Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began over a month ago and has seen all the global players jockeying into position to ensure they come out on the right side. The invasion and the subsequent fallout became a major point of discussion around the world and everyone is now being affected be it political, economic or from an energy perspective. COVID-19 disappeared overnight as many foresee the threat of World War 3.

The Muslim World as well as the Muslim community in the UK has been affected and debate and discussion continue on the impact and opportunities it presents to the Ummah. The reaction of the Muslim community has ranged from outrage at the blatant hypocrisy to worries this is the eve of a world war.

Double Standards and Hypocrisy

The double standards shown by the West in their reporting, care and reaction compared to wars in the Muslim world has been appalling. 

Muslims and non-Muslims alike are pointing out the clear hypocrisy and rightly so. When Russia suppressed uprisings in Chechnya where was the humanitarian sentiment and action by the West?

When Russia intervened for the Syrian regime, suppressing the uprising by bombing and killing innocent people, there was no financial sanctions or threats of removing Russia from SWIFT. There was little condemnation or messages of awareness or boycott from famous high street names.

One should not be easily deceived by the seemingly ‘humanitarianism’ being displayed by Western governments for Ukraine because this in itself is only based on national interests. It is in Europe’s and America’s national interests to contain Russia. It was not in Europe’s and America’s interests to act in the same way when Russia aided the Syrian regime bombing and killing people during the Syrian uprising.

As Muslims, we should delve deeper to understand the reasons why this is the case. Because this will help develop a politically astute mindset from which to view world events from a specific Islamic angle. This view focuses on viewing world events from the perspective of the Islamic view, how the Muslim nations can gain politically from such divisions to strengthen the case of the return of the Islamic Khilafah.

Hence the discussions should not stop at hypocrisy and double standards. Islam provides us with a unique perspective to look at the world and we should be seeking out interests from this unique perspective.  As mentioned above, the Western governments’ humanitarianism is based on their national interests and not some higher moral obligation, that’s why we witness such inconsistency.

The Khilafah state is not a colonial state and as a result it does not look to invade countries to steal their resources. The Islamc forighn policy is about propogating Islam and the removal of the obstacles to achieve this. This mission from Allah (swt) makes the ummah accountable to the creator and so the ends do not justify the means.

Non-Muslims vs non-Muslims

Many see this war between non-Muslims and see that for once a Muslim nation is not on the receiving end. Many teenagers today have witnessed constant wars in the Muslim lands this century waged by Western nations for their own strategic interests. However, we should not forget that the Crimea was historically Muslim land and has been under brutal Russian occupation for 8 years.

As a community we have spoken out against the unjust wars based on lies, deceit and selfish colonial interests from Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir to Yemen. And we continue to do so unconditionally whether an aggressor nation invades a Muslim or non-Muslim nation.

The political way to view this event is just as the Muslims viewed the news of the Romans being defeated by the Persians at the time when the Islamic State in Medina was young and aspiring to become a political power not only in Arabia but wider.

Allah (swt) says;

الٓمٓ
غُلِبَتِ ٱلرُّومُ
فِىٓ أَدْنَى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ
فِى بِضْعِ سِنِينَ ۗ لِلَّهِ ٱلْأَمْرُ مِن قَبْلُ وَمِنۢ بَعْدُ ۚ وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ

Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans have been defeated. In the nearer land (Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine), and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. Within three to nine years. The decision of the matter, before and after (these events) is only with Allah, (before the defeat of Romans by the Persians, and after, i.e. the defeat of the Persians by the Romans). And on that Day, the believers (i.e. Muslims) will rejoice (at the victory given by Allah to the Romans against the Persians). [TMQ Surah Ar-Rum: 1-4].

Despite being a superpower of the time, the Romans being defeated was a sign from Allah (saw) of their weakness and that one day they would be victorious again.. The loss for the Romans is what eventually led to Jerusalem coming under the authority of the Muslims under the rule of Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) in 15AH. Propagating Islam always remained in the minds of the Sahabah, despite there circumstances as a small nascent state. 

Eschatology in Perspective

Many also look at the war as a sign of the end of times. These discussions go into the details of the signs of the Day of Judgement with a view to understand them in more detail.

The fact remains is that these events should not derail the Muslim community in their quest for the return of Islam as a political entity via the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah system. The return of the Khilafah itself is another event which will occur before the end of time.

Surely those who focus on the signs of end of times in the Muslim community should shift their focus on the return of the Khilafah and the efforts they can make to help this noble Prophetic cause.

When any event takes place, what actions we should do and how we should view it, is determined by the Shari’ah. If Muslim lands are attacked, invaded or a coalition is built to isolate the Muslim world, Islam informs us of what is permissible and what is not. Whether the end of times is upon us or not has little bearing on the actions we should undertake and this has been communicated to us in the shariah in the form of prohibitions and obligations. We take the information of the end of times, as information and take lessons from them, but they do not determine what actions we should be doing. The Sahabah (ra) when they lost wars or faced existential crises, they referred to the Prophet (saw) when he was alive and after his death they would refer to his sunnah. Not once did they resort to the evidences related to the end of times. The evidences regarding the end of times were accepted by the Sahabah and they took them as information, they did not take them as a basis of what actions they should or should not do. We should treat Eschatology in a similar manner.

Wars usually lead to changes in the global power and this will impact the Muslims around the world. This is why we need to follow global events and this is what our Prophet (saw) taught us. Our view towards global events needs to be based upon the truth and the salvation for mankind. Without Islam the world is drowning in misery, wealth misdistribution and poverty. We have the solution to such global problems and need to convey this from our angle on global issues.