بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
From Preventive Inability to Making Excuses for the Neglected Ability:
Capability (الاستطاعةُ al-istita’ah) and Its Impact on the Shariah Obligation to Declare the Islamic State and Establish the Shariah
Part Five (Final)
(Translated)
https://www.al-waie.org/archives/article/20111
Ustadh Thaer Salameh
Al Waie Magazine Issue No. 473
Thirty-Ninth Year, Jumada II 1447 AH corresponding to December 2025 CE
Whoever Owns the Seeds Owns the Decision: Food Security as a Weapon and a Shield in the Face of Siege
Introduction: The Doctrine of Siege after the Decline of “Blitzkrieg”
After decades of costly experiments with direct warfare, the preferred option for Western powers has become managing conflict from a distance through economic, financial, and technological sieges, and by reshaping supply chains, rather than undertaking large-scale invasions. In this context, food, especially wheat, comes to the fore as a silent strategic ammunition: control over import sources, purchasing and financing contracts, the rules of intellectual property for seeds, and the structuring of agricultural incentives, through which a stable dependency is engineered without a single tank.
How Was Food Dependency Historically Engineered?
1. Conditional trade and food aid: Long-term control over purchasing and financing channels, and the tying of supplies to internal political and economic conditions.
2. Seed regulations and intellectual property: Protection of plant varieties and commercial patents in ways that restrict farmers’ ability to re-sow a protected variety without a license, gradually pushing toward the replacement of local seeds with commercial ones.
3. Engineering the crop profile: Encouraging cash crops for export, vegetables/fruit/flowers, at the expense of grains and legumes, widening the wheat gap and making the bread loaf vulnerable to disruption with any external shock.
4. Infrastructure of mills and ports: When concentrated in a single node, the capacity to maneuver during crises weakens, such as fuel shortages, port/silo disruptions, currency volatility.
Illustrative Arab Examples
Egypt: A gradual shift from a broad wheat-producing base to heavy reliance on imports, alongside the continuation of the subsidized bread system as a social safety valve, yet one that remains hostage to global price fluctuations and spot-market volatility.
Iraq in the 1990s: A prolonged siege led the state to adopt a public distribution system, with ration cards and a unified food basket, that preserved a minimum caloric intake, followed by the Oil-for-Food Program to secure monitored financing. The experience showed that strict management of stocks and distribution can mitigate disaster, but it does not substitute for building local productive capacity.
Syria: It was close to wheat self-sufficiency before the war; then years of drought, geographic fragmentation, and fuel shortages pressured production and supply. Nevertheless, latent capacity—land, expertise, and local seeds—remained capable of revival if effective governance were in place.
The Danger of the Food Issue for an Emerging Islamic State:
Any comprehensive siege will target four interlocking circles: grains such as wheat/barley, energy and fuel for milling and baking chains, currency and finance for import contracts, and the narrative of stoking public opinion through price hikes. The collapse of any one of these links is sufficient to trigger political instability. Hence, food security becomes a sovereign priority, not to be managed by free-market logic alone, but through a coherent policy framework.
Foundational Principles of Food Sovereignty:
• Seed sovereignty: Legally and practically empowering farmers to save and multiply locally adapted, open-pollinated seeds; establishing community and regional seed banks.
• Water and energy: Protecting irrigation for grains and legumes, and generating decentralized energy, including solar/emergency diesel, for the milling and baking chain.
• Land and crop planning: Rebalancing acreage toward wheat, barley, lentils, and chickpeas, a food-and-protein security bundle, and rotating crops with lower water demand and higher drought tolerance.
• Supply chain: Distributed silos, flexible operating stocks, spare parts for mills and bakeries, and alternative internal transport plans.
• Price and social governance: An incentivizing government procurement price for local wheat, price ceilings for bread, and a targeted support program that protects vulnerable groups without undermining production incentives.
Response Plan under Siege: From Day One to Three Years
Days 0–90: Rapid Resilience
• A national inventory of stocks of grains, flour, fuel, and spare parts; determining average per-capita consumption and a safe drawdown rate.
• A ration-card system that guarantees a minimum caloric intake, with private mills and bakeries engaged as country level contractors.
• A temporary increase in flour extraction rates and gradual blending with local grains, such as barley, maize, sorghum, without compromising food safety.
• Combating hoarding and smuggling through smart legal and regulatory measures, and linking bakeries to subsidies, in return for compliance with quotas and quality standards.
• An immediate vulnerability map of supply chains, identifying critical mills, bridges, silos, and transport corridors, and allocating emergency fuel to them.
Months 3–12: Rapid Expansion of Local Supply
• Proliferation of local seeds through village and town networks, and establishing simple cleaning and packaging units to ensure varietal purity.
• Doubling rain-fed acreage of barley and drought-tolerant grains, and expanding legumes to improve protein security and reduce pressure on wheat.
• Government procurement contracts at a declared price for wheat and barley to encourage delivery to official silos, with advance payments for inputs, such as seed and fertilizer.
• Irrigation energy: Deploying small solar pumps where possible, rehabilitating critical canals, and rationalizing irrigation schedules.
• Improving rural storage, such as cone silos, aeration and pest control, to reduce post-harvest losses.
Years 1–3: Structural Fortification and Sustainable Sovereignty
• A national seed law that enshrines farmers’ right to save and re-sow non-protected varieties, regulates the circulation of protected varieties through fair contracts, and establishes a national registry for local varieties.
• Renovating major irrigation systems, where they exist, reducing water losses, reclaiming saline soils, and expanding the production of organic fertilizers and compost.
• Diversifying import channels through flexible forward contracts and commodity swaps, such as grains in exchange for domestic products, alternative supply routes, and humanitarian corridors with food exemptions.
• Early-warning indicators: reserve coverage, for months of consumption, available vs. required milling capacity, fuel lead times, cost of the food basket, and post-harvest loss rates.
Syria: A Crisis That Is Manageable, Not Suffocating
Syria possesses a substantial agricultural base, particularly in the northeast, along with historical expertise in wheat, barley, and legumes. Despite production declines due to war, drought, and fuel shortages, latent capacity remains: revitalizing local seeds and rural multiplication systems, rapidly expanding rain-fed grains and legumes, safeguarding the milling and baking chain with energy, fuel, and spare parts, and governing distribution to dampen price shocks. With this package, a siege can be transformed into manageable pressure rather than strangulation.
Iraq: A Lesson in Management under Fire
Iraq demonstrated that a tightly disciplined, nationwide distribution system can reduce large-scale starvation despite the severity of sanctions, provided that there is a centrally managed stockpile, an equitable distribution network with no “leakage,” a local input price that incentivizes farmers to deliver to the state, and flexibility in financing mechanisms, such as barter and monitored sales, to safeguard the minimum food supply.
Risks That Must Be Neutralized:
• Politicizing bread: Turning subsidies into a tool of loyalty, rather than food security breeds black markets.
• Geographic concentration: Centralizing silos, mills, or entry points increases supply-chain fragility.
• Overly restrictive legal frameworks: Importing strict seed laws without small-farmer exemptions pushes farmers away from local varieties into commercial dependency.
• Energy disruptions: Any prolonged outage of electricity or fuel halts milling and baking even when wheat is available.
Conclusion: From a Silent Weapon to State Immunity
When rapid military resolution fails, the West will seek to test the wall of an emerging state through the gateway of food: wheat, seeds, supply chains, finance, and narrative. The prudent response lies not in slogans, but in engineering food resilience grounded in seed sovereignty, the localization of grains and legumes, sound governance of stocks and distribution, the fortification of water and energy, and the diversification of supply channels. In this way, the “wheat weapon” is stripped of its suffocating effect, and a prolonged siege is transformed into pressure of diminishing effectiveness, before a state that plans well and holds firm to its land, its seeds, and its bread.
A Plan to Activate the Energies of the Islamic Ummah to Support the Emerging Islamic State
Introduction:
Establishing the Islamic State and implementing Shariah is a great Shariah obligation tied to the condition of capability; once capability is realized, excuses fall away and the Shariah obligation of declaring the state and enforcing the Shariah rulings of Islam becomes incumbent. The noble Companions (ra) unanimously prioritized the establishment of Islamic authority after the death of the Prophet (saw) even before completing his burial, which indicates the gravity of this obligation, so much so that it is described as أهم الواجبات “the most important of obligations.” Most Shariah rulings of the Deen cannot be upheld without a unifying authority that implements them; therefore, when the capability to establish the Islamic State exists, Muslims are not permitted to abstain from doing so.
In our contemporary reality, signs have emerged of an emerging Islamic State arising in a part of the lands of the Muslims. This raises the challenges of the post-declaration phase: How do we activate the latent energies of the Ummah to support this state, enabling it to announce the implementation of Shariah and achieve stability in the face of forces, challenges, and attempts to thwart it?
This theoretical chapter presents a central plan to mobilize these energies internally and externally, grounded in legal evidences and in realistic political and military analysis. It also clarifies the role of Islamic Aqeedah in unleashing the Ummah’s civilizational energy, and the means of overcoming existential threats in the pivotal first phase following the declaration of the state. Finally, it puts forward a focused executive plan that explains how to practically employ these pillars, while demonstrating the state’s capacity to expand within its politically fragile Islamic surroundings that are yearning for genuine change.
Activating Domestic Popular Energies
Domestic popular energies constitute the first pillar of the rise and stability of the emerging Islamic State. The mass base of the country’s people is the natural popular incubator of the Islamic project and the primary source of its legitimacy and strength. Studies confirm that the aggregate energies of the people surpass the power of any deep state, or domestic adversaries, if those energies are properly harnessed. No matter how entrenched countervailing forces may be within society, the people as a whole possess greater and stronger capacities, human, material, and moral, yet their superiority depends on our awareness of these energies and our ability to activate them.
Human energy is the backbone of popular energies. It is distributed across two main types. The first is the energy of the general populace, reflected in their large numbers and wide presence across all sectors, and the resulting power of influence when mobilized en masse, such as million-person demonstrations or broad popular participation in efforts of construction and Jihad. The second is specialized, qualitative energy, which has no real effectiveness except under the leadership of distinguished, competent experts, those with expertise and specialization such as leaders and those skilled in planning, administration, science, and technology. The masses provide numbers and momentum, but directing and optimally investing that momentum can only be achieved through the Ummah’s leadership minds. Hence, the leadership of the emerging state and the bearers of the change project must discover these capable elements within the people and involve them in the processes of building and defense. The presence of creative pioneers capable of shaping policies and skillfully deploying resources is what transforms human wealth and raw materials into productive power. Resources and wealth alone remain inert, and may become mere froth without weight, if wise management is absent; likewise, the masses may feel helpless and lost unless God-conscious pious leaders arise from among them to activate their latent capacities. If such capable leaders succeed in mobilizing and employing the people’s energies, human power will then far exceed the capabilities of any domestic adversary.
Among the means of activating popular energies domestically is the establishment of a broad-based popular organization that mobilizes the masses behind the state project. Researchers clarify that the struggle against the deep state and its like rests on two inseparable pillars: mobilizing the energies of the people, and organizing those energies within a disciplined popular body. This popular organization is not a narrow political party; instead, it is a general framework that brings together diverse segments of society around the goal of supporting the state and its Islamic project. It functions as the popular executive wing of the strategy of change, operating in parallel with the official leadership. This organization undertakes popular confrontational actions under the supervision of sincere leaders drawn from the general populace itself, ensuring that society as a whole is engaged in defending its newborn state.
To Achieve This, Dual Level Communication with the People Is Essential
At the general level, this is done through mass awareness campaigns and an ideological and intellectual discourse that reaches the public by all available means, such sermons, media, social media platforms, and public gatherings. Such broad communication secures public support and spreads a spirit of loyalty to the state and its just cause.
At the specific level, it requires engagement with influential figures and elites within society, ulema and preachers, tribal and clan leaders, local military and security commanders, influential nobles, and people of expertise, to persuade them of the project and mobilize their support. Success at the first level paves the way for success at the second by creating a unified public opinion, while the second level reinforces that public opinion and forges an aware societal leadership to guide the people. In this way, all segments of society are mobilized, youth, men and women, professionals and workers, within a collective workshop to achieve the desired change. A people that moves with all its categories in a project of revival is the strongest weapon to repel any domestic aggression or counter rebellion, and it is also the foundation of economic and social resilience that preserves stability after the declaration of the state.
Activating the Energies of the Islamic Ummah Outside the State
Alongside local energies, the emerging Islamic State must invest the energies of the Islamic Ummah abroad, that is, the capacities of Muslim peoples across the wider world beyond its territorial borders. The Islamic Ummah as a whole possesses enormous capabilities scattered across different lands; if mobilized and directed, they would constitute a vast strategic depth for the newborn state. Contemporary history has witnessed examples of Muslim solidarity across borders: unity of Aqeedah drove thousands of volunteers to join battlefronts in support of their brothers, as occurred in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Syria, and elsewhere. This phenomenon confirms that Muslim peoples, wherever they are, feel a unity of shared destiny and a readiness to sacrifice blood and wealth for causes they perceive as causes of Islam and the Ummah as a whole.
One of the most important forms of activating the Ummah’s energies externally is expanding the scope of support and positive engagement across the Muslim World. The emerging state and its supporting movement should weave networks of communication and organization with Islamic movements and peoples in neighboring countries, in order to broaden the arena of confrontation with the enemies of the revival project. Strategic studies recommend that efforts for change must not be confined to a single isolated territory. Instead, the circles of confrontation must be expanded throughout the lands of the Muslims to maximize the investment of the Ummah’s energies and to compensate for imbalances in the balance of power. In reality, the war against the idea of the Khilafah (Caliphate) and the return of the Islamic State is not domestic at all. It is a confrontation with global dimensions, led by major powers that mobilize all their capabilities to prevent the establishment of any genuine Islamic entity. These powers rely heavily on isolating change initiatives within a narrow scope and then activating regional regimes to strangle them.
Therefore, confronting this hostile alliance requires breaking the isolation imposed on the emerging state and opening parallel fronts in its Islamic surroundings to preoccupy its enemies and disperse their focus. Expanding the scope of revolutionary Islamic action to the widest possible extent achieves several strategic benefits: on the one hand, it disrupts enemy plans and prevents them from concentrating on a single target; on the other, it attracts more of the Ummah’s energies to the arena of struggle, thereby addressing the imbalance of power with adversaries. One study concludes that widening the arena of confrontation to include most parts of the Islamic world would reduce the intensity of attacks on the pioneers of change and enhance their ability to withstand pressure through the support of their brothers in other lands. Instead of tyrannical powers isolating each separate liberation attempt and turning it into a warning to others, tyrants would find themselves facing simultaneous, interconnected uprisings that cannot all be suppressed at the same time.
On the practical level, the emerging state can benefit from the Ummah’s material and human resources across borders through multiple means. It can open the doors of migration to itself for minds, competencies, and labor that believe in the Khilafah project, just as hijrah to Dar ul Islam in the Prophetic era was a fundamental pillar for the state of Madinah. It can also attract financial support from Muslim communities and business people abroad to fund state projects and strengthen its economy, while drawing on their expertise in fields such as technology and industry, alongside investing the Ummah’s wealth through the state, and channeling its returns into industry, agriculture, and meeting essential needs.
Equally important is activating the global media front to mobilize Islamic popular support in every country and to discipline the narrative of events so that the emerging state is presented as a hope for the entire Ummah. It embodies their Prophet’s promise of a second Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly-guided Caliphate) upon the Method of Prophethood, and works to realize their Lord’s promise of succession, empowerment, security, and unity—and of the victory of Islam over all religion, even if the disbelievers (kuffar) detest it. This Aqeedah linkage has a profound impact on the hearts of the Ummah’s sons and daughters. We have an important witness to this: even adversaries have recognized their failure to divert Muslim peoples from their Deen and political demand. Western researchers have observed that wherever fair elections were held, Muslim masses overwhelmingly chose Islamic movements. This indicates that the prevailing mood in our lands favors the Islamic project and opposes secular dependency regimes. Accordingly, if an entity truly raises the banner of Islam and offers a successful model, it will, without doubt, gain genuine support, broad sympathy, and perhaps the loyalty of members of Islamic movements and Muslim masses beyond its borders. Added to this is the fact that Dawah has spread powerfully across Central Asia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other regions, whose peoples are distinguished by fervent Islamic sentiment, courage, readiness to help, and responsiveness—factors of great importance.
Among the tactics of prudent external expansion is cross-border coordination to exchange logistical support and facilitate the movement of supporters. This may require establishing safe corridors or rear support areas in neighboring countries that are sympathetic (or weak in central control), to be used to supply the emerging state with manpower and equipment and to provide refuge when necessary. Conversely, the emerging state can offer support to change organizations in those countries to strain hostile regimes and ignite new fronts that distract them. This struggle-based cohesion across borders will make every Muslim feel that the battle to establish Sharia is the cause of a single Ummah, not a local affair—thereby increasing enthusiasm and reviving hope of victory. Through this, unity of ranks will be realized in practice before formal political unity is achieved, paving the way for the eventual integration of liberated lands into a comprehensive Khilafah entity, by Allah’s permission.
The Role of Islamic Aqeedah in Unleashing Civilizational Energy
The Islamic Aqeedah forms the beating heart of the Islamic revival project, serving as the greatest catalyst for the latent civilizational energies of the Ummah. The Islamic Aqeedah is not merely a rigid set of theoretical principles or isolated rituals. Instead, it is a living, effective, and positive system that instills in believer’s immense spiritual and emotionally dispositional energy. The Islamic worldview of the universe, life, and humanity fosters deep Aqeedah coupled with action, directing the energies of individuals and society toward a noble purpose and an eternal mission. Through this Aqeedah, the scattered and weak Arab tribes were transformed into a single powerful Ummah that changed the course of history, and diverse peoples were merged into a unified civilizational body that led the world for centuries. Islam achieved this historical seismic event by unleashing unprecedented civilizational energy, and the secret lies in the Aqeedah, which instills a high, mission-oriented spirit and nourishes the believer with a firm certainty that the future belongs to this Deen.
The Islamic Aqeedah grants its adherents extraordinary moral strength, pushing them to achieve the impossible with steadfastness of soul and tranquility of heart. A true believer is convinced of absolute truth, confident that Allah (swt) is with him as long as he supports His Deen, and certain that what is with Allah (swt) is better and everlasting beyond this life. These concepts generate immense dispositional energy, enabling a Muslim to endure extreme hardships without yielding or surrendering.
History records astonishing examples of early believers’ perseverance under torture in Makkah: enduring heated iron on their skin and continuous floggings under the scorching sun, yet they remained steadfast in their Aqeedah until the Prophet (saw) reassured them that Allah (swt) would complete his mission, but that they were being impatient. Their steadfastness was solely due to the deep Aqeedah that filled their hearts. Some ulema have commented that the greatest fruit sown by the Prophet (saw) in his Companions (ra) was absolute confidence in the power of Aqeedah, and its ability to empower believers to withstand the harshest trials. The Companions (ra) were not superhuman by nature, but their unwavering Aqeedah, enriched by the certainties of the Qur’an, enabled them to accomplish what others could not. They drew spirit and morale more from Aqeedah, than from any material incentive. Domestically, they were unconquerable despite their small numbers and limited equipment, ultimately achieving victory and divine support.
This added value of the Aqeedah transforms an ordinary person into an inspiring hero capable of enduring hardships, because he feels Allah’s presence, despises worldly life in favor of Allah’s pleasure and the Hereafter, fears no tyrant, and is unbroken by severity. This element of Aqeedah has been a qualitative advantage for Muslims throughout history.
Consequently, an Ummah possessing such a living Aqeedah becomes impossible to defeat in the civilizational struggle, no matter the material strength of its enemies. The Islamic Aqeedah is distinguished by linking this life with the Hereafter and balancing material interest with eternal values, raising the Muslim’s motivation to sacrifice everything—even his own life—in response to the demands of this Aqeedah. In contrast, Islam’s enemies operate on materialistic, utilitarian beliefs, glorifying immediate gains and relying on human whims and minority interests. They lack the spiritual drive and readiness for sacrifice that Muslims possess and are unable to propose an Aqeedah that nullifies the truths of Islam or convinces believers to abandon it.
Even Western thinkers acknowledge that the ideological–creedal battle is decisively in favor of the Islamic Ummah. Neither missionary work, orientalism, nor modern media campaigns have succeeded in uprooting the Islamic Aqeedah or deterring adherence to the living Aqeedah. While adversaries have inflicted some collateral damage and sown doubts, experience demonstrates that whenever the Ummah is weakened materially or defeated militarily, it quickly returns to its Aqeedah and rises anew, firmly clinging to its Deen. Indeed, some invaders themselves eventually embraced Islam, as happened with the Mongol Tatars after their conquest of Baghdad.
Sound Aqeedah Education and the Generation of Collective Power
Sound Aqeedah education generates a tremendous collective capacity that constitutes the foundation of the Ummah’s civilizational energy. The Aqeedah does not merely produce individual heroes; rather, it forges a cohesive, mission driven Ummah that carries a collective project.
Allah (swt) brought the Muslims forth as one Ummah, [لِّتَكُونُواْ شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ] “So that you may be witnesses over mankind” [TMQ Surah Al Baqarah: 143] and described them as the best Ummah brought forth for humanity, enjoining all that is maroof (right) and forbidding all that is munkar (evil) as an Ummah. Aqeedah made every individual feel responsible for the Deen and conscious of being a part of the body of the Ummah; thus, each works for the support of Islam within a collective entity rather than in isolated individualism. Islam instilled in its adherents the concept of Aqeedah based brotherhood above all other bonds, melting tribes and races into a single unity. Unity of Aqeedah dissolved barriers of lineage and color, and the bond of the Deen took the place of blood ties in the hearts of Muslims. Through this Aqeedah cohesion, Arabs, Persians, Abyssinians, Turks, Kurds, Turkmen, Amazigh, and other peoples became brothers for the sake of Allah (swt), fighting side by side like a solid structure, astonishing their enemies at the time. This unity produced a loyalty surpassing all loyalties: a Muslim hastens to support his brother at the farthest ends of the earth, driven by the bond of Aqeedah. The waves of Jihad and volunteering witnessed in defense of oppressed Muslims, across various regions, are nothing but a natural fruit of the enduring impact of this Aqeedah based brotherhood.
Thus, the Islamic Aqeedah is the igniting spark of the Ummah’s civilizational energies: it elevates individual morale to the highest heights, welds society into a compact and cohesive mass, and propels it collectively to bear a message of liberation and guidance for humanity. With this Aqeedah present, material resources and human capacity become pliable instruments in the hands of believers, directed effectively toward lofty objectives rather than narrow or transient interests.
Overcoming Existential Threats in the Initial Phase
The phase following the declaration of the Islamic State is the most perilous, as the emerging state faces direct existential threats, from both domestic and foreign enemies seeking to smother it in its cradle. Accordingly, the Islamic project requires a prudent strategy to overcome these dangers and secure initial stability. The first step is a realistic recognition of the magnitude of surrounding hostility: establishing an Islamic State today will be regarded by the enemies of Islam as a strategic challenge that provokes a broad alliance of international and regional powers. It has become evident that major powers will not readily permit the emergence of an Islamic system of governance that implements Shariah; they will mobilize their global influence and regional instruments to abort any such attempt. This means the newborn state may find itself confronting a multi front war: direct or proxy military aggression, economic siege, global media vilification, and the fomenting of internal unrest through agents or engineered schisms.
Confronting Existential Threats: Preparedness, Prudence, and Reliance upon Allah (swt)
To confront these existential threats, the emerging state follows the Method of the Prophethood in caution, preparation, and taking all necessary means, alongside tawakkul (reliance) upon Allah (swt). The Prophet (saw) trained his Companions (ra) not to underestimate the strength of the enemy and to exert every possible effort in preparation, until the balance of victory tips in their favor. From this perspective, planning must aim for a confrontation in which the probability of success and achieving objectives outweighs the likelihood of defeat, based on mobilizing all available material and moral capacities.
This includes preparing sufficient military strength for defense, in compliance with Allah’s command,
[وَأَعِدُّواْ لَهُم مَّا ٱسۡتَطَعۡتُم مِّن قُوَّةٖ] “And prepare against them whatever force you can...” [TMQ Surah Al Anfal:60] whether through regular forces or by employing non conventional warfare, including guerrilla warfare and continuous ambushes that disperse and exhaust the enemy. If the balance of power favors the enemy in terms of equipment and technology, believers can offset this disparity through unconventional combat methods that wear down the adversary and disrupt its plans. Guerrilla tactics, for example, have historically proven effective in enabling small resistance forces to withstand far larger armies. Lessons can be drawn from successful liberation movements, such as the Mujahidin in Afghanistan against the Soviets and later the Americans, and the steadfast fighters of Gaza, where morale and combat Aqeedah played a decisive role in overcoming disparities in armament.
It is also essential to adopt a flexible defense strategy: avoiding concentration in locations that are easily besieged or bombarded, and instead embracing dispersion and concealment while maintaining the capacity to deliver painful strikes when needed. Whenever possible, the battlefield should be shifted into the enemy’s depth to preoccupy it with defending itself, rather than focusing solely on offense. As noted earlier, expanding confrontation fronts regionally is also part of the security solution; when hostile powers face unrest and uprisings in multiple countries, fewer resources remain available to strangle the emerging state alone. Fragmenting the enemy’s effort across multiple fronts protects the new launch point from total concentration of hostile forces.
Domestically, the challenge lies in fortifying the home front against infiltration, rumors, and psychological warfare. The state’s leadership must skillfully manage domestic diversity, such as tribes, clans, and differing intellectual currents, in a way that draws all toward the project, rather than allowing diversity to be exploited to sow discord. Wise policy dictates accommodating dissenters who pose no direct threat, through dialogue and the guarantee of basic rights under the umbrella of Sharia, while isolating traitors and agents linked to hostile forces. From the outset, Islamic justice must be manifested as a tangible reality, for the justice and integrity of governance are the strongest legitimate shield against malicious propaganda aimed at inciting the people. The application of hudud and the implementation of Shariah should be accompanied by clear explanation of their wisdom and mercy, so people realize they have moved into a system more just and compassionate than what they knew under previous oppressive regimes.
It is likewise crucial to cautiously dismantle remnants of the deep state and former centers of power; dismantling previous apparatuses of repression and uprooting corrupt leadership is necessary to prevent a fifth column from threatening domestic security. However, this dismantling must be carried out with deliberation, while seeking, where possible, to win the loyalty of mid level cadres, such as ordinary cadres or low level employees who were compelled to serve within those structures. In short, the new state must be security conscious, without descending into total suspicion of the people. Balance is required between decisiveness against conspirators and embracing the wider Ummah, among whom some may have been influenced by enemy propaganda.
The Role of Media and Moral Warfare
Nor should the role of media and psychological warfare be overlooked. Despite the limited media capabilities of the emerging state compared to the vast international propaganda machine, it can still utilize modern communication platforms to convey its narrative and win external popular solidarity. Numerous Islamic movements, and jihadi movements such as the Al-Qassam Brigades, have succeeded in mobilizing global sympathy, through the power of words and images that expose the crimes of aggressors and convey the suffering of the oppressed.
Exposing the enemy’s crimes and revealing their brutality before global and Islamic public opinion politically embarrasses them, and helps ease military pressure on the emerging entity. At the same time, disseminating reassuring Aqeedah based messages to supporters, that Allah’s victory is near, strengthens domestic steadfastness. Reminding believers of the divine laws of trial and victory, and of the inevitability of this Deen’s empowerment as promised by Allah (swt) Almighty, alleviates panic at the first military shock or economic siege.
Sowing hope and trust in Allah (swt) is a decisive factor in overcoming the critical initial phase; through it, the mujahidin draw the strength to persevere even when apparent victory is delayed. Allah (swt) says,
[إِن تَنصُرُواْ ٱللَّهَ يَنصُرۡكُمۡ وَيُثَبِّتۡ أَقۡدَامَكُمۡ “If you support Allah, He will support you and make your feet firm” [TMQ Surah Muhammad: 7]. Certainty in this promise grants an extraordinary steadfastness on the front lines of confrontation.
Focused Implementation Plan
The following is a concise implementation plan outlining how to practically employ the aforementioned pillars to confront challenges and achieve empowerment, Allah (swt) willing:
Consolidating the Internal Structure and Engaging the People:
It is necessary to start by strengthening the pillars of internal governance through the formation of effective administrative institutions and serving citizens with justice and efficiency. Establishing justice and ensuring fairness under the banner of Shariah will earn the emerging state solid legitimacy in the hearts of the people. Similarly, bridges of trust should be built with various societal components, tribes, clans, and other Islamic movements, through local Shura councils and regular meetings with community leaders. The goal is to create a unified domestic front that views the state as its comprehensive religious project, providing all subjects, Muslims and Dhimmis alike, with their rights, justice, and welfare, thus cutting off the enemies’ attempts to generate domestic divisions.
Mobilizing and Organizing Popular Energies:
After gaining the public’s trust, mass mobilization projects should be launched, including political and religious awareness campaigns to raise understanding of the state’s objectives and methodology, alongside practical programs for recruiting volunteers in various fields, such as local police, relief teams and neighborhood committees. It is useful here to establish a structure for a widespread popular organization, led by representatives from each area, who coordinate popular efforts and manage human resources in service of security, production, and public services. In this way, every individual feels that they have a role in the state’s project, from the soldier on the frontlines to the farmer in his field and the doctor in his clinic. This popular organization will also provide an early warning network against any infiltration or internal unrest, as collective awareness will be high and cooperation complete between the people and the Sharia institutions.
Rallying Support from the Islamic Ummah Externally:
The emerging state must adopt a foreign policy of media and advocacy aimed at gaining the support of Muslim populations wherever they are. Through official statements and media platforms, appeals should be directed to the Ummah, clarifying the justice of the Islamic state’s cause and its suffering under siege, and awakening the Muslims’ zeal to support it with money, effort, and words. Special committees can be formed to build bridges with Muslim communities in wealthy countries to mobilize donations, technical support, and to influence local public opinion to pressure their governments against hostile interventions. At the regional level, the state coordinates with any Islamic groups active against tyrannical governments in their countries for mutual benefit: logistical and media support in exchange for opening parallel fronts that distract the common enemy. These external initiatives give the emerging state strategic depth and demonstrate to the world that it is not isolated, but has a popular extension throughout the Islamic world.
Enhancing Defensive and Security Capabilities:
The state adopts a comprehensive, multi layered defense system. On the front lines, regular military and paramilitary armed forces are prepared and equipped with whatever suitable weapons are available, either captured or locally manufactured, and trained in asymmetric guerrilla warfare tactics and surprise attacks that match their capabilities. In the rear areas, domestic security units and revolutionary intelligence services are established to detect any infiltration or conspiracy at its earliest stages. Borders and crossings are also fortified through cooperation with neighboring Islamic organizations to create mutual defensive depth, making cross border movement difficult for enemy spies while facilitating it for supporters of Islam. It is also essential to provide emergency supply plans, for food, fuel, and ammunition, via secure smuggling routes in the event a siege is imposed. In the longer term, the state wisely seeks to acquire qualitative power elements that deter aggressors—such as missile capabilities, effective air defense, or drones, which are among the most important, low cost, and highly effective weapons in modern warfare—to form a deterrent factor that prevents the enemy from contemplating a comprehensive attack,
[تُرۡهِبُونَ بِهِۦ عَدُوَّ ٱللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمۡ] “to deter Allah’s enemies and your enemies” [Surah Al Anfal:60].
These capabilities are acquired gradually through patience and planning, and there is no objection to benefiting from international rivalries, for example, leveraging any covert support from major powers competing with our direct enemy, without becoming beholden to anyone.
Phased and Calculated Expansion in the Islamic Surroundings:
After consolidating the domestic front and securing the minimum level of defensive capabilities, plans are drawn up for expansion into neighboring areas, taking advantage of the fragility of the regional political situation. Many neighboring states suffer from political and security vacuums, and their peoples harbor resentment toward their regimes. The Islamic state must monitor such opportunities: the collapse of an unjust regime or the outbreak of a popular uprising in a neighboring Muslim country opens the door to positive intervention.
Intervention can take place through logistical and media support for Islamic forces there, enabling them to gain control and later request annexation to the state, similar to what occurred historically when Islamic emirates were incorporated under a single Khilafah, peacefully or by deploying force.
However, caution against haste is necessary; direct military expansion is not advised unless the conditions for success are met, including a welcoming popular base, sufficient support, and secured supply lines. Otherwise, efforts should focus on building cells of popular organization in those countries while awaiting the moment to strike at the existing regime. Most importantly, the state and its Hizb must realize that their work is transnational in nature from the very first day, and that the Ummah is an indivisible whole. Thus, Islamic change will not remain confined to a narrow corner to be besieged to death, but will transform into a sweeping regional current that is difficult to stop.
Fortifying the Doctrinal and Intellectual Front:
In parallel with field measures, the state consistently works to raise doctrinal and political awareness among its own populace and the Ummah at large. This is done through educational curricula, sermons by leaders and scholars, and free, trustworthy media that conveys the core message of Islam. The aim is to build intellectual immunity against smear campaigns and psychological warfare waged by enemies. When people know why this state is being established, obedience to Allah’s command, implementation of His Shariah, realization of divine justice, and the rescue of humanity from human tyranny, and when they understand the rulings of Shariah correctly, they will sacrifice their very lives in defense of this divine project, especially when they compare its outcomes with the corrosive corruption and extreme dependency of the systems they previously lived under. This mirrors the condition of the early Muslims, when they compared the greatness of Islam with the ignorance they had lived in before. Sound Aqeedah (doctrine) guarantees the continuity of zeal and the sustenance of sacrifices, making every individual a guardian over himself, immune to doubt or lethargy. This intellectual fortification directly contributes to stability; a believing, conscious society that recognizes the value of its project will not allow its enemies to shake its confidence or fracture its ranks.
The State’s Capacity for Expansion in Its Islamic Surroundings:
The regional environment surrounding the emerging Islamic state is, by and large, conducive to Islamic expansion, despite the apparent trappings of power displayed by ruling regimes. Most of these regimes suffer from fragile legitimacy, resting on coercion, despotism, and foreign backing, and live in advanced stages of corruption, economic decay, and harsh living conditions, while their Muslim populations grow increasingly aware and rejecting of dependency and injustice. Researchers indicate that public opinion in Muslim lands has become nearly unanimous in rejecting the entrenched regimes of disbelief, and in demanding an Islamic alternative. The Islamic awakening, that spread over recent decades, has rekindled in the Ummah an intense longing for Shariah rule and justice, making peoples eager for change even at the cost of risk. This situation constitutes a historic opportunity for the Islamic state to expand by calling peoples to the authority of Islam and its state, and by stimulating the factors of revolution against their current realities. Once peoples witness a successful model embodied on the ground, they will seek to join it voluntarily. We saw how the fall of tyrannical regimes during the wave of the Arab Spring filled the masses with hope for establishing a just Islamic State, yet the absence of a leading entity prevented that hope from being realized at the time. Today, however, with the emergence of such an entity anywhere, hope can turn into action; Muslims’ attention will turn toward it, and pressure from within neighboring countries will intensify to effect similar change and to thwart attempts to besiege and suffocate it.
This capacity for expansion manifests in various forms: it may occur through peaceful penetration, such as when a neighboring regime collapses under the pressure of a popular revolution and the people of that country hasten to pledge Bayah of allegiance to the Islamic State seeking support and the application of Sharia; or it may occur through military conquest when conditions are ripe, such as the disintegration of an opposing regime’s army, or appeals by segments of its population to the Islamic state to deliver them from oppression, just as occurred in the early Islamic conquests when many of the people of Greater Syria and Egypt welcomed the Muslims as liberators from Roman injustice. In all cases, the natural laws of expansion must be observed by employing the power of attraction and civilizational influence steadily, according to a well considered strategy that preserves cohesion. Contemporary experience has confirmed that limiting action to an isolated effort in a narrow area renders its proponents easy prey to the onslaught of enemies, whereas broader expansion grants the project depth and resilience by widening the circle of participants and supporters. Moreover, unifying fronts across borders diminishes the ability of despotic regimes to cooperate against Islamists, as each becomes preoccupied with its many internal problems. The success of the Islamic state in expanding its control across the Islamic world practically means transferring the confrontation to a new stage: instead of a struggle with a single besieged state, it becomes a struggle between the entire Ummah and the forces hostile to it. At that point, the true promise of the Ummah’s ultimate victory draws near, by Allah’s permission, in fulfillment of His (swt) saying,
[وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمۡ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ لَيَسۡتَخۡلِفَنَّهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ]
“Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will certainly make them successors in the land...” [TMQ Surah An Nur 55].
In order for the Islamic State to invest in this favorable environment without excessive risk, it must adopt a policy of “unity with insight.”
That is, unifying the ranks of Muslims under its banner, but with discernment that takes into account the reality and circumstances of each country. Providing support to movements of change in one country differs when those movements are structured, disciplined, and possess a clear Islamic vision, compared to another country where chaos prevails or where pre Islamic tribal or sectarian loyalties dominate. Likewise, the degree of direct military intervention varies from one case to another.
Insight here means a precise study of each country: the strengths and weaknesses of the ruling regime, the depth of tribal or sectarian loyalties, the level of popular resentment and readiness, the presence of competing actors on the scene, and so on. Based on these data, a roadmap for expansion is drawn: where rapid movement is possible, where postponement is necessary until conditions mature; and how to mature them. And so forth.
What matters is that the ultimate goal of comprehensive unity remains ever present, so that the people of the state do not resign themselves to the artificial Sykes–Picot nationalistic borders, nor accept that the Islamic tide should halt at a particular country. The Islamic Ummah is, by its nature, one; colonialism divided it, and client rulers deepened its fragmentation, but the Shariah of Islam and the aspirations of the peoples yearn for the restoration of unity. Whenever parts of the Ummah unite under the banner of truth, pressure automatically increases on the remaining parts to follow suit, because the legitimacy of the true Islamic State will outweigh, in the hearts of the people, the legitimacy of the fragile territorial regimes. Thus, the contagion of a successful model does its work until the idea of the Khilafah (Caliphate) spreads everywhere, making the capacity for expansion an achieved reality rather than a mere theoretical possibility.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, we affirm that the transition from the stage of incapacitating inability to the capacity that removes any excuse for establishing the State of Islam does not occur automatically without planning and conscious effort. The capability with which Allah (swt) has endowed this Ummah to establish His Deen must be activated to its fullest extent, so that all excuses are removed and we shoulder the responsibility of our historic duty. By activating internal popular energies, mobilizing the Ummah’s support abroad, harnessing the power of spiritual Aqeedah, and planning to overcome risks, the emerging Islamic State, by Allah’s help, can endure, stabilize, and implement Shariah. With time, this seed will grow into a flourishing tree under whose shade the rest of the Muslims will gather from the east and west of the earth. And that is not difficult for Allah (swt),
[وَيَوۡمَئِذٖ يَفۡرَحُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ ٤ بِنَصۡرِ ٱللَّهِۚ] “And on that day * the believers will rejoice at the victory willed by Allah” [TMQ Surah Ar Rum: 4–5].
We ask Allah (swt) to hasten that glad tiding and to grant success to the sincere doers of good deeds in realizing it. Indeed, He is the Guardian of that and Fully Capable of it.