Assalamolaikum and Welcome to this weeks episode,

“Neglecting the Amanah".

The term Amanah is mostly understood in a limited sense of having the ‘responsibility' of things that one is in charge of.

For example taking care of someone else's things, taking responsibility of your children, keeping a promise or keeping the private affairs of someone to yourself.

However, Amanah also means the responsibility of the Deen, its implementation and its Dawah - and this is what we’ll be talking about today.
But first - let's look at the main reason behind the decline of the Ummah.

We have seen since the demolition of Khilafah in 1924, our deen is being ridiculed by west, the body of the ummah is divided into pieces, the muslims are being persecuted and oppressed. In Muslim countries Kufr laws are implemented. This is all because we have lost our shield, the Khilafah, which protected Islam and the Muslims, and implemented the complete system of Islam.

The responsibility or Amanah of establishing the Word of Allah, is through working for the reestablishment of the Khilafah. It is the mechanism through which the whole of Islam is implemented.

As stated by Imam al-Qurturbi (rha) It is the pillar upon which other pillars rest.

Today, the mechanism to implement Islam - the Khilafah - is absent.

Due to this, our approach to the deen has become secularised, and is reduced to individualistic acts of piety, whether in our personal lives or in the manner in which we interact socially.

But crucially, without the Khilafah, we are not able to fulfill the amanah of giving Bayah to the Khaeefah of the Muslims.

Imam Muslim narrated from Abdullah bin 'Umar who said that the Prophet (saw) said,

مَنْ مَاتَ وَلَيْسَ فِي عُنُقِهِ بَيْعَةٌ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً

"One who dies without having bound himself by an oath of allegiance (to a Khalifah) will die the death of one belonging to the days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah)".

The oath of allegiance in this hadith refers to the pledge that takes place between the ruler and those that he rules upon. And the ‘death of jahiliyyah’ is to die in a state when one hasn’t taken that oath. Hence, to establish a Khilafah, for the purpose of the taking of this pledge, is an obligation - due to the Islamic Shari’ principle that ‘whatever leads to the fulfilment of a wajib, is a wajib itself’.

This discussion regarding the establishment of the Khilafah, has had its fair share of criticism from govts, their scholars, as well as individuals and/or groups.

Whether the arguments are to do with the imperfections of the members of a political party, or the lack of tangible results on the ground (like the decline of the morals of the Ummah, or the increase in oppression upon the Muslims), OR the hollow argument of obeying the law of the land more than accounting the Muslim rulers - it does not change the fact that the establishment of Islam as a system, remains a suspended duty upon the Muslim ummah.

It is for this reason, that the mentality of neglecting this amanah - needs to be looked in a deep manner.

- is it that we’re not convinced of its obligation from textual references, or is it that we reject the political aspect of the Islamic ideology altogether?

Is it that we aspire greater loyalty to the laws of the countries where we live? (where the discussions regarding the revival of the Ummah are becoming outlawed?) and so we are fearful of the loss of our jobs, our livelihood (meaning our rizq), our honour, our social status, or being arrested and other state pressures.

Do we believe in the politics of gradualism? that our situation will improve by taking one step at a time - whether it is the revival of the islamic personalities, or the improvement in the political apparatus in our home countries? where the political parties have compromised on the Islamic method for change, even though we can see in the Seerah that Muhammad(saw) was asked to Compromise several times by the Quraysh and other tribes but he refused every single time - and maintained his stance to bring about an independent ruling system, in the form of an Islamic state.

Or, are we amongst those who wait for the Mahdi to arrive? Or see the application of the Islamic ruling system in the 21st century as an impractical idea - so we sit idly and lament on the political situation of the Ummah.

These are the discussions that need to be had. We need to understand how our deen views a society, and brings about change in it. We need to look at Islam itself - is it a religion like Christianity or Judaism, or is it a complete ideology, with laws to govern all aspects of a society, from ruling, to foreign policy, to education, economics etc.

Did Allah leave out rules and laws for this period of the Ummah’s decline? Is there no concrete method to follow for change?

We must look at the evidences for the obligation of the Khilafah, and the method of RasulAllah (saw) of how he embarked upon establishing the first Islamic state in medina.

In this blessed month of Ramadan , we will fulfil the amanah of keeping fasts. We will see how fasting becomes a shield for protecting our nafs, as in mentioned in one of the hadiths. Similarly, the Imam, the Khaleefah, is a shield, as RasulAllah stated in a different hadith.

We will not prosper as an Ummah, if we merely possess the shield that protects our nafs, but not the shield that protects the Islamic society as a whole.

So let’s not neglect this enormous duty, the fard upon which all other fards rest. All our actions will be seen by Allah, as He says in surah at tauba:

وَقُلِ اعْمَلُوا فَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَسَتُرَدُّونَ إِلَى عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

“And say: work, for your work will be SEEN by Allah, His Messenger and the believers. And you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you of what you used to do."[At-Tauba 9: 105]

So let’s sincerely search for the political solution, and have the discussion that needs to be had, so we can arrive at the correct ideological solution for our situation, and not neglect the biggest Amanah that Allah has placed on our shoulders - the establishment of His deen upon this earth.

JazakaAllah kahiran for joining today. Until next time.

Assalamomalikum wr wb.