What are the reasons for the weakness of Muslims today? Why is their honour violated, their land usurped, and they are impoverished and starved, yet they do not defend themselves against injustice, humiliation, and degradation? Why do they watch each other die of hunger, murder, and torture at the hands of the criminal kuffar without lifting a finger? Why do they feel helpless, weak, and subservient to the West in the face of all the calamities and horrors that befall them?

The Muslim Ummah was united under the banner of its Deen, by a single Caliph who implemented the laws of its Lord, and to whom it responded and obeyed his commands. Allah (swt) says in His Sacred Book:

[وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً]

“And hold firmly together to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you—by His grace—became brothers” [Aal-i-Imran: 103].

The command to hold fast to the rope of Allah (swt) all together is a call to the Muslim Ummah in every time and place... a constant, ongoing, and continuous call. Muslims must rally around the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Prophet (saw), and they must not be divided, for that is the cause of failure, weakness, and humiliation:

[وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ]

“And do not be like those who split ˹into sects˺ and differed after clear proofs had come to them. It is they who will suffer a tremendous punishment” [Aal-i-Imran: 105].

This was the state of the Muslims under the Khilafah (Caliphate): strong and feared by their enemies, who dared not attack them or harm them. They were subjects of a powerful state whose reputation spread far and wide, known among nations. Its Caliph would not hesitate to prepare a mighty army to fight anyone who dared to attack any of his subjects.

Allah (swt) emphasized the necessity of the Muslim group being one Ummah; for in its unity lies its strength, and in its adherence to His Deen and law lies its continuity, sovereignty, and goodness. So, what is meant by "Ummah," and what does it mean for Muslims to be one Ummah.

Allah (swt) says, speaking about our master Abraham, peace and blessings be upon him, and his followers who believed in one Deen and united on one creed:

[تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُمْ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ]

“That was a community that had already gone before. For them is what they earned and for you is what you have earned. And you will not be accountable for what they have done” [Al-Baqarah: 134].

In this sense, an Ummah (nation) is a group of people who believe in the same religion or ideology, and therefore their feelings are the same. So we say, "This is a capitalist nation," "This is a communist nation," and "This is an Islamic nation." We cannot say, "This is an Arab nation" or "This is a Turkish nation," because although they are subject to the same system, their members differ in their convictions and ideas.

Al-Saadi says in his interpretation of the verse:

[وَإِنَّ هَٰذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاتَّقُونِ]

“Surely this religion of yours is ˹only˺ one, and I am your Lord, so fear Me ˹alone˺” [Al-Mu’minun: 52], “[وَإِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أمَّةً]“Surely this religion of yours is ˹only˺ one” That is, your community - O Messengers - is a community, is [ [وَاحِدَةً“one” They agree on one religion, and your Lord is one, [فَاتَّقُونِ]“so fear Me ˹alone˺” By obeying My commands and avoiding My prohibitions. Allah has commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers, for they follow their example and walk in their footsteps. He (swt) says:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ]

“O believers! Eat from the good things We have provided for you. And give thanks to Allah if you ˹truly˺ worship Him ˹alone˺” [Al-Baqarah: 172]. Therefore, it is the duty upon all those who are affiliated with the Prophets and others to comply with this and act accordingly.”

When we speak about the Muslims, we must refer to them as the Islamic Ummah (nation), for it is a group united by Islam, its thoughts, concepts, and feelings becoming one nation; the best nation brought forth for humankind, calling them to the good, that is, to Islam, thus bringing them out of darkness into light, and saving them from the misery of this world and the torment of the Hereafter. The Islamic Ummah is the best of nations that Allah (swt) sent forth to be worthy of leadership and authority, working to remove the causes of corruption from the earth by enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said:“[كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ]“You are the best community ever raised for humanity” [Aal-i-Imran: 110], that is they are the best people to others, that you bring them in chains around their necks until they enter Islam?”

Allah (swt) has distinguished the Muslim Ummah with an unbreakable bond: the bond of Aqeeda (creed). This bond has made them a powerful nation, feared by other nations, and distinguished by the brotherhood that prevails among its members, binding them together so they cooperate, support one another, and show compassion... They are one body; if one part suffers, the whole body responds with sleeplessness and fever. «مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادِّهِمْ، وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ، وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ، مَثَلُ الْجَسَدِ إِذَا اشْتَكَى مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمَّى»“The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever.”

The Messenger of Allah (saw) spoke the truth in his description and his words about his Ummah.

Despite the disunity, fragmentation, weakness, and humiliation that the Muslim Ummah suffers, the solidarity of its unified body in response to the complaint of one of its members here or there is manifested in the prayers and tears of Muslims for the suffering of their brothers in Gaza, Syria, Sudan, Turkestan, Kashmir, and other Muslim lands... despite their limited ability to support them due to those borders and the complicity of their rulers who prevent the Ummah from rising up and rebelling to break the chains and liberate itself from colonialism.

In its war against Islam and Muslims, the kaffir West was certain of its defeat in its military campaign against the unified Muslim Ummah , bound by a single banner and a single state governing all Muslim lands. Therefore, it resorted to a "divide and conquer" strategy, working to dismantle the state with the help of traitors from within the Muslim Ummah. To tighten its grip on the Muslims and subdue its formidable enemy, it fragmented the unified Islamic state into numerous smaller entities, placing its own agent at the head of each to guard the borders, enforce restrictions, and disseminate its Western concepts and culture among Muslims. This enemy excelled at weakening Muslims everywhere, employing all its material and intellectual weapons to shatter their unity and instill in them poisonous ideologies such as "nationalism" and "patriotism," replacing the concept of "the Ummah" (Muslim nation) in order to dismantle this one body.

This is the disease that befell the Ummah of Islam, which the enemies used to fear because of its strength and glory... It was a nation that adhered to its Deen, followed the guidance of its Lord’s Book and the Sunnah of its Prophet (saw), and spread the good among the people. Then it was afflicted with humiliation after it deviated from this guidance and followed the West and its laws, which it imposed on it by iron (force) and fire, and spread its poisonous concepts among it after it demolished the Islamic state, the “impregnable fortress.”

The Ummah (nation) became weak, vulnerable, and violated, its people suffering misery, injustice, and darkness. Allah (swt) says:

[مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعِزَّةَ فِلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعاً]

“Whoever seeks honour and power, then ˹let them know that˺ all honour and power belongs to Allah” [Fatir: 10].

Umar ibn al-Khattab clarified the true path to honour, saying, "We are a people whom Allah has honoured with Islam. If we seek honour through anything other than it, Allah will humiliate us." Therefore, for the Muslims to be one ummahleading the world and spreading goodness among people is a Shari’ obligation upon them. Unity is not a choice but a divine and Quranic command, and abandoning it is disobedience to the commands of Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw). Allah (swt) says:

[إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ]

“The believers are but one brotherhood” [Al-Hujurat:10].

On the authority of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: “Indeed, kinship ties are severed, and blessings are met with ingratitude, and when Allah brings hearts together, nothing can separate them.” Then he recited this verse:

[لَوْ أَنْفَقْتَ مَا فِي الأَرْضِ جميعاً مَا أَلَّفْتَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبـِهِمْ ولـٰـكِنَّ اللهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ]

“Had you spent all the riches in the earth, you could not have united their hearts. But Allah has united them” [Al-Anfal: 63].

Allah (swt) has forbidden Muslims from division, for in it lies their destruction and the loss of their Ummah.

[وَلاَ تَنَازَعُوْا فَتَفْشَلُوا وَتَذْهَبَ رِيْحُكُمْ]

“…And do not dispute with one another, or you would be discouraged and weakened” [Al-Anfal: 46].

For the Muslim Ummah to truly embody the virtue of being good bestowed upon it by Allah (swt), and to obey and believe in its Lord, it must be united, following the path of its Prophet (saw) and his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), in implementing Allah's (swt) law on Earth. It must be one ummah , worshipping its one Lord, raising its one banner, and obeying its one leader who governs it according to Allah's (swt) just law. Only then will it regain its strength and achieve its revival.

The unity of Muslims is a necessity imposed by reality, which has never been, and will never be right except under the strong entity that has represented the Muslim Ummah throughout history: the Khilafah (Caliphate) State. Life has never been, and will never be, truly sweet except under its rule, for only within it will Allah's (swt) just laws be implemented, and only within it will its people live in peace and dignity.

This is how the Muslim Ummah was, and this is how its beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) left it: a leading and dominant nation, and it must return to that state... It is the last nation on earth and the first nation to enter Paradise, as the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: «نَحْنُ الْآخِرُونَ الْأَوَّلُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَنَحْنُ أَوَّلُ مَنْ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ»“We who are last shall be first on the day of resurrection, and we shall be the first to enter paradise although [others]...”

And Allah (swt) granted it with His grace the intercession of the Messenger (saw) on the Day of Resurrection. On the authority of Abu Juma’ah, he said: We ate with the Messenger of Allah (saw), and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah was with us. He said: O Messenger of Allah, is there anyone better than us? We embraced Islam with you and fought alongside you. He said: «نَعَمْ قَوْمٌ يَكُونُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِكُمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِي وَلَمْ يَرَوْنِي» “Yes, there will be people after you who will believe in me, even though they have not seen me.”

It is enough honour for the Muslim Ummah that it is the Ummah of Muhammad (saw), the Ummah of "There is no god but Allah," a nation that must be valued, respected, and revered. It must strive to embody and reclaim these qualities so that it may once again be qualified to lead the world to good and authority over it, by virtue of the honour Allah (swt) bestowed upon it through the “Deen of Islam.”

What a lofty position you have attained, O Muslim Ummah! How then can you relinquish this honour and this exalted rank?