Fighting Under the Banner of a Blind Cause

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا نور الله

فداك ابي وامي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Fresh events in Syria have once again laid bare deep fault lines within the Muslim Ummah. For a while it seemed we were all united in our moral support for Palestine and specifically Gaza in the face of the ethnic cleaning and genocide perpetrated by the Zionists. But the truth is that one of the main causes of the impotence of the Muslims to prevent the holocaust in Gaza is this disunity and internal fracturing. The liberation of Aleppo by Syrian rebels, an effort led by Salafi-Jihadist faction called HTS, with the assumed backing of Erdogan’s Turkey, is seen as nothing less than a Zionist chess move to undermine the so-called “Axis of Resistance”. According to this narrative, the Syrian rebels are useful idiots of the Zionists and the CIA, or worse, actually in cahoots with these implacable foes of Islam. This narrative is accepted as manifest truth by essentially all of the Shi’a, and thereafter other Muslims with secularist, leftist or ethnonationalist leanings. For instance, while initially the uprising in Syria that broke out in 2012 was broadly supported and funded by the oil-rich Gulf States, today the Arab countries are by and large in Assad’s corner, especially the Emirates and Egypt. These two have made it their mission to decimate any inkling of “Islamism” in the world, and also to push for more political and cultural secularity among the Muslims. Under MBS, the Saudis have also adopted this policy.

Iraqi Shi’ite militias, largely armed and trained by Iran, have now entered Syria intent on countering this latest offensive of the Syrian rebels. This will only fuel more sectarianism and enmity between Sunni Muslims and the Shi’a. These Iraqi Shi’ite paramilitaries are especially nasty and hateful toward Sunni Muslims. While they were nowhere to be seen when the Zionists attacked their ally Hizbullat in southern Lebanon, they have suddenly come out of the woodwork to wage battle against the Syrian rebels.

So there is no question that the Zionists benefit from chaos in the Arab World as it weakens any potential challenger to their tyranny. Yet this chaos and unceasing bloodletting is also paving the way for the appearance of the Mahdi and thereafter the Messiah.

From a religious, Sunni Islamic perspective, it is imperative that ordinary Muslims remain aloof from all this political turbulence and armed conflicts between the Muslims. While the Syrian regime is dominated by a heretical sect – the Alawites – and the ideology of Ba’thism is likewise kufr, it is better for the Sunni Muslims of Syria to isolate themselves and not participate on any side in this civil war. Simultaneously, we witness events, which are always in the Hand of Allah, unfold in this sensitive region, which is indeed the heartland of Islam, with excitement and anticipation. The destruction of the Arabs, meaning their regimes and states, suits the interests of Islam. While we should never actively participate in this phenomenon, we should view it as the divine wrath of Allah Most High against a people who have turned toward secularity and bared their fangs against this Religion and any conservative, orthodox expression of it. Hence it is reported that the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

ثُمَّ تَطْلُعُ الرَّايَاتُ السُّودُ مِنْ قِبَلِ الْمَشْرِقِ فَيَقْتُلُونَكُمْ قَتْلاً لَمْ يُقْتَلْهُ قَوْمٌ

Then black banners shall come out from the East; they will slay you as no other people were slain (Sunan Ibn Majah)

In this Hadith reportedly attributed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم it is the Arabs who are being addressed with the words “they will kill you as no other people were killed”. The Black Banners that come from the East are carried by the Ajam (non-Arabs), likely zealous Sunni Muslims from modern-day Afghanistan (Khorasan), who beckon to the Imam, the Mahdi. This divine retribution against the Arabs, through the agency of the Black Banners, is seemingly for their secularity and mockery of Islam. Now it becomes clear why the Gulf States of KSA and UAE in particular fear what is termed “Islamism” being ceded even an inch in the Arab World.

The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said:

وَمَنْ قَاتَلَ تَحْتَ رَايَةٍ عُمِّيَّةٍ يَغْضَبُ لِعَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَدْعُو إِلَى عَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَنْصُرُ عَصَبَةً فَقُتِلَ فَقِتْلَةٌ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ

One who fights under the banner of a blind cause, getting angry for the sake of tribalism or calling to tribalism, supporting his clan, then is killed is killed as one in Jahiliyyah (Sahih Muslim)

Based on this Hadith one who has Taqwa should avoid participating in any modern-day armed conflicts between different nations, especially Muslim nations. One should avoid joining the armed forces of any nation-state. Rather, in this time of tribulation the Believers should remain on the sidelines and merely observe as events play out until Allah brings about His promised divine intervention in the form of the Mahdi and the Messiah.