hmmm... what has stopped the right people from taking on the role of pious leaders... I dont know if you read all my posts on this forum... I ve talked briefly about a scholar who took up the idea of Caliphate way back in the 50s... the poor man ended up being tortured by Saddam Hussain's henchmen and because of that torture ultimately died... Today speaking the word Caliphate could actually get you into prison in such countries like Syria and Egypt as well as Jordan and Turkey... In Uzbekistan Muslims have been tortured to death on mere suspicion of advocating the idea of an Islamic State... So what has prevented sincere and enlightened (because sincerity although very important is not enough) Muslims to come into power... the answer is obviously the current regimes and systems that are in place in the Muslim world...
Could you please disclose the name of this scholar who was tortured by Hussein for discussing Khilafat. As for these anti Khilataft laws that you mention, can you please provide me with a reference pertaining to these facts.
The impact would be obvious... chor, dakoo, corrupt leaders (both secular and those who cheat in the name of Islam) would become a thing of the past because their punishment would be swift and public... an education system would be brought in which would create a generation of enlightened Muslims, those who are firmly rooted in the thoughts and ideas that Islam gives us but also whose focus would be the advancement of society using science and technology... One cannot discuss a system without discussing other related aspects... The social impact would be influenced by the economic revival... when people dont have to worry constantly about their next meal, have decent clothes and a roof above their heads, then they can think big ideas and actually become inventors, professionals of the highest class, artists that explore new realms of depicting Allah's amazingly beautiful creation and life... People will also be encouraged to get married early...
So who is going to implement this system and if it were such a gold mine of progression, why has it been held back. After all the Islamic empire of the early Islamic times benefitted the elite with the progress that was occurring, some of the Sahibas become some of the richest men on the planet.
If it were this easy, then the system would have been implemented, but the will and ability is extinct in mainstream Muslims. That is a matter of fact, now lets review the above mentioned impacts, they are a list of advantages being jotted down without any explanation of dynamics behind them.
How will they be implemented and what would be the initial phase, the cross over if you like.
When people see justice happening across the board, regardless of how much money someone has... when even the son of Caliph or the Caliph himself is not held above the law and be dragged to court for any matter by anyone... such a society will surely encourage the good that is within all people... It shall be a polished society... inshaAllah
Well in the west, everyone is held equal and even the top most people from all walks of life have been punished for their crimes. The closest thing to what you mention has only happened in western nations.
Even today TFaz... our people in general are mostly law abiding, try to stay out of trouble, greet each other with Salam, maintain healthy familes and relationships, women are respected by many men, we do not drink alcohol, we generally have gender segregation, this aspect of our society is straight out of Islam... we seldom think about these things...
That they do but the confusion emanating from the religion and social confusions renders them ineffective and thus the nation is unsuccessful. Had there been a clear conscious decision to follow a certain path, this nation would have been a great one, sadly the confusion hinders its progress.
I ll take the second point... The issue of "scholars"... That is a very genuine and troubling matter... One that I m also aware of and because of my experience I know that what you are saying is true... There is a saying also that I m trying to remember at that top of my head which goes something like near the end times knowledge of Islam shall be taken away... The way I solved this matter was to sit and listen to as many "scholars" that I could do so... I have heard the most stupid of lectures as well as the most enlightening ones... I also investigated many issues myself... This I could do because I have had access to a huge range of books in my personal library so was able to detect fact from fiction by cross referencing ideas that were delivered during such speeches... The issue of Caliphate interestingly became clear when I was not even investigating it... I think the best I can say to you is that once you start focussing on a certain matter, then you start posing questions around the issue until the concept becomes crystal clear in your mind i.e you understand the issue from as many angles as possible... The person worth becoming a mentor is one who can answer your questions till you are satisfied...
Like you said, that with such differing thoughts and interpretations, the bond to establish a workable system is impossible. You probably know that the scholars have all got their own ideas about Islam even when they belong to a similar sect. These people then have followers and thus cannot be brought together under one roof to make a constitution that is equal and satisfactory to all.
1. Martyrdom of Syedna Omar RA... A persian slave once asked Omar that he should tell his master not to charge him so much money on a daily basis from the amount he gets for his work... So syedna Omar asked the slave what was it that he did and how much did his master ask of him on a daily basis... The slave said that he did etching work on shields (making patterns on metal shields) and his master charges him two dirham every day... So Omar realized that the master was not charging a huge amount and he refused to speak to the master on behalf of the persian slave... This was the slave who then martyred Hazrat Omar RA... If history is a lesson... Yes some sort of basic protection should be there for our leader... Body Guards on duty...
2. Martyrdom of Syedna Uthman RA... Some people started accusing Usman of nepotism... What Usman RA did was that he stood in the mosque and explained all the accusations against him to the people... The main accusation against him was that Usman RA had given a lot of gifts to some of his relatives... Usman RA answered that saying that he gave them gifts NOT out of state property or Bait Ul Maal rather it was his OWN property that he gifted to his relatives... amongst the group that was active against Usman, there were a few evil people who wanted to create a rebellion so that Muslim Unity would suffer... Hypocrites have remained amongst Muslims since the time of our master Muhammad saw... So these people kept on causing trouble and demanding Usman to resign... the problem is that they never took Usman RA to court as they had no case... and they martyred Usman RA... Interestingly Body Guards were assigned for Usman RA at one point...
3. Fight between Ali RA and Ameer Mawviyah... Ali RA said that the people who killed Usman RA can only be brought to justice once we sort out the GREATER issue of assigning a Caliph... Mawviyah made the issue into a family dispute and created a hassle... He had gained wide support because he had remained the governor of Syria for a long long time under the tenure of Usman RA... Historians like Ibn Khuldoon have mentioned that both Ali RA and Mawviyah were not at fault... but I think Ali RA said the right thing that there should be a chosen Ameer for Muslims before a legal proceeding could take place for the crime that had happened... the two groups fought and Ali RA group became victorious... Mawviyah went back to Syria and a lot of the fitnah makers escaped... He later hunted some of them down when he himself became the Caliph after the short Caliphate of Imam Hassan RA...
3. The Khwarij... During the time of Ali RA as Caliph the issue of Khwarij emerged and these were people who believed that a Muslim becomes a non Muslim if he commits a big sin which is incorrect because as long as a person believes a sin to be a sin according to Islam, he remains a Muslim regardless of his personal character... Two thousand of the Khwarij left this deviant idea after dialogue with one of the Sahabi RA...
This issue of problems in the correct understanding keeps coming up in the minds of Muslims and the simplest solution is that if people are genuinely interested in the truth, then discuss the issues as much as possible until a clear picture forms in the minds of people... if it can work for the Khwarij of old times, it can work for a lot of our current misconceptions... however the advice and discussion has to come from the government like it was the case during the Imamate of Ali RA... i.e People will pay me greater attention if I am part of the government speaking on all channels on television and radio instead of being a poor ol member of Pakistan Defence forum!!!
4. The event of Karbala and Imam Hussain RA martyrdom... Heres a good article about this...
Lessons from the tragedy of Karbala
I know all this and my point exactly, the mentioned events caused friction within Muslims, leaving the path open to a debacle that was irreversible. If these events caused such a bitter split that still causes great problems today, imagine the tense situation in those times and thus your idea of a perfect worldly state is ineffective. Nothing in this world is perfect, it all falls apart and you know why, because its all a test from Allah to judge you for the real life, the one in the here after. This is the purpose of life, you cannot achieve perfection, only strive for the betterment and stand by the many difficulties that one would face.
With your proposal, it might all go horribly wrong and as it is based on scripture rather than experience, it can cause great amount of suffering. This is why we should develop our existing system and help the people, after all its not a sin to help and better the situation of beings through a proven system.
In short... Let us focus on not repeating history... Let us learn from History... facts are facts... no one can deny that Imam Hussain was martyred... and we should be clear in our minds for why he accepted martyrdom... because he stood up for the right of people to choose their leader instead of the hereditary system that Mawviyah imposed on Muslims... but we cannot now say that because something like that happened in those times so we should not have the Caliphate... Such things did not happen because of the Caliphate!!! It happened because the ideals that Islam and Caliphate sets for people were neglected... not the other way around..
Well we should learn from our history and seems to me that you do not want to answer the invalidities that occurred then. The fact of the matter is that things can go wrong anytime and anyplace, thus we have to concentrate only on the personal element of religion, not a worldly element that would only fall apart.
You are right about why we operate our economy in such a manner at present... but it wont work for another reason also... Capitalism is a man made system... it cannot even come close to a system that is made by God Almighty!!! The best that Capitalism delivers is still a FAIL in my view... People are not happy in Capitalist societies... Alhumdulilah people have become Muslim at my hand because they were looking for something better than what their system was offering them... Capitalism by its nature of creating a compromise between religion and the world affairs has resulted in a lot of confusion in the mind of people... Greed and Selfishness are hallmarks of such a society... we by our very basic mindset of having mercy and compassion for our fellow beings can never fully adopt such concepts...
Many Muslims accept this system with open arms and shun the one that they thought was the Islamic one. More people under the so called 'Islamic' system are unhappy then the one in the west, more Muslims would run to a capitalist country then stay back in a myopic state like ours.
Well let us not speculate... The group that I have worked with (even though I ve never been a member) state this very clearly that all their ideas are open for discussion... If someone can prove to me that a certain idea I have adopted is incorrect from the point of view of Shariah then I would most certainly change my idea to the correct one... As for the groups that think these rules are Islamic... Bhai what can I say to you... In Saudi Arabia they adopted a monarchy where the King is the very source of law and above the law... where do they find such a thing in Islam, I have no idea... I have read on the contrary that on the last day Allah swt will hold the earth in His hand like a child holds a ball in his hand and say repeatedly "I am the King of the judgement day, where are the Kings of the world today?" It is said that Hazrat Muhammad saw fell down with fear when he delievered this during a speech!!!
If they are open then it must mean that their own conviction about the said idea is not clear, once it is final, only then you can progress onto the next step and gain publicity for the idea(s). Saud is more of an Anti Islam project, more than anything, that is the source of all ill in Muslim societies and one that has to be dealt with.
Similarly... The Taliban banned education for women... which Islam teaches us to do that?
According to a significant amount of Muslims, the Taliban is the only true Islamic emirate.
My point is that to call something Islamic it has to come from an Islamic source of legislation... Self concocted ideas or those who have been agreed by a majority does not form the basis of Islam...
Everyone has their own idea, who is right then.
Of course the idea is for all Muslims to unite... It will not happen overnight and the plan as far as I m aware is to start in a few countries initially and spread to the rest after the state starts functioning... The common man did not understand communism when Lenin and his group took power in Tsar's Russia...
Well Tsar's plan fell apart in a very short span of time and the nation is still reeling from the odd system that was running in the nation.
Its a mix of both... One cannot have a state based in the mercy of Prophethood under a leader whose sole purpose is worldly gain!!! (although there is nothing wrong with rightful and Halal worldly gain either)
Spirituality is better than worldly gain in every possible way and this is why it should be the main goal of Muslims, not an idea or concept that can create even more problems for the Muslims. An Ummah can be a spiritual idea too where people are connected because of their similar belief over different nations but not as a single unit that is finite.
Emotion is what... Jazbat is nt it? So it is not necassarily a bad thing... it just has to be mixed with thoughts (education as you put it)... after all when someone gives their life for defending their land (lets say a Pakistani soldier)... he may not be highly educated... but it is his Jazba that drives him to do the right thing at the end of the day (because we have not mixed Jazba with Education/Thought the whole Jazba ends up driving us down)
Jazbat is irrelevant if it does not have a proper thought process behind it. After all that Pak soldier would be useless if the idea of Pakistan was not conceived through thought. Everything requires a logical though process to make it work and this is why it comes first.
Thats unfair!!! You assume that the PA officers could not possibly understand what is good for their country... Never judge something before analyzing it completely...
Its not their job, they have caused more ham than good to our nation.
Thanks for the documents, I will read them when I have the time.