While President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declares that Egypt is an "Islamic state" meaning it guarantees freedom of worship, reality screams out in stark contradiction to this claim. How can a state be Islamic when it persecutes those who call to Islam, throws them into the depths of prisons, restricts their livelihoods, and prevents them from conveying Allah’s message? This contradiction is not merely a flaw in expression; it reflects a comprehensive approach based on obscuring concepts, distorting awareness, and diverting the Ummah from its true purpose.

The issue is not the mere use of the term "Islamic," but rather its true meaning. Using terms without adhering to their implications is one of the most dangerous forms of political deception, because it disguises falsehood as truth and makes the Ummah believe it is living according to Islam, while in reality it is suffering under secular systems that separate religion from life and grant sovereignty to humans, not to Allah's law.

This paradox is not a trivial detail; rather, it is key to understanding the nature of the existing system and the nature of the ongoing conflict in Muslim countries between two opposing projects: One project seeks to confine Islam to mere rituals, while the other strives to reintegrate it into the fabric of life as a comprehensive system.

Sisi's claim that Egypt is an "Islamic state" is a distortion of the concept, reducing Islam to a partial aspect and excluding it from governance and legislation. But even more dangerous than this distortion is the practical reality that belies this claim. If the state were truly Islamic, why are those who call for the implementation of Islamic law persecuted? Why are they accused, imprisoned, and subjected to restrictions on their livelihoods and lives? The reality is that the regime not only rejects the establishment of an Islamic state, but also actively fights those working towards it, targeting every voice that calls for the implementation of Sharia law or exposes the falsehood of secular systems.

In recent times, Egypt has witnessed arrest campaigns targeting young men and older men who were unarmed and did not advocate violence. Their "crime" was simply calling for the full implementation of Islam, working to establish a caliphate based on the prophetic model, and exposing the corruption and subservience of secular regimes. These individuals were not arrested for physical acts, but for their ideas and their adoption of an Islamic political project. Is it conceivable that a state can claim to be "Islamic" and then imprison those who advocate for Islam as a system of governance?

This contradiction clearly reveals that the problem is not "extremism," as is claimed, but rather the idea itself: The idea that Islam should be the ruler.

The regime sees no threat to its existence in prayer or fasting; indeed, it may even feign respect for them, as they do not infringe upon the core of its power. However, it mobilizes all its resources when Islam transforms into a governing project that calls for the supremacy of Islamic law, the abolition of secular law, the liberation of political decision-making from foreign influence, and the unification of the nation under a single banner. It is here that the true hostility emerges; because it understands that this project fundamentally undermines its very existence and dismantles the structure upon which it rests.

This stance is inextricably linked to policies dictated from the White House, where the return of Islam to power is viewed as a strategic threat that must be prevented by all means. Therefore, combating the call for a Khilafah (Caliphate), distorting its ideology, and arresting those working to establish it are all part of adhering to this international approach, which seeks to keep the Muslim world fragmented and subjugated, governed by puppet regimes that lack autonomy.

The Islamic state, whose concept is being obscured, is not an illusion or a slogan, but rather a political entity with clearly defined features; a general leadership for Muslims that unites them under one banner, and is based on the full application of Islam in all aspects of life, and sovereignty in it belongs to Sharia, not to man-made laws, and authority in it belongs to the Ummah, as it chooses its ruler and pledges allegiance to him to rule by Islam, and the ruler in it is a representative of the nation in applying Islam, and he comes to power through a legitimate and correct pledge of allegiance.

This is the model that is being fought against, not because it is ambiguous, but because it is clear, and because it fundamentally contradicts the reality of the existing nation-state, which is based on colonial borders, positive legislation, and political and economic dependence.

Combining the claim that the state is "Islamic" with the imprisonment of those who advocate for Islam is a hypocrisy that cannot persist without being exposed. Either Islam is the ruling power, in which case the doors are open to those who call for it, or it is excluded from governance, and its advocates are persecuted. To combine the two is nothing but an attempt to mislead the Ummah.

O People of Egypt al-Kinanah: The Islam that resides in your hearts is far greater than mere rituals, and far more comprehensive than freedom of worship. It is a religion revealed by Allah to govern all aspects of life, not to be excluded from its most critical spheres. You have no need for someone to offer you a fragmented definition of Islam, nor for someone to convince you that your reality is Islam, while you are governed by other than what Allah has revealed. Look at those who are imprisoned and those who are honored, and you will understand the true situation. An Ummah where the call to Islam is suppressed cannot be said to be living under its protection.

O Soldiers of Egypt: You see with your own eyes those who are taken from their families simply for calling to Islam. Is this justice? Is this the mission with which you have been honored? The power in your hands is a trust; it must be used to support the truth or to uphold falsehood. The greatest support you can offer your Ummah is to stand with Islam when it is attacked, not with those who attack it.

O Soldiers of Egypt: You are the force upon which the Ummah relies for victory, so do not be instruments of its oppression. Those who are taken from their families for calling to Islam are sons of this Ummah, not its enemies. And the greatest question you will be asked before your Lord is: Did you support the truth when it was presented to you, or did you stand against it? So stand with Islam when it is attacked, and you will have honor in this world and the Hereafter.

Know that the undeniable truth is that a state that imprisons those who call to Islam cannot be an Islamic state, no matter how its descriptions or titles change. Islam will remain, as Allah revealed it, a comprehensive system for life, not to be reduced, distorted, or compromised. Indeed, its state will soon return, despite the opposition of those who fought and resisted it—a Khilafah Rashidah (rightly guided Caliphate) following the prophetic model, filling the earth with justice after it has been filled with injustice and oppression.

[أَفَحُكْمَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَبْغُونَ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حُكْماً لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ]

“Is it the judgment of ˹pre-Islamic˺ ignorance they seek? Who could be a better judge than Allah for people of sure faith?” [Al-Ma'idah 5:50]