Why does Allah not grant us victory? Because the most blatant idolatry and clear shirk are broadcast on "Islamic" state channels as if it’s nothing, a large portion of those who call themselves Muslims are even worse idolaters than the idolaters of Quraysh, and the world is filled with devilish "preachers" and "scholars" who claim that this is not idolatry.
■ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah described a very similar situation when he spoke about the state of affairs as the Mongols invaded the Islamic world, in al-Istighathah (pp. 412-414):
❝When the enemy, who had stepped outside of Islamic law, approached Damascus, they went out and began seeking help from the dead at the graves where they hope that their suffering would be relieved. And some poets said, ‘O those who fear the Tatars (i.e., Mongols), seek refuge in the grave of Abu ‘Umar.’ Or they said, ‘Seek refuge at the grave of Abu ‘Umar, he will save you from suffering.’
❝In response, I said to them: these [dead] whom you are asking for help, if they were [alive and] with you in battle, they would be defeated, just as some Muslims were defeated at the Battle of Uhud, because it was preordained that the army would lose for certain reasons, and within that was Allah’s wisdom.
❝This is why those who were knowledgeable in the religion and insight did not fight that time (against the Tatars), because it was not a lawful struggle as commanded by Allah and His Messenger. That struggle would only have led to harm and corruption, and the desired help and victory [from Allah] would not have come, meaning there would be no reward in this world or the Hereafter for those who knew of this, although many fighters who believed it was a lawful struggle would still be rewarded according to their intentions.
❝Later, we began encouraging people to dedicate their religion sincerely and purely to Allah and to seek help only from Him, without seeking help from others, not from a close angel nor a sent prophet. As Allah said on the day of Badr: {When you asked help of your Lord, and He answered you,…} [Al-Anfal: 8:9] [...]
❝When the people corrected their affairs and sincerely asked salvation from their Lord alone, He granted them a powerful victory over their enemy, an unprecedented victory. The Tatars had never before been dealt such a defeat; through the pure establishment of Allah’s Tawhid and obedience to His Messenger, victory came in a way that had not been seen before.❞ End quote.
■ So long as these disbelievers openly promote their shirk and openly call for the worship of the Prophet ﷺ in a manner worse than the way the disbelievers of Quraysh worshipped their idols, and as long as there are "Islamic preachers" who downplay this with philosophical rhetoric and verbal gymnastics, don’t expect anything.
And to Allah we complain about the strangeness of pure Islam.
■ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah described a very similar situation when he spoke about the state of affairs as the Mongols invaded the Islamic world, in al-Istighathah (pp. 412-414):
❝When the enemy, who had stepped outside of Islamic law, approached Damascus, they went out and began seeking help from the dead at the graves where they hope that their suffering would be relieved. And some poets said, ‘O those who fear the Tatars (i.e., Mongols), seek refuge in the grave of Abu ‘Umar.’ Or they said, ‘Seek refuge at the grave of Abu ‘Umar, he will save you from suffering.’
❝In response, I said to them: these [dead] whom you are asking for help, if they were [alive and] with you in battle, they would be defeated, just as some Muslims were defeated at the Battle of Uhud, because it was preordained that the army would lose for certain reasons, and within that was Allah’s wisdom.
❝This is why those who were knowledgeable in the religion and insight did not fight that time (against the Tatars), because it was not a lawful struggle as commanded by Allah and His Messenger. That struggle would only have led to harm and corruption, and the desired help and victory [from Allah] would not have come, meaning there would be no reward in this world or the Hereafter for those who knew of this, although many fighters who believed it was a lawful struggle would still be rewarded according to their intentions.
❝Later, we began encouraging people to dedicate their religion sincerely and purely to Allah and to seek help only from Him, without seeking help from others, not from a close angel nor a sent prophet. As Allah said on the day of Badr: {When you asked help of your Lord, and He answered you,…} [Al-Anfal: 8:9] [...]
❝When the people corrected their affairs and sincerely asked salvation from their Lord alone, He granted them a powerful victory over their enemy, an unprecedented victory. The Tatars had never before been dealt such a defeat; through the pure establishment of Allah’s Tawhid and obedience to His Messenger, victory came in a way that had not been seen before.❞ End quote.
■ So long as these disbelievers openly promote their shirk and openly call for the worship of the Prophet ﷺ in a manner worse than the way the disbelievers of Quraysh worshipped their idols, and as long as there are "Islamic preachers" who downplay this with philosophical rhetoric and verbal gymnastics, don’t expect anything.
And to Allah we complain about the strangeness of pure Islam.
