The Way to Taqwa and Iman in the Month of the Qur’an
is by Ruling by the Shariah of Allah and Restoring of the Authority (Sultan) to the Ummah
(Translated)

Ninety-seven years passed after the destruction of the Islamic Khilafah and the blessed month of Ramadan descends upon the Islamic Ummah like the previous years; years of injustice, humiliation, hardship and oppression. At the same time, the Ummah is yearning for pride and empowerment and is certain that after this hardship comes ease, and Allah is the protector of the pious believers; this is because of Allah’s saying: ﴿وَإِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ وَاللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾“And indeed, the wrongdoers are allies of one another; but Allah is the protector of the righteous” [Al-Jathiya: 19].

The Muslim Ummah has realized that the Kaffir countries of the West are behind its misfortunes and misery; they are the ones who have planned that it lives in humiliation and in poverty. They all have gathered against the Ummah and snatched from its weak and torn body, just like what the noble Messenger said will take place; that a day will come upon his Ummah when the nations will gather against it, just as people gather around a feast.

The Ummah also realized that the agent rulers of the Muslim are the iron fist that the West uses to be in control and extend its colonial influence over all its natural and human resources, and it is the rulers who surrender its children and women on the tables of the wicked to shed more blood and violate the honour of Muslim women whenever they wish.

We are now in the month of Ramadan, the month of the Qur’an, which is a guidance for the people, and which shows us what Allah wants to see in us from Iman and Taqwa by adhering to the rules that He has prescribed for us. Whoever is guided by His (swt) guidance is of the righteous whom Allah mentioned in His noble Book

﴿الم * ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾

“Alif, Lam, Meem *This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah” [Al-Baqara: 1-2].

However, taqwa is not achieved by reading the Qur'an in the month of the Qur'an without pondering upon its verses and implementing what is revealed in every place and time because the Almighty says:

﴿كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُوا آَيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ﴾

“[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded” [Sad: 29].

And He (swt) says:

﴿إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ لِتَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِمَا أَرَاكَ اللَّهُ وَلَا تَكُن لِّلْخَائِنِينَ خَصِيمًا﴾ 

“Indeed, We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth so you may judge between the people by that which Allah has shown you. And do not be for the deceitful an advocate” [An-Nisa’: 105].

Just as the Qur’an is for recitation, it is also to rule by on the basis of the Shariah law, which is in the Qur’an as guidance to mankind even if the polytheists detest it, due to the verse:

﴿هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَىٰ وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ﴾

“It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with Allah dislike it” [At-Tawba: 30].

The one who recites and ponders upon the Book of Allah (swt) knows that the situation of the world today of misery, injustice and corruption is the result of being distant from the true rulings of Allah because of the verse: ﴿وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا﴾“And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life," [Ta-Ha: 124].

Qur’an, which is our constitution, is absent from our lives, and sovereignty on the Earth is for the tyrants’ rules. And the constitutions are not based on the Qur'an, our wealth is lost, the Muslims are scarcely given anything, our media is governed by the standards of the false misguided capitalist media, our school curricula at all levels of education are not based on Islam, slogans empowering women deafened our ears, and many other evil and degeneration.

And by having Taqwa, we must not forget our duty to the Ummah of looking after it, and the duty to work to change these corrupt conditions. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

«إِنَّهُ يُسْتَعْمَلُ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَرَاءُ فَتَعْرِفُونَ وَتُنْكِرُونَ فَمَنْ كَرِهَ فَقَدْ بَرِئَ وَمَنْ أَنْكَرَ فَقَدْ سَلِمَ وَلَكِنْ مَنْ رَضِيَ وَتَابَعَ»

“Amirs will be appointed over you, and you will find them doing good as well as bad deeds. One who hates their bad deeds is absolved from blame. One who disapproves of their bad deeds is (also) safe (so far as Divine wrath is concerned). But one who approves of their bad deeds and imitates them (is doomed).”

And we have the duty to enjoin it (the ummah) to do the good and forbid it from evil, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, as narrated from his Lord

«مُرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَدْعُونِي فَلَا أُجِيبَكُمْ، وَتَسْأَلُونِي فَلَا أُعْطِيَكُمْ، وَتَسْتَنْصِرُونِي فَلَا أَنْصُرَكُمْ»

“Command the good and forbid the evil before you make supplication to Me and I do not answer, and you ask Me and I do not give you, and you ask for my victory and I do not give you victory”.

And in this atmosphere of good which is full of spirituality in the month of good deeds and blessing, we should not forget, while we are fasting, what the Islamic Ummah is going through from a declared war on it and its belief, and what this requires of hard work, day and night, and not to delay and ignore our role in this life, due to Allah’s saying

﴿وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ﴾

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me” [Adh-Dhariyat: 56]

And worship includes all the rules of Islam and is not limited to prayer, fasting and recitation of the Qur’an, but it also includes commanding of good and forbidding of evil, and Allah (swt) linked it to the verse in Al-i-Imran with the belief, which is the origin of the Deen and the basis of Islam, Allah (swt) described this Ummah which was brought to mankind and described the good (khair) in it.

﴿كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ﴾

“You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah” [Al-i-Imran: 110].

It is not the best nation unless the conditions of good (Khair) are met. This is by the existence of belief, the existence of commanding good and forbidding evil. On the authority of Durra bint Abi Lahab, she said: A man approached the Prophet (saw) when he (saw) was on the pulpit, and said: O Messenger of Allah, who are the best people? He (saw) said:

«خَيْرُ النَّاسِ أَقْرَؤُهُمْ وَأَتْقَاهُمْ وَآمَرُهُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ، وَأَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ، وَأَوْصَلُهُمْ لِلرَّحِمِ»

“The best people are those who recite (Qur’an) the most, and are the most pious and who command the good and forbid the evil the most, and who observe family ties the most.”

The situation that the Islamic Ummah is in is not because it does not recite the Qur'an, or it does not go to mosques, so this is not the solution, i.e. the recitation of the Qur’an, qiyam and fasting. Rather, it is greater than that because it has violated the conditions of its being the best nation, and left the duty of commanding good and forbidding evil, so Iman became absent and Taqwa became absent in the hearts and actions of the Muslims, and it was replaced with misery and burden. The Prophet (saw) said:

«وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ، لَتَأْمُرُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ، وَلَتَنْهَوُنَّ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ، أَوْ لَيُوشِكَنَّ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَبْعَثَ عَلَيْكُمْ عِقَابًا مِنْ عِنْدِهِ، ثُمَّ لَتَدْعُنَّهُ فَلَا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَكُمْ»

“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.”

O you who are fasting in this blessed month,

Besides our fasting and our qiyam, we must forbid all evil things that anger Allah (swt) and contradict the rules of His true Deen. One of the greatest of these evil deeds is the ruling by that which Allah did not reveal. We must not give our allegiance to the enemies of the Deen, must not raise their flags in our countries, and must not accept their covenants and do not be humiliated by accepting their unjust conditions.

And we must hold our rulers accountable and expose their conspiring against us and expose their stray and misleading schemes. Just as our Deen is one, our Lord is one and our Qur'an is one, and we unite in worship in the same month, it is a duty and an obligation to unite in one state and remove these rulers, the agents of the West and its guardians. If it wasn’t for the surrendering and control of these rulers over us, the West would have not have been able to stand in our countries. These rulers have spread corruption instead of prayer, and increased our bloodshed instead of looking after us and they gave the West the authority instead of giving it to the Ummah, and made the sovereignty to democracy rather than the Shariah.

The path to Taqwa and Iman in the month of Ramadan, the month of the Qur’an, is by ruling by Shariah law in the lives of Muslims, and commanding of good and forbidding of evil until this Deen rises and the Khilafah Rashida (rightly guided Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood returns to ensure justice and safety, and the Ummah of Islam returns to lead the world again.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Rana Mustafa