بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُؤْتِيَهُ اللّهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُواْ عِبَادًا لِّي مِن دُونِ اللّهِ وَلَـكِن كُونُواْ رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ
مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُؤْتِيَهُ اللّهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُواْ عِبَادًا لِّي مِن دُونِ اللّهِ وَلَـكِن كُونُواْ رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ
It is not conceivable that a human being unto whom God had granted revelation, and sound judgment, and prophethood, should thereafter have said unto people, "Worship me beside God"; but rather [did he exhort them], "Become men of God by spreading the knowledge of the divine writ, and by your own deep study [thereof]."
After this beautiful ayat of the Qur'an, I would like to quote a couple of quatrains from ارمغان حجاز "Armaghan-e-Hejaz" by my beloved thinker and reformer, Allama Iqbal:
مسلمانم غریب هر دیارم
که با این خاکدان کاری ندارم
به این بی طاقتی در پیچ و تابم
که من دیگر به غیر الله دچارم
The Muslims are aliens in every nationکه با این خاکدان کاری ندارم
به این بی طاقتی در پیچ و تابم
که من دیگر به غیر الله دچارم
Ignored and passed over like dirt
I endure this warped state of affairs, powerlessly
Coz who else other than Allah can provide a way out for us
Actually, Allah has already provided a way for us, and it is for us to hold on to it, if we want to end this terrible state of affairs. It is the "rope of Allah", the "Deen" or whatever you call it.
هنوز اندر جهان، آدم غلام است
نظامش خام و کارش ناتمام است
غلام فقر آن گیتی پناهم
که در دینش ملوکیت حرام است
Adam is still enslaved in this world ,نظامش خام و کارش ناتمام است
غلام فقر آن گیتی پناهم
که در دینش ملوکیت حرام است
His systems are defective, and implementation incomplete.
I am a slave of only that master, who sheltered this world,
and who in his Deen, forbade kingship
Iqbal himself alludes to this in the above quatrain, talking about a system in which kingdom/kingship (includes dictatorship etc) are forbidden.
Looking at the self-defeating policies of the "free" world such as the epitome thereof - the United States, at the behest of a privileged few, is saddening. The 99% are neither free, nor liberated. They are enslaved as much as the rest of us, but the difference is that they are deceived into believing that they are not.
It seems clear that Iqbal's foresight showed him that all systems such as democracy in its current form, socialism, etc, while giving illusion of freedom are just different forms of the same kingship, and in reality enslave the Children of Adam at the hands of a select few. His concept is the governance brought forth by the Deen taught by Rasoolullah (salallahu alayhi wasallam). This can further be seen from:
جلال بادشاہی ہو کے جمہوری تماشہ ہو
جدا ہو دیں سیاست سے تو رہ جاتی ہے چنگیزی
Whether it be the grandeur of kingship, or the drama of democracy, جدا ہو دیں سیاست سے تو رہ جاتی ہے چنگیزی
if "Deen" is separated from governance, what remains is barbarianism.
Why it is important to have "deen" in governance? It is undoubtedly the "deen" of Islam that liberated mankind from the shackles of obeisance to all humans (whether kings, priests etc), natural elements, animals or any other kinds of false gods, and elevated mankind to the highest stature that they deserve. A stature wherein we are supposed to bow to none other than the Creator, the Almighty, the Lord, our Beloved God.
I would like to a couple of stories to showcase this:
1. Mugheeth and Bareerah
Bareerah was a female slave and A'isha (radhia Allah anha), upon her request provided her with sufficient money to liberate herself. She was married to Mugheeth while still a slave, and while he still loved her, according to Shariah, now that she was free, it was her choice whether to continue her marriage, or choose a different option.
She said, "Alhamdulillah, I'm tired of this marriage, I'm going to get out." Mugheeth loved her so much, sincerely and honestly that after she left him, he couldn't take it, so he went in public weeping, chasing her, asking her "Ya Bareerah just look at me or talk to me." He went to sahaba and said, "Please talk to her for me (to Abu Bakr and Umar (radhia Allah anhuma) and at the end, even to the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) to ask him to intercede.
So Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) asked Bareerah to continue with her marriage.
Here is where it gets interesting. Just imagine a newly liberated slave, who should be burdened by the kindness of A'isha (radhia Allah anha) and also by the respect for the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam).
However, she understood Islam truly brings freedom. She asked the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) , "Are you commanding me or are you just interceding?" (in other words, is this a command of Allah through the command of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam), or just in his (Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam)) personal capacity.
The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam)said, "I'm interceding."
She replied, "If this is the case, then I don't want him".
And that was that......
This story is a simple example illustrating how the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) brought a "deen" in which people were truly free.
2. 'Umar (radhia Allah anhu) and the Bedouin
Since ‘Umar (radhia Allah anhu) was known to be very strict, the following story will highlight how free the Muslims felt under the rule of Allah's Deen, as administered during his Caliphate.
Why it is important to have "deen" in governance? It is undoubtedly the "deen" of Islam that liberated mankind from the shackles of obeisance to all humans (whether kings, priests etc), natural elements, animals or any other kinds of false gods, and elevated mankind to the highest stature that they deserve. A stature wherein we are supposed to bow to none other than the Creator, the Almighty, the Lord, our Beloved God.
I would like to a couple of stories to showcase this:
1. Mugheeth and Bareerah
Bareerah was a female slave and A'isha (radhia Allah anha), upon her request provided her with sufficient money to liberate herself. She was married to Mugheeth while still a slave, and while he still loved her, according to Shariah, now that she was free, it was her choice whether to continue her marriage, or choose a different option.
She said, "Alhamdulillah, I'm tired of this marriage, I'm going to get out." Mugheeth loved her so much, sincerely and honestly that after she left him, he couldn't take it, so he went in public weeping, chasing her, asking her "Ya Bareerah just look at me or talk to me." He went to sahaba and said, "Please talk to her for me (to Abu Bakr and Umar (radhia Allah anhuma) and at the end, even to the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) to ask him to intercede.
So Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) asked Bareerah to continue with her marriage.
Here is where it gets interesting. Just imagine a newly liberated slave, who should be burdened by the kindness of A'isha (radhia Allah anha) and also by the respect for the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam).
However, she understood Islam truly brings freedom. She asked the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) , "Are you commanding me or are you just interceding?" (in other words, is this a command of Allah through the command of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam), or just in his (Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam)) personal capacity.
The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam)said, "I'm interceding."
She replied, "If this is the case, then I don't want him".
And that was that......
This story is a simple example illustrating how the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) brought a "deen" in which people were truly free.
2. 'Umar (radhia Allah anhu) and the Bedouin
Since ‘Umar (radhia Allah anhu) was known to be very strict, the following story will highlight how free the Muslims felt under the rule of Allah's Deen, as administered during his Caliphate.
Once ‘Umar (radhia Allah anhu) was addressing a congregation and asked the people, “Guide me if you see a fault in me.”
Upon this, a Bedouin Arab replied, “We will guide you with sword if we see a fault in you.”
In order to test him, he said "Do you know who you are talking to?", upon which the Bedouin replied that people knew him as a nobody, just the son of Khattab, but all what he has achieved is by the blessings of Islam. And if he would stray away from the "deen", they would take corrective measures, even if it meant using a sword.
Hearing this, ‘Umar (radhia Allah anhu) thanked God that there were still such people in the ummah that felt free enough to provide checks and balances necessary.
Look at the freedom felt by an ordinary member of the ummah, even during the reign of someone whom people used to be afraid of, before he became Caliph.
Islam came as a "deen" to ensure that Allah's commandments would be Supreme, and people would enjoy justice and true freedom. For that, there is no separation of the Church from the State in Islam. And Islam did not come to be practice in monasteries, mosques or spiritual retreats, but rather it came to spread Allah's justice everywhere on earth. If now we do not ensure that Allah's commandments are implemented by our governments, it means that Adam will remain enslaved. Again, as Iqbal said:
ملا کو جو ہے ہند ميں سجدے کي اجازت
ناداں يہ سمجھتا ہے کہ اسلام ہے آزاد
ناداں يہ سمجھتا ہے کہ اسلام ہے آزاد
To bow and bend, before God, to pray
Makes that naive fellow think
That in India Islam is free.
It would of course be shortsighted to think that these couplets are for the United India at the time of Iqbal alone. But rather, anywhere in the world if Mullahs think that Islam is truly being implemented, because we can pray, they are mistaken. Islam has come to administer, rule and deliver justice:
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ.....
