Allah, the Most Exalted, sent down The Book (the Noble Quran) to clarify all things and to give Guidance and Mercy to people who believe.
He sent His Messenger, Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) with guidance and the true religion with which He opened blinded eyes, deaf ears, and sealed hearts. With it, He eliminated the darkness of ignorance and stupidity and released the chains of polytheism such that misguidance became a legend of the past and worshipping idols became an old myth.
A Muslim wonders at the stupidity of the polytheists. Allah Says (what means): "He whom Allah guides is rightly guided but he whom He leads astray never will you find for him a protective guide." [Quran 18: 17]
We must always remember though, that trials are continuous and the substance of evil remains till today. Devils among humankind and Jinns continue to spread misguidance, and to make it seem attractive and spread it by means of all tongues. Allah Says (what means): "And thus we have made for every Prophet an enemy, devils from mankind and Jinn, inspiring to one another decorated speech and delusion." [Quran 6:112]
It is mandatory upon us to know the ways of misguidance, warn people of it, expose it, expose its objectives and block the way for those who call to it. By doing this, Muslims can be aware of what their Lord wants of them and have proper insight so as not to be harmed by the plotting and planning of the misguided ones.
Today, in the Muslim world, many different philosophies and ideologies are propagated…ones that deceive numerous people with its superficial sparkle and glory. Many slogans and terms have captured the minds of people and control their way of thinking.
These false beliefs are like a disease and are of the fire. If it has been decreed for these false beliefs to be disseminated, they will not overcome anyone but will turn him into disintegrated ruins.
One of these ideologies is secularism, which has infiltrated into the Muslim communities. Perhaps one of the most serious challenges that face the people of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama’ah (the true Islamic methodology) at this time is to overthrow these false beliefs, clarify their vague statements and expose the reality of the obscure slogans behind which secularism hides and spreads its poison in the minds and hearts of the people of this nation.
For this reason, it is necessary to unmask the true face of this ideology which is misguided and misguiding at the same time.
Secularism, in its correct definition, is the belief that religion should not enter into the affairs of the state; it denies any form of religious faith and worship. Thus, secularism is the antithesis of Islamic monotheism, which, from the perspective of Islam, is the greatest reality and truth.
Ibn Taimiyyah may Allah have mercy upon him said in his book 'Al-Uboodiyyah' (Servitude): "Mankind is at the crossroad that has two roads, no third to it. It is either that he chooses servitude to Allah or he rejects the servitude to Him. To fully believe in the servitude to Allah, excluding all others, knowing that servitude to anyone else but Allah, great or small, is the worshiping of Satan."
Allah Says (what means): "Did I not enjoin upon you O Children of Adam that you not worship Satan for indeed he is to you a clear enemy and that you worship only me. This is the straight path." [Quran 36:60-61] This includes the Arabs about whom Allah Said (what means): "They call upon- instead of Him- none but female deities and they actually call upon none but rebellious Satan." [Quran 4:117] This also includes all acts of worship performed to anyone else but Allah throughout history.
Some of the acts of worship have changed. The Arabs no longer worship the idols of the past. However, worship of Satan in itself did not change. The old idols are replaced with new idols: like the partisanship, nationalism, secularism, personal freedom, sex and others.
There are many new idols today. It is indeed the worship of Satan and Taghoot (anything adorned besides Allah, be it material idol or ideology), which negate the testimony that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah. For the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah" (the first part of the testimony of faith) is to disbelieve in Taghoot and to believe in Allah Alone.
Based on this, we can know the ruling of Islam concerning secularism. Secularism is disbelief and is of the pre-Islamic Taghoot concept which negates and contradicts "La ilaha illa Allah".
Two points which are basic and paired are that firstly, it is ruling with something other than the rulings of Allah or what Allah has revealed, and secondly, it is associating others in the worship of Allah.
Secularism simply means ruling with laws other than the laws of Allah; something other than what Allah has revealed. It is ruling with a constitution or legislation other than what Allah has legislated. The acceptance to be governed by and follow Taghoot instead of Allah is the essence of establishing life with no faith and religion.
Allah Says (what means): "And he who does not rule with what Allah revealed, indeed, those are the disbelievers." [Quran 5: 44]
Disbelief is of different kinds, of which we must be aware. One aspect of Jahiliyyah- pre-Islamic paganism- was the rejection of Allah. The rejection of His existence is related to faith and the way life is perceived, which corresponds to the Jahiliyyah of Communists.
Another aspect is acknowledging the existence of Allah but in a perverted way, and deviation in acts of worship. This kind of Jahiliyyah is synonymous with the Jahiliyyah of the Jews and Christians.
Another aspect is accepting the existence of Allah and performing acts of worship but with a serious deviation in the understanding, implication and the implementation of "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad-ur Rasool-Allah", which results in a comprehensive association in the issue of obedience and partnership with Allah. This Jahiliyyah is of those who call themselves Muslims but are secularists. They think that they are within the fold of Islam and have all the rights of Muslims by merely uttering the Shahadah (saying: "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad-ur Rasool-Allah". They perform these acts of worship in an un-Islamic fashion.
Believers in secularism deal with the aspects of faith and worship according to what Allah Wants, but- at the same time- they legislate rules other than the rules set by Allah Almighty. In fact, this is the reality and the basis of Shirk (associating partners with Allah), because the people of Jaahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic paganism) did not object to the existence of Allah. Allah Says (what means): "And if you would ask them: 'who created the heavens and the Earth', they would say: 'Allah.'" [Quran 31:25]
They also used to have some acts of worship, as Allah Says (what means): "And they assign to Allah from that which He created of crops and livestock as a share." [Quran 6:136] Yet, with all of that, what was Allah's ruling regarding such a community? Allah ruled that they were disbelievers, and considered these acts collectively to weigh nothing on the scale of Islam.
That is why long battles took place between them and the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) and the fight became intensely aggressive until they could not settle it but with physical fights, with the sword as the judge.
The subject and the cause behind all of these long aggressive battles was nothing but that one statement, "La ilaaha illa Allah". A statement that the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) insisted on and propagated to the furthest extent and people of Jaahiliyyah refused to the furthest extent.
From the first instant when the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) called them to "La ilaaha illa Allah", the immediate answer was as Allah Says in the Quran (what means): "Has he made the gods only one God, indeed this is a strange thing." [Quran 38:5]
The issue was very clear in their minds, that committing to this statement meant rejecting firmly and giving up completely everything else besides Allah. Everything that they were worshiping such as: idols, the Taghoot of leadership, the tribe, magicians and traditions, all had to be dropped and they had to completely submit to Allah instead. This meant taking all matters, whether minor or significant, big and small in judgment to Allah Alone, with no partners.
Likewise, nowadays we have among us those who say that they are Muslims but they refuse to accept a relationship between religion and dealings in the worldly life, particularly when it comes to dealing with money and materialistic issues.
Among us these days are people who are highly educated with PhD’s from different universities of the world and the first questions they impudently ask are: "What does Islam have to do with our social behavior? What does Islam have to do with men and women intermingling on beaches and places of entertainment? What does Islam have to do with the way women dress on the streets? What does Islam have to do with women driving cars and mixing with men and her personal freedom in traveling alone and dealing and running her own affairs?" This, indeed, is a call towards atheism, because it rejects what Allah has revealed in His Book regarding superiority of men over women. Some question, "What does Islam have to do with releasing the sexual aura through any means, be it adultery, fornication, or anything else? What does Islam have to do with the ‘civilized’ people and what they do"?
So what is the difference between these people and the disbelievers among the people of Shu'ayb may Allah exalt his mention who said to him (what means): "Does your religion command you that we should leave what our fathers worshiped?" [Quran 11:87] These people question and strongly reject religion interfering with economics. They reject any connection between financial dealings and religious faith and morals, saying: "What does religion have to do with dealing with usury? What does religion have to do with sly cheating and stealing as long as no one catches you? What does religion have to do with politics and the ruling of countries?"
They shamelessly say that if religious morals were to interfere with the economy they will corrupt and ruin it. Therefore, they are not any better than the people of Prophet Shu'ayb were.
In today’s world, we have a state of ignorance that is worse than that of the pre-Islamic period, but it claims knowledge and civilization. Its advocates accuse those who connect between religion and human social behavior, politics and the economy of being backward and rigid, labeling them as fundamentalists and extremists.
Is this not the reality of the campaign of those who claim to be Muslim from the secularists who have corrupted the people and the land, saying: “Religion and belief is for Allah, but governing the land is for the people”, i.e. separating state from religion?
It is the habit of hypocrites and secularists who claim to be Muslims, to not openly reject and show their enmity to Islam. They use the weapon of the illusion of being Muslim until the time of battle, when they take the Muslims by surprise.
For that, these hypocrites from among the secularists and, those who are like them, launch a campaign to deceive the largest possible number of Muslims and to diminish the small number of people that might expose, interfere and intercept what they are doing.
Those who campaign in the interest of secularism, while practically trying to extract Islam from its roots, slowly try to gain the means of the media to get to masses.
Secularism was born and emerged out of Jaahiliyyah and it is clear disbelief. This fact is not hidden and there is no doubt about it. Those who call for secularism create doubt and confusion deliberately. They know that there is no place for this Jaahiliyyah in the lands and countries of Muslims, unless they are deceptive and confuse the masses of Muslims through their false campaigns that conceal the reality from them. They hide from the common people the matter of their religion. They instigate the common people and the masses of Muslims against the sincere and the righteous who call for Islam, those who warn them of the danger to their religion and their families and expose the reality of secularism.
The fight that has been initiated against the Muslims of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa’ah by these misguided sects who claim to be a part of Islam, must not be taken lightly.
The most dangerous of these have always been the attack of sects with concealed faith, like some deviant sects who have been supported by international monetary forces of the disbelievers to destroy the people of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa’ah. Since the people of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa’ah are the real and practical danger to these international forces, their forts are internally endangered by the secular powers that collated against them from the inside and that fight them both covertly and overtly. This represents the core of the battle between Islam and disbelief in this modern time.
The most dangerous phase of this struggle is uncovering the reality of this evil secular ideology and exposing it to Muslims, so that the way of the criminals who try to deceive them and confuse them with regards to their religion becomes clear to each of them.
Isn't it time for the people of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa’ah to be careful and cautious of these dangers that surround them from inside and outside, and endanger them in this life and the hereafter?
Isn't it time for many of them to give up their old battles and settle petty differences and concentrate their force, power and efforts to confront these challenges?
