The mission of the Islamic nation in life is to carry the Message of Islam to the whole of mankind, therefore the Muslims had to be in touch with the world. The Islamic State was thus obliged to carry out this task which Islam has decreed in order to convey the Message. It was inevitable that the State would conquer other countries and achieve this with great success. These conquests were merely the implementation of an Islamic obligation, which is the conveying of Islam to people in a manner that would catch their imagination by implementing its rules on them and spreading its concepts among them. Therefore the Islamic conquests were not designed to exploit and colonise people, nor were they made to take advantage of the resources of their land. The only aim was to carry the Message of Islam to them in order to save them from the miserable lives that they were leading and the rotten regimes that they were ruled by. This is clearly apparent, for that is why the Islamic State was founded, the Islamic conquests carried out and Jihad decreed.

The Islamic State was established on a very strong basis, an establishment that saw it grow and expand, spread and conquer other countries. The seed of its establishment was destined to bear a universal State, not a local one, because its doctrine is a universal one. It is an Aqeeda for mankind and its system is universal, designed, as it were, for all humans. Therefore, it was only natural for it to spread and to conquer other countries, the nature of its establishment makes this inevitable. There was the Messenger of Allah (SAW) taking the second Bay‘a of Aqaba by the Muslims who pledged to fight alongside him all and sundry even if it led to the loss of their wealth and the death of the nobles, they pledged themselves to him in complete obedience in ease and in hardship, to tell the truth at all times. In Allah’s service they would fear the censure of none, they pledged themselves to the Messenger of Allah (SAW) to fight to the death in the way of protecting the Islamic campaign and for their faithful service their reward would be Paradise. Those were the seed of the army of the Islamic State that carried the Message of Islam. Bearing all these factors in mind why was this army established? What was its task? Was it not to carry the Message of Islam? Was that not the only reason for which they came and gave their pledge and were ready to die for its cause?

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) had designed the plan of the conquests before his death. He (SAW) sent envoys to Chosroes and Caesar once the Islamic State had become established, this was part of his plan designed to spread the Message of Islam beyond the peninsula which took place in the seventh year of Hijra. He (SAW) also sent envoys to other kings and princes inviting them to embrace Islam. His plan was also reflected in the launching of the raids of Mu‘ta and Tabuk and in the preparing of Usama’s army. The Khulafah who succeeded him as head of State pursued his plan and executed it by conquering first the countries he (SAW) had sent envoys to, inviting them to Islam. Other conquests soon followed, again always following the same method and principle. That is why the Islamic State was never selective in the countries it conquered, it never made any difference to the Muslims how difficult or easy was their task, and although Egypt was relatively easy to conquer and its resources were considerable compared with the harsh Saharan climate of North Africa with its poverty, the Muslims never took those factors into consideration because their main aim and ultimate goal was to spread Islam. This necessitated the conquering of every country regardless of its poverty or wealth and regardless of the resistance put up by its people. The spreading of Islam and the carrying of its Message ignores the wealth or the poverty factor and the acceptance or the refusal of the people. The main aim is simply the conveying of Islam, to establish it as an intellectual leadership from which a way of life is derived. This Message should be carried to all mankind in all the countries.

The Holy Qur’an has outlined for Muslims the reasons for fighting and the obligation of Jihad, stressing that it should be only in the way of Islam and in carrying its Message to the world. The Holy verses came thick and fast commanding the Muslims to fight in the way of Islam. Allah (SWT) says in Surah Al-Anfal:

"And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah" - [TMQ; 8:39]

And He (SWT) says in Surah Al-Baqara:

"And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah; But if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression." - [TMQ; 2:193]

Allah (SWT) says in Surah Al-Tawbah:

"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by Allah and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the Deen of truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" - [TMQ; 9:29]

These verses, among others, have commanded the Muslims to perform Jihad and indicated to Muslims the aim behind the conquests. It was these verses that motivated the Muslims to conquer other countries.

Therefore, the carrying of the Message of Islam was the basis on which the Islamic State was founded and for which the Muslim army had been prepared. Jihad was decreed and this was the method followed in the conquering of other countries. The carrying of the Message is what would bring back to the Muslims the Islamic State.

The Islamic Conquests Intensified (Concentrated)

The Muslims conquered many countries and ruled them by Islam. Islam has commanded them to hold the reins of power and leadership. They are forbidden from being ruled by non-Muslims; Allah (SWT) says in Surah Al-Nisa:

"Allah will not allow the disbelievers to have any authority over the believers." - [TMQ; 4: 141]

Allah (SWT) has given the Izza (might) to the believers, He (SWT) says in Surah Al-Munafiqeen:

"But honour belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and to the Believers; but the Hypocrites know not" - [TMQ; 63:8]

However, Allah (SWT) did not give them the might, nor had He given them the rule and the leadership until they had acquired an Islamic mentality which made the task of ruling a means to implementing Islam and carrying its Message, not a desire to rule and reign. Until they had acquired an Islamic personality able to understand what the rule entailed and realised its responsibility before Allah (SWT) the rule was kept away from them. The splendour of Islam was reflected in the actions of those rulers and in their speeches and it reached the people that they ruled over through the implementation of the Sharia‘a. This inevitably resulted in the convincing of those people whom the Sharia‘a laws were implemented upon to the extent that they embraced Islam in crowds. In time they too became Muslims. The might, leadership and the rule then belonged to them too. Their countries became an Islamic household and part of the Islamic State.

The Islamic conquests were asserted by ruling the conquered countries according to Islam, followed by the entering of the people into the Islamic belief until the conquest of any country by the Muslims became permanent to the Day of Judgement, detaching its people from their former state and transforming them from disbelievers to Muslims and transforming their country from a disbelieving household to an Islamic one, and remaining thus until Islamic rule was destroyed. However, its people remained Muslims and their country remained Muslim land even after the Islamic rule had perished and the authority of the State dissipated. Although the Islamic State is currently absent the countries originally conquered by the Muslims continue to be Muslim land and the people still remain Muslims who are ready to accommodate the rule of Islam and the spreading of its authority over their territory.

Several factors have actually made the Islamic conquests permanent and implanted the seeds of Islam to the Day of Judgement; among these factors was the legislation which made the governing of the countries easy from the very first day, the nature of the rule and the behaviour of the rulers which persuaded the people to embrace Islam, and the implantation of the seeds of Islam into the hearts of those who embraced it forever. This was all possible due to the nature of the Islamic Aqeeda and the Islamic laws, which can be summarised as follows:-

1. Islam is rational in its Aqeeda, intellectual in its opinions and rules. It compels whoever embraces it to believe in it rationally and understand its rules through using the intellect, thus the moment a human being embraces Islam he turns into a thinking person. This is so because his attention would be turned towards the creatures and universe created by Allah (SWT), thus enabling him to realise the existence of his Creator and thereby encouraging him towards gaining knowledge of His rules, to extract them and solve his problems accordingly. Therefore, Islam will settle within his heart and mind conclusively and this will motivate him to understand its rules and implement them.

2. Islam obliges the Muslim to read and study. It is not enough for the Muslim to simply profess the two Shahadas (witnesses of faith) in order to become both knowledgeable about Islam and to understand it. He should study and acquire its culture deeply with a full awareness and clear vision. This knowledge broadens the Muslim’s horizons and develops his perception which enriches his mentality, making him a teacher of others.

3. The nature of the Islamic principle and of the Islamic Divine rules necessitate that the learner acquire them gradually and upwardly, affecting in the process both the learner and the society he lives in. The Muslims learnt about Islam in order to implement it, they acquired its rules intellectually and this subsequently affected their feelings. Their sensation of life and its consequences were derived from an effective intellect. This is why Muslims were always eager and zealous towards Islam, they had a wide intellect and a rich knowledge and broad horizons because the Islamic Aqeeda was deeply rooted in their hearts and minds. They also received the Islamic rules and opinions after a great deal of study and clarification and practiced them because this is the dominant theme within the belief. Muslims did not learn Islam just for the sake of knowledge because this would have made of them simply books containing information about Islam. They also did not listen to Islam as a means of merely gaining advice or as a spiritual counsel, this would have turned them into shallow minded individuals with no strong belief. The Muslims made sure that they avoided these two dangerous paths, i.e. learning about Islam for informations sake and for the purpose of theorising, or taking it as mere advice and spiritual counselling. The Muslims restricted their learning of Islam and its rules to the method decreed by Islam, which is the understanding of Islam clearly and deeply in order to implement it practically in all walks of life.

4. Islam is progressive, it leads the Muslims to new heights and sets them on the path of perfection. It obliges the Muslim to perform certain actions, the performance of which would lead the Muslim to a level of perfection where he can enjoy a spiritual superiority, peace of mind and true happiness. The human being, once raised to such a level, will remain there and will not degrade. However, if the reaching of such a level of perfection were hard to achieve the maintaining of such a level is even harder, therefore, the actions performed by the Muslims have to be consistent and permanent, not temporary. This enables the human being to maintain that level of superiority and progress. These actions are the worships, some of which are obligatory and others are complimentary. Performing the obligations by all the people would lead to realising a common level of progress, performing what is beyond the obligatory actions encourages people to stream ahead towards perfection. Performing these acts of worship is not a hard task, nor is it a tiring or shattering experience, nor does it entail deprivation of life’s pleasures and an abstention from its joyful and happy aspects. It does not lead to the suppression of instincts nor to a contradiction of human nature. No, the performance of such acts of worship, especially the obligatory ones, is an easy task quite within the capability of every human being no matter what his strength and willpower. Acts of worship do not interfere with the human’s pleasure in life. To perform the complimentary acts of worship is a desirable matter (Mandoub), the Muslims perform them with great zeal and eagerness, knowing that by doing so they will gain the pleasure of Allah (SWT).

5. The Muslims conquered other countries in order to convey the Message of Islam and spread it amongst the people. As a result they felt that they were envoys of compassion and guidance. They would enter a country, rule it according to Islam and as soon as the people embraced Islam they would enjoy the same rights that the Muslims enjoyed and they would then become eligible to carry out the same duties that the Muslims had to perform. That country would enjoy the same rights that the State provided for other Muslim regions and would become an integral part of the Islamic State because the Islamic ruling system is a system of unity. That is why the people of the conquered countries never felt as if they were being colonised, nor did they ever sense the slightest signs of colonisation. It therefore comes as no surprise that people embraced Islam in huge numbers, more so after they had witnessed, in practice, true Islam being implemented by Muslims for themselves.

6. The Islamic ideology and rules are universal. It is permitted to teach them to all people and it is in fact an obligation to teach them to everyone so that they can taste the sweetness of Islam and realise its true nature. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) would send Walis, judges and teachers to rule people by Islam and to teach them its rules. The Muslims who came after him (SAW) conquered many countries and set up rulers and teachers there who would teach the people Fiqh and the Qur’an. The people welcomed the Islamic education with open arms until their culture became Islamic, which included those people who chose not to embrace Islam.