2025-08-13
Al-Raya Newspaper: Rising Does Not Wait for Permission
and Internal Defeat and the Illusion of Weakness Will Not Produce Empowerment
In times of great transformations, military hegemony is not the most dangerous thing that shackles nations, but rather the mental and psychological surrender that convinces peoples that they are weak, and makes them feel that change depends on the satisfaction of the enemy or the approval of the supporter, thus numbing energies and paralyzing wills, enabling weakness instead of paving the way for empowerment.
This is precisely what is intended to be established today in the Levant, after the forces of tyranny have been broken and the pillars of the regime have collapsed, and the revolution has advanced to the heart of the capital, only for the dominant discourse to return and say, "We are a poor country, we need foreign support, we are not able to manage ourselves..., we are weak, let's be realistic and accept reality!"
However, what is more dangerous than merely feeling weak is that promoting this feeling and turning it into a systematic policy is planted in the collective consciousness to paralyze the will for change and advancement.
This pattern of discourse that we are witnessing did not arise from a vacuum, but it is intended to become a rule, fueled by internal and external parties that fear the nation's awareness, liberation, and confidence in its ability to change. Whenever the nation approaches the moment of seizing its decision and possesses the tools of advancement, they rush to remind it falsely that it is "unqualified," that "realism" requires concession, and that "the world will not allow it now," as if they will allow it tomorrow or as if they think they are deceiving it!
Here, the "transitional phase" turns into a rigid political doctrine in which the project is disrupted, wealth is frozen, and leadership is shackled by illusions of need and inability, planting the humiliation within itself in the souls of its people.
When the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, entered Medina, he did not ask permission from Quraish, nor did he wait for the recognition of Rome, but rather he established a state, laid down a constitution, raised men, and addressed nations... because he carried a principled global project emanating from revelation, so he deserved God's victory.
As for today, when will we realize that our problem is not real weakness, but rather an artificial illusion?
And when will we realize that the incubator is the essence of power?
In Syria, the revolutionary incubator that has not been defeated, but is still capable of giving, this incubator that has offered its children and money and supported the revolution in the darkest of circumstances, but after the fall of the defunct regime, it is treated as merely an audience that is to be controlled, not mobilized, brought in when needed and excluded when there is disagreement, and the new administration seeks to eliminate the spirit of revolution and jihad in the souls of the incubator.
When will we realize that the state is built with the incubator, not at its expense, and with the project, not with tactics, and with a sincere, principled leadership, not with calculations of positions and the stage?!
One of the most important things that undermines real advancement is that the role of the people is reduced to silence and waiting, and that the role of the leadership is reduced to coordination and tactics, so the project disappears, and the "temporary procedure" based on the rule "we are weak" advances to become a fixed policy.
Rising does not wait for an international conference, nor is the political decision made in hotel halls, nor is dignity begged from Western capitals. Rising is a courageous self-decision, and taking action is faith and steadfastness, and empowerment is a gift from God to those who are truthful, sincere, and steadfast.
Here, we must pause to distinguish between those who have lost their way under the weight of reality and those who have regressed from principles under the cloak of realism. The former can be corrected through dialogue and frankness, while the latter belongs on the sidewalk of political exclusion, not in a leadership position.
Whoever wants real empowerment should prepare for it with a principled project, a conscious leadership, a mobilized nation, a look towards God, not towards Washington, Ankara, or Riyadh, and self-confidence, not internal defeat and humiliation.
Syria is neither weak nor poor, and it is rich in its material and human resources: oil, gas, agriculture, a rare geographical location, and a generous incubator, yet it is presented as a disaster area, as if the revolution created poverty! While poverty came from decades of systematic looting by the Assad regime, which should be removed by removing its causes, not by polishing them or circumventing them.
Here, the current leadership crisis always resurfaces, which views the popular incubator as a heavy burden, not as a reservoir of strength, and tries to contain people, not open up to them, as if empowerment and working for empowerment are postponed until another international notice that will not come!
The danger lies not only in the defeatist discourse, but in its transformation into intellectual axioms that are taught, repeated, and legitimized in conferences and studies, until criticism becomes a crime for opposing the corrupt reality and the realism that takes satisfaction with the corruption of reality as its basis, and until the principled alternative becomes an unrealistic utopia.
Today, we are in dire need of an explicit discourse that judges reality and acknowledges its difficulties, but does not adapt to it, opens up the nation's horizon but does not imprison it in negotiation rooms, a discourse that ends the mentality of waiting and humiliation, and replaces it with a mentality of action and determination, and raises the ceiling of trust in God, not in the ambassadors of the West.
Empowerment for us Muslims comes from faith in God, not in the United Nations. What we are experiencing today is a rare moment in the life of the nation, and it should not be managed with the mentality of the weak.
Whoever owns the land, liberates minds, and exposes the international project, should not take a step, but rather steps backwards, because by doing so, he is squandering the fruit of jihad and reproducing the defunct regime with new slogans.
The duty is not to wait for international recognition or foreign aid, but to derive our project from our faith and rediscover our wealth and resources. We should not remain at the end of the caravan waiting for a consensus leadership and applauding its dervishism, but rather select a sincere leadership that carries a principled project without compromise.
The revolution, as a firmly established idea in the hearts of the people, is still full of energy, and the incubator is still pulsating with faith. All that is required of those with determination is to roll up their sleeves and lead it with sincerity and steadfastness. The moment is a moment of rising, not a moment of compromise, and the decision must be made here, on the ground, not there in the rooms of compromises at the hands of the High Commissioner, Barak!
By: Professor Mahmoud Al-Bakri
Source: Al-Raya Newspaper
