The writer is a religious scholar and president of Al-Mawrid, a foundation for Islamic Research and Education
[Pak Daily Times] Man, by nature, is a being who lives by setting up a government for himself. The first manifestation of this instinct took place when, in ancient times, people decided that they would select the chiefs of their tribes. After that, when these chiefs were able to establish their hegemony by conquering other tribes, they became the owners of conquered lands. This gradually took the shape of ancestral kingdoms governed by kings. In later periods, these kings, in their capacity as great conquerors, laid the foundations of empires consisting of several countries. This brought into existence governments, which included the Sassanid and the Roman empires. These empires have now become extinct but many kingdoms are still among us and have taken the place of constitutional monarchies. Except for some countries, this is the case everywhere. Among these exceptions is the kingdom of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... . It still exists in its original glory and majesty. The laws of such kingdoms are enacted by the king and his nobles.
The Saudi government was established with the reformist movement of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Thus, on the very first day of its inception, it decided that the law of the land would be the Islamic sharia. A great majority of Sunni scholars do not regard kingdoms to be governments, which is against sharia but they more or less agree to the interpretation of sharia made by the Saudi government. This is because they think that it is an Islamic government and, on this basis, they show allegiance to it.
The ideology of Islamic revolution, which has sprung up in recent times, can be summarised as follows: it is only the disciplined minority of the righteous (salihin) that has the right to rule; if godless people are rulers, then they are in fact embezzlers. It is the responsibility of the righteous to launch an effort to take back what belongs to them. Among the Shias, this ideology already existed under the concepts of 'government of the infallibles' (ma'sumin) and 'guardianship of the jurist' (wilayat-i faqih). Consequently, Sunni and Shia scholars have instituted religious parties in various places to achieve this very objective of bringing about an Islamic revolution. Moreover, the intellectual class is expending its efforts in various countries to realise this objective by trying to bring into existence a disciplined minority of the righteous. In some places, these efforts have been successful. For example, in Iran, religious scholars, under the leadership of Imam Khumini, were able to take the reins of political authority into their own hands. They have been ruling Iran with full power for a quarter of a century. Another example is Afghanistan where, through the support and help of the Pak government, the students of religious scholars were able to set up a government that succumbed to 9/11 and is now trying to revive itself by waging war against the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces.
The question arises: what does Islam want? A deep deliberation on the Koran and Hadith shows that the real addressee of Islam is the individual. It wants to rule the heart and mind of a person. Thus, it makes it mandatory upon him to submit his whole self to the illusory sovereignty of God. Just as the God of Islam is the Lord and worshipped deity of people, He is also their King. Hence, it is necessary that, besides worshipping Him, obedience also be shown to Him and, if He has prescribed some law or principle in some matter, then people must totally surrender to it. No doubt, Islam also addresses society but only when the individuals of a society accept its rule over themselves. At that time, no effort or struggle is needed to achieve the supremacy of Islam at the collective level; Islam automatically manifests itself through social, cultural and political mannerisms and attitudes of the people. Thus, if in the sharia of God, there is any directive related to society, they are prepared to implement it without any hesitation.
This is an Islamic government. When it comes into existence in this way, it becomes a manifestation of God's mercy on earth; however, if it does not come into existence, even then one should not be worried because the objective of Islam is not the formation of an Islamic government but the attainment of tazkiyah (self-purification). Its call is to the kingdom of God, which people will attain on the Day of Judgment as a result of attaining this tazkiyah. Islam calls upon people to save themselves from Hell and enter this eternal kingdom of God. It does not call upon people to establish an Islamic government. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... people who are anxious for this -- and which in Koranic terms may be called ukhra tuhibbunaha (the second thing which you desire, (61:13)) -- have seen for themselves the experimentation that has taken place in this regard in the last one and a half centuries.
In my opinion, they should now accept the reality that an Islamic government is neither established through a royal decree nor through the autocratic rule of religious scholars and nor by a self-appointed army of divine soldiers. This is not an objective but should emanate from the inner conviction of people on Islam and the Islamic sharia. If this happens, then the government that is established as a result can be called an Islamic government in every sense of the word. If the objective is to set up such a government, then instead of wasting one's time in frivolous political stratagems, and instead of killing oneself and killing innocent people in the name of jihad, all force should be directed towards two things.
First of all, through reminding and exhortation, knowledge and reasoning, education and instruction, efforts should be made to establish the rule of this government on the hearts of the people. This effort should continue until the ruling elite of the Moslems has as strong a conviction in Islam and Islamic sharia as the one possessed by those who takes up the task of calling people towards Islam.
Secondly, at every level, democracy and democratic values should be promoted so that if people are prepared to fulfill the requirements of their religion related to the political and economic spheres, no form of despotism can cause any hindrance for them. Launching a struggle against despotic forces is, in fact, a struggle against fitnah (temptation) and fitnah, according to the Koran, is a greater sin than murder. Hence, the institution of monarchy and dictatorship deserve to be sent packing from the stage of this world forever.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Depending upon which side of the divide they are, people comment differently on Hakeemullah Mehsud's elimination from the terror stage. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... all agree on the fact that the event has brought into public notice the fact that the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) is the most outspoken ally of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), beating Fazlur Rehman's JUI-F by quite a margin. By aligning itself with the man who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and the orchestration of numerous attacks on the armed forces of Pakistain, the JI has assumed for itself the role of TTP's Sinn Féin, which started supporting the Irish Republican Army (IRA) way back in 1919. It has chosen to move up from its vigilante role by providing the TTP with the hardcore ideology that forms the basis of a violent political movement, the aim of which is to seize power in order to establish its own version of theocracy. While initially the JUI was the ideological mentor of the TTP, people have failed to realise that the ever increasing influence of al Qaeda on this outfit and the Taliban's close association with the Saudis, Uzbeks and Chechens has meant that the ideological basis has shifted towards the Salafi school of thought. This has meant that the utility of JUI representing the Deobandi school is fading day by day. The JI, with its strong Salafi credentials, has taken the lead role.
The ideological basis of the JI and the Taliban of today is not much different. Never hiding his opinion about violent struggle, the JI's founder, Maulana Maududi, writes in his book Jihad in Islam: "But the most important -- indeed the most basic -- ideal of the revolutionary doctrines of that 'Revolutionary Party' known as Mohammedans is to expand all the powers of the body and soul, life and possessions, in the fight against the evil forces of the world; not so that, having annihilated them, we should step into their shoes, but so that evil and contumacy may be eradicated and Allah's law enforced on earth. This is the significance of jihad fi sabilillah, Jihad for the cause of Allah."
He then writes, in the same book: "The terms 'offensive' and 'defensive', which are usually applied to definitions of warfare, are not at all applicable in the case of Islamic jihad. These terms are relevant only in the context of wars between nations and countries, for technically speaking, the terms 'attack' and 'defence' can only be used with reference to a country or a nation." He further elaborates his point: "The division of Islamic jihad into 'offensive' and 'defensive' is not permissible. Islamic jihad is both offensive and defensive at one and the same time. It is offensive because the Mohammedan party attacks the rule of an opposing ideology, and it is defensive because the Mohammedan party is constrained to capture state power in order to protect the principles of Islam in space-time forces."
In his tract, 'Let us be Mohammedans', he says: "Whoever really wants to root out mischief and chaos from God's earth and is genuinely anxious to ameliorate the condition of God's creation, it is useless for him to work as a mere preacher. He should stand up to finish the government run on wrong principles, snatch power from wrongdoers and establish a government based on correct principles and following a proper system."
The TTP is doing just what Maulana Maududi advocated and has seized power wherever and however it can. The only deterrent to the TTP's mad desire to seize state power and advance its repressive ideology and influence beyond the tribal belt are the gallant operations of the nation's army working to protect the country's illusory sovereignty. The naive consider the TTP's agenda to be restricted to Afghanistan and Pakistain, and turn a blind eye to the TTP's alliances with al Qaeda and Jandullah, which points towards its desire to be a global player and a threat to overall regional security, with implications for China, Russia and Iran. Nation states were never Maududi's favourite and he opposed the creation of Pakistain -- "the state for Musalmans" -- under the All India Mohammedan League.
The ideology of the JI promotes violent political struggle beyond national boundaries. Similarly, the TTP also does not believe in the concept of a nation state and does not acknowledge the constitution of Pakistain, which recognises the illusory sovereignty of others. It did not come as a surprise that the recently booked al Qaeda members from educational institutions in Punjab were associated in the past with the Islami Jamaat-e-Talaba ...The Islamic Students' Organization: the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, where young Moslems are trained into the arts of street fighting... (IJT), the student wing of the JI. In the context of the TTP's ever-closer association with Arabs and Chechens, which points towards the ideological shift within the outfit, these hardliners from local institutions may have a role to play. Undoubtedly, with so much in common, it must have become difficult for the JI to continue putting up a neutral face.
The JI's ownership of foreign issues has never been based on Pakistain's national interests but on its own global agenda. The fervour it tried to create in Pakistain in support of ousted Egyptian President Morsi had nothing to do with love for democracy; it was because of Morsi's association with the Moslem Brüderbund. People will recall that the leaderships of the two parties made their covert association public two years ago when a blurb by the JI was carried in the local press announcing the meeting between the leaderships of the two brotherly entities at the Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo. It is not surprising that the JI remained silent when freedom fighters were killed in Bahrain just because they belonged to the Shia community. Ironically, when democratic governments were packed up in Pakistain, the power hungry JI always sided with those usurping power.
Hakeemullah, the murderer, has been labelled by the JI leadership as a shaheed (a martyr). The JI has, in a way, owned Mehsud. This insult to people and the army has not gone down well with the armed forces and they have rightfully demanded an apology in a very dignified manner. The hardline leadership of the Jamaat has not even come up with that. The people of Pakistain demand more than this. It is time that the JI be asked to accept civil liability of this stance and, through due legal process, allow its funds and assets to be utilized for payment to the victims and families of those effected by Mehsud's campaign so that the ideological base for violent political struggle loses its operational capability and is neutralised for Pakistain's long-term good.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Man, by nature, is a being who lives by setting up a government for himself. The first manifestation of this instinct took place when, in ancient times, people decided that they would select the chiefs of their tribes. After that, when these chiefs were able to establish their hegemony by conquering other tribes, they became the owners of conquered lands. This gradually took the shape of ancestral kingdoms governed by kings. In later periods, these kings, in their capacity as great conquerors, laid the foundations of empires consisting of several countries. This brought into existence governments, which included the Sassanid and the Roman empires. These empires have now become extinct but many kingdoms are still among us and have taken the place of constitutional monarchies. Except for some countries, this is the case everywhere. Among these exceptions is the kingdom of 
[Pak Daily Times] Depending upon which side of the divide they are, people comment differently on Hakeemullah Mehsud's elimination from the terror stage. 
