The way to live in the world as saintly and honourable is not to be afraid of death. Yes, if we can die for the sake of the sacred values that we are obliged to protect on the spot or if we can prepare ourselves for death, we will sip the flavour of eternal existence while we are still in the world and we will reach blessings beyond our imagination in the hereafter. Rasûl-i Ekrem draws our eyes to this point with the following words that will make our love and give strength to our hearts in this regard and says

"If I did not want to cause hardship to my Ummah, I would not have stayed behind any seriya. How much I would like to be killed in the way of Allah, then be resurrected, then be killed again, then be resurrected, then be killed again..."[1]

What an honourable and sacred duty it is to fight and die in the way of Allah, so much so that the Prophet (s.a.s.), at a time when his head had reached the highest maturity, besides the cause and duty of prophethood, wished to follow the war parties and to fight, die or be killed, then die again and be resurrected, and to be able to do so several times.

The opportunity to attain these blessings is an honour that everyone in his right mind should aspire for. Because a life without jihad is a wasted life. Every statement of our Master (s.a.s.) in this regard is really remarkable. Here are a couple of examples:

"If a person dies without any jihad in his life, without any endeavour in this matter, he has died in a branch of hypocrisy."[2] In other words, this person has surrendered his soul on the ground of hypocrisy. In another narration, it is said:"If a person appears before Allah without any sign of jihad in his life, it means that he has met Allah with a serious emptiness in himself."[3]

In other words, such a person has come to the Court-i Kübra with a deficiency, a breach that will embarrass him and make him blush.

To our right and left, there are Muslims and people of other religions who are being unjustly killed, raped and groaning. As it is our duty to come to the rescue of the oppressed, it is also our duty to stop the oppression of the oppressor. When we stop the oppression of the oppressor, we actually do the oppressor a favour. Because by reducing his oppression, we also reduce his torment. Otherwise, we will go to the presence of our Lord with such a bitter grasp that it will be so chilling that it will make us forget the sufferings of those who suffer in front of our eyes in the world. What a misfortune it is to appear before our Lord in such a miserable state!

In another hadith, the Prophet (s.a.s.) foretold to his distinguished companions, the Companions, some events that would take place in the future and that would cause every believer to shudder, and at the end of each event he foretold, the Companions were horrified and asked: "Will this also happen, O Rasoolallah?" and the Prophet (s.a.s.) would reply: "There will be a more terrifying one"  and then he would foretell another event. This hadith narrated by Abu Ya'la and Ibn Abi'd-Dunya is as follows: The Messenger of Allah said:

"How will it be on that day when the women have rebelled, your youth have indulged in mischief, evil has spread and jihad has been abandoned?"

Of course, the Companions were horrified by this statement. Because their minds could not take such a picture. Yes, they could not imagine that such a scene would be encountered even where there was a single believer. Therefore, again, they would ask:

"Will this also happen, O Messenger of Allah?

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "By Allaah, I swear by Allaah, in Whose might is my soul, there will be a more severe one." and the conversation continued as follows:

- What is more severe than this, O Messenger of Allah?

"On the day when you see all evil as good and all good as evil, how will you be, if you only knew?"

That is to say, the days will come when adultery will be in vogue, when bandits in and out of the city will be encouraged, when faith and the Qur'an will be humiliated and believers will be subjected to persecution, when the ugly will be shown as beautiful and the beautiful as ugly, when all munkarah will be acquitted by the state, and at the same time ma'ruf and divine commands will be done in secret as if they were shameful deeds, and what will be your situation then?

- Will this also happen, O Rasûlallah?

"Yes, it will be more severe."

- What is more severe than that, O Messenger of Allah?

"How will it be on the Day when you enjoin what is evil and forbid what is good?" (That is to say, if you only knew what it will be like when you prevent your children from praying, leave them unattended, and enjoin evil upon them with your behaviour, language and actions? And what will be your state on the day when you make your offspring forget Allah, when you always speak blasphemy in the name of knowledge and wisdom, and when you erase the beautiful name of the Prophet (s.a.w.) from their hearts? It is as if the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) saw the present century and the society in which we live, one by one, what will happen to his ummah).

- Will this also happen, O Messenger of Allah?

"Yes, there will be a more severe one."  (At this point, the Messenger of Allah says the following words, which are confirmed by the oath of Allah Almighty): "By My Jalal, I swear by My Jalal, I will unleash fitnahs like waterfalls into a society that has reached this state..."[4]

This is the value and status of the responsibility we bear in the eyes of Allah (swt) and the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.). In the most sensitive part of our hearts, there is the weight and pain of a burden that has been continuing for three centuries. We have no remedy for our troubles other than our troubles.

Today, going to the mosque from Eid to Eid or from Friday to Friday or fulfilling the pilgrimage obligation and becoming a 'pilgrim' are sufficient sources of consolation for some of us. However, the horror of the situation we are in is not so simple that it can be eliminated by fulfilling personal obligations. In the face of this terrible situation, we have no other choice but to fulfil the duty of 'emr-i bi'l-ma'ruf, nehy-i ani'l-munker' with all its systematics. We are the ones who will fulfil this sacred duty. Yes, each and every one of us is personally responsible for this, and it is out of the question for us to wait for a special assignment from someone. Otherwise, we will not be able to escape from the vortex of fitna described in the hadith, at the end of which Allah Almighty declares with an oath, as if describing the situation of today's society.

Islamic unity elevates the Muslim in the eyes of other human societies and countries. With unity and jihad, the Islamic Ummah grew, expanded and lived, and when it disintegrated, it became weak and the plaything of others. I wish that the Islamic Ummah had not drifted away from unity and had continued jihad. I swear by Allah, brothers! If we had not abandoned jihad... If we had lived by jihad for 950 years, most of Europe would have been paying jizya to us. Yes, many of the nations of the world would have converted to the religion of Allaah.

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:"This command (religion) will reach wherever the night and the day reach. There will be no house in which Allah has not made this religion enter. Whether it is a tent house woven with hair or a house built with stones and earth. Allah will make this religion enter every house with the honour of the honourable and the disgrace of the disgraced. He will make it prevail with the honour of Islam and the disgrace of disbelief."[5]

In a sahih hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) promised that the Muslims would also conquer Rome. As you know, Rome is the capital of Italy. By the permission of Allah (swt), it will also be conquered. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) was asked, 'Which of these two cities will be conquered first? Kostantiniyye (Constantinople) or Rumiye (Rome)?" The Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) said: "The city of Heraclius will be conquered first."[6] He said. In other words, he has informed us that Istanbul will be conquered first.

In actuality, Constantinople was conquered in 1453 AD, 857 years after Hijri. In other words, it was conquered approximately 850 years after the date of the hadith-i sharif. Inshallah, Rome will also be conquered. Because the hadith is authentic.

Now suppose that we have conquered Moscow. I believe that inshallah we will conquer Russia. Because God Almighty misled the Russians. He dragged them into the Afghan war. The Russian bear got into the Afghan hive. He provoked the bees, they inflated his nose, his corpse. Some stung his nose, some his seat, some his mouth. Right now he's disorientated. He doesn't know what to do. Wherever he runs, bees chase him. Wherever the Russians go, missiles rain down on them. They were shot down in Nengehar, Kandahar, defeated in Paktiya, Kabul, Logar... In short, wherever the Russian bears fled, bees stung their mouths, eyes, noses and ears. God willing, this moment the door to march towards Russia has opened. They sent soldiers from Bukhara, Tashkent, Samarkand. When these Muslim soldiers saw that the Afghans were also Muslims, they asked them: 'Do you have the Holy Qur'an? Afghans: 'Yes', the Muslim soldiers under Russian command would give their Kalashinkov guns and take the Holy Quran.[7]

After the Muslims have fought this struggle for the realisation of Islamic Unity, they will begin to lead an honourable life in the world when they reach their goal. When this unity is realised, the enemies of Islam will no longer be able to persecute Muslims living as minorities anywhere in the world, they will not be able to do injustice to them and they will have the same status and rights with them. With this identity, the Muslim will be a first-class human being everywhere on earth.

[1]Muslim, Imâra, 28; Bukhârî, Iman, 26; Nasâî, Jihad, 3.

[2]Muslim, Imâra, 157; Abu Dâwûd, Jihad, 17; Nasa'i, Jihad, 2.

[3]  Tirmidhi, Fedâil al-Jihad, 26; Ibn Mâja, Jihad, 5.

[4]  al-Haythami, Majma al-Zawâid, 7/280-281.

[5]  Musnad, Imam Ahmad, vol. IV, sh. 103, c. VI, sh. 4.

[6]  Darimi, Muqaddima bab: 43; Musnad, Imam Ahmad, vol. 2, sh. 176.

[7]Jihad Lessons in the Shadow of Surah al-Tawbah, Shahid Sheikh Abdullah Azam.