Allah ﷻ said, وَقَالُوا۟ لَوۡ كُنَّا نَسۡمَعُ أَوۡ نَعۡقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِیۤ أَصۡحَـٰبِ ٱلسَّعِیرِ “And they will say, ‘If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze.””
Intellectual deviation can lead an entire to the most declined situations. This is why reviving the thoughts of the Ummah and correcting its pathway is one of the greatest heroics. The heroic Sheikh, the courageous Shariah judge, the reviver of Islamic thought, Taqiyudeen An-Nabhani, the good son of this Ummah, who was passionate for her revival. He lived a life where he witnessed the chaos caused by the destruction of the Khilafah. He witnessed the permeation of Western culture, and the assault of different ideas and organizations, which corrupt the pure idea of Islam in the minds of the people, such as patriotism, nationalism, freemasonry, Marxism and others. Behind each of these ideologies were a thousand mouthpieces. He was shocked by the Nakba in Palestine, whom he is a son of. He studied many different Islamic programs for change. He could have despaired and isolated himself from the people or taken a pragmatic individualistic Dawah approach, just as many others did. However, he (rh) took a heroic principled stance which is only taken by people of great resolve and intellect.
The Sheikh memorised the Quran at the age of 13, then he studied Arabic and judicature, and attained the highest level in Shariah in Al-Azhar University. He studied deeply the organizations and movements that existed at his time and placed his finger on the error which many of them had: weakness of the Islamic thought and its contamination by Western impurities which invaded the lands. The Sheikh began meeting the different Islamic organizations and their leaderships of his time at Al-Azhar in Egypt as well as in Palestine, where he was a Shariah judge in the Court of Al-Quds, discussing with them and presenting to them the ideas he reached. At the same time, he was debating the secularists, nationalists, socialists and their ilk. He combined in himself fierceness in attacking non-Islamic ideas, with respect and softness when discussing with Islamic bodies, no matter how much he disagreed with them since part of the methodology of Nabhani was to refrain from attacking personalities and bodies which were working for Islam. He was also characterised with being kind to his Ummah and not holding her responsible for the decline like many do unfortunately. He was bursting with intelligence, filled with energy, powerful in reasoning, outstandingly capable of convincing others, unknown to rest, he was clearly active because of the wounds sustained by his Ummah.
After a deep and accurate study, Allah granted Sheikh Taqi success in identifying the source of the disease the Ummah is suffering from the absence of a state which implements the system of Islam thus looking after the people and repelling their enemy. He was also guided to the prophetic method of reviving the Ummah and resuming its Islamic way of life: establishing a party from among the sons of the Ummah, which takes Islam as a political ideology seeking to resume the Islamic way of life via re-establishing the Khilafah Rashidah which was promised by Allah ﷻ and the Messenger ﷺ. The Sheikh began giving Khutbahs and lectures in Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, in Al-Khaleel and other cities in Palestine, showing the Muslims their duty and attacking the Arab regimes by calling them Western colonialist creations. He used to expose the political plans of the Western states and their plots against Islam and the Muslims. He met the Ulema whom he knew and offered them to join him in his work, until he managed to convince a group of distinguished Ulema and notable judges. He crowned his political activism by founding Hizb-ut-Tahrir in the year 1953 despite them all knowing the risks of what they were about to embark on.
The Hizb began its Dawah in Al-Quds and the surrounding areas. The authorities realised the danger posed by this Dawah, so they swiftly moved to attack the Hizb, ban it, shut down its offices and arrest its members. The Jordanian and Palestinian authorities strangled the Hizb. However, Alhamdulillah, this coincided with the spreading of the idea of Khilafah across the country. In fact, its light illuminated across borders. The Sheikh did not call to Khilafah as a mere slogan. He rather managed to produce Shariah details for what is before and after establishment of the Khilafah. He modelled the Shariah prophetic method for establishing the Khilafah State. He also defined the Dawah structure necessary for organizing the journey of the Party working to establish this State in a manner that protects it from deviation and derailing. He (rh) went on to produce detailed Ijtihadi material for all systems within the Khilafah State in ruling, economics and others.
Then he presented to the Ummah, the highest intellectual output which no organisation had done before him: a complete constitution for the Khilafah State derived from the light of the Quran and Sunnah, encompassing all of its institutions and departments, ready to be implemented immediately!
The Sheikh was arrested numerous times, and was tortured. He migrated to Damascus, planting the sweet fruits of his Dawah there and tasting the bitterness of its prisons and pain of its whips. The waves of the tyrants pushed him out to Iraq, and then to Lebanon, where the persecution took its toll on him and his soul returned to its Creator, leaving behind a global ideological political party which emerged from the blessed land to reach more than 50 countries. The call for Khilafah now has an echo and irritates the beds of tyrants, seen and heard everywhere. Its members work day and night, repelling the attacks of the West and awakening their Ummah whom is embracing them evermore each day, and the Secularists and those who promote corruption and misconceptions flee before them. May Allah have mercy on the Taqi An-Nabhani and allow us to witness the achievement of what he expended his life to see: A Khilafah Rashidah which fills the world with light and justice after it had been covered in tyranny and injustice.
