This is a guest post by Abdul Qadeem Zallum, global leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir between 1977 and 2003.

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[T]he issue pertaining the obligation of ruling by Islam and preventing the rule by Kufr is a vital issue, because the Legislator (swt) has made the measure that should be undertaken towards it a measure of life and death; thus, he who does not rule by Islam and rules by a Kufr system should either retract or be killed.

The Muslims are ordered not to keep silent over the rule by other than what Allah (swt) has revealed, because it is a vital issue. However, when Taqwa (piety) weakened in the souls of the Muslims and their understanding of Islam also weakened, it became easy for them to keep silent over the Khulafa’ and the rulers if they ruled by Kufr in one single matter; and when their weakness increased, the found it easy to keep silent over the rulers if they ruled by Kufr in several matters.

The long term consequence of this silence was that the rulers had the audacity to implement Kufr in a flagrant manner. The Muslims in Egypt kept silent when the ruler implemented the French civil law and abolished the Shari’ah rules. The Muslims kept silent in the Islamic State when the rules of Kufr were established as a constitution for the Muslims in 1909. Though they revolted against them at first, they remained silent afterwards.

Hence, it came as no surprise when Mustafa Kemal destroyed the Khilafah and all the  rules of Islam and declared the rule of Kufr. This was so because the Muslims no longer regarded this issue as a vital one, thus the calamity occurred and it became easy for the Muslims to witness the flagrant Kufr without brandishing the sword to remove it; it became easy for them to be ruled by Kufr without condemning it. Worse still, the majority of Muslims accepted the rules of Kufr, became accustomed to them and relinquished the rules of Islam by choice. This situation reached such a point that Muslims accepted Kufr and called for it, in addition to keeping silent over it and not fighting against it.

All this was only because the issue of ruling by a Kufr system was no longer considered to be a vital issue, and the measure undertaken towards it was no longer that of life and death. Hence, it is imperative to reinstate this issue in its rightful place and to consider it a vital issue. Thus, the rule by a Kufr system would be prevented even if this led to several years of fighting and even if it led to the killing of millions of Muslims and to the martyrdom of millions of believers.

Taken from ‘How the Khilafah Was Destroyed’, (Al-Khilafah Publications: London, 2000), pp198-199