Dr. Firoz Mahboob Kamal

The abandoned objective

The Muslims claim to be followers of Islam, but they have abandoned Islam's key civilizational objective. Because of that, they could ignore the importance of politics –the most powerful and indispensable tool to fulfil any civilizational objective. The downfall of the Muslims owes to the colonization of the Muslim lands and the minds of the colonial enemies. It also owes to the insane attitude of those who claim to be religious scholars or ulama towards politics. These so-called traditional ulama consider politics a tool of distraction from ibadah and the Qur'anic straight path. As if politics is an exclusive domain of dirty worldly people.

Because of such an epidemic of conceptual disease, most of the religious scholars and the common Muslims stay out of politics. As a result, a void was voluntarily created for the alien or home-grown anti-Islamic forces to occupy the driving seats of almost every Muslim country. Even when the Muslim lands were occupied one by one by the kuffar colonialists, they remained confined inside their religious seminaries. Nor did they engage in obligatory jihad against the kuffar occupiers. As a result, the enemies of Islam could take control of the whole Muslim World without fighting a single significant war. It is indeed the most disastrous event in the whole history of Islam. They terribly failed to understand the importance of defending the Muslim land and the importance of politics. They fail to recognize that the Prophet (peace be upon him) engaged in politics and was the head of the newly formed Islamic state for ten years. This way, he left a great Sunnah (legacy) for his followers. How can one be a faithful follower of the Prophet (peace be upon him) without following such a crucial prophetic tradition? For others, politics is a helpful tool for grabbing power and pursuing the interest of a party, person, tribe, class or nation. But for Muslims, it is the Holy jihad for fulfilling Islam's civilizational goal. Therefore the denial of politics is indeed the betrayal of the Prophet (peace be upon him) 's teachings. It is also a betrayal of Islam's humanizing cum civilizational objective. How can such a betrayal be reconciled with the vision of Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la that entails that His deen should prevail over all forms of falsehood and religions?

Even now, the antipathy to politics is playing the most damaging role to speed up the ongoing downfall of the Muslims. Such antipathy to politics is indeed helping the enemies by disengaging Muslims from Islam's holy mission. Such a conceptual breakdown of the so-called ulama owes their poor understanding of Islam's mission and vision. The early Muslims are known for military victories against the World Powers, political battles, cultural revolution, educational expansion and huge state-building. Islam's mission and vision –as revealed in the Holy Qur'an and taught by the Prophet (peace be upon him) were expressed through their deeds. They raised Islam not only as a religion of obligatory rituals but also as a formidable civilizational force. But these ulama didn't learn much from the early Muslims' social, political and cultural history; they are more focused on Prophet (peace be upon him) 's sayings known as hadeeth. Such ignorance of Islam's early history and socio-political concepts could make them unfit to play any Muslim world's leadership role. As a result, these so-called ulama had to withdraw from the frontline of ideological, political and military combat; they could take only the back seats.

In contrast, the history of the golden days of Islam tells otherwise. The ruling, guiding and leading the ummah always remained the domain of the most religious people. As long as the Prophet (peace be upon him) was alive, such a pivotal role was always in his hand. After his death, the role was undertaken in succession by the next most religious man in the ummah –as happened during the rule of the rightly guided four khalifas. Therefore, the Prophet's legacy (peace be upon him) and his rightly guided companions that the best Muslims must be in the central stage of the state and must take the driving seats in every step of its governance, defence and expansion. Hence, withdrawal from politics is indeed the betrayal of the core legacy of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his best companions. Such betrayal always causes the most disastrous consequence. In fact, because of such a betrayal, the whole Muslim World now stands seized from all sides by the worst enemies. 

Crime of rejecting politics

Politics itself is the only gateway to access control of statecraft. The rulers execute their policies only through politics. For that, they use and abuse the state infrastructures. Hence, rejecting politics is itself leaving a powerful tool. For doing best, to be good is not enough; it needs to be strong as well. The politics and the statecraft give that strength. How could it be possible for the early Muslims to build the finest civilization on earth and emerge as the most powerful World Power without the power of statecraft? One can be a saint sitting in a tent or cave, but he can never be a builder of a civilization. Nor can he set values, implement the law, give protection and deliver justice. Hence staying away from politics is a huge crime against Islam and the Muslim Ummah. It is the tool of the de-empowerment of the Muslims. Such rejection of politics leaves a void to be taken over by the enemies without a fight. And such enemy occupation always caused awful havoc for the Muslims. That is why the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) needed to take away this powerful weapon from the enemies. It is indeed the most incredible legacy of the Prophet (peace be upon him). More than 60 percent of companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) had to sacrifice their lives to achieve that. As a result, the state and its institutions could be effectively used as a powerful value-adding tool. The best humans in the whole human history could be produced only because of such a state-supported value-adding process. In that effort, the Holy Qur'an was used as the textbook.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught his companions not only the Holy Qur'an but also sociology, psychology, philosophy, history, politics, administration, warfare and other social sciences. Because he was not sent to promote only some rituals but to build a holistic human civilization, for that, such elements of knowledge are essential. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) 's own teacher was All-knowing Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la. In those days, there was no school or college in Arabia. His mosque-based school in Medina was the only teaching institute. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) was its whole-time teacher. The best governors, the best administers, the best judges and the best generals of the whole human history got their education and training in that mosque-based institute. If the politics of manipulating the state power had been in the hand of evil forces, was it possible for the Prophet (peace be upon you) to operate such a Divine value-adding process in the midst of the kuffars. But later on, the Muslims ignored such methodology of the Prophet (peace be upon him); as a result, they lost the glory.

The Prophet's (peace be upon you) sociological concept that every human is born as a pure Muslim grows up as a Muslim or a Christian or a Jew or an idolater depending on societal, cultural, political, and educational influence. Such a concept makes political, educational and cultural engineering indispensable for nurturing people with a specific moral and ideological mould. This is why humanizing or dehumanizing humans and corrupting or correcting their characters, the social, cultural, educational and intellectual environments raised by the ruler and its political, cultural and educational institutions play the most decisive role. That is why the state-run institutions of Pharaoh and the cultural milieu could make the people man-worshipping criminals. Likewise, the Indian Hindu autocrats and the supportive priests could make the common people cow, snake or idol-worshipping psychopaths. But in causing dehumanization, the success of the western imperialists and their state institutions is vast. They could make the people perfect racist, genocider, ethnic cleanser, slave trader, gas chamber feeder and atomic bomber. These torchbearers of so-called modernity could kill 75 million people only in two World Wars.

Politics: the crucial tool

Whoever understands Islam and the prophetic concept can't ignore or detest politics. Politics is not only about ruling a country; it is also about governing people's faith, education, culture and lifestyle. It is about framing constitutions, building institutions, enforcing laws, doing the good things and eradicating the evils. It is about educating the people, protecting and promoting the ideas, securing the securities for the citizens and the state. It is about mobilizing the people, building and cementing the bondages, safeguard the borders, making friends with the neighbours and conducting war against the enemies. Hence, politics is everywhere. It is about implementing Islam and promoting the Vision of Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la. It is all about ibadah. Without engaging in politics, how can one practise Islam? How can one implement sharia, hudud, shura, jihad and other obligatory Qur'anic basics? Politics is indeed embedded in every step of practising Islam. All great civilizational achievements in human history like human rights, women's rights, abolition of slavery, abolition of colonialism, end of enemy occupation and many other good deeds owe to the political actions of the people. The great iconic personalities of Islam like Imam Hussain (RA), Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Ahmed Hanbal, Imam Ibne Taimiyah, and many others had to suffer severe persecution; some of them even embraced martyrdom due to their political thoughts and actions.

Those who detest and keep themselves away from politics owe to their inadequacy of knowledge -not only on political science but also on social sciences. Since such sciences are not taught in religious schools, such ignorance is quite deeper among the so-called ulama. Hence they fail to realize that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his rightly guided khalifa were not only the religious leader; they were the political leader of the ummah, too. They were the head of the state. How can a Muslim reject their tradition (sunnah)? Without engaging in politics, is it possible to be a complete Muslim? Political training is indispensable to lead the Muslims wisely and successfully in the war-prone international arena. Otherwise, crippling incompetence ensues. Because of these incomplete Muslims and their incompetence, the Muslim Ummah has been trapped in the current dilemma.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle described humans as political animals. Politics is the science of organizing, mobilizing, and governing people, societies, and states to improve human lives. Civilizations are the outcome of such collective efforts of men and women. Such an instinct propels humans to sacrifice their time, wealth, energy, even life to bring changes in the country they live in. Animals do not possess such an instinct; they survive only to eat, drink and procure. Hence, animals can build any civilization, nor can they make people with animal instinct. A Muslim must possess the political instinct to fit into Islam's framework of vision, mission and objective. Only those who fit into the Vision of Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la can engage in jihad and attain shahadah (martyrdom). The vision is li'yuzhirahu aladdini kullihi: it means that His prescribed code of life (deen) should prevail over all other deens. That was true for the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). That is why all of them joined jihad, and a majority of them attained shahada. But those who claim to be the traditional ulama or moderate Muslim have taken a different path. There is no Islamic state in their path, no jihad, no shahada, and no place for sharia and khilafa. So, it runs far away from the way of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his rightly guided companions. So, no drone or missile falls on the heads of these deviated pseudo-Muslims. Instead, all the despotic rulers of the Muslim countries keep their doors open to welcome them. Even the enemies of Islam spread prayer mats for them.

The crime of inaction

In the golden days of Islam, building and defending an Islamic state called khilafa always occupied the central part of the Muslims' agenda. They used to spend wealth, fight wars and sacrifice life for that. Today, it is either ignored or a very peripheral issue in most common Muslims' lives. And it is a non-issue for the so-called ulama. Some people think casting a vote in every 4 or 5 years is enough to discharge the responsibility. They play little or no role in the Islamisation of the state. As a result of such inaction, most Muslim states stay incapacitated to do any meaningful service to Islam and the Muslims. Inaction has no place in Islam; Muslims pleases Allah Sub'hana wa Tala only through benevolent actions. Muhammad bin Qasim – a brave Muslim General, hurried with his Army to save the oppressed Hindu people of Sind from a tyrant ruler. But now, the Muslim rulers and their armies stand silent while the Muslims are persecuted in their neighbouring countries. Sometimes, they become part of the persecution. Such a collaborator of evil is huge in the Muslim World. For example, the former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf and his cronies collaborated with the US in the invasion of Afghanistan and handed over hundreds of innocent people to the Americans to be kept in Guantanamo Bay prison. The former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak didn't allow even the injured Muslims of Gaza to enter Egypt while Israel heavily bombed them. Initially, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina didn't let the boats of tormented Rohynga Muslims get nearer to the country's seashore. And the Syrian and Iraqi refugees didn't receive any access to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf states; as a result, they needed to sail their unsafe boat to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of them died on the way, and many women were raped. These are the harsh reality of the Muslim World. It tells a lot about the total incompetence cum criminality of the rulers who now rule the Muslim World.

 Unsafe for the Muslims

Under any despotic rule, a Muslim state never works as a safe haven for Islam and Muslims. Such a country, like any other kuffar country, turns equally hostile to full Islam. How can one practise full Islam without practising sharia, hudud, shura, khalifa and jihad? Islam as a complete code of life can never be fully practised in a tent, cave or village. It needs a conducive and enabling environment for an Islamic state. That is why the Prophet of Islam and his companions had to build a state. How can a Muslim ignore such a great legacy? Communism ceased to exist as a political power after the collapse of Soviet Russia in 1991. Communism now survives only in Das Capital –Marx's book. The same has happened to Muslims after the ruin of the core Islamic state. Now, sharia, hudud, shura, jihad, khilafa and other Divine prescriptions are found only in the Holy Qur'an and in the books of Islamic fiqh. These have no place in Muslims' life; nor in any Muslim state!

Surprisingly, after all this grotesque deviation from the prophet's (peace be upon him) legacy, these Muslims still think that Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la is pleased with them, and they will enter paradise! In the Holy Qur'an, Allah Subhan wa Ta'la told about the same funny belief of the Jewish people. They were given sharia in Torah. They were asked to establish an Islamic state and practise sharia. But they betrayed the decree of Allah Sub'hana wa Ta'la. But still, they used to claim that they are the chosen people of the Lord and will enter paradise. Allah Subhan wa Ta'la never fulfils the wishful thinking of the rebels.