http://www.imranhosein.org/articles/37/62-one-ameer-one-jamaah.html
Islam
and Politics
Written
by Ebrahim Ismail
Wednesday,
08 Dhul-Qi'dah 1427
Extracted from the Book -
One Ameer, One Jama'ah by Imran N. Hosein (c) 1997
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, the
Compassionate, the Merciful. And may Peace and Blessings of Allah (SWT) be
bestowed on His unlettered Prophet, Muhammad (SAW), who was sent by Almighty
Allah (SWT) with Al-Huda (the Divine Guidance) and Deen Al-Haq (the way of life
which is established on Divinely Revealed Truth) that it might prevail over the
totality of life, private as well as public, life here as well as life
hereafter.
Its basic function in respect of life in this world is to be a force for liberation of mankind from oppression. And its basic function in respect of life hereafter is to be the means of salvation and fulfillment of the very purpose of life. Allah, Most High, also sent Deen Al-Haq so that it might prevail over all rivals. All these functions of Deen Al-Haq were fulfilled in the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). And after the death of the Prophet (SAW), the noble struggle and mission of ensuring that all the functions of Deen Al-Haq continue to be fulfilled, now devolved upon the Ummah.
Its basic function in respect of life in this world is to be a force for liberation of mankind from oppression. And its basic function in respect of life hereafter is to be the means of salvation and fulfillment of the very purpose of life. Allah, Most High, also sent Deen Al-Haq so that it might prevail over all rivals. All these functions of Deen Al-Haq were fulfilled in the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). And after the death of the Prophet (SAW), the noble struggle and mission of ensuring that all the functions of Deen Al-Haq continue to be fulfilled, now devolved upon the Ummah.
Allah, Most High, emphatically declared to the believers that the
life (i.e., the Sunnah) of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is a perfect concrete model
for them to follow if they are to attain salvation and the fulfillment of the
purpose of life hereafter, and if they are to succeed with their mission in
this life:
Certainly you have in (the life) of the Messenger of Allah a
beautiful model (of conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final
Day (i.e., who looks with hope to Allah and to the Final Day) and who engages
much in the remembrance of Allah
(Al-Ahzab 33:21)
That Prophetic model has two basic dimensions — an
individual/personal dimension and a collective/public one. The first dimension
would be that which relates to the Prophet´s life in his personal and
individual affairs and in his personal relationship with Almighty Allah (SWT)
and the believers, etc., while the second would be that which relates to his
conduct as the head of a community which he established. In order to conform
with the Prophetic model, Muslims must organize their lives in accordance with
both the dimensions of the life of the Prophet (SAW), the individual as well as
the collective. Only those who thus model their lives in accordance with the
Sunnah, individually as well as collectively, can look with hope to Almighty
Allah (SWT) and to the Last Day.
Whatever is authentic as Sunnah is, of necessity, in conformity
with the Qur´an. Hadrat Ayesha (RAA), the mother of the believers, declared of
the Prophet (SAW) that “his natural disposition or nature was an embodiment of
the Qur´an.” The Companions of the Prophet were, of course, assured that
conformity with the Sunnah implied, ipso facto, conformity with the Qur´an.
This was so because the Prophet (SAW) was physically present in their midst.
For us, however, who live in the post-Prophetic period (i.e., when the Prophet
is no longer physically present in our midst), the Qur´an has become the
primary source of guidance, and this is why we have used the above quoted
Qur´anic verse to establish the abiding importance of the Sunnah. And this underscores
the need for the penetration of the Qur´anic guidance so that it may function
as the very foundation and structure of the Muslim society.
Let us look, first of all, at how the Muslims were organized in
their collective lives in the life-time of the Prophet (SAW).
The life of the Prophet (SAW) is divided into two distinct and
separate historical phases. The first may be described as the pre-Hijrah, and
the second the post-Hijrah stage. The basic difference between the two is as
follows: in the post-Hijrah phase, the Prophet (SAW) and the Muslim community
were in control of the territory in which they possessed freedom to submit to
the Supreme Authority of Allah, Most High, in their individual and collective
lives, and to enforce the Commands of Almighty Allah (SWT) upon the public
order. This was called Dar Al-Islam.
During the initial phase after the Hijrah, when the Muslim
community did not have exclusive control over territory, a constitutional
agreement known as the Meethaq of Madinah provided the basis for an initial
“plural” model of Dar Al-Islam. The Meethaq regulated matters between the units
of the State — Muslim and non-Muslim — pertaining to defense, foreign affairs
etc., which were critical to the security of the Muslim community. All parties
to the agreement, Muslim as well as non-Muslim, were supposed to honor their
obligations under the agreement.
At a later phase, however, after the collapse of the Meethaq, and
the emergence of a Muslim community powerful enough to exercise exclusive
control over the territory, that “exclusive” model (in contrast to the pervious
“plural” model) of Dar Al-Islam emerged which was destined to survive until
1924.
The pre-Hijrah stage, of course, was characterized by the lack of
control over territory. And so there was no Dar Al-Islam in the pre-Hijrah
stage.
The basic similarity, on the other hand, between the two stages is
that in both stages the Muslim community was organized by the Prophet (SAW) as
a Jama´ah under the leadership of an Ameer. In other words, in both stages the
sheep were organized as a flock under the direction and control of a shepherd.
And the shepherd tended to the flock in accordance with Divine Guidance. It
was, therefore, a Sunnah for the Muslims to be collectively organized as a
Jama´ah, for the Jama´ah to be led by an Ameer, and for the Ameer to conduct
the affairs of the Jama´ah in accordance with the Qur´an and the Prophetic
example. And obedience of the Ameer was a religious obligation.
It was the pre-Hijrah period that the Prophet (SAW) was taken one
night on a miraculous journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and into the heavens
(called Al-Isra and Al-Mi´raj). During that journey into the heavens a remarkable
event occurred, insofar as the revelation of the Qur´an was concerned. It was
during the Mi´raj that Almighty Allah (SWT) revealed the last two verses of
Surah Al-Baqarah (second chapter of the Qur´an). All the rest of the Qur´an was
revealed to the Prophet (SAW) here on earth. In those two verses (Al-Baqarah 2:285-286)
Allah, Most High, described the believers as a people who:
...all had conviction in
their belief in Allah, and His angels, and His (revealed) Books, and His
Messengers...
The Qur´an then went on to
place on the lips of the believers the following statement:
...we make no distinction
between any of His Messengers. And they (go on to) say: We (are a people who) listen
and obey...
The implication of these two verses being revealed to the Prophet
(SAW) during the Mi´raj, and of the above statement being placed on the lops of
the believers by Allah Himself, is that listening and obeying forms part of the
very essence of the faith of a believer. Additionally, it is through listening and
obeying that the discipline can be established which protects the Jama´ah and
its members from internal and external attacks and guarantees the integrity and
survival of the Jama´ah.
The Kuffaar of Makkah once proposed a compromise formula which
would, if accepted, have restored the unity of Makkan society, but would have
had the effect of dismantling the Jama´ah of Muslims. “If you will worship our
gods, we will worship your God.” That was the formula which they offered. It
was rejected. Almighty Allah (SWT) responded to that formula by sending down
Surah Al-Kafiroon in which he commanded the Prophet (SAW) to declare to the
Kuffaar:
Say: O you who reject faith
(in Islam),
I worship not that which you worship,
nor will you worship that which I worship.
And I will not worship that which you have been wont to worship,
nor will you worship that which I worship.
To you be your way, and to me mine
I worship not that which you worship,
nor will you worship that which I worship.
And I will not worship that which you have been wont to worship,
nor will you worship that which I worship.
To you be your way, and to me mine
(Al-Kafiroon 109:1-6)
Almighty Allah (SWT) thus made it clear that the Jama´ah of
Muslims in pre-Hijrah Makkah had to be preserved, and that the purity of the
Jama´ah should not be diluted or corrupted through the secularization of the
Islamic social order. Had the offer of the Quraiysh been accepted, not only
would the Truth have been compromised, but also the exclusively Muslim Jama´ah
would have been diluted and eventually absorbed into Makkan Jahiliyyah.
The purity of the post-Hijrah Jama´ah was also preserved in
Madinah because the Meethaq regulated matters between the Muslims and the
non-Muslims pertaining to defense, foreign and strategic affairs and this in no
way compromised the integrity of the Jama´ah or its freedom to submit to the
Supreme Authority of Allah (SWT).
And so our conclusion is as
follows:
1.
The organization of the collective body of
Muslims as a Jama´ah under the direction and control of an Ameer/Imam is an
integral part of the perfected model of the Prophet (SAW).
2.
The Ameer is obliged to conduct the affairs of
the Jama´ah in accordance with the Qur´an and Sunnah, and indeed, to apply and
enforce Islam. In this connection we recall the parting words of the Prophet
(SAW): “I leave behind me two things — so long as you hold on to them you will
never go astray the Book of Allah and my Sunnah.”
3.
The Ameer has to be a male Muslim with an
adequate knowledge of the Qur´an and Sunnah. That Jama´ah will cease to be an
authentic Jama´ah which admits of the possibility of a woman being the Ameer.
This is so because of the Qur´anic statement that men are guardians over women
(Al-Nisa 4:35), and also because the Prophet (SAW) established the Sunnah of
appointing only men to all positions of authority over the Jama´ah.
4.
The Ameer has to be someone who is applying that
Divine Revelation and Prophetic model in his own life and in the lives of his
family members.
5.
The Ameer would be called upon on the Last Day
to answer to Almighty Allah (SWT) for his conduct of the affairs of the
Jama´ah.
6.
The members of the Jama´ah have a religious
obligation to obey the Ameer so long as it requires no disobedience to Allah
(SWT) and His Prophet (SAW). “Listening and obeying” is located at the very
substance of the Islamic way of life. Disobedience of the Ameer would
constitute a sin!
Now let us look at the
implications of these findings for Muslims resident in North America and,
indeed, in other parts of the world as well.
To be Continued....
