By Adeel Akhtar
The mission of Muslims
Muslims are the ummah of the last Messenger of God, Hadi Azam, the Supreme Leader of the world, Muhammad Mustafa and the last link in the chain of prophets.
As Allama Iqbal (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Be-Khabar! Tu Jouhar-e-Aaeena-e-Ayyam Hai
Tu Zamane Mein Khuda Ka Akhri Pegham Hai
Therefore, the aim of the Muslims is to continue the mission of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and to be always active for it collectively.
Enlightening the world with the light of Tawheed, that is, striving to rescue and save human beings from the darkness of disbelief, atheism and polytheism, is a mission that Muslims have inherited. It is not only a matter of faith and belief but also a fact of history so far. Therefore, this legacy is the wealth of Muslims both in this world and in the hereafter.
یہی کچھ ہے ساقی متاع فقیر
اسی سے فقیری میں مسلم امیر
The ultimate goal of this mission of enlightening the world with the light of Tawheed, that is, the goal is to complete the light of Tawheed, that is, to complete the light of Allah and prevail. This is not the mental idea of any poet or thinker but it is derived from this verse of Holy Quran
They seek to extinguish Allah’s light (by blowing) with their mouths, but Allah shall spread His light in all its fullness, howsoever the unbelievers may abhor this. (61:8)
This goal is also understood from the terms of exaltation of the word of Allah and iqamat din or expression of religion and these terms are also derived from the Qur’an. “Allah made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the word of Allah – that is the highest. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.” (9:40)
Furthermore, Allah says in the Quran: “He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus – to establish the religion and not be divided therein. Difficult for those who associate others with Allah is that to which you invite them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]. (42:13)
It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although those who associate others with Allāh dislike it. (61:9)
Requirements of the Mission
The implication of this mission is that devout Muslims should never be content with a system based on non-Islamic ideologies and foundations, but should strive to reform and adapt it to God’s guidance.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon devout Muslims to ponder over the political position of Muslims in India, where Muslims live with other religions and communities under a constitutional system. So that, a proper behavior will be adopted and the common Muslims will also be guided accordingly.
The status of Muslims in the country from the Islamic point of view
According to the collective mission of the Muslims and the requirements of this mission, as mentioned above, no formal consideration has been given by the scholars to determine the political position of the Muslims. Discussions have been going on in a limited circle but the result is not satisfactory and the situation of chaos and ambiguity remains.
Considering this, the first thing to consider is the status of Muslims in the country and society from a religious point of view, and what is the status of devout Muslims or religious Muslims among them? Some people identify the situation with the jurisprudential terms formulated in the light of the political and social conditions of the distant past and speak of Darul Harb and Darul Islam or Darul Aman. But the fact is that these terms have become irrelevant and inconclusive today due to the complete change of time and place and Islam does not get any help and results from them to continue its mission in today’s conditions.
The truth is that the wheel of time has turned and reached its destination. The status of devout Muslims in general in most countries and especially in those countries where Muslims have become part of a mixed society introduces religion.
And the religion has become a group of people, just like the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his Companions.
It is a well-known Hadith of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that in the end of times, people will be reformed in the same way as before.
Therefore, the true status of Muslims or pious Muslims in India is that of a da’i ummah and from this point of view they will have to decide their social and political affairs.
Present Circumstances
Involvement of Muslims in the country’s politics and political affairs is generally based on ignorance and only ignorance. Muslims generally do not consider that the political process in which they participate enthusiastically and enthusiastically is based on disbelief, that is, it is not based on faith in Allah and adoption of Allah’s guidance. It is a sign of the negligence of ordinary Muslims that they generally do not even realize that for the success of the Hereafter we should make the way of life according to religion and if we do not do so then we will be guilty in the court of Allah. There will be no one to save the criminals from the wrath of Allah. So, like many other issues, they are completely engrossed in this illegitimate system of politics with all illegitimate mythologies.
While the case of the ulema and the pious people is that for a long time they have remained indifferent to politics and political affairs and when their need has diminished somewhat, they have started emphasizing the importance of voting. But they did not see the need to examine political affairs and the political system from the perspective of religion, sharia and da’wah.
However, the position of one party was that this system is invalid and it is not permissible to participate in or cooperate with the invalid system, but this position later changed within the party itself.
The traditional religious circles did not even try to understand this position in the spirit of opposition to this party. In short, both the Muslim masses have been unwittingly pursuing a false system of politics, and are engaged in supporting and subjugating those who are based on disbelief, who are not only irresponsible and unreliable but also are also traitors, corrupt, self-interested, opportunistic, deceitful and wicked.
The collective political attitude of the Muslims as the Ummah towards the Da’wah is completely wrong. This in itself is a collective sin of Muslims, which in Qur’anic terms would be called oppression and in common parlance a crime, and in terms of consequences it is extremely destructive. Human beings commit individual or collective sins against the will or intention of Allah, Their fate will be revealed in the Hereafter. A result of their destruction, however, is visible in this world.
Muslims should get rid of negligence, realize the stauts of the ummah, and get out of the state of collective guilt. Let us Muslims make our collective position an invitation and decide the direction and strategy of our politics according to this position.
From this point of view, a political ideology and strategy is discussed in the following pages.
India’s constitutional political system and the status of Muslims
People’s State
India is a democracy. This means that all its inhabitants living within the borders of the country own this country. All these people have an equal rights to all the resources of the country, and all people should benefit equally from these resources. The country’s political system is based on the representation of the people. Public opinion elects government officials, who are responsible for meeting the basic needs of all people. For as long as they are elected by the people, they should carry out their duties as a trustee and then make room for the newly elected representatives. There is no need to change this, except for teaching people that the resources of the earth are indeed the property of the people of the earth, that is, of all human beings, but this property is not the property of human beings themselves, but assigned.
This is what the Creator of the Universe has given and these resources are to be used by people to make their life better. All the deserving and needy have the opportunity to benefit from them.
[Establishment (1)]:
It is incumbent upon us Muslims to say this and it is our da’wah duty. But since it is a matter of ideological reform and an invitation to faith and belief, the responsibility of Muslims is only to insist verbally. As said in the Quran:
So, continue to remind all, O Prophet, for your duty is only to remind. (88:21)
However, there must be a political platform to effectively present this as a political ideology to the people and properties.
An impartial system of government
Another important aspect of India’s constitutional political system is that the system of government is neutral in principle. That is to say, the religion of any of the various sects in the country has not been made the ideology of the government nor has any special sect been given any privileged position or rights. It is a just principle that treats all sects equally. What is special about this is that everyone has the freedom to preach and publish in order to follow their own religion and ideology and bring others to their religion or ideology.This is also appropriate from the religious point of view of Muslims and from the point of view of da’wah.
In a country where Muslims generally live and govern according to Islamic law, non-Muslims have internal freedom to practice their religion. On the other hand, even in a non-Muslim country, if Muslims have the right to practice and preach the religion, then there is no reason for them to despair. However, where Muslims are prevented from practicing the religion and inviting people to the religion, as was done with the Holy Prophet and those who believe in him in Makkah, they are forced to emigrate or fight for their freedom.
Therefore, from both these angles, the situation is conducive and acceptable for Muslims to fulfill their duty.
[Establishment (2)]:
It is permissible for Muslims to make a fair agreement with other nations and to adopt the process of mutual cooperation by agreement. An agreement can also be made for the protection and welfare of the homeland and the people of the homeland, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) did with the non-Muslims living in and around Madinah after migrating to Madinah, which is called the “Charter of Madinah”. Thus, India’s constitutional political system is a common system in terms of this ideology and is tantamount to an agreement between all the nations living here, the basic conditions of which are that all have a common interest, all have equal status, rights and responsibilities are equal for all. A detailed outline or code of conduct for these terms of the agreement is laid down in the form of the Constitution of India.
However, the terms secular and democratic have been used for this basic structure of the constitutional political system of India which are infidel because the overall conceptual and ideological meaning of these terms is that of life, politics and government have no connection with Allah and there is no need to seek guidance from him.
Therefore, these terms are also against the faith and belief of the Muslims and also against their purpose and mission. But the difficulty here is what words Muslims use for this common and neutral political system. If they reject the secular and democratic structure of the country, it means that Muslims do not accept this common system and want their own separate country or reject the rights and equality of other people in the country. While the intention of Muslims is to deny the conceptual and ideological meaning of secularism and democracy and not to reject the political system based on agreement.
The solution to this complex problem seems to be that the secular democratic structure of India has been perpetuated as a neutral common political system, while the emphasis has always been on adopting the guidance of Allah under the invitational requirement. When the secular democratic structure was adopted under the Constitution of India, the framers explained that secularism in India is different from secularism in the West. However, anti-religious and atheists take the meaning of secular state in the true sense of secularism and try to explain it as such. Therefore, it is necessary to keep on explaining the purpose and meaning of Da’wah with clarity and insistence, and therefore one should try to issue a statement of “neutral state”. From this point of view too, there must be a political platform for presenting the call to Allah.
The purpose of the government is the welfare of the people
According to the Constitution of India, India is a welfare state. The welfare state means that the purpose of the state is to work for the welfare of the citizens, to ensure economic and social development for all citizens on the principle of equal opportunities and equal distribution of wealth and resources.
[Establishment (3)]:
In principle, this goal of the state and government is no different from the goal of Islamic government. The Islamic State and its government also work to mobilize the resources of life and develop civilization for the citizens by establishing peace and justice. Of course, the Islamic government does the work of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and this is the justification for its existence. The great circle of the good and the evil is that every human society wants to adopt and make laws and regulations for it. Every human society encourages a system that promotes values including respecting one another, caring for the weak and the elderly, respecting women, helping the poor, arranging cleanliness, working for the good of the people, speaking the truth, keeping promises, etc. or lying, refraining from social crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, theft, murder, looting, violence and disorder. Islam, further, has a relatively small circle is emphasized upon.
In such cases, the Islamic government imposes the rule of Islam on Muslims and non-Muslims are exempted on the grounds of freedom of belief. Therefore, in a common political system which is based on living together peacefully on the terms of their own freedom, this policy will be carried out more clearly.
The basic principles of justice, equality and freedom of the state
The Constitution of India has three basic principles: justice, equality and freedom. According to this constitution, all the citizens of the state have equal rights and any distinction between them on the basis of caste, color, race, sex and region etc. is unacceptable. Everyone has the right to justice and the state cannot treat anyone unjustly. In case of a violation, a citizen can approach the courts to get justice.
Collectively, there is no distinction between people based on religion, culture, language, etc. Every individual is completely free in his personal affairs. No external pressure can stand in the way of him making any decision according to his likes and dislikes. If such an issue arises before the court, the court will uphold the principle of individual liberty and will not accept any material or immaterial pressure.
[Establishment (4)]:
These three principles should be considered on top of the principles of religion and Sharia. As far as human equality is concerned, this is primarily the principle of Islam. God has basically given every individual equal rights and equal dignity. Every human being’s life, wealth and honor are equally respected. Human rights are equal for all and no discrimination is allowed in Islam.
In an Islamic state, all citizens have equal civil rights. As for justice, this is what Allah wants, and Allah sent the Holy Prophets to the world so that human beings may stand on justice. It is Islam that has introduced the concept of justice and its practical picture to the world. However, the concept of freedom in the Constitution of India is the concept of mere freedom of man while Islam has given the concept of freedom from everyone except Allah. The worship of Allah begins after believing in Allah and believing in Allah and it is a personal and free decision of every human being. In this case also, Allah has given man complete freedom.
Judicial system based on evidence and theory of equality
The institution of the court is based on the Constitution of India and the principle of the court is to decide on the basis of evidence. The distinction between rich and poor, high or low, powerful or weak, is not recognized in principle, but individual equality is the principle used in making decisions. This is exactly what Islam and Islamic law have determined. The reason for the wrong or unjust decisions of the court is not the philosophy and principles of the court but the disregard of the principles and the unfair attitude of the judges against the concept of the institution of judiciary or making a mistake in making a decision. If a judge of a Shariah court does injustice to a party, then the blame will not fall on the Shariah and the judicial system of Shariah but the betrayal or incompetence of the judge will be considered as the cause.
What politics means?
Politics is the name of the matter of governance. The name of the struggle for gaining power is also called politics. Attempts to seize power are usually made in every legitimate and illegitimate way and in matters of governance the ruling party or individuals are not given any sincere support from the opposition but to thwart the government. The desire to change power is constant, so the deception of political leaders and political parties is also called politics.
The real meaning and purpose of politics cannot be ignored due to the betrayal and dishonesty of politicians, deceptions and personal greed for power. One cannot be deprived of the affairs of government, nor should one stay away from it.
Rather, the commandments of God Almighty and the example of God’s prophets prove that carrying out the affairs of government with honesty and justice is one of the greatest virtues of the believers. The first of the seven kinds of people for whom the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has given the glad tidings of mercy in the shadow of Allah on the Day of Judgment is a noble ruler.
The Righteous Caliphs and other virtuous kings were devoted to the cause due to the fact that these gentlemen fulfilled their duty of governing with piety. The saying of Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is also well-known that a just ruler is the shadow of Allah on earth.
Therefore, in the corrupt and immoral political environment of the country, it is the need and responsibility of the pious Muslims to come before the people with the proclamation of Da’wah to Allah and to present themselves for the cause of governance with honesty and integrity.
Conclusion:
From the above points it is clear that there is a logical and legal justification for forming a political party with the mission and purpose of Da’wah to Allah and it is the religious and social responsibility of devout Muslims to form such a political party.
Political ideology and agenda of Islamic political party
The aim of the Islamic political party is to invite people to the social and economic system laid down by Allah and his Messenger.
Ideology
The basic ideology of the Islamic political party will be that man is a creation of Allah, the earth and its resources are also created by Allah and all these resources are for the disposal and use of human beings. All human beings have a right to use these resources and these resources should be used in a fair and equitable manner to meet the needs of all human beings and for their welfare. All the resources available or to be discovered within the borders of the State are the property of all the inhabitants of the State and the State and the Government as the representative of all the inhabitants to protect, promote and benefit these resources.
The purpose of the government and its responsibility is the welfare of all the people of the country. Providing people with the necessities of life, improving their lives, arranging their education and training, providing them healthcare facilities and preventing diseases, ensuring peace, protecting one another from oppression and exploitation, providing a system for the just settlement of mutual disputes, providing a free environment for each individual and each religion to perform their acts of worship and religious rites according to their faith, to ensure freedom of belief, opinion and conscience for every individual, to protect all the inhabitants of the country and all the resources of the state from external attacks and natural disasters, to maintain cordial relations between different groups and to promote mutual cooperation.
[Establishment (5)]:
Allah says in the Quran:
[And they are] those who, if we give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give zakah and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allah belongs the outcome of [all] matters. (22:41)
This verse refers to some of the special duties and responsibilities of the Islamic government, which include establishing prayers, establishing a system of Zakat and ordering well-known deeds as well as forbidding denials. In order to explain this, it should be kept in mind that the command of prayers can be given only to Muslims, the payment of Zakat is only for Muslims, and the issue of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil has been mentioned earlier in this article.
If the believers come to power in a common system based on agreement, they can improve the internal discipline of the Muslim society in such a way that the government should support and encourage the private sector of the Muslim community and not directly engage in this work itself.
In the same way, the government will give opportunity to people of other religions to carry out their religious and charitable work properly and work to uplift their society. Private institutions of the Muslim community will be helped to establish the system of Zakat effectively, similarly other societies will be encouraged to set up their own trusts for the poor of their community and run them properly.
Agenda:
The Islamic political party in India would strive to ensure justice and equality among all the people of the country at all levels in accordance with its Islamic ideology and in accordance with the basic principles of the Constitution of India. All individuals will be given the opportunity to benefit from all the resources of the country without any discrimination and without any discrimination. Special Affirmative Action will be adhered to.
Ethical training would be imparted to the officials and workers of all the departments and agencies providing public services and efforts will be made to create a sense of honesty and integrity within them. Efforts will be made to make the system of punishment for corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power as effective as possible within the framework of the Constitution.
Efforts will also be made to eradicate the feeling of illicit gains through corruption and bribery from within the people. For this, an additional subject would be included in the primary and secondary education curriculum and all media resources will be used for this purpose. The system of punishment for corruption at the grassroots level will also be made more effective within the ambit of the Constitution.
A balance will be struck between agriculture, industries, and between natural and human resources. For industrial development, agriculture will not be harmed and natural resources will be developed as much as possible. The bulk of the budget will be spent on productive activities and special attention will be paid to increase the income of workers at all levels.
A policy will be adopted to keep the basic necessities of life plentiful and cheap and taxes will be levied on luxury items.
Emotions of goodwill and human dignity will be fostered among the people and they will be taught to understand and respect each other’s rights through every medium of mass media. Appropriate punishment will be ensured at all levels along with education and training to avoid law and order violators.
Law enforcement agencies will be reformed. Officials and workers of these institutions will be educated about the rights and dignity of the people and any illegal behavior will be strictly prohibited. Penalties for violations and human rights violations will be tightened and accountability will be required.
Death penalty for intentional homicide will be enacted.
Special arrangements will be made for the protection of women, children and elderly men and women; punishments for crimes against them will be introduced separately.
The first priority of the Islamic political party will be to make the society strong and stable and all the causes and causes that cause social degradation will be identified and stopped.
Efforts will be made to ensure marriage of boys and girls. Every cultural or religious nation, according to its customs and beliefs, will be strengthened and supported for the marriage of young people.
Special rules will be made for men and women who decide to live together without any religious or social rites. Arrangements will be made to protect men and women from exploitation and deception through each other.
Unnatural practices will be banned and unnatural sexual acts will be classified as a crime.
Sexual anarchy and provocative means will be prevented.
The government of the Islamic political parties will promote non-interest bearing banking and will try to eliminate interest in loan transactions. Interest-bearing debtors will be registered and ways to improve the business will be worked out. Government-sponsored social institutions will be set up to provide interest-free temporary loans to the poor and common people.
All forms of economic exploitation of individuals and society will be reformed and a just economy will be promoted.
The production of all food items which are detrimental to health and impair the mind will be stopped and the trade of such items will be stopped.
The privacy of individuals will be fully protected and an effective system will be put in place to punish violators of the right to privacy.
Like the above mentioned points, more additions can be made to the agenda of an Islamic political party. Since Islam is a religion of mercy and the welfare of all human beings is the goal of this religion, the guidelines given in Islam for collective life are in the interest of the whole human society. Most of the positive and useful principles that the intellectuals and philosophers of the world have discovered so far for creating a standard human society can be traced back to the Qur’anic and Prophetic teachings or they can be said to be based on Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore, there is no moral and logical basis for rejecting the political agenda of an Islamic political party.
The Islamic political party will make it clear with full conviction that according to Islam and Islamic law, the job of the government is not to change the beliefs of individuals but to ensure freedom of belief and to prevent them from adopting their preferred beliefs. And to remove invisible obstacles. India’s Islamic political party will meet the conditions of a common and neutral political system in India and will not make the government a means of propagating Islam if it comes to power. It will be the private prerogative of the society and its political party to present the message of Islam to other societies and their individuals and guide them towards the true religion. Every religious community will be given equal rights to preach its religion peacefully.
Perception of reality
These are the conceptual foundations of establishing an Islamic political party in India. The purpose of stating them is to justify the political party with the aim of staying in the ambits of religion. So that the path of political struggle with religious purpose and within the limits of religion becomes clear for the devout Muslims and the pious scholars and pious people instead of staying away from politics and political affairs will actively fight along these lines in this tumultuous good and evil.
However, being active with this political concept does not mean that an Islamic political party can be in a position to form a government at any stage by gaining the confidence of the majority of the people. While belief in purpose and commitment to purpose is essential to any endeavor, there are two things to keep in mind. The first thing is that reaching the destination is not in the hands of the traveler, it is the written destiny of Allah which takes the travelers to the place where it is written to reach. Secondly, the aim of the Islamic political party is not merely to gain power but to strive for the goals of power. The purpose of the Islamic political party is to bring the political ideology and goals of Islam before the people, to clarify the reforms required by Islam and to prepare the people for these reforms. The Islamic political party will be the forerunner of the Islamic da’wah movement and will present a program of political and social reform as well as inviting faith and belief.
Another historical and natural fact must be kept in mind that Da’wah has always faced opposition and resistance. This fact has been made clear by Allah in the Qur’an and this fact is also evident from the life of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Muslims, in spite of all their faults and shortcomings, face a constant animosity from the forces of polytheism; they face oppression and injustice because they are the inheritors of the true religion and are related to them by the prophetic lineage. Islam is their religion and belief and they insist on it even though they themselves are weak and weak in fulfilling its requirements.
Therefore, the conscious rise of Muslims for Islam causes and will cause the enemies of Islam to become more agitated, and seeing the light of Chirag Mustafavi intensifying, the zeal and haste of the heirs of Abu Lahab will increase even more. The inevitable consequence of this is the clash of truth and falsehood, in which the promise of Allah is that if the people of truth remain steadfast and persevere, then Allah will make them victorious over falsehood and the people of disbelief over them.
Therefore, this political concept is not a strategy for the establishment of an Islamic government, but a strategy for the abolition of the falsehood. The Islamic political party will gather the people around it and will cooperate with other political parties in good deeds. To achieve its reform goals, it will establish a positive relationship with each government, give its opinion on the formulation of public welfare schemes, and volunteer for the implementation of the schemes that are formulated on an appropriate basis. It will oppose the inappropriate actions of the government and, where necessary, will speak out in support of the truth and against oppression and injustice.
This party will be active in the election process only at the time of election. Apart from election times, it will be engaged in the welfare and service of the people like a social service organization. As a result of their training, their workers will become preachers of Islam through their actions, words and deeds.
In order to implement the agenda that they will present to the people, they will work for the implementation of government public welfare schemes, try to rectify the shortcomings of these schemes and provide deserving people with these schemes. They will serve the people for the sake of Allah, they will become the center of hope of the people and will continue to invite them to the religion by their words and deeds.
Say, O Prophet, “This is my way. I invite to Allah with insight—I and those who follow me. Glory be to Allah, and I am not one of the polytheists.” (12:108)
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Views are personal.
Translated by Ubair Ul Hameed.