All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and those who follow him.
To the brothers gathered at the "Second Khilafah Conference" held in Green Tunisia, which lived under the shade of the Khilafah for nearly thirteen centuries...
To the Tunisia of the Righteous (Rashidun), a lighthouse of guidance since Islam entered it through the campaign of the Seven Abdallahs during the era of Caliph Uthman (ra) in the year 27 AH - 647 CE... To the Tunisia of the Umayyads, the Tunisia of Uqba bin Nafi, the leader of the conquest of North Africa and the builder of Kairouan and its Great Mosque; then the Tunisia of Az-Zaytuna, the distinguished Islamic University... To the Tunisia of the Abbasids, the Tunisia of the Aghlabids, the Tunisia of the House of Wisdom, science, thought, and literature, and the birthplace of Ibn Khaldun, the author of "Al-Ibar"... To the Tunisia of the Ottomans, the Tunisia of Khayr al-Din, the naval commander who saved Tunisia from the occupation of Charles V and his massacres in 942 AH - 1535 CE, expelling him from it and pursuing his fleet at sea, defeating him in the naval battle of "Preveza" west of Greece in 945 AH - 1538 CE... Then the Tunisia of the Ansar (supporters) who welcomed the migrants of Andalusia, especially during the intensification of the Inquisitions against them in 1018 AH - 1609 CE... Thus, Tunisia and its people were the best of supporters...
To the struggling and steadfast Tunisia during the era of the loathsome French occupation from 1298 AH - 1881 CE until 1375 AH - 1956 CE... and thereafter, the Tunisia of oppressive and tyrannical rule until the revolution against the tyrant "Ben Ali" on 12 Muharram 1432 AH - 17 December 2010 CE, followed by the tyrant’s stealthy flight to Saudi Arabia on 14/1/2011... and then the current rule of Tunisia with all its hidden and apparent faults.
To Tunisia and the people of Tunisia... to the guests of Tunisia attending this conference... to those working to resume the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the Righteous Khilafah anew... To all of you on this thirteenth day of Sha'ban, following the passing of the sacred month of Rajab—a month that combined the great joyful memory of "Al-Isra wal-Mi'raj" and the painful, sorrowful memory of the "destruction of the Islamic Khilafah" at the hands of the colonial disbelievers and their agents who betrayed Allah, His Messenger, and the believers... To all of these: Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
My brothers, I begin with that which is best:
إِنَّا لَنَنْصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ
"Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand." (QS. Ghafir [40]: 51)
In this noble verse, Allah (swt) promised victory, not only for His prophets but also for those who believe... and He promised victory and success not only in the Hereafter on the Day when the witnesses stand, but also in this world. This is so that the working believers realize that with them is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the All-Powerful, the Almighty, their Supporter and Exalter, just as He supported His prophets before in this world and the Hereafter. Whoever has this realization, my brothers, and this certainty, will not be deterred by trials or difficulties. Rather, he will overcome them with strength and wisdom, exalting Allah and proclaiming His oneness, while his tongue recites:
وَأُخْرَى تُحِبُّونَهَا نَصْرٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
"And [you will obtain] another [favor] that you love - victory from Allah and an imminent conquest; and give good tidings to the believers." (QS. As-Saff [61]: 13)
I say this—my brothers—because Tunisia these days is the target of noticeable greed through an overwhelming struggle between three colonial states: France, which is retreating and recoiling but still yearns for the days of its colonization of Tunisia; Britain, which wants to consolidate its previous and current pillars; and America, which is extending its ropes to enter Tunisia... All of this is being done through regional and local tools working for the benefit of these colonial states, standing in the face of the aspirations of the people who removed that tyrant so that the system of Islam could take its place, thereby becoming honored and enjoying its blessings. However, Tunisia today suffers from turmoil and anxiety because the basic structure of the system—being republican and secular—remains, except for a change in faces accompanied by painful paradoxes, each greater than the other:
The first is that the new system abandons the constitution of Allah, the Lord of mankind, and puts it aside or behind its back, then diligently strives to search for a man-made constitution! The second is that the Islamic economic system in the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saw) is radiant and bright, achieving justice and prosperity, yet the system resorts to the capitalist economy based on usurious (riba) loans and the conditions of the International Monetary Fund, which increase the poor in poverty; even the rich, if they remain rich, are not secure in their wealth because it is the product of a usurious economic system that wars against Allah and His Messenger:
فَأْذَنُوا بِحَرْبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ
"Then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger." (QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 279)
War with Allah brings anxiety, turmoil, hardship, and misery in this world,
وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ
"And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater." (QS. Az-Zumar [39]: 26)
The third is that the people elected those who raised the banner of Islam, thinking that their election would bring Islam to power. The result was that the "Islamists" reached the seats of power but left Islam far behind them, away from governance!
O brothers, we realize that there is a fierce war waged by the colonial disbelievers and their agents against Islam and its people, against its call and its state, to prevent—as they claim—the return of the Khilafah in Tunisia and elsewhere. It is a war by night and day, secretly and openly, because the people of disbelief and transgression realize the greatness and strength of the Khilafah. No significant voice was heard from them when the Khilafah stood; the first Khilafah was a beacon of science, revival, strength, and uprightness. Therefore, you see the vicious attack on the people of Ash-Sham, because their revolution was permeated with the banners and slogans of Islam. Thus, the plots of the disbelievers gathered against them: America and its allies, Russia and its followers, and Europe and its greeds. All of them support the tyrant of Ash-Sham materially and morally so that he may increase his brutality and killing, thinking that these massacres will force the people to submit to America's projects in replacing one agent with another who will preserve their interests, their secularism, and the security of the Jews, just as Hafez, Bashar, and their henchmen did! They fear the spread of Islam in Ash-Sham and from Ash-Sham, so you see them fighting it with all their might so that the Khilafah does not return anew. But they are delusional; every agent they have created, every war center they have established, and every conspiracy they have planned will not delay their defeat. Rather, it will be as happened to their predecessors:
وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ مَانِعَتُهُمْ حُصُونُهُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ فَأَتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَمْ يَحْتَسِبُوا وَقَذَفَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الرُّعْبَ يُخْرِبُونَ بُيُوتَهُمْ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَيْدِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فَاعْتَبِرُوا يَا أُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ
"And they thought that their fortresses would protect them from Allah; but [the decree of] Allah came upon them from where they had not expected, and He cast terror into their hearts [so] they destroyed their houses by their [own] hands and the hands of the believers. So take warning, O people of vision." (QS. Al-Hashr [59]: 2)
Days alternate, and the victory of Allah is coming by His permission. Just as the lands of the Muslims had the Righteous Khilafah, the Umayyad, the Abbasid, and the Ottoman, it will return, by Allah’s permission, as a Righteous Khilafah anew after the era of the compulsory rule (al-mulk al-jabari) in which the Ummah lives today. Through the Khilafah, Islam and its people will be honored, and disbelief and its people will be humiliated. Green Tunisia will return as the lighthouse of the Mediterranean once again, as the center of the Khilafah or one of its provinces (wilayat), shaking and stirring the throne of the oppressors. And that is not difficult for Allah.
Someone who does not love the Khilafah might say: "These people have been deluded by their religion," and that Hizb ut-Tahrir in its quest to establish the Khilafah is only chasing a fantasy. The speaker may say what he says... and this is not a new claim; some people said it before during the era of the Messenger of Allah (saw):
إِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ غَرَّ هَؤُلَاءِ دِينُهُمْ وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
"When the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was disease said, 'Their religion has deluded those [Muslims].' But whoever relies upon Allah - then indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise." (QS. Al-Anfal [8]: 49)
But we say, O brothers: The one who claims the Khilafah will not be established is the one chasing a fantasy. As for the establishment of the Khilafah, it is an impending reality by the permission of Allah, confirmed by four facts:
Firstly: A promise from Allah (swt) to those who believe and do righteous deeds of succession (istikhlaf) on earth just as He granted succession to those before them. He (swt) says:
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلِفَنَّ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ
"Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them." (QS. An-Nur [24]: 55)
Secondly: Glad tidings from the Messenger of Allah (saw) regarding the return of the Righteous Khilafah on the method of Prophethood after the compulsory rule in which we reside. He (saw) said, mentioning the stages of governance in the Islamic Ummah, as stated in the authentic Hadith narrated by Ahmad via Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman:
«...ثُمَّ تَكُونُ مُلْكًا جَبْرِيَّةً فَتَكُونُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَكُونَ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةً عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ ثُمَّ سَكَتَ»
"...Then there will be a compulsory rule, and it will remain as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then He will lift it when He wills to lift it. Then there will be a Khilafah on the method of Prophethood. Then he remained silent."
Thirdly: A living and active Ummah that accepts working for the establishment of the Khilafah and supports this work until the promise of Allah is fulfilled, and thereafter stands guard to protect and embrace the Khilafah... as the Ummah is moving rapidly toward its original state for which Allah brought it forth. He (swt) says:
كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ
"You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah." (QS. Ali 'Imran [3]: 110)
Fourthly: A party (hizb) sincere to Allah (swt), truthful to His Messenger (saw), working with the Ummah and through it, connecting its night with its day in tireless work, adhering to the method of the Messenger of Allah (saw) in carrying the dawah and establishing the state. It does not fear the blame of any critic for the sake of Allah, nor does it bow before trials or bend before difficulties. Rather, it increases in strength upon strength by Allah’s permission, no matter how much the enemy gathers against it.
الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ * فَانْقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ
"Those to whom people said, 'Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.' But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, 'Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.' So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty." (QS. Ali 'Imran [3]: 173-174)
These are four facts, and each one of them is sufficient to state that working for the Khilafah is not a fantasy; so how about the four combined?!
O noble brothers, the Righteous Khilafah will return by Allah’s permission, for it is the promise of Allah (swt) and the glad tidings of His Messenger (saw). However, the Sunnah of Allah (swt) necessitated that angels will not descend from the sky to establish a Khilafah for us while we are reclining on couches without movement! Rather, the workers must work for it, and the Ummah must take it as its vital issue, supporting Allah (swt) in its actions and words; then Allah (swt) will grant it victory:
وَلَيَنْصُرَنَّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَقَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ
"And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might." (QS. Al-Hajj [22]: 40)
Then the people will cheer and proclaim the greatness of Allah in praise and gratitude to the Lord of the worlds:
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 supports whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful." (QS. Ar-Rum [30]: 4-5)
In conclusion, my dear brothers, I open your good and blessed conference, the Second Khilafah Conference... and I ask Allah (swt) for your help and success. So, in the name of Allah and with the blessing of Allah, for He (swt) is with you and will never deprive you of your deeds.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.