Political Islam: some reflections:

-By Omer Mukhtar-

          What went wrong with political Islam. Why Islamic politics is no longer working in Muslim land? Does this mean Islam and politics are two different entities in Islam?  Where is the politics that Prophet and his righteous caliphs did? Is it a crime to call Ummah to reform politics? Why Islamic movements that call for political reformation are persecuted very badly in Muslim lands by so called Muslim ruling elites? Why do have different opinions about politics between Islamic groups today. Some are working for the political reform and some are against it? Why is this disparity in understanding politics in Islam? Why Prophet model of politics is not taken as an example to follow by so called Salafi groups? These are some of relevant questions today any discerning student of politics would ask about Islamic political systems today. 

   No doubt politics is an integral part of Islam. If not, Quran would not have asked believers to do consultation in their affairs and Prophet Mohamed would not have been a political, religious, military and juristic leader of Muslim community at once. Muslims believe that Prophet set examples in all aspects of life, His political leadership along with his followers’ gave the speedy spread of Islam from that scorching desert into far corners of Asia, Africa and Europe.  Without a good political leadership, Islam would not have been spread that far so quickly.  It was this political leadership alongside with good military leadership of successive generations strengthened the spread of Islam. Time to time Islamic dynasties came into power in Islamic history and defended Islam in many regions. finally, Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire in India all defended Islam to some extent. Hence no one can deny this close connection with Islam and politics. Of course, Muslim empire came to power with Islam and fought for Islam. Yet, many of them did not strictly follow the path of Islam as we see today. 

        what went wrong in Islamic politics is something we all should need to reflect. After the time of rightly guided Caliphs and Omer ibn Abudul Aziz Muslim politics went into the hands of dictatorial rulers under Umayyad and Abbasid periods. All Muslim rulers inherited family rules from time to time until modern time.  Sometimes unqualified and ineptitude rulers came to power in Muslim politics since early time. This historical mistakes continued and still continuing.  Politics in Islam in most part of Islamic political history is tarnished with blood bath. Islamic political history has its dark sides more than its good sides. You can read more blood bath in Islamic politics from the formative periods of Islamic history till recent time.  This wrong political road map has been followed by many generations.  Today Muslim world cannot get rid of this wrong political precedents. Muslim ruling elites think they are born to rule and rest of population is made to listen without any choice to object or express any political will. 

  At the same time, I do not deny the fact that Non-Muslim nations from dark age to modern time have had many dictatorial and tyrannical ruling systems in western and Eastern civilizations and yet, western nations managed to come out of these dictatorial ruling systems and they reformed politics after many revolutions in Europe. Yet, Islamic world went back to dark age in politics and followed the path of dictatorial and monarchic rulings Systems. Western world has been fooling Muslim world in politics. They know well Muslim rulers are not clever enough to grasp democratic values and traditions.

        Do we blame Islam for this pathetic political situations? Or we do blame our greedy political leaders who want to rule until death? Or do we blame historical political system that Muslim world has inherited from its history? Where does wrongness lie? Do we separate politics from Islam as some Islamic groups do it now? Or do we stand by what Islam say about politics in Islam?

      Prophet engaged in 17 battles? Did he engage in those battles to establish Islam and Muslim community in Medina? Or did he fight in those battles to eradicate Bida and Shirk in Medina and its surrounding?

        Today some people want to separate politics from Islam as demanded by western powers to fool Arab leaders. They have been doing this for many decades? How long Muslim youths can be fooled by these so called dictatorial rulers. Today we have some agents of dictatorial ruling elites who claim that any demonstrations against Muslim rulers is illegal and prohibited in Islam. Even if those Muslim rulers kill thousands of innocents Muslim people, even if those Muslims rulers loot public wealth and money? even if they do all prohibited things in Islam. 

      Today Muslim community has different views about politics in Islam. Some do not care about politics in Islam. Some openly say that politics and Islam are two different entities. There is a separation between politics and Christianity: a separation between church and authority in Christianity is an old story: Today some Islamic groups maintain this position as Christians do. Therefore, any talks of politics are agitated by this Muslim group. 

            Some Muslims think that politics is an integral part of Islam but today we need to obey dictatorial and aggressive Muslim rulers at all cost. They say going against them is not Islamic. Some Muslims know well that today Muslim rulers are bad but for their personal interests they do not speak out against them. 

           Some Muslims strongly   believe that political reformation is a must for Islamic renaissance of Muslims today. They argue that Muslim decline and downfalls are mainly attributed to the ineptitude of Muslim political leaders. so that they say that they should do something to make a change in politics. 

       In this fight for political reformation many Islamic scholars have become victims of dictatorial Muslim politicians. Today Muslims politicians are very good in arts of killings as they have inherited this from political history of Islam. Sheikh Haseena, Al SISI and all other Muslim rulers are not exceptional to this blood thirsty political history of Islam. They do not have any remorse or mercy for killing of their political opponents even if opponents are great Islamic scholars or leaders. This is what we have inherited from political history of Islam. It is high time to challenge and change this attitude of Muslim political leaders. It is time to think about this matter seriously. Islamic scholars and academics around the world should come up with some solid proposals to reform politics. Today political leaders can control all affairs of people. So, today, Muslim political leaders have enslaved Muslim population. Like Mosa who save people of pharaoh we need to have many Islamic reformists to save Muslim population from the hands of dictators and monarchic rulers. Otherwise, Islamic world will have to pay a big price.