Creating Despair and Discouragement Among Muslims
(Translated)

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 569 - 15/10/2025 CE
By: Ustaadh Ahmed Al-Sufi

Praise be to Allah (swt), without Whose Deen there is no honor, and without whose Shariah there is no life. And prayers and peace be upon the one who forbade submission to anyone but Allah (swt) alone, the Prophet Muhammad (saw).

It is true what they say that, “Nothing worries tyrants like the awakening of the people.” It can be added: “Nothing contributes to the awakening of peoples like awareness and optimism.” Therefore, the kafir colonialists early on realized this undeniable truth and began to fight these two specters, awareness and optimism, threatening its existence, simultaneously.

As for awareness, it was targeted through intellectual invasions, changing educational curricula, cultural programs, missionary activities, and groups of intellectuals influenced by Western culture, among other ongoing wars.

As for the war to crush morale, instill a culture of defeat, and sow despair among the shebaab (young men and women), the West recruited assets from near and far, both enemy and friend.

The West has no hope of keeping Muslim peoples asleep and submissive, unless it can convince people that we do not deserve victory, and that there is no point in resisting, calling for change, and working for it. To achieve this goal and lead the Ummah to this belief, massive and formidable efforts are required.

The West knows the power of the Noble Quran, the Prophetic Sunnah, and the stories of heroes that overflow from the pages of our glorious history in instilling hope and igniting a spirit of resistance within people. For this reason, it has mobilized all its energies on all fronts to spread a culture of defeat and discouragement in people.

There are three roles that are the most dangerous and most effective in fostering a culture of discouragement and despair among people:

1- The Role of Intellectuals and Thinkers Influenced by Western Culture:

Among them are those who occupy the most critical positions, such as school and university professors, cultural clubs, and others. Their shared idea was to indoctrinate the Muslim generations that their Ummah is backward in progress, culture, and modernity, and that the West is the leader in all fields, impossible to catch up with, or do without. This is without mentioning the role of the rulers appointed by the West to sow discord, mortgage the country and its resources to them, and then suspend the Shariah, which is the source of progress and advancement, in addition to their role in supporting corruption and obstructing reformers. Thus, the student graduates with a heavy heart toward his Ummah, influenced with feelings of inferiority, weakness, and surrender to the West and its culture.

It is not surprising, then, that the shebaab become desperate and hopeless. Instead, perhaps if the shebaab were called to undertake an action for change, they would fight the call and resist it, citing dozens of examples of the Ummah’s backwardness, as evidenced by what they were injected with, in schools and colleges.

2- The Role of Ulema and Carriers of Dawah:

Undoubtedly, corrupt ulema had the most profound impact in spreading despair, distorting people’s natural disposition, and convincing them they do not deserve victory. People turn to their sheikhs whenever a calamity strikes, or an aggressor attacks, only to find they have sought refuge from scorching heat within fire. They are met by sheikhs of defeat, psychologically defeated ulema who received Islam in a distorted manner, far from the true Prophetic guidance. They spread their despair into the hearts of these shebaab, holding them responsible for everything that happens to them, saying the like of:

- “You have no good in you, you do not deserve victory, our Ummah is backward and unprepared to rule by Islam, all nations are better than you.”

- “This generation we are in is not the generation of victory; another generation must be raised, without working for change now, that is better than this one.”

- “Change is not for us to make; we must wait for the Mahdi.”

- “What is happening is due to our sins, (without mentioning the rulers’ sins); all we can do is pray…”

The destructive discourse ends without offering a solution or action plan, and without clarifying the Shariah ruling for rising up and changing the evil we live in. It is merely beating and flogging the Ummah, exactly as the enemies do.

Thus, the occupier roams freely, as Muslims count massacre after massacre, convinced they have no power or strength even to defend themselves, no matter how weak and humiliated the aggressor is.

3- The Role of Misleading Media:

True is the one who said, “Our speaking out is our execution.” When the media, paid and controlled by evil rulers, takes on the task of inflating the enemy’s capabilities, and belittling the Ummah’s capabilities, when the media entrenches division and nationalistic borders, making them more sacred than the blood of brothers at those borders, when it hosts the mentally ill, the immoral, the promoters of sin, or the sheikhs of the governments, and devotes hours of time to them on satellite channels, when our screens are filled with entertainment programs, idle talk, and trivial matters, then, do not ask about the absence of sensitivity, the dullness of emotion, the spread of despair, and helplessness.

In the face of this widespread and epidemic among the Muslims, we say:

Know that we are from a Ummah upon which Allah (swt) has forbidden humiliation and resigning to humiliation, as He (swt) said,

[وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنْتُمُ الأَعْلَوْنَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ]

“And do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are [true] believers.” [TMQ Surah Aali Imran: 139].

We are the children of an Ummah that angers Allah (swt), if it assumes He (swt) will not grant it victory,

[مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ لْيَقْطَعْ فَلْيَنْظُرْ هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُ مَا يَغِيظ]

“Whoever thinks that Allah will not help him in this world and the Hereafter, let him extend a rope to the sky, then cut it off, and see if his plan removes what enrages him.” [TMQ Surah Al-Hajj 15] meaning, let him hang himself and die, for that is better for him.

Allah (swt) forbade us from despair, saying,

[قَالَ وَمَنْ يَقْنَطُ مِنْ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّهِ إِلَّا الضَّالُّونَ]

“Who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except the misguided?” [TMQ Surah Al-Hajr: 56]. And He (swt) said,

[وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَلِقَائِهِ أُولَئِكَ يَئِسُوا مِنْ رَحْمَتِي وَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ]

“And those who disbelieve in the signs of Allah and the meeting with Him, they have despaired of My mercy, and for them is a painful punishment.” [TMQ Surah Al-Ankaboot: 29].

Indeed, Allah (swt) linked despair to kufr (disbelief), saying,

[إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا القَوْمُ الكَافِرُونَ]

“Indeed, none despairs of the mercy (relief) of Allah except the disbelieving people.” [TMQ Surah Yusuf: 87].

Imam Al-Fakhr Al-Razi commented on this verse, saying, إن اليائس يتهم الله بالبخل، وبعدم العلم، وأنه ليس على كل شيء قدير والعياذ بالله “The one who despairs accuses Allah (swt) of stinginess and lack of knowledge, and that He is not capable of everything. We seek refuge in Allah (swt) from that.”

O Brothers and Sisters, O Shebaab (Young men and women):

Despair is a contagious anesthetic needle that paralyzes you and those around you. When our Ummah was convinced that its rulers would not perish, it sat and suffered from their fire for decades. However, when it cast off the veil of despair and made reliance (tawwakul) on Allah (swt), and then in its own strength, it overthrew its rulers and uprooted heads that no one believed could be removed.

By Allah (swt), we possess all the qualities of empowerment (tamkeen) and the ability to reclaim the throne of honor once again, InshaAllah. We have a comprehensive aqeedah, a complete role model, vibrant young men and women (shebaab), immense wealth, a strategic location, brilliant minds, a clear roadmap, the prophetic seerah, and a radiant history. Above all of this, we have glad tidings that are near.

Within our Ummah, despite all obstacles, there are sincere Dawah carriers, proficient hufaaz, and steadfast mujahideen. By Allah, the West trembles, whenever it sees serious movement, it can hardly sleep out of fear that this Ummah might unify behind a rightly-guided Imam once again. By Allah, the West reads with trembling the annual statistics of increasing reverts to Islam from its ranks, threatening their rotten ideologies. They warn each other that within four decades, Islam will be the world’s leading religion. This is without a unified state, a Khalifah (caliph), or a Bay’ah (pledge of allegiance). So, imagine if all this existed?

O Shebaab (Young men and women):

Rely upon Allah (swt), trust in your Ummah, trust in yourselves and your ability to bring change. Trust that you, and no one else, are the generation of victory if you hold fast to Allah (swt) and reject the advocates of despair.

Our Messenger (saw)loved optimism, saying, «بَشِّرْ هَذِهِ الأُمَّةَ بِالتَّيْسِيرِ، وَالسَّنَاءِ وَالرِّفْعَةِ بِالدِّينِ، وَالتَّمْكِينِ فِي البِلَادِ، وَالنَّصْرِ»“Give this Ummah glad tidings of ease, glory, elevation through deen, empowerment in the lands, and victory.”

If we were so insignificant, why do the kuffar (disbelievers) not stop fighting us? However, they do not fight an illusion but a real enemy, and they know our Ummah lacks only a rightly-guided Imam to unify its ranks. So make tawwakul (reliance) upon Allah (swt) and work with those who work for this day, so that Allah (swt) may make its dawn near, by His Power and Strength.