The Mischief of Calling Khilafat A Necessary Condition for Life Even As a Muslim Minority: There Is Nothing In Quran Or Sunnah To Suggest This
By
Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef, New Age Islam
29 July
2022
The
Ideologies of Islamism, Such As Maulana Maududi and Syed Qutub Et Al, Preached
and Propagated the False Idea That All the Islamic Injunctions Are Equal and
Every Muslim Is Bound To Their Enactment
Main
Points:
1. Islamic
commandments are not equal and absolute.
2. Establishing
or reviving Khilafat is not a compulsory duty for a Muslim.
3. Misleading
concepts should be addressed on theological grounds.
4. Iqbal’s
dream of reconstruction of Islamic thought is yet to be realized.
----
The
parliament was in session, and deliberations were going on as routine
procedures. Suddenly an uproar was heard in the precinct of the Parliament
house. Then some gunmen with covered faces darted in. Rattling guns in their
hands and sloganeering with “Allahu Akbar,” they tried to capture the
Parliament building along with the national TV and Radio station. Leaders of
this armed gang announced that the country now had become an Islamic state and
would be ruled according to Sharia law.
Some besieged parliamentarians somehow managed
to secretly pass the information of armed revolt to army headquarters. The army
soon came into action. And in the wake of this seizure of the parliament,
within six days, the army was able to recapture the Parliament from the Islamic
fanatics. Peace returned, and the rule of law was restored.
This is the story of Trinidad and Tobago, a
tiny country among tiny Iceland of the West Indies, whose cricket team is world
famous. It occurred on Friday 27 July 1990. Jamaat ul Muslimeen, a radical
Salafi extremist group that attempted to overthrow the government, held the
parliament hostage, including the Prime Minister A.N.R. Trinidad was a Christian
majority country with a sizable Muslim presence estimated to be 15% of the
total population.
Before this
failed coup, Muslims were in an excellent position there. Many Muslims had
critical roles in running the country. Even the president of the country, chief
justice, and speaker of the parliament happened to be Muslims, and they were
financially strong too. Yet, in the eighties, some Salafi literalist zealots
preached that when Muslims reach some, say, the number 313 (inferring from the
battle of Badr ), then it is incumbent on them to announce the place to be a
Muslim realm. Being deceived by their unnecessary enthusiasm and uncontrolled
religious zeal, a misled group of Muslims went on a rampage, sloganeering and
setting the properties of non-Muslims on fire and creating mayhem on the
streets of Trinidad. Yet, in the army counterattack, all the freedoms and all
the privileges they had been enjoying before were snatched from them, and they
ended up being a dubious community whose patriotism became suspect.
I studied
for my master's degree at the University of Lucknow nearly 20 years ago, while
I was there. A campaign to resurrect the Khilafat among Muslims was launched
across India by the Students Islamic Movement. This Muslim student organization
was originally a branch of Jamaat-e- Islami Hind but has since been outlawed,
forcing the Jamat to distance itself from it. Anyway, many conferences and
seminars on a national level were held on that occasion. I too participated in
one event held in Lucknow. Books, pamphlets, leaflets, booklets, and handbills
were distributed in Mosques, madrasas, and conclaves. Why this was so? Because of this false notion that Khilafat is
something that every Muslim is bound to re-establish as this is a “sacred”
Godly system!
The roots
of this mischievous idea can be found in the Muslim intellectual legacy of the
past, though not in the plain texts of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. However, in
the present era, the movements of political Islam have played the most
prominent role in spreading this suicidal idea among Muslims. I completely
disagree with this idea and consider it absolutely wrong because all the
commandments of Islam are not absolute. Rather, there is a difference between
them. Some are absolute, and some are desired relative to the situation.
Furthering
the discussion, an elaboration of pertinent points is in order here.
Islamic
injunctions come under two major categories. One category may be named
universal individual obligations. This includes basic creeds, prayers, marriage
and divorce, related issues, societal affairs, moral ethics, etc. The current
term for that kind of order is Personal Law.
This is a necessary part of the religion. The
second major category consists of Shariah commandments: state affairs, the law
of war and peace, Hudud (prescribed punishment) and Tazir (unprescribed
punishment), judiciary, etc. The main difference between the two is that you do
not need a governmental authority to enact personal law. Individuals can act
upon it in their individual capacity. And in today’s world, you are free to act
upon them without any hindrance or restraint except in some Communist states.
For another
category, you need a free territory and state apparatus. Therefore, not having
these necessary requirements, Muslim minorities in non-Muslim majority
countries are not bound by Shariah to enact this kind of shariah instructions.
It doesn’t mean that these orders stand suspended. No, I only mean that being
this category conditional, in the absence of the required conditions, we are
not bound to enact this kind of Shariah commandments. Islamic Shariah is so
practical that even in personal laws, it maintains this conditionality of
providing suitable provisions and a conducive environment.
For example, Zakat is so essential that it is
mentioned in 700 places in the holy Quran alongside the prayer. Yet, all
jurists unanimously say that Zakat would be Wajib (due), if a person has
a particular sum of money or other possessions. Otherwise, he won't be required
to do it at all. And no jurist says that one should make an effort to be as
rich as will be affording to pay his Zakat. Likewise, Haj is an obligation, yet
it is due only to one who is capable of doing Hajj physically and can afford
its expenses too, or else it will not be due to him. No jurist says that one
must earn riches that enable him to perform Hajj. On this matter, there is a
consensus among the jurists and Ulama. Yet Islamism in the twentieth century
came with an alternative view that will be briefed in the following:
The ideologies of Islamism, such as Maulana
Maududi and Syed Qutub et al, preached and propagated the false idea that all
the Islamic injunctions are equal and every Muslim is bound to their enactment.
Many Ulama were very wary of this new approach toward Islamic injunctions. Yet,
in the face of the literary avalanche of Islamists in both Arabic and Urdu,
they could not express their counterview except Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. By the
way, both the leading ideologues of Islamism, Maududi, and Qutub, were great
authors and prolific writers. That is why traditional Ulama gave in, and many
even adopted Islamist terminology and their ways of treating Quranic verses and
Ahadees of the prophet (PBUH).
Re-establishing
the caliphate as a religious obligation or not is a debatable issue. And it is
maybe justified If it is done in the context of Muslim majority countries.
However, there is no 0 justification in Sharia for this issue in Muslim
minority countries, nor is there a rationale for this slogan in Muslim-majority
nations in today’s world.
Furthermore, it should be noted that Muslim
minorities in today’s world comprise 40% of the total Muslim world population.
According to political analysts, a minority that comprises 5% of any society
will have 50% or more influence if it is educated and organized. Jews are a
living illustration of that in both Europe and America. Because of their
enormous abilities, efforts, and networking skills, they have a significant
impact on the world, leading some to assert that they are ruling it indirectly.
Armenian Christians in Turkey and Bahais in Iran, notably during the Shah era,
were once immensely influential, despite being small minorities.
Muslims in
today’s India are a minority, yet if they may rid of their illogical
stereotypes and irrational ways of thinking, they can also make a difference in
this country. In our environment, we see many Muslim zealots live with a
strange mind-set. They consider themselves citizens of Darul Harb and
thereby allowed to do anything they like. For example, they regard themselves
as allowed to not file income tax, steal electricity, or take interest from
non-Muslims. Some even go so far as to claim that our entire national system is
the enemy. We should abstain from forming this system, so they won't
participate in the voting process. Because to the majority view of Islamists,
voting in a secular democracy is as directly adhering to the corrupt system of Taghoot
(the Satan). The mental isolation of Muslims in nations like India is being
exacerbated by these preconceptions and reservations.
Nearly a
century ago, Dr. Allama Iqbal felt a pressing need to rethink Islam and its
societal system, to be more specific. He dared to express his ideas on the
reconstruction of Islamic thought when he delivered his famous six lectures in
Madras, later published in book form and translated into Urdu. Traditional
Ulama, who otherwise were full of praise for him, were in peril due to his
daring, and many of them harshly criticized him. But Iqbal never relinquished
his position on the matter. In his letter to Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum
written approximately in 1925, he emphasized that Muslims nowadays are facing a
very critical time in their whole history. Islam is being judged and examined
on the testing of times. Then in his many letters, speeches and lectures, he
reiterated and expressed the need to rethink Islamic Fiqh. In his eyes, a true
reformer and revivalist (Mujaddid) would be someone who dared to carry
out this crucial work. This task still has to be done.
-----
A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef is a Research
Associate with the Centre for Promotion of Educational and Cultural Advancement
of Muslims of India, AMU Aligarh.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/mischief-khilafat-muslim-minority-quran-sunnah/d/127593
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism