Ramadan: The Month of Victory

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ramadan: The Month of Victory

“The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and Al-Furqan.”
[TMQ 2:185]

“Oh you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may gain Taqwa.”
[TMQ 2:183]

FIRST REVELATION

Many of us may know that Ramadan is a month of blessing, a month of reward and a month of fasting. However, many of us may not know that Ramadan was a month of victory in which Allah (swt) blessed the Ummah with conquests on the battlefield.

Looking back at the Ummah’s history is a way to remember, reflect upon and learn from past examples, so that lessons can be drawn for the future. It is a reminder of the key events which took place in the blessed month of Ramadan, during the life of the Prophet (saw) and in the generations that followed.

The most significant event that took place during Ramadan was the beginning of the revelation of the Quran. Prophet Muhammad (saw) was in the cave of Mount Hira when the Angel Jibrael (as) came to him with the first five ayat of Surat Al-Alaq. Allah (swt) revealed:

“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists), He has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught (the writing) by the pen. He has taught man that which he knew not.”
[TMQ 92:1-5]


The Quran was revealed in Lailat al-Qadr (Night of Power), a night in which Allah (swt) rewards any Muslim, who spends it in prayer and total devotion to Him (swt), with forgiveness for all his past sins.

“Verily! We have sent it down in the night of Al-Qadr. And how would you know what the night of Al-Qadr is. The night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months.”
[TMQ 97: 1-3]


Imam Bukhari narrated, on the authority of Abu Hurairah, that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said “He who spends the night of Al-Qadr praying in total devotion, his past sins will be forgiven.”

It was from this very first day that the Prophet (saw) realized that this scripture was not a light message for the people, nor was it merely a moral code with a set of rituals like that of Christianity and Judaism. He understood that this guidance was not confined to Arabia or to any particular part of the world. Nor was it a message in compliance with the prevailing systems and authority of the day. Rather, he realized that the message of Islam had come to dominate over all other Deens (ways of life). As Allah (swt) said in Quran:

“It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the Deen of truth, to make it superior over all Deens (ways of life) even though the Mushrikeen (polytheists) hate it.”
[TMQ 9:33]


It was in this month that the Prophet (saw) returned home after receiving the first revelation, and said to his wife Khadija (ra) “After this day there is no more rest!”

And we all remember in this blessed month how he struggled against the tyrants of Makkah, attacking their false gods and systems until he managed to establish an authority in Madinah. There he implemented Allah’s systems on this earth, and the land came to be known as Dar Al Hijrah. After this establishment, the Prophet (saw) and the Muslims were no longer in a position of weakness. Rather they were transferred to a position of authority and strength.


THE BATTLE OF BADR

During the blessed month of Ramadan, in the second year after the Hijrah, on the morning of Friday the 17th, the Prophet (saw) led the famous Battle of Badr in which the Muslims were outnumbered 3 to 1. Just over 300 believers defeated an army of over 900 kuffar. By Allah (swt)’s leave the Quraysh were humiliated and the Muslims were victorious.

On the 8th of Ramadan, the Prophet (saw) left Madinah with three hundred and five of his companions mounted on seventy camels. They rode the camels in turn, heading towards a caravan led by Abu Sufyan, who was at the time a leader of the disbelieving Quraysh. The Quraysh came out to protect their caravan, so the Prophet (saw) consulted the Muslims on what to do. Abu Bakr and Umar (ra) voiced their support and then al-Miqdad ibn ‘Amr (ra) arose and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Go where Allah tells you, for we are with you. We shall not say as the children of Israel said to Moses ‘You and your Lord go and fight and we will stay at home’, but you and your Lord go and fight and we will fight with you.” The Muslims then became silent, and he said, “Give me advice O men!” by which he meant the Ansar who had paid allegiance to him at al-’Aqabah. They had pledged to protect him as they protected their wives and children. When the Ansar sensed that he meant them, Sa’ad ibn Mu’adh (ra) who was holding their banner said, “It seems as if you mean us, O Messenger of Allah.” He (saw) said, “Yes.” Sa’ad said, “We believe in you, we declare your truth, and we witness that what you have brought us is the truth, and we have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey; so go where you wish, we are with you; and by He who sent you, if you were to ask us to cross this sea and you plunged into it, we would plunge into it with you; not a man would stay behind. We do not dislike the idea of meeting our enemy tomorrow. We are experienced in war, trustworthy in combat. It may well be that Allah will let us show you something which will bring you joy, so take us along with Allah’s blessing.” The Messenger of Allah (saw) was delighted with Sa’ad’s words and said, “Forward in good heart, for Allah had promised me one of the two parties, and by Allah, it is as though I now saw the enemy lying prostrate.”

The two armies then advanced and drew closer to each other on Friday morning on the 17th of Ramadan. The Messenger of Allah (saw) straightened the ranks and incited the Muslims to fight. The Muslims were encouraged by the words of Allah’s Messenger (saw) and went forward. The fighting broke out fiercely and the Muslims became stronger, as they chanted “Ahad! Ahad!” (The One!, The One!). Allah’s Messenger (saw), whilst standing in the midst of the confrontation, took a handful of pebbles and threw them at the Quraysh saying, “Foul be those faces!” Then he ordered his companions to charge and they duly obliged until the battle was over, and the foe was routed. The Muslims emerged victorious despite being outnumbered three to one. The Quraysh fled the battlefield and the Muslims returned to Madinah having achieved a truly great victory.


THE OPENING OF MAKKAH

We should know that it was in this month of reward, the 20th of Ramadan, in the 8th year after Hijrah that the Prophet (saw) returned to Makkah not as the ruled but as the ruler in the opening of Makkah (Fath Makkah), when he took it under the authority of Islam. Makkah was conquered without a battle. He entered Makkah and treated the people justly. He personally went to the Ka’ba, pointed to the idols with his stick and recited the verse:

“The Truth has come and the falsehood has passed away; verily falsehood is sure to pass away.”
[TMQ 17:81]


After that, all the idols which the Quraysh used to worship collapsed on their backs, one after the other, and then they were burnt, broken up and disposed of.

Thus, Makkah was completely liberated and as a result, the main obstacle standing in the way of the Islamic Da’wa had finally been overcome.


THE OPENING OF SPAIN

Ninety-two years after the Hijrah, Islam had spread across North Africa, Persia and Sham. Al-Andalus (Spain) was under the tyrannical rule of King Roderic of the Visigoths. Musa ibn Nusair, the Muslim Walee (governor) of North Africa, responded by sending his courageous general Tariq ibn Ziyad at the head of 12,000 troops. In Ramadan of that year, they were confronted with an army led by Roderic himself, who was seated on a throne of ivory, silver, precious gems and drawn by white mules. Tariq motivated the Muslims and reminded them that Paradise lay ahead of them, and that defeat and the sea were behind them. They burst with great enthusiasm and Allah (swt) manifested a clear victory over the forces of disbelief.

Not only were Roderic and his forces defeated, but Tariq and Musa succeeded in liberating all of Al-Andalus, Sicily, and parts of France. This was the beginning of the Golden Age of Al-Andalus where Muslims ruled for over 700 years.


THE BATTLE OF AIN JALOOT

It was in the month of Ramadan, on Friday the 25th, in 658 A.H., that the Muslims defeated the Mongols in the battle of Ain Jaloot, led by Saifuddin Qutuz.

Qutuz told his army to wait until they finished the Jummah Salah, “Do not fight them until the sun passes the middle of the sky, the shadows appear and the winds stir, and the preachers and people start to implore Allah for us in their prayers”, and thereafter the fighting began. Jullanar, the wife of Qutuz, was killed during the battle. Qutuz stood up saying, “And Islam…And Islam.” The entire army repeated that word after him until they achieved their victory.

Qutuz united the Muslims, prepared them to fight and focused upon the victory of Allah (swt) over the enemy. The necessary money was raised towards this objective and the army was mobilized to engage in the battle to defend Islam, its followers and lands, and to fight the usurping aggressor.

Compare this scenario with today. How have the rulers prepared the governors, scholars and army for battle? Musharraf helped the Americans prepare for the battle against Muslims and deserted the Muslims completely. Instead of commanding the Pakistani army to defend and fight alongside their brothers in Afghanistan, Musharraf ordered them to guard the Afghan-Pakistani borders and prevent any Muslim from seeking refuge in Pakistan. He also used the army to quell any demonstration that voiced support for the Muslims in Afghanistan and prohibited the raising of money for them.

In the same year, a unit of the Jordanian army flew over Palestine on their trip back from a UN mission in Sierra Leone. They had travelled 1500 miles to protect the interests of Britain, but had failed to hear the cries of their brothers and sisters living less than 10 miles away as they suffered the brutality of Israel. SubhanAllah! What a striking contrast between today, and the day of Saifuddin Qutuz!

Amongst the many renowned scholars who had encouraged the Muslims to unify behind Qutuz and prepare for the battle was the "Sheikh of Scholars" Al-`Izz Bin Abdis-Salam. In his vigorous response to the commandment of Allah (swt), he rallied the Muslims from the mimbars (pulpits) of the masaajid, and called them to fulfill their pledge to Allah (swt). And when Qutuz needed a fatwah to allow him to tax the Muslims in order to fund the battle, Al-'Izz, in his integrity and truthfulness to Islam, refused to speak until all the wealth of the governors and the leaders of the Muslims were exhausted.

Contrast such men with the scholars of today who enjoy the comfort and security of government positions while the people of sincerity languish in the prisons of these same governments. How is it, with a staff of so many scholars, that the rulers of today are able to desert and betray Muslims both inside and outside their territories with such ease? Why is it that, instead of reining the rulers on the path of truth, these scholars allow them to spread corruption and force kufr on Muslims? How, under the watch of so many scholars, are the governments able to rob the Muslims of their wealth through unjust and unbearable taxes and duties, like the GST in Pakistan and the VAT in Sudan?

It was narrated by Abi al-A'war As-Silmee (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Beware of the doors of the ruler for they have indeed become a source of trouble and humiliation.” [Saheeh ad-Dailamee]

And Muhammad (saw) also said, “Shall I inform you of the perfect Scholar?” The Sahabah replied, “Yes.” He (saw) said, “The perfect scholar is the one who does not deprive the people of the Mercy of Allah, does not give them hope of salvation from punishment but neither makes them lose hope of His Mercy, nor discards the Quran in favour of something else.”

It was also in this month of fasting when Al-Mu’tasim billah the Abbasid Khaleefah answered the cry of one Muslim woman when she was dishonoured by the Romans. He vowed not to break his fast until they were taken over. He led the army which brought Amoriah (Ankara) to the rule of Islam.

It was in this month of sacrifice in 1187 (CE) that Salahuddin Ayyubi defeated the Crusaders. On this day the Muslims virtually routed all the local Crusader forces capable of defending the Crusaders’ establishment in the Near East. With a 12,000 strong cavalry, they defeated the Crusaders and returned al-Quds back into its rightful hands.


TODAY

If we look at the situation of the Muslim Ummah today in this Ramadan or the Ramadans previous to this, we see that it is very different from the examples mentioned so far.

Today, many of the Muslims of Iraq go through Ramadan being slaughtered while we live comfortably. Many of the Muslims there remain hungry and have nothing to break their fasts with. Some of us may have even seen the documentaries and news stories on television, or pictures in the newspapers of how the Muslims are being killed.

The same can be said about Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Chechnya and the list unfortunately goes on.

The question that we need to ask ourselves is: What has changed? This is the comparison we must make between Badr and Iraq. It is the comparison we must make between the destruction of the idols like Lat and Uzza by the hands of the Prophet (saw) in the month of Ramadan and the implanting of the modern day idols of Capitalism in our lands today. It is the same comparison we must make between the destruction of the Crusaders, and the regaining of al-Quds by Salahuddin Ayyubi in the month of Ramadan, and the giving of al-Quds to the Crusaders of today. And it is also the comparison we must make between the protection of the Muslim woman’s honour by al-Mu’tasim and the dishonouring of women in the world today.

Indeed it is not enough for us as an Ummah to witness the multitude of problems that exists amongst us today. Rather, we must understand the cause for these problems and act on those causes. The cause of this difference between the Ramadan of today and the victorious Ramadans of the past is not difficult to observe: it is simply due to the absence of the Quran, that Allah (swt) revealed as a guidance and al-Furqan (criterion), being implemented in our lives.

Allah (swt) did not reveal the Quran simply to be read rhetorically, but rather He (swt) revealed it to be implemented on the people – so that they rule by its guidance and govern their lives by its laws.

In the past, under the Islamic Khilafah, the rulers ruled by the Shariah contained in the Quran; today the rulers rule by their minds to secure their own interests and the interests of their Western masters.

So, when the Muslims ruled by Islam - when their affairs were governed by all that Allah (swt) had revealed - Ramadan was the month of victory over the enemies of Islam and Muslims. But this Ramadan, when Islam is not implemented in any land and when Muslims are being ruled by man-made laws, the Ummah faces subjugation by the kuffar in almost every sphere of life.

This Ramadan, the Muslims count their dead as the kuffar nations enforce their occupation of Muslim lands in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir. This Ramadan, the armies of the Muslims are withheld from helping their brothers and sisters and are instead sent, without hesitation, to protect the kuffar from the Muslims. This Ramadan, the Muslims face an onslaught against their most precious possession, their Deen, as the Western colonialists spread their corrupt culture by reforming the educational curriculum in Muslim lands and also through the media and through advertising. And this Ramadan, Muslims face mounting hardships and hunger while their corrupt rulers and the Western colonialists exploit the immense resources of the Ummah.

So, despite being a giant in terms of its lands, material resources, population, armies and its greatest asset, the one true Deen, Islam, the Muslim Ummah lies in humiliation before the kuffar. This matter was inevitable because without the Islamic Khilafah State, politics and ruling are no longer about ordering the Ma’roof (good) and forbidding the Munkar (evil). Instead, politics and ruling have been reduced to ordering what the colonialists’ desire, and forbidding what the colonialists detest. Politics is no longer about looking after the affairs of the Muslims by seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt). Instead, politics has been sullied into a cheap competition to please the colonialists, between the current rulers and those who seek to succeed them in ruling.

This Ramadan, with the Ummah suffering immensely due to the mischief of the kuffar, we must not be satisfied by turning to Allah (swt) through prayer and fasting alone. Rather we must also work to implement the Deen of Allah (swt) and ensure its dominance over all other ways of life by re-establishing the Islamic Khilafah State in the Muslim lands, so that future Ramadans witness victory after victory once again.

The work to change the current corrupt rulers and re-establish the Khilafah in their place is not just a matter of life and death; it is an obligation from Allah (swt). If Muslims do not perform this duty, it would be an acceptance of the many sins of the rulers. As a result, the situation of the Muslims will become worse in this Dunya and will bring about the punishment in the Aakhira. RasulAllah (saw) said, “Allah will not punish the common people due to the work of specific people, until they see the (evil) munkar amongst themselves and they were able to forbid it but they did not do that. If they did that Allah will punish the specific people and the common people.” [Ahmad]


TOMORROW

In conclusion, we must benefit fully from the blessings of Ramadan. We must turn to Allah (swt) by intensifying our struggle through political means against the corrupt rulers of the Muslim lands and by re-establishing the Khilafah in their place. Only the Khilafah will reinstate Islam as an authority that will protect the Muslims and their Deen, and strike fear into the hearts of their aggressors. Mu’ad ibn Jabal (ra) once called the people of the town and said to them, “Today the reciters of Quran are few but the implementers are many, a time will come when the reciters will be many and the implementers will be few.” It is as if Mu’ad was describing our time! Today the reciters may be abundant but the implementers are scarce.

So let us work to turn this situation around. Let us work to move our generation from simply being reciters to being reciters and implementers. Let us make this Ramadan a turning point in the Islamic history. Let us make this Ramadan join the months of victory.

Allah (swt) has promised us victory if we are true to Him alone. Allah (swt) says,

“So do not become weak, nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers.”
[TMQ 3:139]

Source: The Politically Aware Muslim

Further Reading:

Liberation of Makkah 20th Ramadhan

The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa'sallam said:

"The Muslim is a unique Ummah among the whole of mankind:
Their Land is ONE, their War is ONE, their Peace is ONE,
Their Honour is ONE and their Trust is ONE."
[Ahmad]