Today Muslims have conveniently limited the Deen to individual acts of worship & piety that are uncontroversial to the كُفّار. They dub these few actions (that they’ve ritualised) as the manifestation & establishment of the Deen, in order to pacify themselves regarding their permanent multi-generational residency in Darul Kufr.
Izhaar ad-Deen is to fully establish/manifest the Deen. It doesn’t merely entail, as many Muslims think, the revocable permission by the kuffar to practice some salient aspects of the religion, e.g. Salaah, Adhaan, Niqab, Topi, setting up tables & handing out Qur’aans. (We even have ignoramuses implying that Izhaar ad-Deen is having a prayer room at Hilton Park Services & at Anfield).
Covid was a prime example of the Kuffar revoking permission to practice even large parts of the some with the Muslims acquiescing en masse.
And how’s it Izhaar ad-Deen when there’s always the looming threat of indoctrination by secular/kufr ideologies? (In fact Shams al-A'immah al-Sarkhasī (d. 483/ 1090) alludes that the primary reason for prohibition to live in Dar al-Kufr is fear of apostasy).
It's even more astounding that anyone who has spent a reasonable time in the noble effort Da’wah & Tabligh & met many youth would conclude that their haal is any way a semblance of Izhaar ad-Deen in the west.
The antithesis of establishing/manifesting complete Deen is long term/permanent citizenship/residency under the auspices of the laws of the Kuffar, which are contrary to the Shari’ah, e.g. laws pertaining to inheritance, child custody, alimony, divorce, accepting LGBTQ, insurance, regulating Madaaris, prohibition of establishing hudud, prohibition of calling to Jihaad etc. How does this accord with the narration & general principle: “Islam surpasses & it does not submit to be surpassed.”?
Through our contentment & acquiescence on partial Deen, how will the Help of Allah descend in establishing complete Deen in our lives, let alone in the world?
One of the primary aspects of Izhaar ad-Deen is the establishment of independent Shar’i courts, Muslim judges & an Ameer that oversees the affairs of the Muslims & enforces the full implementation of the Shari’ah.
We can’t or don’t even do, or want this at town level, & then we claim that we are given the “freedom to practice.” This “freedom to practice” is a christianised version of practicing “Islaam.” Whenever kuffar speak of “freedom of…” it’s rooted in liberalism, not Islam. Hence our incremental desensitisation for the love of the Shari’ah & its abandonment.
Evidences
‘Iẓhār ad-Dīn: Manifesting the Dīn in Dār al-Kufr is related to having strength & a large number of kinsmen to defend/protect a Muslim from Disbelievers.
(A) [Ash-Shīrāzī] said: "Whoever is able to manifest the Dīn- in other words, due to his strength & the large number of his kinsmen - it is recommended for him to make Hijrah."
Ibn ar-Rif'ah explained:
"As for the absence of its obligation, then it is due to his ability to manifest his Dīn & perform its obligatory [acts]."
"Due to this, Nabi ﷺ sent `Uthmān bin 'Affān rA to Makkah- because his kinsmen were the strongest in Makkah. Thus, he was treated with deference."
"It is also because He ﷻ, when He obligated [Hijrah] for the weak, that proved it was not obligatory for anyone else." (‘Ibn ar-Rif'ah in al-Kifāyat an-Nabīh, 16/349).
(B) "And if [a Muslim] is able to manifest the Dīn due to his being someone obeyed among his people, there in [Dār al-Kufr] he has a clan/kinfolk to defend & support him, he does not fear to be put to trials regarding his Dīn, Hijrah is not obligatory for him.”
“However, [Hijrah] is recommended so that he not increase the numbers [of the Disbelievers], [because] he can’t be safe from his heart inclining towards [the Disbelievers], or that they hatch plots against him.” (‘Abūl-Qāsim ar-Rāfi’ī in al-`Azīz Sharḥ il-Wajīz, 11/464)
(C) Sharh al-Arba‘een:
(الخامس) الهجرة من بلاد الكفر إلى بلاد الإسلام, فلا يحل للمسلم الإقامة بدار الكفر. قال الماوردي: فإن صار له بها أهل وعشيرة وأنكنه إظهار دينه لم يجز له أن يهاجر لأن المكان الذي هو فيه قد صار دار الإسلام.
“The [rule concerning the] fifth [of the kinds of hijrah]: hijrah from the lands of unbelief to the lands of Islam. It’s not lawful for a Muslim to live in Dar al-Kufr.”
“Al-Maawardi [d. 450 / 1058; Baghdad] said: “If he [the Muslim] acquires at the place in Dar al-Kufr where he lives family & clan, & he’s able to manifest (izhaar) his religion, then it’s not allowed for him to emigrate from it because the place where he lives has become Dar al-Islam.”
Now consider, that al-Maawardi obliged the person that he mentioned above to remain in that so that it should remain Dar al-Islam & not revert to Dar al-Kufr. Now clearly a place in Dar al-Kufr can have no claim to be Dar al-Islam unless the sharee‘ah is enforced there in its entirety.
(D) In Sharh al-Kirmaani:
المنسوخ هو الهجرة من مكة وأما غيرها فكل موضع لا يقدر المكلف على إقامة حدود الدين فيه, فالهجرة عليه منه واجب.
“What was abrogated was the hijrah from Makkah; however, hijrah is Waajib from every other place where a person responsible to the law cannot establish the ordinances (hudood) of Deen there.”
Hudood usually applies in its technical sense to refer to the laws concerning the prescribed punishments for adultery, theft, accusing a Muslim without sufficient substantiation of adultery, drinking & so on. However, here it’s used generally to refer to all laws ordained by Allah. Among those ordinances is taking the jizyah from the non-Muslims & the prescribed punishments.
Further, another way Izhaar ad-Deen is described is that the Muslims in Darul Kufr act as a deterrent to wars being waged against the Muslims. So how is it Izhaar ad-Deen in the west today where despite there being millions of Muslims, kuffar governments continually wage wars against Muslims around the world & yet the Muslims are in Darul Kufr watching Narcos on Netflix?
Classical Shafi'i scholars define Izhaar ad-Deen as: If a munkar is happening & a Muslim is able to stop it. If not, then this is not Izhaar ad-Deen. (And the Shafi’i’s are arguably the most “lenient” about residing in Darul Harb).
In fact, the Shafi’i ruling is about an enclave within Dar al-Kufr, that Muslims hold territorial power in (can defend the land with soldiers and weapons) & can enforce Islamic rules. When the Muslims in the main Dar al-Islam centre is not in need of their aid, & they do not fear being schemed against by the kuffar surrounding them, then Shafi'is have said it is wajib to stay there to maintain its Dar al-Islam status.
Further, subjecting oneself to the authority of kufr & their laws (ijra ahkam ahl al-kufr), strengthening their numbers, economy, social stability & power is definitely not permitted anyway. And happily doing so?! That’s even worse.
So, as we can see what Izhaar ad-Deen actually is, is in fact totally at odds with what Muslims in the west think it is. Hence the parroting:
“Muh! Loyal equal citizens obeying the Law of the Land.”
“Muh! NHS shuhadah sacrificing for old senile kuffar during Covid.”
“Muh! Fresh workers paying taxes to pay for the retirement of the elders of the kuffar.”