Absence of an Islamic state and the consequences

Dr. Firoz Mahboob Kamal 

Living without a strategy

No faith can give sustenance to its conceptual paradigm, vision, mission, and objectives in absence of supportive state and institutions. In such institutional deprivation, not only the core beliefs but also those who are adherents to those beliefs face extinction. Communism ceased to survive as a significant ideology after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The collapse of Asoka’s rule brought an end to Buddhism in India.  After the collapse of khilafah, the Muslims are facing the same consequences. Undoubtedly, Muslims need mosques, madrasas, and political organizations. But the most important institution that helps practicing full Islam and protects Muslims from enemy aggressions is an Islamic civilizational state. The national, tribal, secular, and monarchical state can’t do the job. The Muslims already have 57 parochial states; they have their own agenda and do little to save the persecuted Muslims. They proved utterly useless to promote the Islamic cause. Because of them, the Qur’anic prescription like sharia and hudud stay only in the Holy Qur’an and the books of hadees, and the sufferings of the Muslims in Palestine, Kashmir, Myanmar, China, India, Russia, and many other parts of the world go unabated. The mushrooming of mosques, madrasas, and religious organizations in millions could help only to live with the rituals at the personal level but did little to promote Islam’s core mission on the world stage.

The case of the Indian Muslims presents ample evidence to highlight the problems that are very common in absence of an Islamic state. More than 200 million Indian Muslims are known for a large number of magnificent mosques, madrasas, and religious outfits. But such institutions couldn’t save Muslims from lynching in public, mass rapes, arsons, and genocide. These mosques have turned into monuments; some of these historic mosques are already razed to the ground by the Hindutva extremists in front of the police. The Muslims are being tortured and slaughtered even by the police –as seen recently in the streets of Delhi in February 2020. 

The worst insecurity of the Indian Muslims owes to a single fact. They are increasing only in number, mosques, and seminaries, but living without any Islamic grand objective, vision, and strategy. And living with the Islamic vision and objective always remains a dream without an Islamic state. Instead, the Indian Muslims live in a state that stands inimical to their faith, wellbeing and existence. In the whole history of Islam, 200 million Muslims never lived on the mercy of the infidels. Trully, the Indian Muslims stand as a lost force. Muslims never enjoyed any security in the land of idolaters; even the prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) couldn’t get that either. Hence he had to migrate to Medina with a strategic vision. Establishing an Islamic state was his prime objective. Such a prophetic tradition stands as the lesson for all Muslims of all ages. So, strategic migration to a safe haven and establishing an Islamic state work as the survival strategy of every Muslim. But such prophetic strategy got little importance in the life of the Indian Muslims. They continue to live as sitting ducks in Rashtriya Sevak Sangh (RSS) infested killing fields in the Indian states of Gujrat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and do not bother to look for safer areas. Whereas, there are some states like West Bengal and Kerala where anti-Muslim riots didn’t take place in the last 40 years.

In a democratic state, the number counts; it gives weapons to fight with votes. Hence, how a Muslim can think of restricting their population growth by adapting contraception? Mothers, too, have a jihad; they do that jihad by giving birth to more Muslim children. Sustenance for everyone comes only from All-Powerful Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala. Hence restricting birth of children on the assumption of lacking affordability is haram in Islam. Since it creates doubt on  Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala’s power in giving sustenance to His creation, it is a blatant shirk which is unforgivable. And it is also a strategic madness that still works among the Indian Muslims. Their demography needs to be transformed into a political force. They need education and skills. They must solidify their unity. If they had framed proper strategies, 200 million Indian Muslims could emerge as a powerful force in South Asia. No angel comes to help the Muslims unless they start helping themselves.

The most important Prophetic legacy

The most important legacy of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the establishment of an Islamic state. Because of that, the Muslims could practice sharia, hudud, the rule of shura, Muslim unity, and jihad, and could dominate the world politics as the mightiest World Power for centuries. As a result, the Muslims could live in various parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe with security and dignity. The Jews failed to build a state; as a result, had a different fate. They had to roam as vagabonds and live in dilapidated ghettos in various foreign cities. The Jews earned such punishment by their cowardice betrayal of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala command. While asked to form an Islamic state, they flatly refused to make jihad alongside Prophet Musa (peace be upon him). Instead, they turned arrogant and asked Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) to go with his Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala to end the occupation of the promised land. Because of their betrayal, they couldn’t build an Islamic state to practice sharia (commandments) that was revealed to Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) in Torah. Here, it is worth mentioning that all prophets of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) preached the same and the only religion called Islam. The word “Muslim” is firstly coined by Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him).

The rule of law is indispensable for a civilized living and healthy state building. This is why Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la gave not only foods, drinks, fruits and other necessary stuff for physical sustenance but also gave laws and a roadmap to build higher humane civilisation. His Own laws in the Holy Qur’an are called sharia. The Muslims could raise the finest civilisation in history only because of that Divine laws and the roadmap. Whatever law that contradicts sharia is harmful to humans and haram (forbidden) in Islam. Therefore, halal foods and drinks are not the only requirements to live like a Muslim, full adherence to halal law is equally important. Awfully, the Muslims now follow the same Jewish path of non-compliance with sharia. Hence, there exists no Islamic state and nor any sharia-compliant judiciary in the whole Muslim world. Moreover, like the Jews, they are not ready to do jihad for establishing such a sharia-based Islamic state. Currently, amidst a world-wide fierce hostility, Taliban in Afghanistan are the only people who made some gains in following the Prophet (peace be upon him)’s legacy in state-building.   

To be a full Muslim, it needs to fully follow sharia. Sharia can’t be fully practiced individually. For that, it needs an Islamic state that must run the judiciary as per sharia. For an Islamic state, Muslims need to go beyond regular rituals like five times prayer, month-long fasting, hajj, and charity. It needs huge strategic investment in the form of money, men, efforts, and blood. They need to stay united in all circumstances. The degree of engagement in establishing an Islamic state indeed gives an accurate estimate of Muslims’ submission to the vision of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala. Such an all-time engagement is called jihad that filters out the hypocrites.

The Islamic State has its own huge blessings. Even a rudimentary early Islamic state in the Arabian Peninsula with fewer Muslims than that currently live in a single province of India could emerge as a World Power. They could defeat two contemporary World Powers like the Roman and the Persian Empires. The similar investment of the Afghan Muslims could also adorn them with a prestigious place in modern history. They could defeat two modern World Powers –Soviet Russia and the USA. Whereas 200 million strong Indian Muslims are known for their disgraceful subjugation to the Hindus. Cattles are born to be slaughtered. The same fate awaits for those who live without a strategic mission, vision, objective, and the prophetic roadmap and are hesitant to make sacrifices for their own security.

In fact, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) proved his political genius on the first day of his migration to Medina. Instead of laying the foundation of his own house, he laid the foundation of an Islamic state. He positioned himself as the head of the state. Unfortunately, the Indian Muslim ulama took little heed from such great political strategy of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). On the contrary, the Indian Muslim ulama exhibited totally a different strategy. In the last days of British rule, they thought that if they were given the liberty of running mosques and madrasas and practicing Islamic rituals like five-time prayer, fasting, hajj, and charity would be enough for the Indian Muslims. The Hindu leaders accepted their demand. As a result, the Muslim ulama -with few exceptions sided with the Indian National Congress and endorsed its soft Hindutva project of the independent Hindu majority India. Like the Hindus, most of the Deobandi ulama of India also despised the Pakistan project of the Muslim League. Probably, they would have been happy if 400 million Muslims of Bangladesh and Pakistan were added to the Indian prison for the Muslims. They failed to realize that an increase in prison population doesn’t increase prisoners’ power and security.

Now the same Indian ulama, with rare exception, promote the movement of Tabligi Jamaat –the Indian model of Islam that doesn’t match with the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) practice. They emphasize how the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed five-time prayer and other religious rituals. Whereas, the Prophet (peace be upon him) not only taught rituals, he was the Head of the State for 10 years and left a huge bulk of legacies in running a state. They seldom show any interest to practice those important legacies. For the practice of such legacies, it needs to establish an Islamic State -as the Prophet (peace be upon him) did. But the concept of an Islamic state, running judiciary as per sharia and hudud, jihad in the way of Allah, and many other basic practices of Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) hardly find any mention in their discourse and literature. The people of Tabligi Jama’at claim to be non-political. As if, it is a good attribute to be non-political. Such a non-political posture tells a lot about their ignorance about Islam and Prophet (peace be upon him)’s Sunnah (tradition). The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the head of the Islamic state, he fought wars, ran the judiciary, made treaties, and ruled the state. Politics was an integral part of the Prophet (peace be upon him)’s life. Hence, how can a follower of the Prophet (peace be upon him) stay away from politics? In fact, it looks like a sinister ploy to de-empower Muslims politically and intellectually. Moreover, it generates a damaging sense of false-satisfaction among the followers that something is being done for Islam and for the ummah. They fail to realize how far they stand away from the Prophet (peace be upon him)’s legacy. The known enemies of Islam have no problem with these non-political powerless Muslims.

Muslims without the Qur’anic Islam

The absence of an Islamic State has already inflicted the most damaging impact on Muslim lives. It has made it impossible to discharge the obligatory Islamic duty that has been assigned by the Almighty Lord on every man and woman. The Muslims are politically culturally, and intellectually conditioned to live without the Qur’anic Islam. Whereas Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala commands, “udkhulil silma ka’ffa”. It means: “Enter into Islam with the entirety of submission in every aspect of life.” But how that could be done if the basics of Islam like Qur’anic literacy, sharia, hudud, khilafa, pan-Islamic Muslim unity, jihad in the way of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala and other Islamic obligations are kept outside the domains of religious practices? Such Qur’anic dictates can’t be practiced inside homes, mosques, and classrooms. It needs a larger socio-political, judicial, and administrative premises that can only be provided by an Islamic state. A secularist, nationalist or autocratic state can never fit into that Divine project. This is why Islam can never be fully practiced in those un-Islamic states. This is why the establishment of an Islamic state stands so crucial in Islam and for a Muslim. Therefore, obstructing the establishment of an Islamic state is not a simple criminal offense; rather it amounts to launching a war against the Project of Almighty Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala and against the whole Muslim ummah. In the days of Prophet (peace be upon him) and early Muslims, such offence was punished by death penalty.

In the Holy Qur’an, “lahu mulkus samawati wal ardh” is one of the most reiterated proclamations of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala. It means, “Kingdom of heavens and the earth belongs only to Him”. In Surah Nas –the last Surah of the Holy Qur’an, Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala describes Himself as “Ma’likun Nas” (the King of the whole mankind). The sovereignty of a king survives only through the supremacy of his laws. Otherwise, the kingship of the king turns into a mockery. In absence of submission to king’s law, only anarchy overwhelms. Hence no king permits any violation of his law. Those who stand against the rule of his law face severe punishment. Let us examine the issue by giving some examples. The UAE government declared a 15-year imprisonment for criticizing its policy and supporting the ruler of Qatar. The Saudi government sentenced 1000 lashes and 10-year jail for Raif Badawi – a pro-democracy blogger, for his non-compliant expression. (The Economist, July 1^st-7^th 2017). Therefore, to protect their illegitimate rule, these cruel autocrats go to any length to forge laws to terrorize and kill people. With few exceptions, the whole Muslim World is indeed hostage to such state-occupying terrorists who have usurped the law-giving sovereignty of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala to establish their own sovereignty.

Now the question arises, what should be the punishment for those who break sharia and hudud –the Qur’anic law of the All-Powerful King of the universe? Is it not an overt rebellion against the All-Powerful King of the universe? Moreover, what should be the punishment for those who make a coalition with the kuffar forces to block the emergence of an Islamic state in any part of the Muslim World? Sharia is very explicit on these issues. Sharia draws a clear red line that must not be crossed at any point of time by anyone. Standing against sharia and allying with the kuffar against the Muslims is indeed a violation of the Qur’anic red line.  In the past, those who disobeyed the rule of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala met severe consequences. The Holy Qur’an repeatedly tells the awful stories of A’d, Samud, the inhabitants of Madayen, the people of Noah (peace be upon him), the tribe of Lot (peace be upon him), and many others who faced total annihilation for crossing the red line. Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala is ever ready to execute the same punishment for those who take the same route –if not here, surely in the hereafter.

The reign of the rebels

In the history of Islam, crossing the red line is not new. How sharia punished the violators is not new either. After the death of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), many so-called Muslims started to transgress the red line of sharia. Many of them denied even paying the obligatory zakat. Some people even claimed false prophethood. So, anarchy returned to Muslim life. It was indeed a critical crisis in Muslim history. Caliph Abu Bakr (ra) declared full-fledged jihad against all those rebels. He could quickly annihilate these inner enemies; as a result, the discipline returned to the Ummah. Failure to suppress the rebellion would have severe consequences; Islam that was practiced by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) would have found its place only in history books.

Now the same transgression of the red line is taking place everywhere and every day in the Muslim World. The rebels have become rulers. As a result, Prophet (peace be upon him)’s Islam with the Islamic state, sharia, hudud, Qur’nic literacy, rule by shura, unity of the Ummah, jihad in the way of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala has almost ceased to exist in any part of the Muslim World. The deviated Muslims have invented their own brand of Islam. There exists no Caliph Abu Bakr (ra) to stem such deviations and take the Muslims back to the original Islam. As a consequence, the old jahiliyyah (ignorance) has robustly resurfaced in almost every part of the Muslim World -but with a new face and a new name. In such void of true Islam, evil ideologies like nationalism, tribalism fascism, secularism, capitalism, materialism, socialism, communism, and many others have occupied the intellectual premise of the Muslims. So, they get a huge number of followers.

Despite deep differences among these deviants, they show a unified agenda against Islam. The common agenda of the enemies is none else but to block the establishment of an Islamic state in any part of the world. Former US President Donald Trump boastfully announced that the USA will not tolerate any Islamic state in any part of the world. And also told that the US bombers will raze such a state to the ground. And most Muslim rulers are ready to congratulate such bombings. Since no resistance exists against the ruling regimes of criminals, they are using the state infrastructures to enforce their evil agenda in almost all Muslim countries. As a result, the core Qur’anic agenda of “nehi anil munkar” (elimination of evil) and “a’amaru bil ma’ruf” (enjoining the right) stay defunct. And Muslims live with rebellion against the decree of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala. As a consequence, along with the ideological and military occupation by the enemies – both native and alien, all forms of sins like adultery, thievery, robbery, riba, gambling, obscenity, and other forfidden practices are spreading like a wildfire all over the Muslim World. So the whole statecraft has become a huge vehicle to take people to the hellfire. This is indeed the worst consequence of the absence of an Islamic state. 19/04/2020