Praise be to Allah for His blessings, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and those who follow him.
To the Islamic Ummah, the best nation brought forth for mankind... to the noble and righteous dawah carriers... and to the esteemed guests of the page,
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
In the history of nations, there are luminous days that are a source of pride; so what if those days are the realization of the glad tidings (bishara) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? They are undoubtedly stars shining in the sky, rather suns that illuminate the world and raise the Ummah to the heights of the heavens. Among these glorious days are these days of ours, the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople. Al-Fatih began the invasion and siege of Constantinople starting from the twenty-sixth of Rabi’ al-Awwal until its conquest was completed at the dawn of Tuesday, the twentieth of this month, Jumada al-Ula 857 AH. This means the siege lasted about two months. When Muhammad al-Fatih entered the city victoriously, he dismounted from his horse and prostrated to Allah in gratitude for this victory and success. He then headed to the "Hagia Sophia" church, where the Byzantine people and their monks had gathered, granted them safety, and ordered the conversion of the "Hagia Sophia" church into a masjid. He also ordered the establishment of a masjid at the site of the grave of the great companion Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who was among the ranks of the first campaign to conquer Constantinople and died there, may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him.
Al-Fatih, who was given this title after the conquest, decided to make Constantinople the capital of his state instead of the previous capital, Edirne. After its conquest, he named Constantinople "Islambol", meaning the city of Islam, the "Abode of Islam," and it became famously known as "Istanbul". Then Al-Fatih entered the city, went to Hagia Sophia, and prayed in it, and it became a masjid by the grace, blessing, and praise of Allah. It remained a pure and radiant masjid inhabited by the believers until the criminal of the age, Mustafa Kemal, managed to prevent prayer in it and desecrate it by turning it into a museum for every passerby!
Thus, the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were fulfilled in his noble hadith. On the authority of Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As, he said:
بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ حَوْلَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ نَكْتُبُ إِذْ سُئِلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَيُّ الْمَدِينَتَيْنِ تُفْتَحُ أَوَّلاً قُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةُ أَوْ رُومِيَّةُ؟ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: مَدِينَةُ هِرَقْلَ تُفْتَحُ أَوَّلاً، يَعْنِي قُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةَ
"While we were around the Messenger of Allah ﷺ writing, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked: 'Which of the two cities will be opened first, Constantinople or Rome?' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'The city of Heraclius will be opened first,' meaning Constantinople." (Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad and Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak, who said: "This is a sahih hadith according to the conditions of the two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim), though they did not record it." Al-Dhahabi commented in Al-Talkhis: "According to the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim").
Similarly, in the noble hadith from Abdullah bin Bishr al-Khath’ami, from his father, that he heard the Prophet ﷺ saying:
لَتُفْتَحَنَّ الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةُ فَلَنِعْمَ الْأَمِيرُ أَمِيرُهَا وَلَنِعْمَ الْجَيْشُ ذَلِكَ الْجَيْشُ
"Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be." (Narrated by Ahmad; and it was stated in Majma' al-Zawa'id regarding it: "Narrated by Ahmad, Al-Bazzar, and Al-Tabarani, and its men are trustworthy").
This glad tiding was realized at the hands of this young man, Muhammad al-Fatih, who was no more than twenty-one years old. However, he had been prepared uprightly since his childhood. His father, Sultan Murad II, took great interest in him, placing him under the tutelage of the best teachers of his time, including Ahmad bin Ismail al-Kurani, whom Al-Suyuti mentioned was the first teacher of Al-Fatih, saying of him: "He was a scholar and jurist, and the scholars of his time testified to his superiority and mastery; they even called him the Abu Hanifa of his time." Similarly, Sheikh Akshamsaddin was the first to plant in his mind since childhood the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the "conquest of Constantinople," and the boy grew up longing to achieve that conquest at his hands.
Sheikh Akshamsaddin taught Muhammad al-Fatih the basic sciences of the Quran, Hadith, Sunnah, and Fiqh, as well as the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish languages. He also taught him some life sciences such as mathematics, astronomy, and history... this is in addition to his courage in horsemanship and the arts of combat. Allah honored him by His grace and favor, so he deserved the praise of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; for Al-Fatih was an excellent leader and his soldiers were an excellent army, as their hearts were filled with iman (faith) and their limbs moved with preparation and sincere Jihad. They supported Allah, so He supported them with this great conquest. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Al-Fatih was sharp-sighted and possessed sound insight; whenever he saw a gap, he addressed it appropriately by the permission of Allah, and whenever an obstacle appeared to him, he removed it with the help of Allah. He faced three obstacles which he solved with sharp intelligence and remarkable wisdom:
- His soldiers complained to him about the cold weather while they were in the open around the walls, so he built a fortress for them to take refuge in whenever necessary. He did not want the soldiers to break the siege if it lasted too long and return as previous Muslim armies that invaded Constantinople had done; rather, he wanted no return until Constantinople was conquered by the permission of Allah.
- The walls of Constantinople were three layers, with several meters between each layer. Therefore, Al-Fatih was perplexed by this matter, as there were no weapons in their era with such destructive power. The strongest thing they had was the catapult, which threw stones that were not small, but not sufficient to open a breach in a wall of this size. Because Muhammad al-Fatih monitored military capabilities in the world, it came to his knowledge that a Hungarian engineer (Orban) had prepared the idea of making cannons with special power capable of smashing walls. Orban had offered his services to the Emperor of Constantinople, who did not pay him any attention. So Al-Fatih welcomed him warmly, bestowed money upon him, and facilitated all means for him to complete his invention. Orban began making the cannons with the help of Ottoman engineers, and Al-Fatih supervised them himself. Within three months, Orban had made three large cannons, with the shell weight being about a ton and a half. He did not want to test the cannon near the walls for fear that the results might not be as they should be and the Romans would see it from behind the walls, affecting the strength of the Muslims. So he conducted the experiment in Edirne, and it was successful. He praised Allah and moved the three cannons from Edirne to near the walls of Constantinople to smash them so that the Romans would surrender.
- Then there was another matter occupying him; he knew that the walls were weak in the Gulf area (Golden Horn) around Constantinople. Even though the Romans realized the weakness of the walls on the Gulf side, they were confident that the Muslim ships would not be able to reach them because the entrance to the Gulf was closed with a metal chain. However, Al-Fatih—may Allah open for him—reached a decision to slide the ships across the surface of the hill (Galata) opposite the wall from the side of the Gulf. He fixed wooden planks on the surface of the hill and poured vast amounts of oil and grease on them, then slid the ships over them. Within one night, he was able to bring 70 ships down into the Gulf. This matter was astonishing to the Romans; when morning came and they saw the Muslim ships in the Gulf, their hearts were filled with terror, and victory and conquest followed, and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Dear brothers, I wanted to recount something of the conquest of Constantinople for three reasons:
First, to reclaim the memory so that everyone with eyes can see the greatness of Islam and the Muslims when their Islam is put into practice. At that time, Kufr (disbelief) cannot stand; rather, the Truth prevails and rises like the height of the Adhan (Allahu Akbar). This was the case; Persia and Byzantium bowed before it, and soon, Allah willing, Byzantium's sister, Rome, will follow, in confirmation of the other part of the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding the conquest of Rome.
Second, so that your hearts may be reassured by the fulfillment of the other three glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, just as the first tiding was fulfilled. He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gave us the glad tidings of the conquest of Constantinople, the conquest of Rome, the return of the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood, and the fighting of the Jews and their crushing defeat. The Messenger ﷺ does not speak of his own desire; it is only a revelation revealed. The three remaining glad tidings of the Messenger ﷺ will be fulfilled by His permission, the Almighty. However, they are not fulfilled by the descent of angels from heaven to gift them to us; rather, it is the Sunnah of Allah that we support Allah and He supports us. We establish His Sharia, raise the edifice of His State, prepare what strength we can, and then perform Jihad in His way. At that moment, the earth will shine with the three remaining glad tidings and the earth will shine with the Khilafah once again.
Third, the colonialist disbelieving West, along with the traitors of the Arabs and Turks, was able to destroy the Khilafah in 1342 AH - 1924 CE, considering this destruction as equivalent to the conquest of Constantinople. Consequently, it returned power to the disbelieving West which it had lost. Thus, the West's concern has been to exert every effort to ensure that the Khilafah does not return again, so that the power it regained is not lost—especially as it has become the colonizer of Muslim lands. It was monitoring the movements in the Muslim lands; so when the establishment of Hizb ut Tahrir was announced in 1372 AH - 1953 CE, and it became clear to the West that the pillar of the Party's work and its vital issue is the re-establishment of the Khilafah, and that it is serious and diligent in its work, the West ordered its agent rulers to ban the Party and pursue it with arrests and torture even to the point of martyrdom in some regions, and with long sentences reaching life imprisonment in others. Then they added methods of lying, forgery, and distortion of facts without shame or embarrassment.
To make these slanders effective in their view, they made those who carry them out people who are called by Muslim names and wear their dress. Then, some of those who left, broke their oath, or were disciplined from those who were previously in the Party, joined them in these slanders. Thus, these categories combined to participate in slander, forgery, and distortion of facts, each having a role: the Kuffar, the hypocrites, the rumor-mongers, and then a limited group of those who left, were disciplined, broke their oath, and those in whose hearts is a disease. They all participated in this plot against the Party and slander against it, moving with poisoned steps and practicing lying at every stage. Whenever they failed in one lie, they brought another. The practitioners of lying forgot or ignored that the shabab (members) of the Party have a clarity of mind, quick wit, and deep intelligence that makes them distinguish the wicked from the good, so they do not allow any lie to enter their camp. Thus, despite the means of beautifying the slanders they adopted, and despite the "cosmetic industry" for forging facts in which they exhausted themselves, it did not find a listening ear among the shabab of the Party nor among any rational Muslim. Rather, it was:
كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئاً
"...like a mirage in a lowland which a thirsty person considers water, until when he comes to it, he finds it to be nothing." (QS. An-Nur [24]: 39)
With all the plot they plotted, the malice they were molded with, and the evil they committed towards the Party and its leadership, thinking they would affect the Party, their assumption will ruin them and then they will turn back, Allah willing, disappointed, achieving no good, no matter how long their lying, plotting, and deception persist:
وَلَا يَحِيقُ الْمَكْرُ السَّيِّئُ إِلَّا بِأَهْلِهِ
"But the evil plot does not encompass except its own people." (QS. Fatir [35]: 43)
And they will find the consequence of that with Allah, no matter how intensified their slander and plotting become:
وَقَدْ مَكَرُوا مَكْرَهُمْ وَعِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَكْرُهُمْ وَإِنْ كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ
"And they had planned their plan, but with Allah is [recorded] their plan, even if their plan had been [sufficient] to do away with the mountains." (QS. Ibrahim [14]: 46)
In conclusion, your strong stances, O brothers—firm on the truth, clear and powerful—in the face of the successive campaigns against the call of truth, remind us of the stances of the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them, following the wise and great stances of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in facing hardships. Such are your stances: solid and firm, not weakening with trials nor shaking during tribulations. Rather, your resolve strengthens and your voices proclaim the truth. You look at this world once and at the Hereafter many times. Congratulations to the Party for you, and congratulations to you for the Party:
رِجَالٌ لَا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوْماً تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ * لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَيَزِيدَهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَاللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
"[Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will (fearfully) turn about - That Allah may reward them [according to] the best of what they did and increase them from His bounty. And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account." (QS. An-Nur [24]: 37-38)
Finally, I pray to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala that the fulfillment of the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ continues, so that the Khilafah of this Ummah returns, and subsequently liberates its Al-Quds, and conquers Rome as its sister preceded it... in confirmation of the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. We also ask Him, Glory be to Him, to provide us with help from Him so that we may excel in our work and perfect it, and thus be worthy of the victory of Allah, the Almighty, the Merciful.
وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ * بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ يَنْصُرُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ
"And on that day the believers will rejoice. In the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful." (QS. Ar-Rum [30]: 4-5)
Wassalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
Thursday, 7th Jumada al-Ula 1441 AH Corresponding to 02/01/2020 CE
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir