The victory achieved by the enemies of Islam over the Muslims is not something strange. Rather, it is normal and realistic, for they just reap the fruits of their efforts of tens of years in the fields of science, economy, planning, etc. On the other hand, humiliation and defeat are the natural consequences of Muslims’ negligence of Islam for tens of years.

Victory has some prerequisites to be fulfilled, starting with every Muslim man or woman overcoming Satan, making his or her soul attached to its Lord, and adhering to the Islamic code of life in full, which surely will provide the soul with felicity, as Islam manages every small and big matter related to it.

So, if a Muslim wins most of his battles against Satan—not necessarily all of them, for man is bound to err and repent—the Muslim will be ready for a further and greater step, namely inviting other Muslims to overcome Satan and come back to their Islam. He will be able to call his neighbors, relatives, colleagues, and friends to adhere to the teachings of Islam and achieve the felicity and victory he achieved. In this context, a Muslim should be patient. Little by little, the fruit will ripen, and the outcome will be a group of preachers and callers to Islam assisting him in such a glorious mission and cooperating with each other through organizations, societies, and moderate groups, till most of the people’s dealings conform with the Islamic laws. In this way, a Muslim achieves victory in this long, extensive, laborious battle.

Such a battle requires collective effort, and victory therein cannot be achieved through individual effort alone. Victory in such a glorious battle requires various means, such as preaching, services, pioneers and examples, visits, news, cassette tapes, books, magazines, video tapes, multimedia, TV channels, Internet and others. Such partial victory will also pave the way for a greater one, namely preparing a Muslim generation brought up with the morals and manners of Islam as their code of life. A real Muslim generation specialized in the various fields of life—political, scientific, media, economic, social, military, and others. It is a generation who can manage and run all the state’s institutions the Islamic way.

The way to victory is a long one with interrelated steps. If any of these steps is missed or impetuously taken, the other steps become too difficult to achieve; or if achieved, they become so fragile and short-lived that the result will be the defeat and retreat of Islam and Muslims.

Moreover, the recent worldwide Islamic revival (sahwah) stirs up optimism, gives hope, and confirms that the Muslims have begun to take real steps towards victory.

Sometimes Muslims grieve and give up hope when they fail to achieve their desired goal, namely, the victory of Islam and the spread of its message and teachings among all people all over the world. Actually, such grief and despair are the result of unawareness of the real meaning of victory. Victory is relative and dividable. To illustrate, if a Muslim finds that the one to whom he preaches is returning to his Lord in repentance, becoming God-fearing and desirous of His Paradise and fearful of His Fire, such a Muslim should realize that this is a partial divine victory and a step towards the desired, ultimate victory. When a Muslim finds a liar becoming truthful, a cheater becoming honest, one negligent of prayer or fasting beginning to perform them regularly and dutifully, and an unveiled woman beginning to wear hijab, he should be aware that this is part of Allah’s victory.

Similarly, when a Muslim finds that learning the Qur’an is becoming widespread in mosques and in homes and that Islamic dealings are beginning to be present in some banks and companies, then he should be reassured that the comprehensive understanding of Islam—that Islam is dealings as well as acts of worship—is beginning to overcome the limited understanding of Islam, namely that it is merely acts of worship. Likewise, when a Muslim finds that the features of Islam are beginning to appear in some TV channels, movies, series, and some means of communication, such as the Internet, he should be confident that the righteous are beginning to make use of the means that have long been restricted to the corrupt.

A Muslim, at any time, is a link in the chain of victory. He receives the banner of Islam from the previous generation, goes on with the next step of victory, and delivers the banner of Islam, as much victorious as possible, to the following generation, and so on. These are interrelated steps that culminate in the ultimate, comprehensive Islamic victory. That was what the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. They got the banner of Islam from Allah’s Messenger, elevated it, then delivered it victorious to the following generation, their successors, who, in turn, increased its elevation until the mercy of Islam spread in most parts of the world in their time.

The Battle of the Confederates (Al-Ahzab) is a clear example. The Muslims used every means, which culminated in digging a trench around the city. They crowned their endeavor with seeking Allah’s support. The result was striking. Muslims achieved victory through two unexpected means: the first was a violent wind that destroyed the tents of the disbelievers, strengthening and reassuring the Muslims and rendering them victorious; the second was an honorable Companion named Nu`aym, who was then a recent convert to Islam. Nu`aym managed to sow dissension among the disbelieving confederates so that they shamefully withdrew.

The above-mentioned signs are supposed to free the Muslims from the chain of despair, give them heart and hope, and urge them to exert more effort towards victory, bearing and overcoming whatever difficulties are in their way so as to fulfill the duty enjoined on them by Allah and His Messenger, namely spreading the Word of Islam, rendering it victorious, and making Allah’s Word the uppermost and most superior. Whoever participates in that will surely be greatly rewarded by Almighty Allah.

Finally, we do believe that as the Palestinian Intifada managed to wake up the Muslim nations and paved the way to their return to the teachings of Islam, the war against Iraq and its occupation by the enemies will soon wake up the conscience of the whole world, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The demonstrations staged in various places all over the world reflect this awakening of consciousness. The unjust war against Iraq is, Allah willing, to pave the way to a universal return to the Lord and to the firmly established justice of Islam, which does not change with the change of circumstances, attitudes, or desires. This is because Islam is revealed by Allah the Creator Who never changes. His religion is unchangeable as well, unlike the so-called international legitimacy, which fluctuates according whims and desires, and is liable to the application of double standards and the negligence of all values of justice and equality.