ONE finds a raging debate about which polity Pakistan should adopt "” secular or religious "“ taking place in the print and electronic media off and on. The exponents of either viewpoint give forceful arguments and precedents from history to support their contentions. But on giving deep thought to this discussion, it becomes evident that there is no clash between the two.
Secularism should not be termed non-religious polity. It only means that in the functioning of the state, religious scholars, clergy or saints should not play any role. Their role is to educate the Ummah and to work for transforming the individuals from illiteracy, ignorance, immorality, extremism, terrorism, conservatism into civilized, enlightened, peace-loving and God fearing human beings. If the Ummah is educated and enlightened, those at the helm of affairs would automatically rise from the same dignified people. Thus, society would progress because of justice, morality and rule of law.
For ascertaining the type of government we should have, we should look towards the Holy Prophet (PBUH) because the Quran says: "Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) (33-21)"
The Holy Prophet was the last and ultimate in the series of the prophets. His main objective, as enunciated by the Holy Quran in an unequivocal terms, is that "it is He who has sent amongst the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves to rehearse to them his signs, to sanctify them and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom" (32:2). The Prophet spent thirteen years in Makkah and then ten years in Madinah after attaining prophethood to preach only spiritual value of Islam. He put in maximum efforts to enforce good and to forbid evil.
All the mandatory "˜Ibadat' i.e. prayers, Hajj & fasting lead to spiritual growth. These are not to be enforced coercively but through love and example. If done otherwise they lose their moral value. "˜Jihad' is also fight against personal evils, selfishness and egoism.
The Holy Quran is full of emphasis on acquiring knowledge. The very first word in the first revelation in the cave of Hira is "˜Read.' The special prayer taught to the Holy Prophet is "O Lord, advance me in knowledge" (20-11-114). The Quran has scores of such phrases as wisdom, knowledge, reflection and understanding. In "Surah Zunar", the Quran says "Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?" (39-9) There are a number of traditions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) which point to the extreme importance of knowledge. One is referring only two of his Ahadith on this topic:
"Acquire knowledge from cradle to grave"
"He who leaves his home in search of knowledge walks in the path of Allah till he returns"
There is no concrete evidence in the Quran or in the Sunnah which leads us to understand that the Prophet (PBUH) ever made conscious effort to acquire political power. He migrated to Yathrib not to found any Islamic state. He went there to protect himself and his Companions from the excessive persecution from Makkans and to spread the word of Allah among receptive Yathribites. The agreement, known as "Meethaq-e-Madinah" signed by different tribes and communities viz. Jews, Muslims and Pagans was not a government document but an arrangement for peaceful and harmonious coexistence among the communities.
According to its terms, all the communities were to enjoy equal rights including full freedom of religion. They were also to jointly work for the protection of Madinah from external foes. They were signified as members of a single community. This was the natural outcome of the Quranic Declaration about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) which says that "O men! I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah" (7-158).
One does not find any Hadith in which the Prophet had declared that he had been sent to establish an Islamic state headed by himself. He was "Rahmat-ul-lil-Alamin", Mercy for the worlds and not the ruler. He did not bring any political system. In Madinah, he did not announce any Islamic state headed by himself. He was the messenger of Allah from the beginning to the end and for the eternity.
The Quran does not specify any political system to be adopted by the faithful. It only recommends mutual consultations on all matters of public interest. This is also the reason why the Prophet did not specifically nominate his successor. After his passing away to the eternal abode, he was succeeded by four of his blessed companions.
They are known as the guided caliphs. Everybody knows that each one of them rose to the high podium through different methods. The first one by consensus, the second one by nomination, the third one by consultation and the fourth one by overwhelming support.
Although these caliphs were pious companions and directly educated and disciplined by the Holy Prophet, dissensions cropped up in the Ummah which led to its fragmentation. It was so because they were supposed to be the heads of the Islamic state enjoying political power although they had designated themselves, as "Amir-ul-Momineen" i.e. the Head of the faithful and not the rulers.
On the contrary, those pious companions who remained aloof from the administration like Hazrat Bilal, Hazrat Abuzar, Hazrat Owais Qarni and thousand others commanded universal respect. History bears testimony to the fact that there continued shedding of the blood in the power struggle in the Muslim Ummah as our philosopher poet Allama Iqbal has depicted in his poems. Islam reached the nook and corner of the world not by swords of the warriors and autocratic rulers but by the "˜Sufis', saints and the non-political ulema and scholars. The latter spoke the language of love and brotherhood. Had the rulers played any part in the propagation of Islam, the whole of the subcontinent or Spain would have embraced this last religion in their hundreds of years' rule.
Pakistan came into being on the basis of the two-nation theory. It was a slogan to unite a piece of land in the subcontinent to protect the Muslims from the oppressive attitude of the majority. It was also intended that the Muslims would be able to observe their religious obligations without any hindrance or fear. This slogan touched the cords of emotions of the Muslims. They whole-heartedly supported the demand without thinking that it would not be established in the province where Muslims are in minority.
However, under the leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam and the banner of the Muslim League, Pakistan emerged on the map of the world. The Quaid-i-Azam at the very outset declared on August 11, 1947, that the raison d'etre of this new country is that there would be no distinction in this free land on the basis of religion, caste or ethnicity. This was absolutely necessary because if a member of the minority community ever thinks that he/she is being looked down upon, his loyalty to the state would weaken at that very moment.
We feel very proud to think that our country is Islamic, our capital is Islamabad and that head of our state is a Muslim. But how far our deeds are Islamic. Islam has been sustained for countries by inner will of the Muslims and their spiritual force. It certainly makes no sense to assert that Islam and political power go together. The ulema and the scholars should stay away from the notion of capturing power. When they make mistakes as human beings, Islam is cursed. The Holy Prophet had once said that the ulema and religious scholars of His Ummah were like prophets of Bani-Israel. They should act in a prophetic manner and strive for the spiritual uplift of the Ummah.
To conclude, one would like to quote from an interview of Sayyid Hussain Khameini, grandson of the late Imam Ayatullah Khomeini in favour of secularism. In this interview published in International Herald Tribune on August 11, 2003, he observed: "If we separate religion from the state, that would be the end of despotism and it would liberate religion as well as human being. The Islamic religion has been hijacked for 14 centuries by heads of the state."
|