bit.ly/_isx
{ وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ }
{And when it is said to them, "Do not cause corruption on the earth," they say, "We are but reformers."} Sura 2-11
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"The Islamic caliphate is promoted by its advocates on the basis that it was an ideal system of Islamic government in the past that can be equally suitable and successful for the present and future. The fact is that this form of rule is completely unsuitable for use anymore, let alone it is impossible to implement. But the history of the Islamic caliphate also shows that it was far from the image it is given not only by its supporters today but also in the minds of other Muslims who have not studied history carefully."[13]
The Islamic Caliphate Between Past Myths and Present Delusions Louay Fatoohi
”Islam is a state of heart and mind, not a political state.”
Seekers and supporters of the Islamic state often believe that Islam can be fully practiced only under an Islamic political system. The more extreme devotees think that an Islamic state is so critical to Islam that establishing one is a major, if not the most important, duty of the Muslim. They almost equate it to Islam itself, seeing what is practiced by and in an Islamic state as a true representation of Islam.
Yet Islam is first, foremost, and ultimately about the relationship between the individual and Allah. The servant can get near to their Lord regardless of the political environment in which they live… [12]
Mistaking Islam for a State: Misunderstanding Religion and Revering False History Louay Fatoohi
For many, nationalism الوطنية is a type of idolatry الوثنية, even when God is invoked occasionally in their discourse.
I don’t care much for the term. To me, there’s only al-Islam, but of course certain issues have to be dealt with particular to العرف and العادة here.
The State/nation becomes an intermediary or intercessor between them and God. It’s like the verse هؤلاء شفعائنا عند الله .
Nationalism is a form of induced bigotry, where you look at and treat people differently for living outside of imaginary lines (borders). It confuses government with religion. For many, government becomes saviour/protector/provider.
Nothing wrong with loving a place you were born or lived in, but loving your government makes you blind to reality.[11]
We shared the view that a genuine Islam can flourish only in a state where social justice and the rule of law are offered to its inhabitants. If this is not the case, the country has lost the right to call itself Islamic.
Mourad Kusserow, Muhammad Salim Abdullah
The power of self-organisation, where every element of the organism knows where to fit, and does what is needed for the whole, this is the idea. Inspired by the wisdom of the prophets, in our times by the wisdom of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him!).
The organisation of the members of society has to be formed continuously between the poles of self-organisation on the one hand and spiritual leadership by the khalifah or leader on the other hand, it is a dynamically give-and-take learning - acting process grounded on the age-proven wisdom of mankind as laid down in the relevant scriptures, as well as upon the historical experience of contemporary societies.
Only this operational perspective will grant success in this life and the next.
In order to review the historical roots of takfiri extremism, one has to understand the influences into the thinking of the 'founder' of modern Islamism: the Egyptian Sayyid Qutb, Nasser's contemporary.
The article ”Sayyid Qutb Brought Leninism To Contemporary Takfiri and Jihadi Groups” will shed some light on the beginnings of ’Islamism.’
Quote: ”Radical and revolutionary Islam, which emerged as reactions to colonialism, were inspired more by socialist values than by liberal democratic values [ and certainly not even inspired by the values of traditional Islam ], and they formulated their principles in line with this outlook.”[9]
”Tunisia's Ennahdha leaves dreams of Islamic utopian society behind.
The Tunisian Islamist Ennahdha party has decided ”to separate its religious activities from its political operations.”
”Rached Ghannouchi, an intellectual who once advocated a strict application of Islamic law, said on Thursday that there was no room left in post-Arab Spring Tunisia for ’political Islam’.
”The question to ask is: to what extent can Ennahdha transition and politically move away from its traditional rhetoric filled with utopian socialism and hopes of establishing an Islamic state on top of the ruins of the existing state?"[8]
Sami Zubaida argues (in ’Islamic Reformation?’ 5 January 2016) ”that Islam has undergone many reformations, in radically different directions: Wahhabism[7], much like Protestant reforms, urged a return to the scriptures and prophetic traditions and a rejection of ‘corrupt’ and heretical practices of saint worship and visitation of tombs, Sufi mysticism and ceremonies, and sectarian doctrines, principally Shi`ism. In contrast, a modernist and rationalist reformation was a powerful strand in public life, politics and culture from the nineteenth and throughout the twentieth centuries, in the Ottoman, Arab and Iranian worlds. These different kinds of ‘reform’ were institutionalised in various ways, recounted below. Liberal/ modernist reforms are now available in public space, but not attractive to most religious Muslims because they do not fit in with their social and psychological needs and outlooks.”[2]
The criterium (or furqān) for Muslims would be to what extent society and its institutions can accommodate or at least tolerate Traditional values or a spiritual outlook (Islam) for the people.
Sharia should not be 'imposed' from above but be the ”true expression of the free will of the community,” for ”Sharia is truly observed only when people do so voluntarily and sincerely.” [5]
A closer look reveals the illusory nature of this apparent advantage (of Muslim independence and being governed by themselves, not by others).[4]
”He argued that the Caliphate or any form of religious government was not required by the canonical sources, and that the historical Caliphate was largely worldly rule by dynasties which asserted religious legitimacy.
Muhammad ﷺ was a prophet and not a politician, he argued, and Muslims can choose what system of government and law would suit them. Abdul-Raziq was a licensed ‘alim’, a graduate from Al-Azhar (and Oxford University) and a Qadi, a religious judge.”[1]
“The caliphate is not a matter of theology; rather, it is a matter of law subject to legal stipulations, and it is one possible means among others that could be replaced today by other means in order to achieve unity between nations so that they may cooperate and complement one another.
Actually, for many centuries, some Muslim lands were independent of the caliphate and were still able to uphold the religion, safeguard the law and sacred sites, and ensure peace and security. This is still the case.
Our religion teaches us that our understandings stem from meanings, not words and forms. Consequently, there is no religious duty to pursue the establishment of a caliphate by force—even if we assume it is possible to do so.”[3]
As for the re-establishment of Khilafa it is not feasible in the present conditions because it requires factors which are beyond the Umma to muster in its present state. Our haphazard, undisciplined, and mutually aggressive behavior on this forum [s.r.i. internet forum?!] confirms it.
We are so alienated from the sources that we cannot even recognize that Khilafa comes from the top down of the Umma, not from the grassroots. It is not a populist movement as the Khilafa movements clamor, but they will never admit it because it saps their ideological underpinnings and stuns their worldly designs.
Read what Hujjat al-Islam Imam al-Ghazali had to say…
"In any case, what Westerners call civilization, the others would call barbarity, because it is precisely lacking in the essential, that is to say, a principle of a higher order."
René Guénon, East And West, 1924
صلّى الله على سيّدنا محمّد و على آله و صحبه و سلّم
The blessings and peace of Allah on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions, ( sallAllahu `aleihi wa sallam ) .
Related texts
- Islamic State? The Illusions Of Fundamentalism; Charles-André Gillis
- Some Texts
On Daesh (not ’IS/ ISIS’)
- Erroneous Methodology
Leading To Dangerous Conclusions: Salafism And Salafi / ”Wahhabi” Related Texts;
Footnotes
1: ”A notable episode in these contentions (concerning the modernist reforms of the 1st half of the 20th century AC.) was around a book, Islam and the Principles of Governance (1925) by one of the foremost advocates of reform, Ali Abdul-Raziq (1888-1966). It was, in part, a response to the call for an Arab Caliphate, after Ataturk abolished the Ottoman Caliphate.
- His book raised a storm, with denunciation by the leading ulama (stimulated in part by the ambitions of the then King Fuad to be chosen as the Arab Caliph). He was stripped of his Azhar license and his judgeship, but received wide support from public figures, intellectuals and politicians, and went on to become a government minister. His arguments continue to be advanced by secular and liberal Muslims.” ↩
2: www.opendemocracy.net → Islamic Reformation? Sami Zubaida ↩
3: This is Not the Path to Paradise Response to ISIS, The Islamic caliphate; Abdallah bin Bayyah, President, Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies September 14, 2014 ↩
4: ’illusory nature’ Charles-André Gillis, L'intégrité Islamique ↩
5: Who needs An Islamic State; by Abdelwahab El-Affendi↩
6: First of all the Islamic state has to be built in the soul of every believer, who (with a spiritual heart - qalb ) will rule his inner self and his limbs according to the noble principles of Islam, for the pleasure of Allah (swt) only, always following the Messenger of Allah, ( sallAllahu `aleihi wa sallam ).
Secondly the so-called ’Islamic State’ of 2014 is neither Islamic - except that they use the words and symbols of Islam, nor a state or kalifate as they go against every major principle of the Islamic tradition.
(Sidi Fahruddin Oweisi)
↩
What Muslims don't want, what they don't need and what they hate:
We believe in the rule of law, not in the law of the street, i.e. lawless militancy, which is criminality.
see: Some Texts On Daesh (not ’IS/ ISIS’)
7: ↩ ”The name Salaf has been usurped by a movement which seeks to impose its own narrow interpretation of Religion towards a re-fashioning of the teachings of Islam.” On the deviation of ’Wahhabism’ see:
Salafi / ”Wahabi” Related Texts
8: ↩ ”Ennahdha has realised the importance of transitioning into a party that operates within the provisions of the constitution and makes allegiances based on political interests," wrote Samir Hamdi.
”Ennahdha's current political vision has overshadowed many of the concepts it was founded on; such as an Islamic state, fighting back Westernisation and the Islamisation of society. Now its top priorities are providing real and effective solutions to the issues facing the country," says Hamdi.
”Its rhetoric towards other parties has also developed and is no longer based on the principle of ideological rivalry, being replaced by cooperation and alliance - as is required in politics - if it wants to look after its best interests. [more: alaraby.co.uk/english]
9: Another quote: ”The two key concepts these thinkers borrowed from Leninism were the "state" and "revolution". It was in their view, the state that symolized social justice, social unity, and the struggle against the West. Such a state could only be established through revolution, this being under the leadership of a pioneering group.”↩
Sayyid Qutb Brought Leninism To Contemporary Takfiri and Jihadi Groups; unknown author.
11: by @DawudWalid, @meligyh ca. 2018-04-20 ↩
12: Muslims who join ISIS or go to live in territories it controls often feel that this would further strengthen their faith. Unfortunately for them, that could never happen. While the relationship with Allah can be affected by the kind of company one keeps, living under Islamic law or not does not affect that relationship in any way. The Qur'an repeatedly says that one's relationship with Allah is strengthened by faith and good works, including worship, in particular "dhikr (remembrance)” of Allah, as in this verse: "Remember Me and I will remember you” (2.152). There isn't the slightest hint that living in an Islamic state has anything to do with one's nearness to Allah. Seeking better practice of Islam and a closer relationship with Allah by looking for an Islamic state is nothing but a misunderstanding of Islam. Islam is a state of heart and mind, not a political state. ↩
13: The Islamic caliphate is one of those concepts that have suffered from what I call the "purist” approach to understanding and presenting Islamic history. When used with any aspect of this history, this approach unfailingly produces a narrative that is extraordinarily tidy and untroubling but at the same time largely unhistorical. This applies to things such as Islamic law, the Prophet's Hadith, Islam's political history, and so on. The caliphate is another victim of such a naïve and uncritical view of the history of Islam. The purist approach is the outcome of conflating Islam and Muslims. The Islamic caliphate is a Muslims' invention not a genuine Islamic concept. ↩
