called those who withheld zakat apostates—even though they fasted and prayed and were not fighting the Muslim community—then what of those who join the enemies of Allah and His Messenger in killing Muslims? Moreover—Allah forbid—if these people, who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, defy Allah and His Messenger, and oppose Allah and His Messenger, were to seize the lands of Syria and Egypt at a time like this, it would lead to the disappearance of the religion of Islam and the obliteration of its laws.
As for the group in Syria, Egypt and similar lands, they are, at this time, fighting in defence of the religion of Islam. They are among those most deserving of inclusion in the victorious group mentioned by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the widely transmitted authentic hadiths in which he said:
“A group of my ummah will continue to uphold the truth and prevail, unharmed by those who oppose them or abandon them, until the Hour comes.”
In one narration recorded by Muslim:
“The people of the West will continue…”
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, spoke these words in his city, Medina. Thus, the west, from his perspective, was whatever lay west of it, and the east was whatever lay east of it. East and west are relative directions, for every land has its east and west. Hence, when a man comes to Alexandria from the west, people say, “He has travelled east.” The people of Medina used to call the people of Syria “the people of the West,” and the people of Najd and Iraq “the people of the East,” as in the hadith of Ibn Umar, who said: “Two men from the East arrived and delivered speeches”; and in