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ISLAMIC STATES HAVE NO QURA'NIC SANCTION
By Asghar Ali Engineer
A number of Islamic countries claim that they are an Islamic state and
that secularism has no place in their society. Some Islamic countries like
Saudi Arabia consider secularism to be a great sin. Is there any concept
of an Islamic state in the Qur'an? Or in the Hadith literature? Does an
Islamic state fit into any classical model? The answer is a categorical
no. The Qur'an presents a concept of society, not of any state. When the
Qur'an was being revealed, Arabia had no state whatsoever whereas in Rome
and Persia, the two great empires of the time, there was monarchy.
Arabia was basically a tribal society that was governed by tribal leaders
through a tribal council. There was no taxation system, no police force or
army. It was a civil society governed by tribal customs and traditions.
Consensus was a must. Even if one tribal leader dissented, the decision
could not be applied.
The Prophet was concerned with social malaise rather than with any
political problem. In the Arabian peninsula at the time, tribal bonds were
breaking down and a new commercial society was being born in Mecca which
was the centre of high finance and commerce. There was urban-desert
malaise on the one hand and problems of breaking down of tribal structure
within Meccan society and polarisation between the rich and poor on the
other.
The Qur'an was greatly concerned with establishing a just society. It
exhorted the rich to be sensitive to others' suffering and required them
to redistribute their wealth and levied Zakat which was to be spent on the
poor. It was, therefore, quite a revolutionary programme. The Qur'an laid
stress on justice and benevolence in all socio-economic matters.
In spiritual life too stress was on equality and justice. While praying,
all Muslims stand in one line as all humans are equal in the eyes of
Allah. Even the Holy Prophet was described by the Qur'an as a servant of
Allah though Allah had chosen him to send His revelation through him. No
social hierarchy was recognised. Equality and justice became the primary
values of Islam. And it became the duty of all believers men and women, to
``enforce what is good and eradicate what is evil''. The primary concern
of the Qur'an is to provide moral guidance and develop moral and spiritual
atmosphere and set up a society which is just and benevolent for all,
including the people of other faiths.
As long as the Prophet was alive all problems were referred to him and his
authority was supreme. He had also drawn up a covenant between people of
different faiths in Madina including the Jews, Christians and the pagans.
The Prophet had given full freedom to all to practice their respective
religions. Madina was a pluralist society and there was no attempt
whatsoever to impose Islam on anyone unwilling. It was `secular' in as
much as plurality of religion was recognised.
However, after the death of the Prophet a political crisis developed which
was sought to be resolved through historical experience as there was no
categorical statement in the Qur'an or Hadith about his successor as per
the Sunni tradition. Thus there was a split among the Muslims on the
question of succession. Those who came to be termed later as Sunnis
believed the Prophet has left no specific directive for his succession.
The Shi'ah Muslims, on the other hand, believed that he had appointed Ali,
his son-in-law as his successor. There was no unanimity on the question of
the Prophet's political heir and successor.
The Muslims differed on the question of state after the death of the
Prophet. The Muslim political theorists had to develop a new political
theory -- that of two simultaneous caliphs ruling over the Muslim world.
Earlier it was theorised that only one Caliph could be a legitimate one,
the other, if any, being dubbed as a mere usurper. And later of course
many caliphs and rulers, Fatimids in Egypt, Umayyads in Spain, Abbasids in
Baghdad, Ghaznavids and others in Central Asia came into existence. Not
only that Turkish generals captured real power and the Abbasid caliphs
became mere figure-heads. Thus the political theories had to undergo
repeated changes in the Muslim world. All a ruler could claim was that he
was enforcing the Islamic Shari'ah to claim the Muslim support. But even
the Shari'ah was never implemented in its real spirit. Most of these
rulers were tyrants rather than God-fearing.
The Qur'anic concept of a just and benevolent society was an ideal concept
which could not be realised in practice except for a brief attempt which
lasted for a few years. Muslim countries claiming to be Islamic states are
far from these ideals. The greatest ideal projected by the Qur'an is
justice -- both in personal conduct and in distribution of wealth. It is
conspicuous by its absence in the Muslim countries.
Source: dawoodi bohra
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