Posted by ABID ULLAH JAN on 17/10/2004, 16:35:24 Believing that the huge investment of life and public funds worth trillions of dollars in the Muslim world would bring peace and prosperity to the West is no less than living in fools paradise. The only reason is that this investment is going into installing and sustaining illegitimate governments for maintaining the status quo of the not too hidden forces behind the scene in the US. In the absence of self-rule for Muslims, it is just a matter of time for the existing investment to backfire in the worst manner we can imagine. This is the time for the general public in the West to understand the denial of self-rule to Muslims and the philosophy of an Islamic State. When asked, what is an Islamic State? The answer from the sources openly promoting a war within Islam, such as Thomas Friedman and Daniel Pipes, comes: A breeding ground for the terrorists, following a totalitarian ideology of defeating the West and destroying Israel. The reality, however, is in total contrast to the description the Western public is fed with by the media on daily basis. Of course, there are some basic differences between the objectives of a state in the Western thought and Islam. However, once the concept about the basics is clear, it is not difficult to do a proper risk assessment and understand requirements and outcomes of the two different governing mechanisms. The first important fact for the Westerners to understand from the history is that Muslim masses could not get genuine independence for self-rule from their respective colonial masters. They were freed from direct colonialism only to be indirectly ruled through puppets until this day. The second factor is the concept of Islamic state, which has been purposely twisted and presented in a way to avoid the emergence of an Islamic State. The fear is that such form of governance mechanism might make remote control colonialism impossible on the one hand and become a challenge to the ever-growing tyrannical form of government, say in the US, on the other. Non-Muslims need to understand that the objective of State in Islam is not to annihilate the non-Muslim world or march like the US on country after country to impose Islamic principles and values and believers and non-believers alike. Muslims yearn for self-rule only because Islam has a value-system applicable to government and politics. Islams Unitarian principle is not limited to the oneness of the creator alone. According to Islams philosophy, the existence of life in a classless society is all just one program of worship in every field, covering aspects, private and public. Therefore, Unitarianism is the fundamental principle that explains almost every aspect of doctrinal and practical Islam. Human nature, however, tends to cross moral limits. There is always a tendency for human beings to bifurcate and restrain religion in the sense that they pick whatever supports their whim and caprice and reject what is considered as a barrier in fulfilling their animal instincts. The Western form of government is a product of an attitude of human mind, whereby people become oblivious to the spiritual dimension of existence and concentrate on the material world. On the contrary, the philosophy of life in Islam does not allow different pursuits of life to become autonomous, totally independent, and severed from the Divine end. The battle cry for the Western position vis-à-vis state is render unto Caesar that which is Caesars and unto God that which is Gods.[1] Islam responds with the slogan: Din wa Dawlah (Islam is religion and State). Even if this formula is not found in the Quran in the exact words, the entire Quran revelation is integrative in that it sees Muslims as moral beings who should think and act in a theo-centric manner at all times, i.e., in their capacity as State citizens, too. Indeed, it is a much-researched question whether there exists at all a definitive Islamic theory of State.[2] German orientalists such as Gustav von Grunebaum[3] and Tilman Nagel[4] tend to affirm. In fact, the Quran does not refer to a State in the contemporary sense at all. Rather it assumes a moral community, the Islamic Ummah, which guarantees the right physical and spiritual environment for the successful implementation of its principles and norms. The reason that the focus of the Quran is more on individual and family life the basic units of a society than governance mechanism is simply to hold human beings from ignoring the Divine purpose of their creation.[5] Under the Western set up of governance, power becomes the end and people are dedicated to political power rather than using power in the service of their spiritual well-being as well. Islam provides man with theoretical and practical guidance covering all aspects of life, of which the political aspect is but one. The world, in its view, is a place for the preparation of the soul for the hereafter and that this preparation fulfils the purpose of creation of man. One cannot therefore consider parts of worldly life as having no meaning with regards to that final purpose. Based on the above-mentioned principle, the government has an important role in governing according to the revealed code of life. The Quran considers all those as oppressors and transgressors who do not govern according to the revealed principles.[6] Such rulers become authoritarian and autocrat despite all the badges of democracy and banners of human rights. The matter gets worse when masses realise that all the autocracy and violations of Islamic principles are for the purpose of forces behind the scene in US or UK. The rules of Islam require the existence of an authority, a State, with the authority to organize the myriad of relationships that characterize the society and the resources for producing a favourable environment for the people to fulfil the overall objective of human creation. Islam does not limit Aqeedah (belief) to a set of philosophical ideas, or a few rituals of utmost priority at the expense of the rest of the principles and values enunciated by the Quran and Sunnah. Aqeedah is, in fact, the basis, the engine that runs the Islamic State. Therefore, all injunctions of the Quran along with Sunnah need simultaneous implementation without any discrimination. Al-Mawardi maintains that the establishment of Islamic State is a religious obligation, because its main object is the defence of the Faith and the preservation of order through the implementation of Revealed Law. He is of the view that a secular state is based on the principles derived through human reasoning, and therefore it promotes only the material advancement of its citizens. But Islamic State promotes the material as well as the spiritual advancement of the people.[7] As for the responsibility of establishing the Deen,[8] "Islamic State seeks to mould every aspect of life and activity in consonance with its moral norms and program of social reform. In such a state no one can regard any field of his affairs as personal and private.[9] It is important to note that this concept does not make Islamic State an authoritarian or fascist regime, because despite its all-inclusiveness, it [Islamic State] is something vastly and basically different from the modern totalitarian and authoritarian states.[10] The misconception of unaccountability of the ruler under an Islamic system is a reality in the US today. It is known as the separation of powers that refers to the fact that the Framers scattered each type of national power (legislative, judicial, and executive) among the various branches of the US government. For example, the US President has the legislative power of the veto (Article I, Section 7), the Senate has the executive power of confirming certain appointments made by the President (Article II, Section 2), and the Congress and President are checked by judicial review (Article III, Section 2).[11] Apparently, the separation of powers under the US concept of state accomplishes several things. First, we see that it is a continuation of checks. Some of the checks are upon the other branches as well. Nevertheless, one reason for this is that the Framers, as elites within the private economy, sought mainly to protect their individual freedom as property owners from state intrusion. Therefore, they checked the legislative branch as well as the other branches through the separation of powers to ensure protection from a misguided executive (which very well could be an executive responding to the demands of the people).
Muslim self-rule is the answer
by Abid Ullah Jan
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