The State of Union Address of Trump Confirms Four Important Lessons for Muslims

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 589 - 04/03/2026

By: Ustadh Musab Umair – Wilayah Pakistan

On 24 February 2026, Trump delivered his State of the Union Address, the longest ever in American history. The address of Trump underlines important lessons for Muslims, because it is a speech by the head of the leading state, America, at a time of great turmoil, both within America and the world. There are four important lessons for the Muslims, confirmed by the address of Trump:

The First Lesson: Capitalism Has Failed the American People. It Has Nothing to Offer the Muslim World. Amidst an ailing economy, Trump began his address with misleading claims about the economy, inflation and unemployment. Trump claimed, “my administration has driven core inflation down.” However, the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation - core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices - is rising again. Trump also claimed, “More Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country.” However, the unemployment rate has actually increased, and 2025 was one of the worst years in decades, whilst the numbers of Americans working only increased, because of population growth. Regarding the economy in general, data from the Federal Reserve shows that the top 1% of households owned 31.7% of all U.S. wealth, in the third quarter of 2025, the highest share on record since the Federal Reserve began tracking household wealth in 1989. Collectively, the wealthiest 1% held about $55 trillion in assets in the third quarter of 2025 — roughly equal to the wealth held by the bottom 90% of Americans combined.

Trump has no solution to the immense concentration of wealth in the hands of the American elite, which has left most of the people in economic hardship. This is because instead of serving the people, capitalism serves the wealthy elite. Let the Muslims be witness that Western capitalism has failed the people of its leading state, so what hope is there for the Muslims in implementing the same capitalist system in their lands? And why must they implement the kufr of capitalism, when Islam provided centuries of prosperity with its Shariah Law, under the guardianship of the Khilafah (Caliphate)?

The Second Lesson: “America First” is a Policy of Penalizing and Looting the Rest of the World. Trump openly declared, “I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.” And Trump added, “trillions and trillions of dollars will continue pouring into the United States of America because we finally have a president who puts America first.” Thus, Trump is penalizing the other major powers, including the European powers, which has led to great resentment against America. This is in addition to Trump’s looting of the Muslim countries under the control of agents of the West, as was clear in his dealing with the Gulf countries, whose rulers spent freely from the wealth of the Ummah to benefit the American economy.

Let the Muslims know that not only do they suffer through the effects of capitalism, they are also being struck by economic colonialism. It is economic colonialism that drowns the lands of Muslims in debt, in order to make interest payments to Western financial institutions. It fills the American economy with the wealth of the Ummah, under the banner of investment by the Ruwaibadah, insignificant rulers of Muslims. And it opens doors for American companies to exploit the raw materials of the Muslims, and dominate their markets.

The Third Lesson: America is Crippled by a Deep Internal Conflict. The address of Trump then moved on to confirm the persistent cracks in the deep state of America, due to an intense conflict between the Democrats and Republicans. These cracks first began to appear in the first term of Trump, continued within the term of Biden, and have become deeper and wider in Trump’s second term. Trump attacked the Democrats saying, “They have instituted another Democrat shutdown, the first one costing us 2 points on GDP... We have no money because of the Democrats.” As for the 2026 midterm elections, scheduled for 3 November 2026, the party of Trump is facing dire prospects. So, Trump mentioned his plan to undermine the vote bank of non-whites, upon which the Democrats depend. He said, “cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s rampant. It’s very simple, all voters must show voter ID.” Trump’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act ensures strict voter ID legislation, which impacts people of color more than the whites, even though there are already provisions in place to prevent non-citizens from voting.

The lesson for Muslims is that the United States is more deeply divided than ever before. This reduces its capabilities to dominate the Muslim World. And America’s internal political conflict is accompanied by both an economic crisis and the fatigue its military suffers from, after its campaigns in the Muslims World. So, the window to escape from American dominance is wider than ever before, were the people of power to fulfill their Shariah obligation to re-establish the Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly-Guided Caliphate).

The Fourth Lesson: The American Policy for the Muslim World Is Humiliation and Loss. Then Trump moved onto discussing the world, where the Muslim countries featured prominently. Trump said, “Pakistan and India, would have been a nuclear war. 35 million people, said the prime minister of Pakistan, would have died, if it were not for my involvement. Kosovo and Serbia, ‘Israel’ and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Congo and Rwanda and, of course, the war in Gaza, which proceeds at a very low level.” He added regarding Iran, “They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words: we will never have a nuclear weapon… one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far to have a nuclear weapon.”

Let the Muslims be aware of the devastating effects of Trump’s foreign policy upon them, and the urgent need to escape American colonialism. Regarding the four-day war between Pakistan and India, Trump ordered Pakistan to stop fighting, not to avert nuclear war, but to reduce the losses of India. Thus, the rulers of Pakistan prevented Pakistan Army from seizing the golden opportunity to liberate Occupied Kashmir. As for the war on Gaza, Trump fully supported the Jewish entity during its committing genocide in Gaza, and then during its attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Qatar and Iran. As for Iran, Trump has made it clear that he does not accept that Muslims possess nuclear weapons. Although Trump spoke directly of Iran, it is obvious that the nuclear weapons of Pakistan are also on his radar, with his repeated mention of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and nuclear tests.

O Muslims, and their People of Power and Protection!

The address of Trump confirms the failure of capitalism, the injustice of colonialism, the domestic conflict that cripples America’s decision-making, and the lethal danger of American foreign policy. Such lessons are wasted in the case of the agents of Trump in the Muslim World. They have the mentality of slaves and cannot think of a world without a master. As for the sincere individuals within the people of power, Allah (swt) has granted them an opportunity to bring the change that Muslims are making Dua for. So let the sincere within the armies of Muslims grant their nussrah (military support) to Hizb ut Tahrir, for the re-establishment of the Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly-Guided Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood. Amidst the failure of kufr and the divisions amongst the kuffar, the Khilafah will ensure the dominance of the Deen of Truth, Islam. Allah (swt) said,

[الَّذِينَ يَتَّخِذُونَ الْكَافِرِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِنْدَهُمُ الْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ الْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعا]

“Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of believers - do they seek honor from them? Indeed, all honor belongs to Allah.” [TMQ Surah An-Nisa: 139].