differ and the measure also differs. Therefore, the vital issues differed between peoples and nations according to this difference in the viewpoint about life. The Muslims are one Ummah and they undoubtedly have a host of vital issues. The Ummah’s vital issues, whether these are related to the survival instinct, the spiritual instinct or the procreation instinct, should be according to their viewpoint about life. Their viewpoint about life is determined by Islam alone. Hence, it is Islam that determines the vital issues and also determines the measure.

Uislamu umewaeleza watu masuala muhimu na umeifanya kipimo cha uhai na kifo kwao kuwa jambo la lazima. Kwa hiyo, Waislamu hawana uchaguzi katika kuamua masuala yao muhimu. Lile ambalo Uislamu unaliona kuwa suala muhimu lazima Waislamu walitazame kama hivyo. Vilevile, hawana uchaguzi katika kipimo cha uhai na kifo kinachochukuliwa kuelekea masuala hayo; kwa sababu Uislamu ulipoamua masuala muhimu, pia uliamua kipimo ambacho Waislamu wanapaswa kukichukua kuelekea hayo. Kwa Uislamu kukabiliwa na matukio yaliyotishia kuwepo kwake, na kwa Waislamu kukabiliana, kwa nafasi yao kama Waislamu, na yale yaliyotishia uwepo wao, lilikuwa jambo lisiloepukika. Ni jambo dhahiri kwa harakati yoyote maishani kukabiliana na kile kinachotishia kuwepo kwake, hasa harakati za mageuzi na hasa zaidi harakati zilizo sahihi.

Islam has explained to people the vital issues and made the measure of life and death towards them an obligation. Hence, the Muslims have no choice in determining their vital issues. That which is considered by Islam to be a vital issue must be viewed by the Muslims as such. Likewise, they have no choice in the measure of life and death undertaken towards such issues; because when Islam determined the vital issues, it also determined the measure that Muslims should undertake towards them. For Islam to have faced events which threatened it and for Muslims to have come up against what threatened their existence, in their capacity as Muslims, was inevitable. It is self evident for any movement in life to face that which threatens its existence, especially the movements of reform and more specifically the sound movements.

Tangu alfajiri ya Uislamu, mapambano yamekuwa makali zaidi kati ya Uislamu na Kufr. Mapambano haya yamehusu hatima ya Kufr na hatima ya Uislamu. Pambano la kumwaga damu lililoongezwa kwenye pambano la kifikra tangu kuanzishwa kwa Dola ya Kiislamu huko Madinah lilikuwa la kutetea masuala muhimu. Kwa hiyo, kuwepo kwa masuala muhimu kulikuwa lazima na ni jambo lisilohitaji ushahidi kwa Waislamu, na kuchukua hatua ya kuhatarisha uhai na kifo kwa ajili yake pia kulikuwa lazima na ni jambo lisilohitaji ushahidi. Hili ni jambo ambalo Jihadi imefanywa kuwa mojawapo ya wajibu muhimu zaidi, ambapo Mjumbe wa Allah ﷺ alisema: “Kichwa cha jambo ni Uislamu, nguzo yake ni Swalah, na kilele cha mgongo wake ni Jihadi”. Pia ni jambo ambalo Jihadi itaendelea hadi Saa itakapokuja, kwani alisema ﷺ: “Na Jihadi imekuwa endelevu tangu Allah aliponituma hadi kizazi cha mwisho cha Ummah wangu kipigane na Dajjal; haitabatilishwa kwa dhulma ya dhalimu wala kwa uadilifu wa mwadilifu”. Mjumbe wa Allah ﷺ pia alisema: “Jihadi ni endelevu pamoja na wema na waovu”. Kwa hiyo, Waislamu hawakulegea hata kwa dakika moja katika kusimama kwa ajili ya masuala muhimu, wala hawakuwahi kusita kuchukua hatua ya kuhatarisha uhai na kifo kwa kila suala muhimu.

Ever since the dawn of Islam, the struggle has been at its fiercest between Islam and Kufr. This struggle has been about the fate of Kufr and the fate of Islam. The bloody struggle that has been added to the intellectual struggle since the establishment of the Islamic State in Madinah was in defence of the vital issues. Hence, the existence of vital issues was to the Muslims inevitable and axiomatic, and their undertaking of the measure of life and death towards them was also inevitable and axiomatic. It is a matter for which Jihad has been made one of the most important duties, in which the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the Salah and the peak of its hump is Jihad”. It is also a matter for which Jihad will continue until the Hour comes, for he (saw) said: “And Jihad has been constant since Allah sent me until the last generation of my Ummah fight the Dajjal, it will not be revoked by the tyranny of a tyrant nor by the justness of a just”. The Messenger of Allah (saw) also said: “Jihad is constant with the pious and the dissolute”. Hence, the Muslims did not slacken for one moment in standing for the vital issues, nor did they ever hesitate in undertaking the measure of life and death towards every vital issue.

Kwa hiyo, walipokabiliwa na yale yaliyotishia hatima yao kama Ummah na kama Dola wakati wa Vita vya Msalaba, walichukua kwa hilo hatua ya kufa au kupona; hivyo wakaingia katika vita vikali na Makafiri Wakristo wa Msalaba kwa zaidi ya karne moja. Ummah wa Kiislamu ukafanikiwa kuzuia pigo la kuangamiza lililokuwa likiutishia. Vivyo hivyo, Waislamu walifanya kwa namna hiyo hiyo Wamongolia walipovamia ardhi za Kiislamu. Ummah wa Kiislamu ulilichukulia uvamizi huu kuwa jambo lililotishia uwepo wake, hivyo ukachukua kwa hilo hatua ya kufa au kupona, na Waislamu wakaingia vitani na Wamongolia, vita ambamo walitoa maisha yao bila kutafuta faida yoyote ya kidunia, hadi ushindi wa kuamua ukawa wao.

Therefore, when they were faced with what threatened their fate as an Ummah and as a State during the Crusades, they undertook towards this the measure of life and death; thus they engaged the Kuffar Crusaders in a fierce war for more than a century. The Islamic Ummah managed to repel the fatal blow that threatened her. Likewise, the Muslims acted in the same way when the Mongols invaded the Islamic lands. The Islamic Ummah considered this invasion as a matter that threatened her existence, thus she undertook towards it the measure of life and death, and the Muslims engaged the Mongols in a war in which they sacrificed their lives without seeking any worldly gains until the decisive victory was theirs.

Kwa hiyo, Waislamu walikuwa wakiyatambua mambo muhimu ya kimaisha na walikuwa wakichukua hatua kuyaelekea yale yaliyowapasa kufanya, yaani kipimo cha uhai na kifo. Hii ilitokana na kwamba yale ambayo Uislamu ulioyafafanua kwa mtazamo wa mambo muhimu ya kimaisha yalichukuliwa na Waislamu kuwa ni ukweli usiotiliwa shaka, ambao waliushikilia kwa nguvu, na hatari ya kuyapuuza ilikuwa dhahiri. Kwa sababu hiyo, haikuwezekana kwao kukabiliana na hali iliyotishia uwepo wao bila kuchukua hatua kuelekea yale ambayo Uislamu uliwawajibisha, yaani kipimo cha uhai na kifo. Ummah wa Kiislamu wala Dola ya Kiislamu haikuwahi kushindwa huko nyuma kuyatambua na kuyafahamu mambo muhimu ya kimaisha, wala kushindwa kuyatambua na kuyafahamu hatua za kuchukua. Hivyo hawakuwahi kuyapuuza. Hata hivyo, mtazamo wa Uislamu ulipopungua hadi kufikia kiwango cha upotovu, na uchamungu katika nyoyo ulipodhoofika hadi kufikia kiwango cha kunyamaza kimya mbele ya ukafiri wa wazi, mambo haya muhimu ya kimaisha yalipoteza umuhimu wake, na kipimo cha uhai na kifo hakikuchukuliwa kuyaelekea. Matokeo yake, tishio dhidi ya uwepo wao likaibuka, na Waislamu wakashindwa kutoa damu zao na uhai wao kwa ukarimu ili kulizuia tishio hili. Kwa hiyo, Khilafah iliangamizwa, mfumo wa Uislamu ukafutiliwa mbali, na Ummah wote wa Kiislamu ukatishiwa kutoweka.

Therefore, the Muslims used to perceive the vital issues and used to undertake towards them what was obligatory upon them, that is the measure of life and death. This was because that which Islam had explained in terms of vital issues was considered as fact by the Muslims, which they clutched with a tight grip, and the danger of neglecting them was clear. Hence, it was inconceivable for them to face a situation that threatened their existence without undertaking towards it that which Islam had obliged upon them, that is the measure of life and death. Neither the Islamic Ummah, nor the Islamic State ever failed in the past to perceive and be aware of the vital issues, nor failed to perceive and be aware of the measures. Thus they never neglected them. However, when the perception of Islam receded to the level of deviation and when the piety in the souls weakened to the level of keeping silent over the flagrant Kufr, these vital issues lost their consideration as being vital, and the measure of life and death was not undertaken towards them. Consequently, the threat to their existence loomed and the Muslims failed to give their blood and their lives generously in order to repel this threat. Hence, the Khilafah was destroyed, the system of Islam was abolished and the whole of the Islamic Ummah was threatened with extinction.

Kwa hiyo, ni lazima kuzitazama masuala muhimu kwa mtazamo wa Kiislamu kama Uislamu ulivyoyaamuru katika Kitabu na Sunnah. Pia ni lazima kuzitazama hatua za lazima zinazopaswa kuchukuliwa kuhusiana nayo, kama zilivyobainishwa na Qur'ani na Hadith ya Mtume wa Allah ﷺ. Ndipo ufahamu wa masuala muhimu na wa hatua za lazima kuhusiana nayo utakapojengeka, na kupuuzwa kwake kutakuwa jambo lisilowezekana kufikirika.

Hence, it is imperative to perceive the vital issues from the Islamic viewpoint as Islam decreed in the Book and the Sunnah. It is also imperative to perceive the compulsory measures which ought to be undertaken towards them as outlined by the Qur’an and by the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw). Only then will awareness of the vital issues and of the compulsory measure towards them be generated and their neglect then become inconceivable.