Allah’s Sovereignty
We are
now
led to
consider the
final fruit of molding our thought and action
according to the teachings
of Qur’an.
It should be, as we have discussed above, the establishment
of Allah’s Sovereignty
and the rule of justice in the world. When such an order is set up, the world becomes free from all sorts of
inequity and oppression. Then the priests and divines cannot install themselves as godheads; the wealthy can no longer keep the circulation of wealth confined among themselves, and there is no possibility
of any kind of coercion and exploitation.
All
become servants of Allah (SWT) and begin to behave towards
one another like brothers. Their rulers consider it their foremost duty to safeguard the rights of the weak
at all cost, and not to
allow the powerful to
tyrannize over them in
any way.
The
establishment of such
a just and equitable order in accordance with the teachings of the Qur’an is the bounden duty of its followers. Its fulfillment is the believers’ collective
responsibility for which they
will be answerable to the Almighty. It is, therefore, time they should clearly understand
this responsibility and
strive hard to discharge it. Perhaps that is why at the end of the discussion in Surah Al-Shura which we
have
reproduced briefly above, there is a mention of the Day
of Judgment in the words: “perhaps the Hour is close at hand.”
It implies the warning that we should not be guilty
of any negligence and delay
in this important matter lest we should be
suddenly overtaken by the final Doom.
This duty
that
we owe to
the
Book of Allah (SWT) will be fulfilled if we actually set up a
system of social equity so that “mankind may stand by justice” and
their rulers “may do justice among them.” It will be seen
that
we have the foundation and structure of this system
in the fundamental principles of our Deen and its code of life
that
have been enunciated
by the Qur’an.
It may well
be
asked as to what practical measures
should be adopted for the fulfillment of this duty. Although
a complete answer to this question is beyond the
scope of this booklet, still a few remarks on this topic will not be out of
place here.
In the first place, let it be understood that the enforcement
of the fundamental principles of Deen in the society and the establishment of a just and equitable order as envisaged by the
Qur’an should not be
conceived on the pattern
of any secularized social, economic, or political movement, nor should we strive for the achievement of this splendid ideal as we do
for the
success of these
movements.
To do so would be fraught with
grave danger and may even be suicidal. We must know that just as there is only one method of bringing about
the transformation
of an
individual as required by
Islam, similarly
there is only
one method of effecting an Islamic Revolution in the society. So far
as the individual is concerned, we should first make the
Qur’an
dominate his heart and mind so
that
his feeling, thinking,
and reasoning may function in consonance with the Qur’anic spirit and his actions may, consequently,
accord with Qur’anic teachings; and likewise for the change in society demanded by Islam, we have first to
illumine the minds and
hearts of its intelligentsia with the light of the Qur’an so that they are
intellectually and spiritually transformed. After the edification of
the intelligentsia who are the brain of the community, the
light of the Qur’an could easily spread to other people who are, so to speak, the limbs of the community
and generally
follow its brain. Thus the heart of the whole community will beat in
unison with the teachings of the Qur’an and the fundamental principles of Allah’s Deen
will come to
operate and prevail in
the
form of a perfect system of collective justice.
There is no other way
of bringing
about this revolution, and
the plea that this goal could be achieved by
launching a political movement by exploiting
the
emotional attachment of a
Muslim people to their hereditary religion
is
absolutely vain, and making such
an attempt would
be like building sand
castles.
Hoping to be excused for this digression, I must repeat that the duty of acting upon the teachings of the Qur’an — which assumes two forms, hukm bima anzalallah16 and Iqamah ma unzila
minallah17 —
is an absolute imperative
upon the Muslims, both individually
and collectively; and, therefore, each
one of us according
to his means and capacity
and the whole Ummah according
to its strength and resources should
earnestly endeavor to discharge this great responsibility.
Note-16: Literally “judging or deciding (every issue) in the light of what Allah
(SWT) has sent down,” the term has been explained in the foregoing discussion.
Note-17: Literally “establishment of what has been sent from Allah,” the true
significance
of the term, which has been explained in the preceding discussion, is the actual enforcement of the fundamental
principles of
Islam and its code of life at the socio-political
level.
Source:The Obligations Muslims owe to The Quran (Book by Dr. Israr Ahmad)
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