Islam: The State or Civilisation?
by Asghar
Ali Engineer
MANY
scholars maintain that Islam and the state are inseparable, thus reducing Islam
to a political ideology. This approach, though in a way, historically dictated,
has caused much power struggle among different groups of Muslims.
The
bloodshed which took place between the Umayyads and the
Abbasids is enough to horrify any religious Muslim, and yet this ideology has
remained rooted in Islamic society for centuries; it has taken another form in
a post-colonial society. In the Islamic world, dictator after dictator has
seized power in the name of Islam and declared the establishment of an Islamic
state, making ‘Islamic’ punishments binding.
They
have imposed medieval jurisprudence uncritically, resulting, among other
things, in serious gender disparity. Countries from various regions of the
Islamic world have suffered from this practice. There are only a few exceptions
to the rule in the Muslim world today. Islam, one must understand, is not
primarily a political ideology but a religion which gave rise to a great civilisation,
and has its own foundational values. Islam basically arose in an urban setting,
and in view of inter-tribal disputes it laid great stress on unity and
brotherhood of all (all believers are brothers and sisters [Q10:49]; the word ‘ikhwatun’
being inclusive of both genders).
Yet,
a lust for power divided Muslims and caused serious enmities. The Quran
stresses non-discriminatory behaviour between
one tribe and another, one ethnic group and another, whereas power struggles
were based on these very divisions. As opposed to that, civilisations
are built on cooperation between all groups, not fighting among them. The other
foundational values of Islamic civilisation are
truth, justice, and compassion.
These
values were actually practised by the
Sufis on the one hand, and ordinary Muslims on the other. The Sufis never
allowed Islam to be reduced to a political ideology and kept away from divisive
politics. As opposed to power, they emphasised love,
another civilisational
value. Great Sufi masters like Muhiyuddin Ibn
Arabi
and Maulana
Rumi
believed in the power of love and persuasion instead of power per se.
A
power struggle brings about what Professor Huntington has theorised
as a ‘clash of civilisations’. The US Right needed
an enemy after the collapse of communism and hence they invented one in the
Islamic civilisation.
The former reformist president of Iran,
Mohammad Khatami,
instead gave a call for a dialogue of civilisations and
proposed at a UN meeting to adopt it as its programme.
As
against power, the Sufis for ages carried on a dialogue with the people of
other religious groups, with Jews, Christians, and Hindus in India.
While kings and sultans grabbed power causing so much bloodshed, the Sufis
followed the Islamic civilisation’s
values and pursued the unity of people – Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Ibn
Arabi
even went to the extent of saying “My Sharia and din is love”.
The
Quran also lays emphasis on pluralism. According to the Quran, Allah could have
created one people but He created diversity and plurality so that He can test
us and it is better to cooperate with each other in good deeds (Q5:48). Thus,
rather than fighting, one should cooperate for good deeds, the basis on which
all civilisations
are built.
Today,
the world again is torn by conflict, especially countries like Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Iraq,
Palestine, and Yemen.
These are the countries where various American interests are at stake, making
brothers kill brothers with bombs and acts of terror. Everyday scores die in
these countries, taking them away from the path of civilisation.
What
Muslims should concentrate on is their fiqh, bringing it
in conformity with the spirit of the Quran rather than basing it on disputed
historical literature. The Quran’s basic emphasis is on justice, especially
gender justice, which in turn is the very basis of a great civilisation.
Muslim societies desperately need gender equality by giving women their due.
The Quran also emphasises the treading of the
middle path, whereas we tend to go towards extremism in religion and politics.
The
Quran has not addressed a single of its verses to kings or rulers but to the
Prophet (PBUH)
and the people in general, and believers in particular. If we establish the
primacy of politics, it is the rulers who have to be responsible for everything
whereas the Quran puts the primary responsibility on all believers who, in
cooperation with other non-Muslim groups, should create a just and
compassionate society. Thus, it demands of the believers to “cooperate with one
another in righteousness and piety and help not one another in sin and
aggression” (Q5:2).
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Centre
for Study of Society and Secularism
E-mail: csss@mtnl.net.in
Website:
www.csss-isla.com
Posted April 1,
2010