|
How Islam Wants Us to Organize Ourselves
By:
Dr. Ahmad Shafaat
(1984)
The way of Islam wants us to organize
ourselves and take care of our religious, social and other affairs
is clearly outlined in the following verses of the Holy Qur`an:
"O you who believe! Obey God
and obey the Messenger and those from among you who are in
charge of your affairs; and if you differ over any matter, refer
it to God and the Messenger, if you do believe in God and the
last day." (4:59)
"(Believers are those) who run
their affairs by consultation among themselves." (42:38)
"And consult them (O
Prophet) in matters (of public concern)." (3:159)
"And let there among you be a
group of people who invite to all that is good, who enjoin what
is right and forbid what is wrong." (3:104)
If we read these verses casually, they
do not seem to contain much guidance, but if we ponder over them
with devotion due to the words of God and take into account related
ahadith, we find that they contain a
complete outline of the way Muslim affairs are to be organized
and run. And if, furthermore, we put them into practice in
our communities and societies, they will provide a solution for many
of our existing problems and take us out of our present miserable
state of affairs.
These verses give
us five principles, which may be called the
five pillars of the Islamic organizational
structure.
First Pillar:
Muslims should run their affairs through a decision-making body (ul
al-amr). The above Qur`anic verses assume the existence of such
a body; Hadith states it more explicitly,Replica Franck Muller Aeternitas Tourbillon teaching that wherever
there are three or more Muslims they must choose one of them
as their amir (leader):
"It is not permitted for three men
to be in a desert place without putting one of their number in
leadership." (Ahmad on the authority of 'Abd Allah bin 'Umar)
"When three persons go on a
journey, let them put one of their number in command." (Abu Da'ud on
the authority of Abu Sa'id)
The idea of these ahadith is not that
only when there are three Muslims and only when they are
on a journey that they should have an amir but rather that
even if there are three of them and even if they are on a
journey they should appoint one of them as their amir. So
choosing an amir is all the more necessary for communities of
Muslims consisting of hundreds or thousands of individuals and
leading a settled life in a city or country.
It is also interesting to note that
while Hadith sometimes talks of amir, the Qur`an only talks
of the plural ul al-amr, which should be interpreted to mean
that while there should be a single person as the head of a group of
Muslims, the decision-making power should be exercised rather by a
body or bodies consisting of more than one person; in other words,
power should not get concentrated in the hands of a single person
(except in the case of very small groups).
The obligation to choose a
decision-making body is often respected within religious Muslim
groups like Ikhwan, Jama'at Islami, Tablighi Jama'at and smaller
groups all of which have hierarchies of amirs.
But these groups make no effort to unite with
larger Muslim communities found around them, who also choose
decision-making bodies. Yet this is precisely the intention
behind the words of God and His Messenger. These words do not tell
us that Muslims in a city should be split into various groups and
then each of these groups should choose an amir of its own.
Rather, they clearly teach
us that Muslim communities in various cities, countries, etc. should
as a whole also have decision-making bodies.
The reason that various jama'ats
(organizations, parties) and organized religious groups among us do
not try to unite with the Muslim community as a whole is that they
know that their support among Muslims at large is rather small and
as a result their influence in the community-wide decision-making
bodies will be limited, which is something they hate. Each one of
these jama'ats and organized groups wishes that it is its
members who should be among the ul al-amr and not anyone else
and with this desire for power they live with the vain hope that one
day a sufficiently large number of Muslims will join them and then
they will form the decision-making bodies in various
communities.
As various jama'ats and organized
groups thus live in their unrealizable dreams of power, fighting and
discrediting each other, the affairs of the larger Muslim
communities around them remain in a mess and subject to influence
from destructive elements from within and hostile powers from
without.
Muslim communities in North American
cities, for example, are at present like ships without any
recognized captains, moving aimlessly in the turbulent social sea
around them, ready to sink any time, while those on board fight and
argue with each other and each group among them hoping to be able to
hijack the ship.
In Muslim countries there of necessity
exists governing powers, but in view of the failure of Muslim
elements to try to choose decision-making authority in accordance
with Islam, this governing power becomes available for grab to
repressive dictators and open to CIA and KGB interference.
Second
Pillar:
The first pillar of the Islamic organizational structure, then, is
the principle that no community of Muslims, large or small, should
be without ul al-amr or a decision-making body.
The second pillar
is that this body must be chosen by the community.
One of the Qur`anic passages quoted earlier says that the believers'
affairs are run by consultation among them. Since the choice of the
decision-makers is the first and important step in the running of
the affairs of a community, this choice is also subject to the
principle of consultation and must therefore be made by a process of
election involving the whole community.
After their election the
decision-makers still remain bound by the principle of consultation.
They cannot decide whatever they desire or whatever suits them, but
rather must reach their decisions after duly consulting ahl
alra'y(1) (people having an opinion on the matter
concerned). This is clear from 3:159, where
the Prophet, may he be blessed
evermore, is commanded by God Most High to
"consult with them (i.e. the Muslims) in
matters (of public concern)".
In view of the fact that Muslim
decision-makers must make their decisions, at least in important
matters, after due consultation with the community, the function of
the decision-makers really reduces to collecting views found in the
community, giving them a coherent form (if these views conflict with
one another) and then execute the decisions so reached.
Third Pillar:
If a decision-making body comes into being by election and functions
by a process of continuous consultation with people of opinion, then
(and only then) the decisions reached by such a body are binding on
every member of the community provided those decisions do not
conflict with the clear teachings of Islam. This is the meaning of
the words of God: Replica IWC Portuguese
"Obey God and obey His
messenger and those among you who are in charge of your affairs"
(4:59)
Fourth
pillar:
This consists of the principle that if differences arise among some
sections of the community, including the decision-making body, they
must be referred to God and His Messenger. Verse 4:59 continues:
"And if you differ over any
matter, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you do believe in
God and the last day."
Note that in this part of verse 4:59 IWC Aquatimer Replica Watches
ul al-amr and the decision-makers are not mentioned. This has
two implications:
a) Differences can arise not only
between ordinary members of the community but also between ul al-amr
and other members of the community.
b) When differences do occur, whether
among ordinary members of the community or between such members and
ul al-amr, they are not referred to ul al-amr but to
God and His Messenger. In other words, ul al-amr are a body
of persons whose job is to decide matters on the basis of opinions
found in the community (including the opinions they themselves
hold) and then execute these decisions. They are not meant to act as
judges to settle differences when such differences become serious.
The role of judges belongs to two authorities that are higher than
everybody in the community including the ul al-amr. These two
authorities are God and His Messenger.
How can disputing parties take their
differences to God and His Messenger? In the time of the Messenger,
this was simple: the disputing could go to the Prophet and he could
settle the matter either through a direct revelation from God or
through the use of nur or light that he possessed. In our
time, differences can sometimes be settled by referring to the
Qur`an and Hadith. However, differences among Muslims often concern
the Qur`an and Hadith themselves, which are interpreted differently
by different parties. To deal with such situations there clearly
arises the need for a body of persons, knowledgeable in Islam, to
which questions of interpretation may be referred, when settling
such questions is essential for the health and harmony of the
community. This body must be as independent as possible and must not
be under any kind of influence of the ul al-amr or any other
section of the community.
If differences do not affect the
health and harmony of the community, then the
parties concerned may simply agree to disagree,
co-existing like brothers and leaving it to God to decide, on
the day of judgment, the truth of the matter in which they
differed. This approach would
be yet another way of "referring differences to God..."
It is the obligation of the disputing
parties to refer their differences, when they cannot co-exist with
those differences as a united community, to independent Islamic
judges as mentioned above. However, if the parties fail to thus seek
resolution of their differences or fail to accept the decision of
the independent judges and as a result engage in a fight which
threatens to disrupt the life of the community, then it becomes the
obligation of the entire community to first try to make peace
between the disputing parties on a just basis through arbitration
and if this fails, to fight or pressure in some way the party which
refuses to accept the just solution proposed by the community or by
the independent judges acceptable to the community. The Holy Qur`an
says:
"If two groups among the
believers fall to fighting, make peace between them; but if one
of the groups goes on acting wrongfully against the other, fight
ye (all) against the one that acts wrongfully until it reverts
to the command of God; and if it reverts then make peace between
them with justice and be fair, for, God loves those who are
fair. Believers are but brethren, so make peace among your
brethren (whenever two parties among them are at odds), and
remain conscious of God, so that you may receive mercy."
(49:9-10)
In regards to the above verse it
is important to note that keeping order and harmony in the Muslim
community is ultimately the responsibility of the community, for, it
is to the community of the believers that the above verse addresses
and gives instructions about how to deal with conflicts that
threaten its harmony. Under most circumstances, though not in North
American cities, a Muslim community will have to delegate its
function of maintaining order and harmony to a police force, but
this police force must under all circumstances remain answerable to
the community who is its source of authority. It can in no case
assume an authority independent of the people. In other words,
there is no police state in
Islam.
Fifth Pillar:
The last important principle around which Muslims are expected to
organize their collective life is a process of continuous
correction, reform and improvement through education, public
criticism, etc. Just as a human body comes under continuous attacks
from various injurious germs, viruses, etc. and must continuously
fight them to stay alive and healthy, so also a body of people is
threatened continuously by wrong ideas, attitudes and deeds
originating from its members and must constantly counter these
destructive and disintegrating tendencies for its collective health
and life. The way to this is:
- enjoining what is
right and forbidding what is wrong
- exhorting one another to truth
- invitation to all that is good
- education
The work of
exhorting one another to truth, invitation to khayr (good),
etc. is a collective obligation on the entire community.
It is not limited to men of great learning or
imams. Everyone should do it to his or her capacity. The only
conditions are that one should know what one is talking about, that
one should be sincere and that one should try to practice what one
preaches.
In the last analysis, the work of
correction, reform and improvement through exhortation to truth,
invitation to khayr, etc. reduces to upholding in the
community all the Qur`anic principles and commandments. No
wrong can establish itself in a community where all the
principles and commandments are upheld. A wrong can establish itself
only when some part of the Qur`an is suppressed. In other words,
every established zulm (injustice) in the society is directly
linked to a zulm on a part of the Book of God. It is for this
reason that suppression in any way of any part of the Qur`an is
severely condemned by God:
"Verily, those who suppress or
hide anything of the truth and of the guidance which We have
sent down, after We have made it clear for mankind in the Book,
they will be cursed by God and by all who (are entitled
to) curse." (2:159)
The curse mentioned in the above
verse falls both on those rulers or governments who in one way or
the other hinder men from declaring any part of the message of the
Qur`an as well as on those who let themselves be so hindered. It is
fear of men that usually prevents people from upholding certain
parts of the Qur`an and so Allah ordains that at least men who
control mosques where the Qur`an is learned and taught should be
chosen among those who
"fear none but Allah" (9:18)
In a sense the last pillar of the
Islamic organizational structure, namely, mutual exhortation to
truth, mutual enjoining of right and forbidding of wrong and
upholding of all the Qur`anic principles and commandments is the
most important of all the five pillars outlined above. For if this
principle is practiced, that is, if in a community there are
sufficiently many knowledgeable persons who raise responsible voices
when a wrong begins to establish or when a right thing does not get
established, then not only all the four other principles will be put
into practice but also the organizational structure thus established
will function satisfactorily. On the other hand, if the last
principle is not practiced by a sufficient number of persons in a
community, then either the first four principles will not be applied
at all or else the organizational structure resulting from their
application will function unsatisfactorily and sooner or later
collapse.
Note
(1) Ahl
al-ra'y is some elite class of intellectuals or businessmen or
Islamic scholars, as some interpretations would have us believe,
but, as the obvious meaning of the Arabic term implies, all those
who happen to have an opinion on the matter at hand. |