Lessons From Ibn Taymiyyah and the Mongol Invasions

Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned this. He lived at a time when the Mongols destroyed Muslim civilization. They came to Iraq, they took all the books that the Muslim scholars had written and they threw them into the sea, until the sea became blue with ink, after it was red with blood.

Now one may think how did Allah destroy this entire Ummah, this Khilafah, all these millions and millions of Muslims from these Mongols. Ibn Taymiyyah said when Allah wants to revive Islam, listen carefully to this statement. When Allah wants to revive Islam, He creates enemies to Islam, because when there are enemies, then Muslims will stand up to defend their faith and they step up, when they feel threatened.

And this is why if you go to some Muslim countries, you see people generally speaking, they are less religious, they are less keen, the masajid are less full. If you come here at Fajr time to this masjid and you go to a masjid in a Muslim country, you might find this masjid is a lot more full. Why? One of the reasons psychologically is Muslims in Muslim countries, they feel safe, there's no threat, there's nothing to worry about.

Here day in and day out, there's always a threat to your Iman, so you are worried, you are in fear, and that's what makes you step up your game. And so this is why the first thing, very important to understand, Allah is the most powerful. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sometimes gives power to the Zalim, the oppressor.

He does, that's His Sunnah. And sometimes Allah gives power to the believer, and in both of those is a test. He will always create for the believers a group of enemies to see, because when that situation is created, the real committed believers will shine.