Political Awareness and Its Impact on Change
(Translated)

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 577 - 10/12/2025
By: Ustadh Ahmed Al-Qasas*

When we speak of political awareness, we are primarily speaking of awareness of Islam itself because Islam is inherently political. Islam encompasses a system for life, society, and the state, and Allah (swt) has commanded that the affairs of the people be looked after through a state established upon Islam. This means that Islam is, by its very nature, a political ideology. Therefore, once the Ummah understands Islam as a system for life, society, and the state, this marks the beginning of political awareness.

One of the weaknesses in political awareness among Muslims today is their misconception that simply because a Muslim who performs Salah (Shariah prayer), fasts, recites the Quran, raises Islamic slogans, and includes Quranic verses in his speeches, comes to power, the state has become Islamic. They overlook the most crucial aspect related to the state's identity—the very foundation upon which a state can be Islamic—namely, the Islamic aqeedah, the systems and the laws the state must implement, which are the Shariah rulings. Thus, they are ready to pledge allegiance to the ruler simply because he appears religious, while he governs by other than all that Allah (swt) has revealed. When you see Muslims dealing with politics, politicians, states, and systems on this basis—that is, viewing events solely through the lens of who rules us: is he Muslim, Alawite, or Druze? Does he make Salah or is he irreligious?—it means that the jamaah (community) of Muslims still has a long way to go before it achieves true political awareness.

Political awareness is achieved when Muslims view the entire world from the perspective of their Islamic aqeedah, that is, from the perspective of the political affiliation dictated by their Deen, from the perspective of thinking that the Islamic aqeedah must have sovereignty in their lives, and that the Ummah must achieve the restoration of the sovereignty of Shariah on earth and the restoration of the authority of the Ummah in its countries, and from the perspective of carrying the Islamic Dawah to the world, combating currents hostile to Islam, and combating colonial plans to dominate our Ummah, our countries, and all other countries. If this perspective ever becomes prevalent among Muslims, then it can be said that the Ummah has reached a level of political awareness.

A close examination of the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) reveals that from the very beginning of his mission, his vision was fixed on the day when Islam would prevail. This contradicts the common misconception that he carried the message without aiming to establish a state for Islam and Muslims, and that the course of events led him to achieve victory and establish a state in Madinah unintentionally. Instead, from the outset, the methodology of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) to spreading the Risaalah message aimed to transform public opinion in Makkan society, guiding it away from its pre-Islamic (jahilliyah) identity and towards Islam, thus establishing an Abode (Dar) and a way of life for Islam within an Islamic society. Finding Makkan society resistant to his message, the Prophet (saw) sought out other communities until Allah (swt) opened the hearts of a group in Madinah to Iman. The Dawah to Islam then expanded there until it became the first Abode (Dar) of Islam, where the first Islamic way of living was established, subsequently undertaking its mission to transform the world. The Prophet (saw) acted as a statesman even before becoming head of state. And so did the Khulafa’a (Caliphs) who followed him, from the Khulafa'a Rashidoon (Rightly Guided Caliphs) to those who came after them. Despite the deviations that occurred in the Islamic state with the rise of dynastic authority, political awareness never disappeared from governance and the political medium of the jamaah (community) of Muslims, whether during the time of the Umayyad Khulafa’a , the early Abbasid era, or the era of the powerful Ottoman sultans. Indeed, history bears witness to the political genius and strategic maneuvering of many of them, and their skillful dealings with other nations and rulers from the perspective of the Islamic Aqeedah, and the mission of spreading Islam to the world. This is what led to the Islamic State being the most powerful state in the world for most of its history.

Political awareness, in the sense we have described, is a Shariah obligation upon every Muslim. It is not a matter of differing intellectual levels. While people vary in their mental faculties, their engagement with political events, and their ability to analyze them, they are all obligated by Shariah to approach political events from the perspective of Islamic Aqeedah. It is absolutely impermissible for any Muslim, regardless of their intellectual capacity or Islamic cultural level, to approach political events from a purely nationalistic perspective, viewing them as Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, or Iraqi. This matter is not related to a person's abilities, but instead to their understanding and awareness of Islam, their commitment to it, and consequently, their piety and devoutness. Undoubtedly, every society has an elite faction that is best equipped to understand the course of political events, to analyze them, and to comprehend what is happening. To the extent that this elite faction is connected to public opinion, it influences it and disseminates its awareness. This influence is incumbent upon aware individuals, political structures, and politically aware institutions and schools.

Recent events in Syria have clearly demonstrated a lack of political awareness among most Muslims. Once the criminal sectarian regime in Syria fell, many Syrians, as well as those in neighboring countries affected by the situation, believed that their goal had been achieved, the crisis was over, and all that remained was to focus on building their own state, since they now possessed one. They failed to recognize that the new authority in Syria did not bring with it an Islamic political project, nor any political project at all. The political project currently being implemented in the region—including Syria—is the American project, and they saw little harm in this as long as they were rid of that criminal sectarian regime. This means that they have not yet grasped their mission as an Ummah that Allah (swt) has designated as the best Ummah, a witness to humanity. They have also failed to understand the danger of their land and resources becoming part of the American global colonialist order. They have not grasped the danger of coexisting with the Jewish entity, which is planning a state stretching from the Euphrates to the Nile, and which America has made a tool in its hands to subjugate the region. They have not realized that they are part of an Ummah, not merely a Syrian people confined by cursed nationalistic borders drawn by the disbelieving (kafir) colonialist. The cause of the Islamic Ummah is to be one ummah, governed by the rule of Islamic Shariah Law, living an Islamic way of life, and having its affairs looked after according to the Shariah Law of Allah (swt), carrying the Risaalah message of Islam to the world. They have not realized that the economic system that can resolve their economic crisis, eradicate poverty, and liberate them from dependence on the global capitalist system is the economic system contained within their own Shariah.

What is painful in all of this is that those who perpetuate this political weakness are turbaned muftis who downplay the sin of ruling by other than all that Allah (swt) has revealed- which is a great evil in the Sight of Allah (swt) - by a claim that as long as the ruler is a Muslim who performs Salah, he is a guardian of the affairs who must be obeyed, even if he is an ally of the enemies of Allah (swt), His Messenger (saw) and the believers!

* Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir