بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Question:
Several European countries witnessed a new wave of demonstrations and protests on Saturday, October 31st... “France was at the forefront of the scene, while Germany saw demonstrations in dozens of cities with the participation of thousands of young people. Thousands of Portuguese took to the streets of Lisbon to protest a draft law related to rents and housing... Organizers raised slogans related to the rising cost of living, the decline in public services, and the state of education... Security forces used tear gas and water cannons, while acts of vandalism, arson of property, and looting of stores were recorded in some areas...” (Monte Carlo, 1 November 2026). These loud protests have raised many questions: How is it that these countries are unable to properly care for education within their own lands? How has the European economy weakened to the point that it cannot afford its own internal needs? And does the war in Ukraine and Trump’s war on Iran have a connection to the weakening of the European economy and, consequently, to these protests? May Allah (swt) reward you with goodness.
Answer:
To clarify the answer to these inquiries, we will review the following matters:
First: Protests occur in many countries around the world, meaning that to the extent they are a normal phenomenon expressing people’s dissatisfaction with something, similar ones have happened in European countries, such as the protests in the suburbs of France in 2005. Other protests occurred after that, but they were not characterized by violence and looting as happened this time since September 2026; rather, the protests have become recurring weekly. They happened on Saturday 31 October 2026, last Saturday 24 October, and the Saturday before that, 17 October “and the protests are distributed between France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Albania, with differing reasons for their outbreak, but they converge on a shared feeling of frustration and loss of confidence in government policies.” (Sky News Arabia, 26/10/2026). These protests were expanding within France and extended to Belgium and Italy, then Germany followed... They were interspersed with acts of violence, looting, confrontations with police, and arrests, and they continued to spread in waves until they reached the Balkans to the east, including the Muslim country Albania, and to the west to Spain and Portugal. France was the epicenter of these protests, whose demands expanded to solving the living hardship, stopping rising prices and housing costs, among other economic and political demands... Trump was quick to accuse Islam of responsibility for them, //truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117394656543560911">stating: “What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration. This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!” And the French President responded: “We had people claiming that we had been invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false”... (CNN Arabic, 22/10/2026).
Second: To discern whether these protests are transient like others that preceded them in previous years or whether they reveal a significant weakness afflicting European states, one must look at the accumulated problems encircling the necks of these European states, such as the war in Ukraine, Trump administration policies towards Europe, competition with China, and migration issues, and how all these issues affect the conditions of these states in general and the conditions of its major states in particular. And although its major European states fell from the throne of great powers as a result of World War II and the emergence of America and the Soviet Union, the European states continued to struggle on the international stage and their voice was heard throughout the Cold War, and they remained so after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and they did not accept American unilateralism and introduced their unified currency, the Euro in 1999 after establishing it with the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 to be a competitor to the dollar. It is true that it has not been able to stand against the dollar, but it remains to this day the second international currency after the dollar. According to International Monetary Fund data for 2025, the dollar constitutes 57% of foreign central banks’ hard currency reserves, while the euro constitutes 20%. Nevertheless, Europe as a whole has remained a massive economic power that competes with America and competes with China, meaning Europe has continued to constitute one of the three major pillars of the global economy. This position has enabled it to have influential political standing around the world and has allowed it to compete with America in some international arenas, even if it remained a minor competitor politically. As for the military aspect, Europe has remained, as it was during the Cold War, under America’s umbrella and its military protection, though Britain and France have retained their status as medium-sized nuclear powers.
Third: Europe has failed to compete with America, as well as with China, in the technology sector—the very sector that has taken the lead in pulling the global economy. No heavyweight technology company has emerged in any of the European countries, as is the case in America and China. All European countries have become a market for digital industries, competed over by America and China. This has begun to erode the economic capabilities of European countries. However, the advanced European economies, especially France, Britain, and Germany, have retained the backbone of their economies, represented by industry such as automobile and aircraft manufacturing. The economies of these countries continued to rely on trade in industrial products. But the war in Ukraine and the concurrent international developments have begun to dangerously overturn the balance in Europe, as follows:
1- The Russian invasion of Ukraine: Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, from several axes and approached the capital Kyiv. Here, Europe trembled and became agitated, fearing the Russian “bogeyman,” so it placed itself under the leadership of the Biden administration to help Ukraine and resist the Russian invasion. The Biden administration demonstrated strong leadership over the European countries that were gripped by panic, revealing their military weakness. This American leadership of Europe was a manifestation of Europe’s military weakness—that European flaw which had not been so clearly apparent before. Reports began to seriously document the points of European military weakness: major countries like Britain possess only a few hundred tanks, and they began pulling military pieces from their museums to support Ukraine. This indicates that some European trade in military equipment had previously covered up the profound military weakness of European countries. And when the European countries stood before the Russian military threat, America exploited them, wanting to drag them behind it and demanded that they follow America in its anti-China policy. The European countries complied, lest America leave them alone facing the Russian threat!
2- The severing of Russian energy arteries to Europe: Among the requirements for punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine was for Europe to cut off its Russian energy arteries. At a press conference at the White House in the presence of German Chancellor Scholz, Biden pledged to cut off Russian gas to Germany and halt the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on February 8, 2022, if Russian forces crossed the border with Ukraine, i.e., just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And this is what happened; indeed, the Nord Stream gas pipelines were blown up in the Baltic Sea. The European countries did not dare to oppose this American policy, and thus these countries were left at the mercy of the American wind, and their international weight diminished. As a result of this policy, European countries lost cheap Russian gas, which was the backbone of their industries. After the governments of these countries wavered between contacting Russia to dissuade it from Ukraine and searching for another gas source, they found themselves with no alternative but to rely on American liquefied natural gas (LNG), which was being supplied to them at four times the price! French President Macron said: “In a spirit of great friendship, we will say to our American and Norwegian friends: ‘You’re super, you supply us with energy and gas, but one thing that can’t go on for too long is us paying four times more than the price you sell to your industry’,” Macron said. “That is not exactly the meaning of friendship.” (Al-Hayat Washington website, 7 October 2022). Thus, Europe faced an energy shock: “With gas prices jumping to their highest levels since 2022 and declining inventories, the effects of the crisis extend from budgets and economies to the street, where a wave of protests against the high cost of living is widening in a number of European countries.” (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, 17 October 2026.
Fourth: And thus, this crisis struck the backbone of European industry at its very core:
“German energy giant Uniper announced yesterday, Friday, that it has been draining millions of euros daily since Russia reduced its gas supplies.” (Al Jazeera Net, 9 July 2022). “According to a report published by the Wall Street Journal, the energy bill has become one of the most prominent challenges facing German companies, following years of fluctuations in the wake of the European energy crisis and rising gas and oil prices..., and these pressures have pushed about a third of companies to postpone their investment plans, while a fifth of companies are considering reducing production or moving part of their operations outside Germany, with some companies already beginning to implement these steps.” (Al Arabiya, 1/8/2026). “Alice Weidel, leader of the opposition AfD party, said at a press conference in Berlin, according to Clash Report: “Germany is de facto bankrupt. Germany is broke, and they are not telling you that.” (Izvestia Newspaper, 7/9/2026). “The number of corporate bankruptcies in France reached a record level during 2025, and according to the French Central Bank, the total number of bankruptcies reached 68,564 cases over the twelve months ending in December, an increase of 3.5% compared to 2024.” (The New Arab, 6/2/2026). “The British economy is suffering from a set of structural and accumulated crises that have exhausted all its productive and consumer sectors, placing it before its worst crises.” (Al-Qahira Al-Ikhbariya, 19/10/2026).
Fifth: The Customs Policies of the Trump Administration: The US President Trump launched his second presidency with a fierce campaign targeting most countries of the world with high customs duties, and he did not exempt his European allies from this policy, imposing high duties on them. He later boasted about the results of his policies: “US President Donald Trump announced that automotive manufacturing companies are moving production facilities to the United States from a number of countries, including Germany and Japan, due to the customs duties imposed by his administration.” (Al-Arabiya, 14/10/2026). And America adopted laws to attract European industry to itself and deprive Europe of the profits of American companies operating in Europe, especially technology companies. So, European companies began fleeing high energy prices and Trump’s duties on their exports to America and started building new production lines for themselves in America: “US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the German group Volkswagen has agreed to establish a new factory for Audi cars in the state of Georgia, with investments he said amount to 4.2 billion dollars, defending his policy based on imposing customs duties, considering that it contributed to attracting industrial investments to the United States.” (Al-Sharq, 25/10/2026). From another angle, American companies began transferring their profits realized in Europe and registering them within America to benefit from the new tax incentives, such as the Inflation Reduction Act adopted by Congress in 2022. These American companies were consuming Europe’s bounties, diminishing them and depriving European governments of their income represented by the tax revenues on the activities of those companies within Europe, thus increasing the aridity of European lands. A report published by Deutsche Welle, 25 October 2026, estimated that “public budgets in Europe lost tax revenues of no less than 86.4 billion euros as a result of these transfers.”
Sixth: The Trump administration's disavowal of protecting Europe: With the arrival of the Trump administration, the American president began disavowing his European allies and demanding they increase military spending. Europe realized, in the wake of all this, the extent of its predicament with America amidst the war in Ukraine. The Trump administration began flirting with Russia in a way that threatened to leave the European countries alone on the Ukrainian front, and it began brazenly demanding that European countries foot the bill for supporting Ukraine. At a time when European military industries cannot meet the needs of the Ukrainian front, there is no alternative but to rely on the American military-industrial complex to keep Ukraine standing against Russian attacks. President Trump boasted to his people and to Russia that his administration had halted its military aid to Ukraine, and that it was merely selling weapons and ammunition to Europe and leaving it to them to transfer them to Ukraine! This exacerbated the crises of the European countries... as if their American ally was abandoning Ukraine and demanding that Europe provide for its own security in the face of the Russian threat! Before this, and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe had been cutting hundreds of billions of euros from its prosperity and allocating them to its armies, purchasing American weapons, and developing its military-industrial infrastructure. After Trump cast doubt on its protection, the European countries no longer knew what to do with their support for Ukraine, let alone with their security in the face of the Russian threat.
Seventh: The American war on Iran: In addition to waging war against Iran at the beginning of 2026 in partnership with the Jewish entity, US President Trump had also demanded—in a humiliating manner—that European countries participate in this war. These countries refused to participate in a war in which they were not consulted. The US President escalated his threats to the European countries, stating that if they did not help America—meaning they were of no use in times of hardship—then how could America defend them, and why would America ally with these useless countries! And when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf oil was cut off, it was a heavy sledgehammer that Trump used to strike Europe as well as China, and he would declare and boast that America does not import Gulf oil and is not affected by its interruption:
“American President Donald Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open at all times, stressing that the countries that rely on passing their oil through it are the ones concerned with participating in its defense and fighting to ensure its security. He also called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and China to contribute to efforts to reopen the Strait and secure navigation in it. Trump added that the United States gets nothing from the Strait of Hormuz.” (Al Jazeera Net, 19 March 2026). And in a preliminary estimate by the French Jacques Delors Institute in 28 April 2026, the rise in oil prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz caused massive losses to European economies' economies amounting to 39.6 billion euros in the first two months of the closure: “The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union paid an additional 90 billion euros for imported fossil fuel since the crisis began in the Strait of Hormuz.” (Arab 48, 16/9/2026), in addition to the stormy crises suffered by European oil refineries after the cutoff of Russian diesel fuel due to the Ukrainian war and its cutoff from Arab countries and India after the war on Iran.
Eighth: Under the impact of these continuous, heavy-caliber strikes, France, along with the European countries, despite appearing as donor nations in some regions around the world, is economically drowning. As its economy sinks, its international standing is eroded daily, leaving it with few resources to spend on welfare within its own countries in the face of the flood of energy prices, the flood of corporate bankruptcies and the resulting unemployment, and an even greater flood of military expenditure that America forces upon these countries and punishes them for falling short in. Under all these conditions, the eruption of protests, the shift to the right, and their transformation into violent acts has become the dominant reality, given these governments’ inability to allocate large sums for the welfare of their peoples—a welfare those peoples had grown accustomed to over many decades. Thus, with the loss of economic strength and the rise of nationalist right-wing currents—i.e., political conflict within society—the protests, their instigation, and their exploitation all make these protests violent on one hand, and on the other, make it more likely that they are a continuous chain rather than a passing event as was the case in past years. These protests in France and other European countries reveal a real weakness in Europe, a weakness that the efforts of European governments have failed to halt; rather, it is escalating due to ideological failure, political failure, and the continuous economic strikes overseen by America, in addition to Chinese competition. That is, Europe's familiar face, etched in the mind for decades, has begun to change at an accelerated pace in recent years and is approaching its true, aged face. Europe is weakening day by day, and its crises could worsen in the foreseeable future.
Ninth: And thus, the world today is led by disbelieving, wicked, and unjust states that place their evil interests above any consideration... Their positions change even with their allies from one moment to the next, and this is not for a good they perceive but for an evil they perpetrate... They are reviving the first Jahiliyyah (Age of Ignorance), indeed they are closer to being worse than the Jahiliyyah! And just as Persia and Rome were pushed aside back then and the earth was illuminated with the light of Islam, so too shall it return, by Allah’s permission. Muslim reported in his Sahih: Abu Rabi' al-'Ataki and Qutaybah bin Sa'id narrated to us, both from Hammad bin Zayd, and the wording is from Qutaybah: Hammad narrated to us from Ayyub from Abu Qilabah from Abu Asma’ from Thawban who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
«إِنَّ اللَّهَ زَوَى لِيَ الْأَرْضَ فَرَأَيْتُ مَشَارِقَهَا وَمَغَارِبَهَا وَإِنَّ أُمَّتِي سَيَبْلُغُ مُلْكُهَا مَا زُوِيَ لِي مِنْهَا»
“Indeed, Allah folded the earth for me so I saw its eastern and western reaches, and surely the dominion of my Ummah will reach as far as was folded for me from it...”, and the Khilafah Rashidah (rightly-guided Caliphate) will return anew after this oppressive rule under which we live, and it will spread good throughout the regions of the world, by the permission of Allah, the Strong, the Mighty, and then through the efforts of the Shabab (members) of Hizb ut Tahrir, the sincere dawah carriers. Ahmad reported in his Musnad that Hudhayfah said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: «ثُمَّ تَكُونُ مُلْكاً جَبْرِيَّةً فَتَكُونُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَكُونَ، ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا، ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةً عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ» “Then there will be an oppressive rule (ملكا جبرية), and it will be for as long as Allah wills it to be, then He will remove it when He wills to remove it, then there will be a Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood (خلافة علي منهاج النبوة)” then the Messenger (saw) fell silent. And the statements of those with diseased hearts and minds do not harm these truths, as Allah (swt) said
﴿غَرَّ هَؤُلَاءِ دِينُهُمْ﴾
“Their religion has deluded them” [TMQ Surah Al-Anfal: 49]. For their like had said similar things before when the Messenger of Allah (saw) gave glad tidings of the extension of Islam’s authority to the lands of Persia and Rome. It is mentioned in Majma’ al-Zawa’id by Abu al-Hasan Nur al-Din al-Haythami (d. 807 AH):
(ثُمَّ مَشَوْا إِلَى الْخَنْدَقِ، فَقَالَ رسول الله ﷺ: «اذْهَبُوا بِنَا إِلَى سَلْمَانَ، وَإِذَا صَخْرَةٌ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ قَدْ ضَعُفَ عَنْهَا، فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ لِأَصْحَابِهِ: دَعُونِي فَأَكُونَ أَوَّلَ مَنْ ضَرَبَهَا، فَقَالَ: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، فَضَرَبَهَا فَوَقَعَتْ فِلْقَةُ ثُلُثِهَا، فَقَالَ: اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، قُصُورُ الرُّومِ وَرَبِّ الْكَعْبَةِ، ثُمَّ ضَرَبَ أُخْرَى فَوَقَعَتْ فِلْقَةٌ، فَقَالَ: اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ قُصُورُ فَارِسَ وَرَبِّ الْكَعْبَةِ»، فَقَالَ عِنْدَهَا الْمُنَافِقُونَ: نَحْنُ بِخَنْدَقٍ عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا وَهُوَ يَعِدُنَا قُصُورَ فَارِسَ وَالرُّومِ. رَوَاهُ الطَّبَرَانِيُّ، وَرِجَالُهُ رِجَالُ الصَّحِيحِ غَيْرَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ حَنْبَلٍ، وَنُعَيْمٍ الْعَنْبَرِيِّ، وَهُمَا ثِقَتَانِ)
“...then they went to the trench, and the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Let us go to Salman,” and there was a rock before him that he was struggling with. So the Prophet (saw) said to his Companions: “Leave me so I may be the first to strike it.” He said: “In the name of Allah” and struck it, and a third of it broke off. He said: “Allahu Akbar, the palaces of Rome, by the Lord of the Ka’bah!” Then he struck another blow and another piece broke off. He said: “Allahu Akbar, the palaces of Persia, by the Lord of the Ka’bah!”. At that, the hypocrites said: We are in a trench fearing for our lives, and he is promising us the palaces of Persia and Rome. At-Tabarani narrated it, and its narrators are the narrators of Sahih except for Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal and Nu’aym al-Anbari, and they are both trustworthy,” and this is what was and came to pass despite what the hypocrites said, for the saying of the of the truthful one, Muhammad (saw), is the truth,
[وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى * إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى]
“Nor does he speak from his own inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed.” [TMQ An-Najm: 3-4], and therefore the Khilafah (Caliphate) will return anew and Islam will spread throughout what Allah (swt) has promised His Messenger (saw).
[وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ * بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ يَنْصُرُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ]