Islamic Revival: Requirement for Success

Islam is the youngest religion of Abrahamic Faiths; and the followers of Islam, the Muslims are undergoing stressful dilemma since colonial era times which makes it more than two hundred years now. This write up is an English translated opinion on "Requirements for the success of the Islamic revival project at the present time" from an Arab Scholar Dr Ehsan Samara on FB.

أَعُوذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the name of ALLAH, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Islamic Revival: Requirement for Success

Requirements for the success of the Islamic revival project at the present time

Since the beginning of the last century, many advocates of reform and change in the Islamic world have been searching for a way to revive the nation from its slumber and awaken it from its negligence. They have been preoccupied with formulating a genuine and correct Islamic revival project that restores to the Islamic nation its Islamic civilizational role and its rightful place, and brings it out of the abyss of backwardness and decline in which it has been for a long time, and guides it to overcome its spiritual emptiness, moral deterioration, material backwardness, intellectual and political decline, and civilizational isolation. Many efforts and attempts have been made in this context and are still being made, yet all of them have met with abject failure, as the nation remains in its state of backwardness and decline. Indeed, it has become increasingly backward and degraded on every level, despite these efforts and attempts at revival.

This includes attempts aligned with internationally and regionally dominant colonial powers, ideologically driven by Western secular ideas and cultures hostile to Islam, Islamic thought, and culture; nationalist and patriotic attempts with non-ideological Islamic slogans and titles; and the various Islamic missionary efforts that called for revival based on Islam. Despite the diversity and abundance of these revival attempts, and the immense sacrifices they entailed, the nation remained in a state of weakness and apathy, experiencing further backwardness and decline.

No positive step towards the nation's revival was achieved. Instead, the manifestations of backwardness and decline deepened, intertwining religious, intellectual, economic, cultural, and political dimensions, leading the nation to ruin and plunging it into an abyss of backwardness that threatens its very existence under the current American colonial hegemony, in which America seeks to To consolidate the global hegemony of the American capitalist model, and in this context, it has undertaken comprehensive intellectual, political, and military operations to dissolve the Islamic world into secular values, culture, and systems according to the American model, with the aim of strengthening the current Zionist-Crusader colonial hegemony led by America, in terms of values, thought, culture, politics, economics, and society, and to standardize the Islamic religion and the religious situation in the Islamic world in a way that suits American colonial conditions and aligns with current American colonial interests and objectives internationally and regionally, so that all components of Muslim societies become at its service.

Through these American colonial operations, it aims to render the nation-states that were established according to the Western colonial vision devoid of the elements of their survival, existence, and sovereignty, and ready for restructuring in accordance with current American colonial interests and objectives. In light of all this, it is incumbent upon the pious, just, and religiously zealous to exert their utmost efforts in rousing the zeal of the sincere Muslims who are intellectually and politically aware, who care about the affairs of Islam and Muslims, who are concerned with the revival of the Islamic nation based on true Islam, and who aspire to exalt the word of God on earth and empower Muslims through true Islam, embodied in a genuine Islamic state that unites them and gathers their scattered communities under its shade, undertakes the protection of Islam, compels all to adhere to its requirements, and carries the call to Islam globally through preaching, advocacy, and striving in the path of God, so that the word of God may be supreme globally and the word of the disbelievers may be brought low, and religion may be entirely for God Almighty, within an effective and practical Islamic revival project that is legally sound and fulfills the spiritual, intellectual, material, and moral conditions that Islam has mandated for achieving a true and correct revival based on true Islam.

A truly Islamic revivalist project, consistent with what Islam has ordained so that the word of God may be supreme on earth and the word of the disbelievers may be brought low, and so that religion may be entirely for God. It represents a manifestation of an authentic Quranic objective in achieving victory, succession, and empowerment for Islam on earth, and a means to open horizons for the spread of true Islam, and a way to disseminate the values of truth, justice, and goodness throughout the earth, to prepare the ground for the divine goodness and justice that God has made the highest objective of true Islam, as He, the Exalted, said:

“We have already sent Our messengers with clear proofs and revealed with them the Scripture and the balance so that mankind may maintain justice. And We revealed iron, in which is a mighty power.” And benefits for mankind, and so that God may know who will support Him and His messengers unseen. Indeed, God is Powerful and Exalted in Might. (Al-Hadid: 25)

This is in addition to preparing initial cadres of preachers with the necessary values, spirituality, intellect, culture, and politics to attract the masses to the Islamic revival project. This will enable them to immunize the Muslim public against slipping into alignment with the intellectual, political, economic, and military colonial projects meticulously crafted by America within the framework of what is known as Islamophobia programs, aimed at perpetuating the backwardness and decline of the Muslim nation.

This spiritual, intellectual, and political fortification will empower the Muslim masses to confront the current Zionist-American colonial projects that target Islam and Muslims by inciting hostility towards Islam, Islamic intellectual heritage, Islamic culture and its sources, demonizing prominent intellectual, cultural, and political figures of the past, tampering with and distorting Quranic texts, belittling the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet, casting doubt on its authenticity, and denying its authority.

The ultimate goal is to weaken the connection of young Muslims to Islam, alienate them from it, and diminish their loyalty to it and to the Muslim community. Muslims, and preventing them from adhering to its rulings, and guiding them accordingly in their relationships, transactions, and systems of life, and severing their connection with their history and Islamic intellectual and political heritage. This is confirmed by the Almighty’s saying:

“Indeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bearer of good tidings and a warner. And do not…”Ask about the companions of Hell. And the Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with you until you follow their religion. Say, "Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance." And if you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allah no protector or helper. (Al-Baqarah: 119-120)

These verses contain a warning to Muslims to be aware of these Zionist-Crusader colonial schemes throughout history, and a statement of the extent of their enmity towards Islam and Muslims, their constant efforts to turn them away from Islam, and their tireless work to sow doubt in them, in order to lead them to [apostasy]. Turning away from it completely, or neglecting its principles, as the Almighty said:

(…and they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.) Al-Baqarah: (217);

And He, the Exalted, said: (If they were to gain the upper hand over you, they would stone you or force you back into their religion, and then you would never succeed) Al-Kahf: (20).

This is only because they see in true Islam the main enemy in the face of their colonial control, influence, and arrogance on earth without right, and because they find in Islam the ability to create vitality and strength in the souls of its adherents, and the ability to attract people to it, with its lofty values, high and sublime ideals, and laws and systems that establish a good human lifestyle in which they enjoy justice, and liberation from the oppression and tyranny of despots, and distance people from racism, and take them by the hand to support the oppressed and cooperate in righteousness and piety.

Therefore, the Zionist-Crusader colonial states, led by America, actively formed an alliance with it to confront Islam and Muslims fiercely, under the pretext that it is behind terrorism. And to destabilize global security and peace, after they succeeded in emptying communism of its content and overthrowing the Soviet Union in 1991, which was based on that communism. Hence this divine warning against the plots of enemies with their differing beliefs and hostile aims, so that Muslims may take heed, bear the legal responsibility, and fulfill what is required by chivalry and religious zeal. Those who undertake the revival of the nation on the basis of true Islam must act in accordance with the requirements of this divine warning.

Those who claim to have a genuine Islamic revival project must possess a high degree of Islamic foundational structure, spiritual preparation, intellectual and political awareness, and the power of popular influence, which will prevent them from being drawn into secular values, ideas, concepts, and systems, and everything that contradicts divine revelation, and will prevent them from being dissolved and assimilated into what is required by subservience to colonial projects. The current Zionist-Crusader reality.

In light of this, it becomes clear that the success of a genuine revivalist project based on true Islam is not achieved through fleeting slogans or impulsive, spontaneous reactions, as is the case with past and present attempts at revival. These attempts have led the nation to ruin, exacerbated its weakness, backwardness, and decline, and resulted in the consolidation of control by enemies, infidel colonizers, and their agents over Muslim lands. Muslim lands have become areas of colonial influence, where their people are being conditioned to accept coexistence with the current colonial conditions without any cultural or political pressure.

They are being hastily assimilated into colonial policies, values, and systems that are entirely contrary to Islam, under flimsy pretexts for which there is no divine authority. This occurs without any genuine or effective resistance to reject this assimilation into secular Zionist-Crusader civilization, while they are dazzled by the ideas and achievements offered by the current Zionist-Crusader colonialism led by America. Therefore, given this situation, it has become imperative, both religiously and rationally, and out of a sense of duty, for those seeking the true and correct revival of the Islamic nation based on authentic Islam, to exert their utmost effort to fulfill the spiritual, material, and moral requirements for such a revival. These requirements can be summarized as follows:-

1- Spiritual fortification through adherence to Islamic doctrine and commitment to all that embodies the characteristics of a divinely guided Islamic personality, intellectual and political awareness, and a clear vision of the requirements for the success of a revival project based on authentic Islam.

2- Preparing a legitimate roadmap that will achieve a true and correct revival for the nation based on authentic Islam. In compliance with the Almighty’s saying: “And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged.” (Al-Anfal: 60)

The power that God commands to be prepared is comprehensive and is not limited to military power; Rather, it encompasses everything necessary for a true and genuine renaissance, including knowledge, thought, administration, and media. Without considering this strength, there can be no effective impact on bringing about a true and genuine renaissance based on true Islam, which aims to shape the reality of the nation in its behavioral patterns, lifestyle, and civilizational development.

3- Benefiting from the experiences of successful global renaissance movements, without being dazzled by them or influenced in a way that causes the nation to lose its identity, its Islamic distinctiveness, and forget its renaissance goal based on true Islam. Islam obligates Muslims, as well as those striving for the nation's renaissance, to seek truth and righteousness and what benefits them in this life and the hereafter, wherever it may be found, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"A strong believer is better and more beloved to God than a weak believer, and there is good in both. Strive for what benefits you, seek God's help, and do not be helpless." Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 6644,

and what was narrated in the tradition: “Wisdom is the lost property of the believer; wherever he finds it, he is most entitled to it.” Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2611; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 4159.

There is a significant difference between being influenced and benefiting from wisdom.Learning from the successful experiences of others is permissible only when it comes to adopting successful methods and approaches that do not contradict Islam. This is allowed by Islam, but it should not extend to blindly imitating those experiences, as happened with many nationalist and patriotic revivalist movements that caused the Muslim community to lose its Islamic identity and fall prey to the machinations of the enemies of Islam and Muslims.

4- The obligation to fully emulate the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the true and correct revival of the Muslim community based on Islam. Imam Malik said in this context:

“The latter generations of this community will not be reformed except by that which reformed its first generations.” (Al-Shatibi, Al-I'tisam, vol. 1, p. 115; Qadi Iyad, Al-Shifa, vol. 2, pp. 87-88; Al-Rajhi, Sharh Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, vol. 9, p. 22).

This is in accordance with the words of God Almighty: “Say,

‘This is my way; I invite to God with clear insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is God above any partners, and I am not of those who associate others with Him.’” (Yusuf 108);

and His words: “And this is My straight path, so follow it; and do not follow [other] paths, for you will be separated from His path. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous.” (Al-An’am 153).

This is in accordance with the words of God Almighty:

“Say, ‘This is my way; I invite to God with clear insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is God above any partners, and I am not of those who associate others with Him.’” (Yusuf 108);

5- Working consciously, seriously, and sincerely to create a collective awareness within the nation of a revitalized Islamic faith, far removed from sectarian, factional, partisan, and doctrinal frameworks, and ethnic prejudices, by preparing a comprehensive intellectual and political plan for this purpose, and recalling the civilizational history of the Prophetic era, the Rightly Guided Caliphate, and the flourishing Islamic periods, to strengthen the nation's self-confidence and its ability to reclaim its Islamic identity, resume its Islamic civilizational role, and embody true Islam by resuming its Islamic life in a truly Islamic state, and overcoming the inferiority complex towards the West, in response to the Almighty's words:

(So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will have the upper hand if you are [truly] believers) Al Imran: (139).

6- Avoid wasting time and energy analyzing the current state of the Muslim world, including its intellectual pollution, societal chaos, economic instability, and political turmoil. Instead, focus on defining the foundations and pillars of the Islamic revival project, identifying what is necessary for its successful implementation, and pinpointing the internal and external intellectual and political pitfalls that hinder its success and impede its realization.

In conclusion, the requirements for the success of the Islamic revival project in the present era are not achieved through theoretical theorizing and populist historical slogans, or through stagnation and emotional isolation based on outdated intellectual models, without awareness, insight, and consideration, and without clarifying what is fixed and established and what is variable, and the legitimate points of disagreement and agreement in matters of jurisprudence and political affairs.

Nor are they achieved through surrendering to the current reality and the demands of the age, and adopting alternative revival models far removed from the true Islamic revival goals, and falling into the traps of colonial and Westernizing institutions and circles. Rather, it is achieved through striving to prepare a practical, procedural Islamic revival project, consistent with God's law and methodology, and fulfilling the necessary spiritual, intellectual, material, and moral conditions to confront the challenges and successfully achieve the Islamic revival project in raising the nation to a true and correct revival based on Islam, and forming and building principled, committed, and conscious Islamic cadres capable of managing society and the state, and presenting cohesive economic models.

It clarifies Islam's perspective on individual and public ownership, the limits of state ownership, how wealth is distributed and developed, the state's role in reducing unemployment and inflation, how to address poverty, and how to regulate international economic relations and internal and external debt. It also explains Islam's view of governance and the form of authority, how power is administered, candidacy for office, the organization of elections, the importance of consultation (shura), the independence of the judiciary, and other related matters.

This aims to attract the public to the Islamic revival project and encourage interaction with it, restoring the nation's confidence in Islam and its ability to address contemporary problems. It also fosters confidence in those leading the Islamic revival project, demonstrating their capacity to shoulder the burdens of a true and genuine revival based on pure and pristine Islam, build a strong and cohesive Islamic society, and possess the competence to ensure the success of the Islamic revival project, confront challenges, and overcome obstacles.

This is all done in light of sound Sharia standards and principles, which contribute to fulfilling the requirements for the success of a true and genuine revival project based on authentic Islam, in harmony with the unifying Islamic identity. It rejects all forms of division and fragmentation along ethnic, sectarian, partisan, and doctrinal lines, in response to... For He, the Exalted, says:

“But those who do wrong follow their own desires without knowledge. And who can guide those whom Allah has left astray? And they will have no helpers. So set your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created mankind. There is no changing the creation of Allah. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know. Turning back to Him and fear Him and establish prayer and do not be among those who turn away from Him.” The polytheists are those who have divided their religion and become sects, each faction rejoicing in what it has. (Ar-Rum 32)

God Almighty has spoken the truth.

Dr. Ihsan Samara

Wednesday, 24th of Dhul-Hijjah 1447 AH - June 10, 2026 CE