这里有人可能会问：异教徒竟然如此轻易地摧毁了哈里发国，并把伊斯兰从政治舞台上彻底抹去，而穆斯林人数已达数亿，却既不捍卫自己的宗教，也不捍卫自己的政治实体，这是为什么？对此的回答是：是的！异教徒推翻哈里发国、把伊斯兰从政治舞台上抹去，确实就是这么容易；穆斯林也没有去保卫它，他们甚至没有像战败者在撤出战场之前那样战斗到最后一刻。之所以会这样，是因为乌玛并没有把这些关乎根本的问题看作需要采取生死攸关措施的事情。于是，乌玛在没有全力抵御的情况下承受了这致命的一击。这是因为乌玛并不认为所发生的事情是关乎其存亡的根本问题，因此她没有像对待关乎生存的问题那样，以应有的重视去看待这场灾难，也没有以生死攸关的紧迫感去解决它。结果，异教徒得以推翻哈里发国，并将伊斯兰的制度从世上消除。

Here one may ask: “Was it with such ease that the Kuffar managed to destroy the Khilafah and wipe out Islam from the political scene, and while the Muslims number hundreds of millions, yet they do not defend their Deen nor do they defend their political entity?” The answer to this is: “Yes! It was that easy for the Kuffar to topple the Khilafah and wipe out Islam from the political scene; and the Muslims did not defend it; they did not even fight to the last ditch, like the vanquished would do before leaving the battlefield. The reason why this occurred was because these vital issues were not perceived by the Ummah as those which necessitated life and death measures to be taken. Thus the Ummah was dealt this fatal blow without a complete effort to repel it. This was because the Ummah did not consider what took place as being a vital issue upon which her survival or her demise depended. Hence, she did not view this calamity with the importance with which she would normally view issues upon which her survival depends. Consequently, she did not undertake the resolution of this calamity with the urgency of life and death. As a result, the Kuffar managed to topple the Khilafah and to wipe out the system of Islam from existence.

求生的本能使世上每一个民族、地上每一个族群都必然拥有自己的根本利益。为了这些利益，一个国家或一个民族会心甘情愿地付出鲜血，满怀最炽热的热情，毫不犹豫，也无需任何争辩或讨论。这些利益关乎生存或灭亡，关乎一个民族是否会从世上消失，或是否能保障其延续生存。

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 their survival.

这些措施是独特的，并且几乎对所有人都相同；针对他们所采取的措施也相似或非常相似，因为它们直接关系到生命安危。因此，问题是相同的，措施也是相同的。然而，与生存本能相关的问题并不构成所有的重要问题，重要问题也并非只与生存本能相关；因为还有与精神本能和繁衍本能相关的其他重要问题。

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 issues are the same and the measures are also the same. However, the issues related to the survival instinct do not compose all of 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 and to the procreation instinct.

然而,人们对这些问题的看法因其对生活的观点不同而有所差异;因此,他们为解决这些问题所采取的措施也各不相同。这是因为,使这些问题变得至关重要的,正是特定的生活观点;所以他们的看法有异,所采取的措施也随之不同。因此,某些重大问题会因各民族、各国家对生活观点的不同而有所差别。穆斯林是一个统一的乌玛,他们无疑面临着诸多重大问题。乌玛的重大问题,无论其与生存本能、精神本能还是繁衍本能相关,都应依据其生活观点来确定。而他们的生活观点仅由伊斯兰决定。因此,决定重大问题并确定所需采取措施的,正是伊斯兰。

However, people differ in these issues according to the difference in their viewpoint about life; thus they differ in the measures undertaken towards them; this is so because what makes these issues vital is the specific viewpoint about life; thus they differ and the measures they undertake also differ. Therefore, some vital issues differ between peoples and nations according to the difference in their viewpoint about life. The Muslims are one Ummah and they undoubtedly have a host of vital issues. The Ummah’s vital issues, whether these were related to the survival instinct or 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 measures which need to be taken.

伊斯兰已经向人们阐明了哪些是根本性的事务，并使人们有义务为之舍生取义。因此，穆斯林在确定自己的根本性事务时没有选择的余地。伊斯兰视为根本性的事务，穆斯林也必须如此看待。

Islam has explained to people what are 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.

同样,在生死这类问题上,他们对于如何对待这些事务也没有选择的余地;因为当伊斯兰确定了那些重大事务时,也就确定了穆斯林应当如何对待它们的准则。

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.

对于伊斯兰而言，遭遇威胁其生存的事件，以及穆斯林作为穆斯林而面对威胁其存在的事物，是不可避免的。任何一种生活中的运动都必然会面临威胁其存在的事物，这是不言自明的，尤其是改革运动，更具体地说是健康的改革运动。自伊斯兰诞生之初起，伊斯兰与库夫尔之间的斗争便十分激烈。这场斗争关乎库夫尔的命运，也关乎伊斯兰的命运。自麦地那伊斯兰国建立以来，在思想斗争之外又加上了流血的斗争，这是为了捍卫攸关根本的重大问题。因此，对穆斯林而言，攸关根本的问题必然存在，这是不言而喻的；他们为此付出生死的代价，也是不言而喻、必然如此的。正因此事，圣战被定为最重要的义务之一，先知ﷺ曾说……

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 that any movement in life would face that which threatens its existence, especially the movements of reform and more specifically the sound movements. Ever since the dawn of Islam, the struggle has been fierce between Islam and Kufr. This struggle has been about the fate of Kufr and the fate of Islam. The bloody struggle that was 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)

事情的根本是伊斯兰，其支柱是拜功，其最高峰是圣战。这件事的圣战将持续到末日来临，因为他（愿主福安之）说："自从真主派遣我以来，圣战就一直存在，直到我的乌玛的最后一代与达加尔作战，它不会因暴君的暴政而被废止，也不会因公正者的公正而被废止。"真主的使者（愿主福安之）还说：

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:

圣战与虔诚者和放荡者同在。因此，穆斯林在捍卫重大事务上从未有片刻松懈，在每一件关乎重大事务的事情上，他们也从未迟疑去承担生死的考验。

“Jihad is constant with the pious and the dissolute.” Hence, the Muslims did not slacken for one moment in defending the vital issues, nor did they ever hesitate in undertaking the measure of life and death towards every vital issue.

因此,当十字军东征威胁到穆斯林作为一个乌玛和一个国家的命运时,穆斯林采取了关乎生死存亡的措施。于是,他们与异教徒十字军展开了持续一个多世纪的激烈战争。伊斯兰乌玛成功地化解了威胁其存亡的致命打击。同样,当蒙古人入侵伊斯兰土地时,穆斯林也以同样的方式应对。伊斯兰乌玛将这次入侵视为威胁其生存的事情,因此对其采取了关乎生死的措施,穆斯林与蒙古人展开战争,他们舍弃生命,不谋求任何世俗利益,直到取得决定性的胜利。

Therefore, when they were faced with what threatened their fate as an Ummah and as a state during the crusades, the Muslims undertook measures which necessitated 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.

因此,穆斯林过去能够洞察攸关存亡的重大问题,并对其履行伊斯兰所规定的义务,那便是生死的尺度。这是因为伊斯兰对攸关存亡的问题所作的阐释,被穆斯林视为确定不移的事实,他们紧紧抓住不放,任何危险对他们来说都显而易见。因此,他们面对威胁自身存在的局面时,若不对其履行伊斯兰所规定的义务——即生死的尺度——是不可想象的。过去,无论是伊斯兰乌玛还是伊斯兰国家,都从未未能洞察并意识到攸关存亡的重大问题。然而,当对伊斯兰的认知退化到偏离的程度,当灵魂中的敬畏衰弱到对明显的库夫尔保持沉默的地步时,这些攸关存亡的问题便失去了其应有的重要性,生死的尺度也不再被用于衡量它们。结果,对存在的威胁逼近,穆斯林未能慷慨地献出鲜血和生命来挡开这一威胁。于是,哈里发制度被摧毁,伊斯兰的制度被废除,整个伊斯兰乌玛都面临灭绝的威胁。

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 so because that which Islam had explained in terms of vital issues was considered as facts by the Muslims, which they clutched with a tight grip, and the perception of any danger was clearly manifested to them. Hence, it was inconceivable for them to face a situation that threatened their existence without undertaking towards it that which Islam has 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. 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 the 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.

因此，必须从伊斯兰的观点来认识那些重大问题，即伊斯兰在《古兰经》和圣训中所规定的观点。同样必须认识《古兰经》和安拉使者(ﷺ)的圣训所列明的、针对这些问题应当采取的强制性措施。唯有如此，人们对重大问题及对其应采取的强制性措施的认识才会产生，而忽视它们也就变得难以想象了。

Thus, 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 would awareness of the vital issues and of the compulsory measure towards them be generated and their neglect would then become inconceivable.