1958-59, Islamia College Peshawar, the topic for Urdu debate was, “Juda ho Din Siasat se to reh jati hai Changezi”. (The separation of religion from politics leads to tyranny). No prequalification was necessary. Religion was not the forbidden domain open only to the Madrassa worthy.
The British had recently left Pakistan. Pakistan was still more liberal than suggested by the draft Constitution presented by Liaqat Ali Khan. The legacies of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Maulvi Chiragh Ali and justice Amir Ali still lingered in the intellectual corridors. Religious philosophy and theosophy stood distinctly apart from theology. That allowed the mere college students to debate the issues like religion and politics without scorn from the religion owners.
Rituals, according to many renowned religious scholars, including Maulana Abul Ala Moudodi, are the outward images of Islam, ‘the body’. ‘The soul’ appears in the value system enshrined in the Quranic code of human and social relations practiced by the Prophet (PBUH) to perfection leaving behind the best model for us to adopt. That is Din. It cannot be separated from any activity in life. Theology is personal. Din is universal.
Every conscious Muslim is historically wedded to some basic assertions in religion. The foremost is the doctrine, ‘There is no God but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet’. The first part is an unparalleled source of strength and steadfastness among the true believers. During his trying umpteen years in prison, Nelson Mandela, whenever on the verge, took inspiration from Imam Hussain’s patience and fortitude to stand fast for his just cause.
The second part of the doctrine is the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH), demanding his absolute obedience. All other assertions seem to emanate from Muhammad (PBUH) as the focal point. The reverence for his (PBUH) progeny, consorts and companions, Hadiths and Sunnah are bound in one enormous package of sheer devotion to him (PBUH). Unflinching love for the Prophet (PBUH) is our common denominator, regardless of sectarian or intra-sect antagonism. Slight aspersions on the person of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) could evoke extreme emotions including violence. That is what Imran Khan has been trying to tell the non-Muslim world.
The Righteous Successors of the Prophet (PBUH) painstakingly discharged both their temporal and pontifical obligations. As the monarchs slowly drifted away from their public religious commitments, the pious and the learned filled the vacuum. This prompted the unintended emergence of clergy in Islam.
The predisposition of the religious to resort to violence on the smallest pretext creates chaos at home and aggravates Islamophobia abroad. This propensity to act as a state within the state must be firmly eradicated whatever the cost. Pakistan’s political landscape, already oversaturated, has no space left to accommodate a theocratic dream.
The Ummayids ruled ruthlessly. They felt no need for clerical support. The Abbasids deliberately used the Ulema to legitimize their rule in the face of the Fatimid challenge. The ulema obliged obsequiously.
Thus, the most consequential contribution of the clergy in politics came as a lavish application of the Quranic ‘Verse of Obedience’, (4:59), whereas anyone with the brute power to rule was the Uli al-Amr and entitled to the same exclusive obedience that was due to God and His Prophet (PBUH). This blanket sanction gave the Muslim rulers the divine right to demand unconditional obedience from their subjects as done by the medieval European monarchs, ushering in an era of unending slavery for the Muslims. As deadly was the clergy’s invention of sects, mutual hate and divisions in open defiance of the very concept of Muslim brotherhood ordained in the Quran.
During the entire period of Muslim rule, religion had never played any worthwhile part in politics. Undue emphasis on fervent indulgence in rituals, called Islam, helped build a beautiful façade without substance. The clergy relished its leading role in ritualistic glamour. The monarchs enjoyed absolute power at the insignificant cost of placating a compliant clergy. Famous names like Nizamul Mulk and Ghazali wedded to ‘Predeterminism’ did frame some high-sounding governance principles for ‘the kings’ but had no mechanism to offer to either ensure justice or accountability.
The dynastic rule had no taste for such delicacies. The clergy supported rulers, dead and alive. It never dared vie for power. It was only after the demise of the fantasy Caliphate of Ottoman Empire that the thinkers and the Ulema began to search for a truly Islamic State.
In the 20th century the hardline conservative Muslim scholars, mostly of Wahhabi beliefs, unlike their mentors, Ibn e Tamiya or Ibn Abdul Wahab, aggressively sought political power to implement their concept of an Islamic State. Syed Qutab, Maulana Maududi, Muhammad Asad and even the Shiite Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini proposed more or less identical dispensations based on Sharia. At the same time the modernists of the Aligarh School and Dr Ali Shariati forwarded their own perceptions that saw traditions more in a metaphorical rather than a literal light.
Syed Qutab was hanged. Maulana Maududi’s Jamaat Islami is gripped by a severe leadership drought. The JUI(F) is a victim of its leader’s unscrupulous politicking. Elsewhere also the extremists are losing ground. The Ikhwan of Saudi Arabia were completely wiped out by King Saud. Bangladesh is weary of the extreme right. Extremism was forced out of Algiers and Egypt. It is bound to meet the same fate in Africa and Iran.
Pakistan provides blooming meadows for the religious mediocrity to flourish. The ability to create chaos is Islamists’ shared strength. The latest is TLP (Tehrike e Labaik Pakistan) which claims to be the sole custodian of the honour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). That claim is not only ludicrous; it constitutes a naked insult to the loyalty of rest of the Muslim Ummah. The reasons provided to the enemy for abuse are of our own creation. The sensually obsessed mindset of the pre-Islamic Bedouin deliberately implicated prominent Muslims in the web of fanciful notions. When Brigadier Hamid Saeed Akhtar (retd) published his research paper on the age of Mother of the Believers Hazrat Ayesha, his own Ahle Hadith community vehemently condemned him.
The predisposition of the religious to resort to violence on the smallest pretext creates chaos at home and aggravates Islamophobia abroad. This propensity to act as a state within the state must be firmly eradicated whatever the cost. Pakistan’s political landscape, already oversaturated, has no space left to accommodate a theocratic dream.
“No soul shall carry the burden of another soul on Yaumulqiyahmuh” is what the Almighty (Allah) warned. This means that the Almighty has put the burden of creating and running of an Islamic State on the shoulder of every Muslim. The first question one needs to ask “Are there Muslims among the people claiming to be Muslims around?” The answer is no. The fact is that no one becomes anything by claiming to be what one claims. We all can look at the history of people claiming to be Muslims, The history tells us that the majority of people claiming to be Muslims were not Muslims by their practices so is the case even today. Majority of them showed rejection of the Kalimah they recited in their deeds. When the true Muslims established the first Islamic State they did not have a King, a Ruler or a Dictator or a human god, people started making since the time of Yazeed ibn Muawiah. The true Islamic State in Mudeenah came into being because those 313 men were true practicing Muslims so took the responsibility of creating and running the Islamic State democratically. They all showed the Kalimah in their deeds thus had no trouble in making Almighty’s Laws the Law of the land.
Today there are millions claiming to be Muslims yet not created a single Islamic State? Why? Overwhelming majority of people are not Muslims though claiming to be so. So is the case with people claiming to be Jews, Christians or anything else.
The foundation of an Islamic State is in peoples’ Jumeeyah. We do not see Muslims obeying the Almighty that should result in establishment of Peoples’ Jumeeyah in the length and breadth of lands where those claiming to be Muslims live.
Muslims never have a human god as it is rejection of the Kalimah they recite. When we look at the history of so-called Muslims we see nothing but human gods and mostly tyrants.
Who can explain that from where did people calling themselves Muslims got the idea that Muslims should be subservient to a human god? When Muslims will see the sense in organising their peoples’ Jumeeyah they will realise that the Almighty commanded them to organise their self rule through consultation of the Ummah at large. The Almighty commanded Muslims to bring about the rule of Udl wul Ehsaan collectively through their Jumeeyah. Those who do not have Udl wul Ehsaan in their everyday, every hour, thoughts, words and deeds should forget that they are Muslims.
Muslims never have one man dictating or ruling over them. If they do, they betray the Kalimah they recite. The history of people calling themselves Muslims is full of tyrants. Why? It was because such peoples’ betrayal of the Kalimah in allowing any one to become their human god. The Almighty commanded Muslims to create a democratic Peoples’ Union i.e Jumeeyah. The Almighty commanded Muslims to create Jumeeyah in words ” Wah tusaymoo bay hublllahay Jumeeyah walah tafurruqoo. ”
So there never be an Islamic State. Never. Not until people will prove themselves to be Muslims by having Udl wul Ehsaan in their practice and organise the foundation of Islamic State in their locality by organising Peoples’ coming together i.e. Peoples’ Jumeeyah. Every one wanting to live in an Islamic State should know that it is they who are responsible for creating an Islamic State collectively or else will never see an Islamic State.
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