RE-BUILDING AN ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Asad Zaman

CONTENTS
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1

2. Evolution Versus Revolution.................................................................................................... 2

3. The Ideal Islamic System ......................................................................................................... 5

4. The Third Way ......................................................................................................................... 6

5. Need for Fresh Thinking in Secular Domains........................................................................... 9

6. Recreating the Ummah.......................................................................................................... 11

6.1 Distinctive Islamic Methodology for Decision Making .................................................... 12

6.3 The Institutional Structure .............................................................................................. 13

7. Institutions for Justice ........................................................................................................... 15

8. Concluding Remarks .............................................................................................................. 17

1. INTRODUCTION
Prophecy contained in Hadeeth: Islam came as a stranger, and will again become a stranger.

The society that came into existence following the spread of Islam had no resemblance to the
pre-Islamic Arab society (Jahiliyya), nor any to the Persian and Roman societies which came
under Islamic rule. During the Jahiliyya, the Arabian people had savage and barbaric customs
including burying their own daughters alive, and killing each other for trivial matters. The most
significant event in human history is the transformation of these people into paradigms of
civilized behavior – the Quran praises them as those who feed others while they themselves are
hungry. This miraculous effect of the training of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, the embodiment
of God’s mercy to all the worlds, is desperately needed as the current times bear a close
resemblance to the Jahiliyya. Counterparts to all evils of the Jahilliya, often exceeding the
savagery and barbarism of the ancient Arabs, can easily be found in the modern world1.

Islam has become a stranger in that modern Muslim societies have no similarity to the ideal
society depicted in Islamic teachings and created and demonstrated as a living reality by the

1
This includes the burying of living children. In context of the confession by Susan Smith that she put her
two children in a car and drowned them in John D Long Lake circa 1996, it was reported that more than a
1000 similar cases occur every year – see, for example, “Mothers who kill their children.”
Prophet SAW and his followers. In all domains of life, the dominant models are those derived
from the West. All over the Muslims world, the vast majority of political systems, judicial
systems, social welfare systems, educational systems, economic systems and patterns of culture
reflect to varying degrees the influence of the colonial era, during which the West ruled over
more than 90% of the Muslims. Even purely Islamic institution like the Madrassahs, the Masajid
and the Awqaf, which formed the core institutions of Islamic societies, are but pale shadows of
their original Islamic forms.

The first step to a revival and rebuilding of the Islamic forms is to strengthen the faith of the
Muslims, and to create a desire for Islam in the hearts of the people. Without this critical step,
no effort can succeed. Syed Ahmad Shaheed was heartbroken when his lieutenants appointed
to enforce the Shari’ah in the Muslim areas under his control were killed by Muslims who were
more attached to their local culture than to Islam. Similar efforts to re-establish Islamic ways all
over the Islamic world have floundered because of the lack of preparation of the ground:
Muslims resist these efforts and Allah T’aala withdraws his help due to the conflict among
Muslims. It is the grace and mercy of Allah T’aala that He has inspired the movement of
Tableegh and made it grow to be by far the largest and most universal movement for the revival
of the faith in the Ummah. He has made it the cause of the strengthening of faith, which has led
to widespread awareness that as Muslims we are living in very un-Islamic ways. The desire to
replace the ways of West with pure Islamic ways has led to many efforts by many people and
groups in many different departments of life. Unfortunately, successful efforts have been few
and limited, while failures have been many. Our goal in this article is to analyze the causes of
failure and to suggest new methods which may lead to more success in the struggle to re-
establish Islamic ways.

2. EVOLUTION VERSUS REVOLUTION

There are two main lines of thought among Muslims regarding methods to be used to move
from our current state to the ideal Islamic forms. For convenience, we may label these as the
“evolutionary” and the “revolutionary” approach. We will describe the form of these efforts and
explain briefly why we do not expect that either of the two will succeed. Then we will describe a
third way, from which we hope that the desired outcomes may emerge.

The evolutionary approach is to start with existing social, political and financial structures, and
modify them gradually, in a step-by-step way, to bring them into conformity with Islam. The
revolutionaries propose to tear down the existing structures completely, and build a new Islamic
system from the foundations. Perhaps paradoxically, both groups have sound and strong
arguments in their favor and against the other group. We discuss this in greater detail below.

There are many arguments in favor of the evolutionary approach. It is practical and immediate.
We do not have to wait for, or organize for, the difficult and uncertain struggle required by a
revolution. It is certain that a struggle for power will be opposed, and violence, death, and
disruption will result. Especially within Islamic societies, revolutions will pit Muslims against
Muslims, and this is extremely repugnant to Islamic principles. Many fuqaha have preferred
peace under less than ideal circumstances to putting Muslim lives at risk in an internecine
conflict. Instead, we work to transform institutions gradually and peacefully, through
cooperation and mutual understanding and tolerance for dissenting points of view. This
corresponds to the understanding of Islam as a middle way {Aitdal, which avoids extremism),
and as a religion of peace.

Despite the strengths of the evolutionary argument, I find the revolutionary counter-arguments
to be persuasive and justified. The existing Western systems are not, despite appearances,
ethically neutral. A common confusion among evolutionaries is to mistake ethically neutral
Western inventions like the car, telephone, computers etc. with Western social institutions like
banks, legal and political systems, insurance, social security etc. The evolutionaries argue that
just like Islam does not prevent us from benefiting from Western technology, it places no
obstacles to our adoption of Western institutions, suitably modified by removing and replacing
un-Islamic elements.

To oppose this idea, it is necessary to understand the historical background in which current
Western institutions evolved. Briefly, as Europeans moved away from the religious values of
Christianity, they attempted to construct a heaven on Earth, to replace the Paradise they had
lost. This required many radical changes in their ways of thinking. Just one illustration is the
transition from the Biblical idea that “the love of money is the root of all evil” to Bernard Shaw
who said that “the lack of money is the root of all evil.” It was only when greed, avarice and the
pursuit of wealth went from being evil and socially disapproved to desirable and virtuous that it
became possible for modern financial institutions to come into existence. Banks promote the
pursuit of wealth by the society as a whole, encourage the wealthy to multiply their wealth
instead of spending on socially worthwhile causes, and generally promote the pursuit of luxury
and indifference to the troubles of others. This was recognized and deplored by Christians (who
lost this and many other battles) during the process of the European transition from their older
systems to modern ones. The principles of self-interest and competition that underlie Western
financial systems are inimical to the development of cooperation and community harmony; see
Nelson (1969) The Idea of Usury: From Universal Brotherhood to Universal Otherhood for a
historical study of the European experience. All of these ideas which lie at the heart of banking
are in opposition to Islam. While interest is helpful in promoting the prized Western values of
competition and greed, Western financial experts who have examined the issue in detail state
correctly that banks can function on the basis of Islamic principles of profit sharing without
difficulty. That is, just banning interest and replacing it by Musharka will not change the spirit,
nature and functionality of Western banking.

Sixteenth century European society was based on Christianity and promoted cooperation,
sacrifice of individual pleasure for the social good, and emphasized the afterlife over the
pleasures of this world. The transition to secular thought led to the idea that each individual
should be free to pursue his own heaven on Earth, in whatever manner suits him best, without
regard for others. Social, financial, political, judicial and educational institutions designed to help
people achieve these goals came into existence. These institutions form an interlinked system
which cooperate and sustain each other to help a secular society pursue secular goals. This
system cannot be modified in a gradual way to make it an Islamic system. To understand this,
consider a simplified example. Suppose we were to say that since interest is banned, and Banks
are based on interest, let us just ban Banks. Since banks form an integral part of the Western
system, the whole system would collapse upon removal of a key component. Recognizing this
led some Ulema to attempt to create a “substitute”. There is a lot of flexibility in the Western
system. By altering the shape of some of the transactions, the bank can be re-shaped into an
Islamic form, but the spirit of greed, pursuit of wealth, and indifference to others cannot be be
taken out. If somehow we were to succeed in changing the spirit of the banking system, this
would be equivalent to actually destroying the utility of the bank to the Western system. A
genuinely Islamic bank would not be able to cooperate with the other elements of the Western
systems and the system would collapse exactly as it would if banking itself were banned.

Banking has been taken just as an illustration; the same difficulty arises in nearly all fields. As a
second example, consider reforming and Islamizing political institutions. Western political
institutions are all designed around the fundamental idea of the nation-state. This idea of the
nation state is in direct conflict with the idea of the Ummah.

When we accept the idea of working within the framework of the nation-state, we abandon the
concept of the Ummah, and no amount of gradual change can fix this problem. It is a Western
assertion that their institutions are ethically neutral and universally beneficial. They believe that
they have achieved the most advanced civilization and that all others must follow them.
Muslims who accept this falsehood see no harm in adopting these institutions, after patching up
the un-Islamic elements. In fact, as we have argued, foundations of these Western institutions
are based on secular ideas and in opposition to Islamic ideas. Furthermore these are mutually
supporting, interlinked in complex ways, and designed to achieve goals which are in opposition
to Islamic values. It appears virtually impossible to modify this system to achieve goals in direct
opposition to those for these institutions have been designed.

On the basis of this argument, it would seem that we have no choice but to implement a
revolutionary approach. We must tear down the entire Western system, and rebuild an
Islamic system from the ground up. Nonetheless, there are serious difficulties with a
revolutionary approach as well. The most important difficulty, which will be discussed in
greater detail in the next section, is that we do not have functional models for a genuine
Islamic system. It is not enough say that we must implement the Quran and Sunnah –
concrete details of how this is to be done need to be spelled out. For reasons to be clarified,
no one has a clear idea of how this can be done. This can be illustrated by the experience of
Afghanistan and Iran, both of whom succeeded in creating an Islamic revolution. A critic of
the Islamic system, Sohrab Behdad (1994) writes about Iran that

Similar to other utopias, the Islamic ideal world would be a just and humane society, without the
exploitation, domination, alienation, and other social ills that have afflicted the contemporary
capitalist and socialist societies. [However, in practice, the Iranian revolution did not succeed in
creating such a system.] Frustrated by conflicts between the Parliament and the Ulema, one of the
followers of Khomeini said: “Ten Years after the Islamic Revolution, … [we] ask you … to present
to the world the unadulterated Muhammadan Islamic view on economics.” In June 1989 Ayatollah
Khomeini died, unable to define his version of Islamic economic order. It has become apparent that
an Islamic economic system is not capable of presenting a viable social alternative.
In a similar way, even though they were free to choose whatever system they wanted, there
were no functional and practical models for an Islamic financial system which could be
implemented by the Taliban. The Islamic government in Sudan is groping towards Islamic
models, but there is no clarity on the desired outcome. Thus experience demonstrates that even
a revolution would not succeed in getting us to an Islamic system. In the next section, we explain
the source of this difficulty and suggest a way around it.

3. THE IDEAL ISLAMIC SYSTEM

Because the spirit of the Western institutions is secular, changing their form to achieve
conformity with the Islamic law will not serve our purposes. Even more surprisingly, our own
past will not provide us with adequate guidance for the difficult task which faces us. Even
though we can find a complex of Islamic institutions in our past which are infused with the
Islamic spirit, the modern times are so different in terms of their needs and requirements that
the concrete shape of the required Islamic institutions will not resemble those which existed in
our past. Our problem resembles that which the Jews faced when they decided to use Hebrew
as the national language of Israel. The language existed only in books and there were no living
speakers of the language. No one knew the correct pronunciations of the words, and there were
no words in the ancient language for many of the objects which had assumed importance in
contemporary life. The Jews invented the words and the pronunciations and overcame many
other problems required to bring a dead language to life. In this section, we spell out the nature
of the task facing us, which is similar but substantially more difficult.

The discovery of the “Genizeh documents,” – which is the same as “Janazah” – in a cemetery in
Cairo has led to very important insights about the history of the period 300-800 Hijri or 950-
1350 A.D. All sorts of papers containing religious terms were buried out of respect for the names
of God. These include documents related to trade and commerce over this time period. These
documents show the existence of an extensive network of trade from Spain to China centered
around the Muslim empires. The framework and basis of this trade was the Hanafi law and
involved Islamic methods of risk sharing finance. Muslim invented methods in conformity with
Islamic law which created the possibility of global commerce. Historians who have studied the
era have called it the “age of the commercial revolution,” and argued that these Muslim
innovations created the basis for the capitalist system which later emerged in Europe. These
Islamic methods for international commerce were destroyed by a series of large shocks, which
included the crusades, Mongol invasions and destruction of Baghdad, and the bubonic plague.
The international Muslim framework of trade never recovered from these shocks. With the rise
of European power, Islamic methods and institutions for international commerce were replaced
by primitive forms of the current capitalist interest based institutions.

The modern Western institutions for education, trade, politics, commerce, and social
interactions evolved out of roots planted on the basis of a secular framework of thought. These
started from primitive beginnings and gradually become more complex and developed linkages
in response to historical needs. A much more advanced framework of Islamic institutions
centered around masajid, awqaf, judicial and political structures was destroyed by various
historical events, and went out of existence in the colonial era. Had these institutions remained
in existence, they would have evolved to cope with the complexities of the modern era. In many
arenas, the Ummah faces situations which have no historical precedent. This is why it would not
be sufficient for us to rediscover the Islamic institutions of the past, although it would be helpful
in providing a basis on which to build. Just as a language evolves and develops new vocabulary
and literature, and acquires depth and complexity to cope with new situations, so our ideal
Islamic institutional framework would have developed over the six hundred years that have
passed since the Islamic domination of the globe. To compete effectively with modern Western
institutions, we need to start from Islamic bases and imaginatively provide the depth and
complexity that would have occurred due to developments that would have been required over
six hundred years. This accounts for the difficulty of the task which we face.

To summarize, the evolutionaries underestimate the difficulties facing us. The capitalist system
as a whole cannot be affected by making small changes in minor areas to some pieces of the
system. The task requires changing all systems together in a co-ordinated way. Failure to do this
is giving a bad name to the efforts of Islamization. Our elders claimed correctly that an Islamic
system would provide justice, and a cure to the many evils of the dominant capitalist systems.
However, the small and piecemeal changes we are making have no such effect, and critics argue
that, despite our claims, we have nothing to offer. The revolutionaries have the right instinct
that we need to build from scratch. However, neither party has a clear idea of what needs to
done. The revolutionaries fail to realize that Islam builds on a ground that is currently un-
opposed. That is the dimensions on which we need to work are not the ones where we face
political resistance from opposing forces. Therefore, there is no need to make a revolution. We
need to prepare the ground by changing ourselves. If we bring about the required internal
changes, then Allah T’aala will change our conditions in accordance with His promise:
13:11 Verily, God does not change men's condition unless they change their inner selves;

4. THE THIRD WAY

If Western systems cannot be modified to serve our purpose, and a revolution to put in place
ancient Islamic institutions will not work, what can be done to create an Islamic society? As the
ayat 13:11 cited above says, the first task is change ourselves by creating the desire to live in a
society governed by Islamic values. We have a long list of failures of efforts to impose Islamic
structures by force on an unwilling people. This essay is addressed only to those who wish to live
in an purely Islamic society and are looking for ways to bring this about. I do not seek to
convince those who are doubtful about the value of such efforts that Islam has a lot to offer.
Changing the hearts of doubters must be done in the traditional pattern, the Sunnah of all the
prophets, which is the invitation to the good. This will eventually lead to creation of a living
model of Islam, which will be the most powerful invitation.

In all areas of life, we need to create Islamic alternatives to existing institutions. To begin with
we must start with small fledglings, seeds of the future system to come. As these newly planted
institutions gain strength and grow, they will begin to support each other. The sequencing of our
efforts must be carefully planned. Some of the institutions are robust and can survive and thrive
on their own, while others will work only when the environment has become sufficiently
favorable. Only after a sufficient amount of growth has occurred will we be able to address the
issue of what is to be done with existing Western systems with which we will not interfere in the
initial stages. Below I will describe the various types of efforts that we need to make along
different dimensions. Before doing so, note that because of the radical novelty of Islamic ideas,
we will not be able to offer convincing proof to skeptics that the new ideas we are trying to
bring into the world will work. We will rely on Allah and have Tawakkul that he will sufficient for
all our needs. Allah T’aala has promised to show us ways out difficulties which we cannot even
conceive of or calculate. That is why we cannot describe precisely what will grow out of the
seeds that we plant today. We cannot make a timetable or a flowchart or a provide a precise
schedule of steps. Rather, in the way similar to the deliverance of the Bani Israel by Musa, when
the spiritual preparations have been done than Allah T’aala will part the waters and create a
way for us out of slavery.

This does not mean that we do not engage with with world. In fact we engage with the world in
the best possible way, but this engagement is a means to seeking our path to Allah. In
accordance with his promise that
(29:69) But as for those who strive hard in Our cause -We shall most certainly guide them onto paths that lead
unto Us: for, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good.

Allah T’aala will guide us if we struggle with this world in the right manner. Below we provide a
sketch of some of the important areas of our lives in which we need to struggle to bring about
the changes required to put them into conformity with Islamic ideals. The sketch and the forms
are tentative, since Islam emphasizes the struggle, and the feelings in the heart with which the
struggle is carried out:
Q6:162 Say: "Behold, my prayer, and (all] my acts of worship, and my living and my dying are for God [alone],
the Sustainer of all the worlds,

In the process of the struggle, Allah T’aala will guide us to the concrete forms of social structures
and institutions that are needed to express the spirit of Islam in the modern world. In this
sections we discuss four fundamental principles which should guide our efforts at change. The
principles are distilled from the teachings of Islam and also from the ways in which the existing
institutions differ most from the Islamic teachings.

Equality: All are equal in the sight Allah, except by the virtue of Taqwa. This radical message
needs to implemented in all dimension of our lives. It is a teaching of Islam that slaves are to be
housed, clothed and fed on equal terms with the owner of the slaves. This means that servants,
employees and subordinates must be treated with utmost respect as equals. Implementation of
this message requires restructuring ways of working together for common goals. The standard
command and control structures of un-Islamic firms and institutions cannot be used within an
institution based on equality. A living example of the type we are seeking occurs within
Tableegh, where thousands of people work together to run what is perhaps the biggest
organization in the world, serving millions of Muslims worldwide. No one receives a salary, but
all work together in a hierarchical structure. It is sometimes argued that this type of structure
can only work within purely religious organizations. In fact it is a duty for Muslims to ensure that
all our activities are purely religious; once we learn how to convert our organizations and
institutions from profit seeking activities to God seeking activities, we will also learn the
structures suitable to such activities.

Cooperation: The Western paradigms are based on the idea that there are no common goals in
a secular society. Therefore cooperation is to be purchased. The servant, employee or
subordinate sells his labor for money and does not share in the output. In Islamic paradigm, we
will only engage in work which is socially beneficial – trade in goods or services which are
harmful to society is Haraam. For socially beneficial products, all employees will participate in
the reward from the benefits of the work. Thus the sweeper of the masjid or madrassa makes
the intention of earning the reward for the activities of the enterprise. The idea of cooperative
effort for a joint enterprise to serve society as a means to earn the pleasure of Allah leads to
radically different structures for all social institutions. The idea that the “King” is actually a
servant of the people [which is even now at least verbally acknowledged in the title “Khadim-ul-
Harmain” in Arabia], the ‘boss’ is responsible for the welfare of all the employees, and that the
entrepreneur, laborer and provider of funds are all equal partners in a joint enterprise to serve
the Ummah changes the nature of the Islamic institutions.

Social Responsibility: As a society, we are collectively responsible for the needs of all those who
cannot provide from themselves. It was in recognition of this responsibility that the first
hospitals, orphanages, and facilities for travelers came into existence in the Islamic world. Umar
r.a. said that if necessary, he would pool the resources of all to ensure that basic needs were
met. Western societies put no limits on Israf and Tabzeer, even in presence of unmet basic
needs. As a result, 28 million households were reported to have faced hunger and food
insecurity in 2006 in the USA. This was not due to lack of resources, since several trillion dollars
were spent on the Iraq war at this same time. While the principle of responsibility is widely
acknowledged, the practice is very deficient within the Islamic world. We have all been
influenced by western teachings which encourage us to spend excess on luxuries, rather than
social welfare as recommended by the Quran:
And they will ask thee as to what they should spend [in God's cause]. Say: "Whatever you can spare." In this
way God makes clear unto you His messages, so that you might reflect

The understanding that money in excess of ones needs should be spent on the hungry and the
uneducated, and that this is Farz-e-kifayah, would transform Islamic societies.

Local Action: A major obstacle to change has been implicit acceptance of a western idea
regarding collective action. In a secular society, different people are assumed to have different
religions and conflicting goals, so all collective action is left up to the government. Many Islamic
thinkers have followed suit, and suggest that social change can only come after we capture the
government. Historically, in Islamic societies, individuals and small groups have been the agents
of change. A vast network of social welfare institutions was organized on a purely voluntary
basis by individuals. Islam requires every individual to take care of his neighbors, and the
worship of a rich man is not acceptable if his neighbor is hungry. Similarly the educated and
pious are responsible to spread what has been given to them by Allah to their neighbors. For
example, the prophet s.a.w. upbraided the Ash’ari tribe for not educating and training
neighboring tribes with less knowledge. If every educated man considers it his responsibility to
spread his knowledge, and every rich man considers it his responsibility to share his wealth with
the needy, local actions by them will cause global change in Islamic society.

Islam is very strongly process-oriented rather than outcome oriented. Misunderstandings

regarding this issue have led to many wrongly directed efforts by Muslim groups. The Quran
encourages the rich to spend on the poor and to encourage others to spend on the poor – this
will develop compassion and generosity, and create an ethos of giving and community feeling
within the society. If one mistakes the intention of the command to be ‘helping the poor,’ one
might advocate forcibly taking from the rich and giving to the poor if the rich do not give
voluntarily – several Muslim authors have fallen into this trap. However, forcible policies will not
achieve the desired ends of harmony, mutuality and community feeling between the rich and
the poor. In general, the poor will not have the power to enforce such redistribution. In cases
that they do (like the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution) class conflict, hatred, and
injustice will result. The basic idea that Islam is concerned with what is going in inside the hearts
of people, rather than the gross physical outcomes, is expressed clearly in the following Ayah:
(Q22:37) It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah. it is your piety that reaches Him
Because the goal is to change the hearts of the people, the struggle has to be carried out by
individuals locally. Islamic history bears witness to the effectiveness of this strategy for social
transformation on many occasions.

5. NEED FOR FRESH THINKING IN SECULAR DOMAINS

At the time of Greek invasion of Turkey, a Turkish soldier went to the grave of a famous Sufi saint
who was also known for his skills on the battlefield. He addressed him as follows: “O Shaikh, the Kuffar are
invading our lands. Please rise up and help us!” The spirit of the Shaikh rose from the grave and slapped
the soldier hard in the face. “You ask for help from the dead to fight the living? You must fight your own
battles, as we did ours!”
On many occasions in history, Muslims have faced unique situations which had never
arisen before. They rose to the challenges and devised solutions in conformity with the spirit of
Islam and adapted to the circumstances. The political, economic and social structures which
came into existence with the rise of Islam had no parallels in the Jahiliyya, nor in the un-Islamic
societies of the past. Today we face situations which are unique, and have never before been
faced by the Ummah. One group wishes to modify Western solutions and make them Islamic.
Because the spirit of Kufr is deeply embedded in the western solutions to modern problems, this
type of solution cannot work. Another group wishes to destroy western institutions and replace
them with Islamic ones by making a revolution. The problem here is that the Islamic solutions
that we need to devise require deep analysis and creative efforts at Ijtihad; these solutions
cannot be found by turning back the clock. Preliminary analysis shows that the solutions lie in
areas which are not contested, so that there is not need to destroy institutions or to seize power
in order to implement these solutions. It is obvious to all that there is conflict between Islamic
ideals and current western institutions which represent their solutions to modern political,
economic and and social problems. A lot of Ijtihad is being undertaken to modify and bend the
Shari’ah so as to legitimize existing Western structures, or suitable modifications of these
structures. There is no need to modify the Shari’ah; rather, Ijtihad is needed in developing
radical alternatives to current Western institutions which will embody the spirit of the Shari’ah.
As an illustration, we present some ideas about areas in which creative and out of the box
thinking is required to find genuine Islamic solution to problems being faced by Muslims today.
Note that the forms to be presented are speculative; the actual forms which emerge may differ
drastically from the ones sketched below. If recommended Islamic processes for bringing about
change in the hearts, and producing Taqwa are followed, then Allah T’aala has promised to give
us solutions from place we cannot foresee, and in ways we cannot calculate.
 As a first example, consider the issue of suitable governance structures for Muslims. A
lot of Muslim political thinking takes for granted existing Western institutions of the nation-
state, parliamentary democracy, etc. etc. In fact, western political institutions and arrangements
for governance are built on secular premises, and are in direct conflict with Islamic
arrangements. As Iqbal recognized:
In taza khudaon main bara sab say Vatan hay,Jo pairahan iska hay who mazhab ka kafan hay
The greatest of the new Gods is the Nation, The clothing it wears is the coffin of religion
Having abandoned religion, Europeans were forced to seek some alternative basis for collective
action. They created a basis in the form of a nation. The process by which this idea of an
“imagined community” was created, and people were made to believe in it, has been studied by
historians. In Islam, the basis for unity is the Ummah, and local allegiances to tribes, languages,
geographical entities are strongly discouraged. Those Muslims who take existing nation states
and western political structures such as the multi party systems, democracy, voting,
parliaments, etc. as given, and seek to build Islamic governance on top of these structures are
doomed to disappointment. These western institutions cannot be modified to become Islamic.
On the opposite extreme, some Muslims seek to destroy existing political structures, and
replace them with Islamic institutions, principally Islamic Law and the Khilafah. While these are
laudable goals, these groups have not given enough attention to devising effective strategies
appropriate for current conditions. They seek to blindly imitate the past, arguing that these
were the structures used by the Khulfae Rashideen, without recognizing the need for changes
required for adaptations to current conditions. Many such groups have tried very hard and
sacrificed many Muslim lives without achieving the desired results. This is because our ancient
political structures were ideally suited to their own circumstances but modern societies differ
very substantially from earlier ones.
The key to progress is to realize that the solutions we seek do not exist in any of the
western paradigms, which are built on the denial of religion, and elevation of “science and
reason” to a sacred status on the pattern of the Mu’tazila. An even bigger difficulty is that these
solutions cannot be found in our past; our ancestors did a tremendous job of struggling with
their own problems and finding their own solutions – they will get the reward for their efforts
and we will not be asked about what they used to do. We must solve our own problems in our
own ways. The spirit of Islam will guide us, and if we follow the Islamic processes for change,
then appropriate forms will emerge which will not resemble anything in the West, nor will they
resemble institutions from our own history. This is exactly what the early Muslims did; they
translated the spirit of Islam into concrete forms by creating orphanages, hospitals, postal
services, and many other institutions to provide governance and social services which had no
parallels in the Arab past, nor in the institutions of Roman and Persian civilizations at the time.
We must replicate their achievements: we will struggle to change the world as a means to
achieving inner spiritual transformation and closeness to God in the spirit of the Ayah 26:69
cited earlier. If instead, we simply try to imitate without thinking, we will be deserving of the
reproach of Iqbal that:
Thay to aba wo tumhare hi mugar tum kya ho, hath pur hath dharay muntazir farda ho.
They (Early Muslims) were your forefathers, but who are you? You just wait for blessings of
Allah, without doing the struggles and sacrifices required to get them

6. RECREATING THE UMMAH

How can we structure political institutions in way that is pleasing to Allah? To think about this
question is worship, and to struggle to bring about such structures is to be among the
“wallazeena jahadoo feena” for whom Allah has promised guidance to his paths. This view
permits reconciliation of the “Top Down” and “Bottom Up” approaches to rebuilding Islamic
society which have divided Muslims. We engage in the (top down style) struggle to transform all
dimensions of our lives (political, economic, social) as a means to the inner spiritual
transformation required by the bottom up approach. Thus there is no conflict between the two
approaches.

Before thinking about strategies, it is essential to have clarity about Islamic goals for political
struggles. The desired outcome is the creation of solidarity within the Ummah as a whole. Our
traditions state that the Ummah is like one body, so that hurt to any part is felt by the whole.
Many verses of the Quran testify to the importance of solidarity among the Muslims:
(Q3:103) And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among
yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts
in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren;
Failure to create this solidarity, and fighting among ourselves, will lead to weaknesses and allow
our enemies to triumph over us.
(Q8:46) And obey Allah and His messenger, and dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength
depart from you; but be steadfast! Lo! Allah is with the steadfast

It is in the light of these commands that we must devise methods to rebuild the Ummah. It is a
grievous error to take the existing western structures of nation-states as a given and start from
this as a basis for Muslim political action. By creating artificial divisions among men, and creating
an ideology which makes it desirable to die for ones nation, this idea has been responsible for a
tremendous amount for strife, violence and bloodshed in the world. In addition, Muslims have
been specifically and deliberately been divided into nations by enemies, as a part of the strategy
to divide and conquer, and to foster conflicts among Muslims. For example, after the Russian
conquest of portions of the Usmani Khilafat, the Muslims were divided into many different
nations like Circassians, Georgians, Uzbeks, etc. Histories were written and traditions invented
to create a feeling of allegiance to ones geographical region and language, to fight against the
Muslim concept of Ummah which unites all Muslims. Similar efforts were made to promote
nationalism within Islamic countries. The word “Turk” meant villager, and carried the
connotation of ignorant, coarse, etc. The Turkish people identified themselves as Muslims and
felt themselves to be part of the Ummah. An effective campaign was carried out to popularize
the word “Turk” and to replace the pan-Islamic feelings of the people by nationalistic
sentiments. European sentiments of nationalism based on racism, language, geography were
absorbed by the Turks and eventually resulted in bad blood between Turks and Kurds who had
lived in peace and harmony as Islamic brothers for centuries. Nationalistic feelings, and racist or
linguistic allegiances (which were non-existent among Muslims) have been created and have led
to a substantial number of conflicts among fellow Muslims in the twentieth century.

Islam teaches us to value the bond of religion over that of blood, geography and language.
Q11:46 He said: O Noah! Lo! he is not of thy household; lo! he is of evil conduct, so ask not of Me that
whereof thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee lest thou be among the ignorant

On many occasions in Islamic history, Muslims have shown that they have valued religious
bonds over blood, geography and language. Today our failure to do so is causing tremendous
damage to the Ummah. When we start political action at the level of the nation, we have
already lost the battle for building genuinely Islamic institutions.

Islam provides us not only with the vision, but with methods and institutions designed to
facilitate achieving this vision. How can we work to create the solidarity within the Ummah, and
the possibility for collective action by the Ummah, which is the goal our political struggles? The
methodology for collective decision making is “shoora” and the institutions for creating
community are the Masajid, the Jum’a namaz, and the Hajj. How we can use these to achieve
Islamic political forms is described in greater detail below.

6.1 DISTINCTIVE ISLAMIC METHODOLOGY FOR DECISION MAKING

The fundamental political problem is group decision-making in the absence of consensus and in
the presence of conflicting interests. The main process of decision- making in an Islamic society
is shoora or consultation. This was the practice of the Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.) and is
explicitly mandated in the Quran, which describes believers as being
(Q42:38) Those who hearken to their Lord, and establish regular Prayer; who (conduct) their affairs by mutual
Consultation; who spend out of what We bestow on them for Sustenance;

Despite explicit injunctions that Muslims decide their affairs by Shoora, this has been largely
forgotten by the Ummah. So much dust has gathered on the books describing the methodology
for shoora that some Muslim political thinkers confuse it with democracy. Because it has fallen
out of practice, many controversies over how it should be done have arisen. It is a great favour
of Allah to have revived the practice of Shoora in the context of the worldwide movement of
Tableegh. A detailed understanding of the mechanism can only be understood by experiencing it
in action; theoretical discussions are not adequate. The main thing to understand is that the
mechanism is designed to create consensus and unity in the hearts of the Muslims. There are
many different principles for shoora which help in arriving at this outcome. While dissent, free
discussion, and debate on merits of alternative views are encouraged during the process of
shoora, the community is urged to unite on the final decision taken:
Q3:159) It is part of the Mercy of Allah that thou dost deal gently with them Wert thou severe or harsh-
hearted, they would have broken away from about thee: so pass over (their faults), and ask for (Allah's)
forgiveness for them; and consult them in affairs (of moment). Then, when thou hast taken a decision put thy
trust in Allah. For Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him)
These methods for decision making contrast with European political mechanisms which assume
the existence of irreconcilable conflicts in a secular society. Manicas (1989) writes in this context
that “the only thing which people have in common is 'the government' and, paradoxically, their
private interests!” and describes the history of the transition from the traditional polis to the
modern societas form of political organisation in Europe. Since consensus cannot be hoped for,
struggles and conflicts of interest are to be resolved in the favour of the majority. The European
political system is a model of a perpetual battle between different subgroups, where the
emphasis is on providing means for resolving these battles within the framework of a legal
system perceived to be fair. These models are based on the historical experience of Europe, with
perpetual warfare among differing Christian sects. Islam aims much higher than European
models can conceive. Unity among Muslims is prized above all the treasures of the world:
(Q8:63) And (moreover) He hath put affection between their hearts: not if thou hadst spent all that is in the
earth, couldst thou have produced that affection, but Allah hath done it: for He is Exalted in might, Wise.

Furthermore, the previous verse suggests that this unity will also protect us from the treachery
and deception of the enemies. In shoora all members are encouraged to think about what is
best for the group as a whole, in preference to the interests of individuals or subgroups.
Implementing shoora on a large scale in Islamic societies requires training indivduals to put
group interests above personal interests. This is what was achieved by the training of the
Prophet s.a.w. in the Islamic community, and this was a key to their success. Islam has many
mechanisms for achieving this goal, which the Quran exhorts:
(Q49:10) The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two
(contending) brothers; and fear Allah, that ye may receive Mercy.
(Q59:9) But those who before them, had homes (in Medina) and had adopted the Faith,- show their affection to
such as came to them for refuge, and entertain no desire in their hearts for things given to the (latter), but give
them preference over themselves, even though poverty was their (own lot). And those saved from the
covetousness of their own souls,- they are the ones that achieve prosperity.

This shows how Muslims are urged to resolve disputes and to give preference to others over
themselves. When consultation is done with these sentiments, it creates unity and community
feelings which is a priceless treasure, and brings the help of Allah. Existing political institutions
which we have copied from the west create divisions among Muslims, encourage struggles and
vilification of others, create bad feelings between the victors and vanquished in political
struggles. These western methods cannot be adapted for use in Muslim societies. Trying to
modify them or adopt them, or working within their frameworks, is harmful to the efforts to
bring genuinely Islamic methods for governance into existence.

6.3 THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE

Islam has not only provided us with mechanisms to achieve unity, it has also provided a fully
functional institutional structure to enable us to realize this in a concrete fashion. At the heart of
this structure is the five times daily prayer of the Muslims. Many Ahadeeth show that men must
make these prayers in the Masjid. The masjid functions as a community center, where all local
problems are resolved by consultation among neighbors. Many traditions testify to this
character of the masajid, as the center of Muslim social activity at the local level. Hazrat Ayesha
narrates that she saw soldiers from Abyssinia put on a show of acrobatic skill, and martial arts,
at the Medina Masjid. When the Prophet s.a.w. walked into the masjid on one occasion, he saw
two Halqa’s, one engaged in Zikr and another engaged in Ta’leem. One of the bitter enemies of
Muslims who had done a lot of damage, was captured and chained to one of the pillars in
Medina Masjid. After observing the activities in the Masjid for three days, he converted to Islam.
Commentators write that this event is reported because three days was an unusually long time.
The atmosphere of the masjid was such that most visitors would convert to Islam in a much
shorter period.

It was prophesied that “Only the name of Islam, and only the script of the Quran” will remain to
the Muslims. Just like our daily prayers have become rituals, instead of the intense engagement
with Allah that they are meant to be, so our masajid have become merely buildings of bricks and
stones, and not the center of local Muslim action. The potential power of this institution is
shown by the Iranian revolution, where the sermons delivered at the masajid mobilized and
united the whole nation, and were central to bringing it about. Today, by the grace of Allah, the
effort is being made to revive this institution and to turn masjid into living centers of activity for
the Deen on a 24 hour basis. In many masajid all over the world, daily mashwera, and activity to
motivate the neighbors to spend more time on the Deen is taking place on a regular basis. This is
the seed from which an Islamic structure can emerge at the local level, which will be basis of
global activity. Binding the hearts of the people together at the local level requires getting
neighbors to know each other, to learn to cooperate, and to act collectively in the common
interest of Islam, sacrificing personal concerns when needed for the sake of the group. Current
conditions are such that the majority of those who pray together regularly for years in the same
masjid recognize the faces but do not know the names of their fellow worshippers. This must be
changed to re-vitalize the Ummah.

The second level of integration is provided by the Jum’a namaz, which is meant to bring
together the whole city. Current practice is such that virtually all the masajid are also used for
Jum’a, contrary to the original intent. Since very large populations and difficulties in travel make
it impossible for their to be one Jum’a for a city, we must modify the form of the institution to
achieve the spirit. For example, we could gather 5 to 10 or more masajid from a suitable locality
at a single Jum’a. If even this seems difficult, we could at least ask key representatives from each
masjid to gather at a central location and hold mashwera regarding the locality every Juma’a.
Perhaps a monthly meeting could be arranged for representatives from the entire city. This
would provide us with the seeds of a distinctly Islamic structure of governance, not to be found
in the west. This type of structure is also not easily seen in Islamic history, since the structures
which emerged were always a mix of ideal Islamic institutions with practical compromises to
historical situations. The Islamic methodology is to keep the ideal vision in mind and work to
bring it about. The actual forms which will result cannot be predicted, but will emerge as a result
of the level of Ikhlas in our efforts and the decisions of Allah. On the night of the Mairaj, the
Prophet s.a.w. saw some threads going up to the Heavens and others coming down. On inquiry,
Jibraeel a.s. reported that it was the deeds of the Ummah which were going up and the
decisions of Allah which were coming down.

The third level of integration is provided by the Hajj, which brings representatives of the entire
Ummah together on an annual basis. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that when the Ummah
was a living entity, there was a lively trade of information and remedies for problems being
faced by one segment of the Ummah were solved via united efforts. This aspect of the Hajj has
been forgotten. When representatives of the entire Ummah meet, they should get together and
discuss how to create better ties, to promote understanding, cooperation, and take united
action at the level of Ummah. Once there is an annual meeting of representatives from all
segments of the Ummah for the explicit purpose of reviving the concept of the Ummah as a
collective body with common interests and needs, Allah T’aala will guide us to the ways of
creating cooperative action in ways which we cannot calculate or imagine at this time. In
consultation, creative methods for promoting integration like migration, skills and student
exchanges, inter-marriages, open borders for Muslims, trade promotion, and many other issues
would come under discussion. Today our thinking is constrained by Western frameworks for
this type of activity, and we take action using western style institutions and organizations,
following western methodology. This is despite the fact that Islam has furnished us with deeper
insights on how to bring about social change, and given us methods and institutions for this
purpose, which we are currently ignoring. For those who have been blessed with the knowledge
of the Quran to look elsewhere for guidance is an extreme injustice, and is the source of failure
for many types of efforts to bring about change.

7. INSTITUTIONS FOR JUSTICE

As discussed in the introduction, Islamic societies are far from Islamic ideals in nearly all
dimensions of our lives. Coordinated changes on all fronts are needed to bring about the
transformation that Islam calls for. It is impossible to discuss all of the work that is needed in the
span of a brief article like the present one. Our goal is to provide some illustrations of the style
and methodology for a new way to approach the problem of change. A key to the approach is
the understanding that we struggle to change the world in accordance with the orders of Allah
in order to bring about an inner spiritual transformation. Therefore, we measure the outcomes
in terms of our own progress towards Allah, and not in terms of visible impact on the world. We
make the choice to travel the path to the Lord, and struggle in Him so that He may guide us to
his ways. A second crucial ingredient is to start with work on areas where change is feasible, and
possible for us to do as individuals, and then in small groups. We move on to larger changes only
after the ground is prepared. When there are large areas of our lives where Muslims voluntarily
choose the ways of the Kuffar in preference to the ways of the Prophet s.a.w. then this must be
the first target of reform. These general principles may be illustrated by methods to bring
Islamic Justice or the law of the Shari’ah into the lives of the Muslims, the topic of this section.

There are aspects of Islamic law for the enforcement of which we need control of the state
apparatus. However, there are also aspects for which all that is needed is people who desire to
live by Islamic law. Historical examples show numerous failures of attempts to force people to
live by Islamic law, when this desire is not present. Instead of following western methods of
gathering votes to change the constitution, we could work on implementing the Shari’ah in
areas where there is no opposition or restriction by the government. For example, we could try
to ask all Muslims who enter into legal contracts with each other to include a clause which
states that all disputes will be settled by binding arbitration according to Islamic Law by suitably
trained Ulema.
To implement this vision, we will need to work simultaneously on two fronts. There is clear
recognition of the need to update the curriculum of the Madrassahs – the subject matter being
taught fails to address current social concerns of crucial importance in shaping Islamic societies.
However the suggestions for reform, involving teaching sciences and computer skills, are based
on western priorities regarding knowledge. If we start courses developing the skills of applying
the laws of shari’ah to current trading transactions, and develop the personnel and institutions
required to arrive at decisions of Islamic law for settling trade disputes, this will develop the
educational curricula of the madrassa in directions which build on our strengths and are in
conformity with our heritage. Similarly the madrassahs would be well placed to provide the
basis for personnel and institutions which would give Islamic quality certifications, guarantee
certain types of transactions and products, and provide similar Islamic services. Cooperative
insurance and Islamic methods for investment require a mindset which is the opposite of that
developed in modern business schools, which makes it difficult to convert existing western
institutions to Islamic models. Providing madrassa students with sufficient training in modern
transactions will be necessary to enable them to adjudicate trade disputes, and may also
provide the seeds for launch of Islamic style trading institutions which differ radically from
western counterparts. This type of preliminary work will develop the capacity to provide for an
application of Islamic law on a larger scale. Currently, we simply do not have the capacity to
provide this service. If it was announced that from tomorrow, all the laws of the land will be in
conformity with the Shari’ah, we would not have the personnel with the skills required to
provide judicial decisions in the volume required.

At the same time, we need to persuade people to resort to these newly created institutions for
Islamic Justice within the umbrella of the madrassa. Initially, our target audience will be very
small. A small number of committed Muslims trading with each other will agree to participate in
this experiment. We will use Quranic exhortations for Muslims to settle their affairs by referring
them to the Prophet and Allah. We will impress on the people that it is very reprehensible for
Muslims to resort to courts based on Christian or Secular law. Since our initial capacity to handle
trade disputes will be small, the fact that only a few will utilize this method will actually be to
our benefit. Once an Islamic model for settling trade disputes comes into existence, people will
be attracted to this model because they will see the advantages over conventional courts. Islam
emphasizes speedy settlements, and also fairness and justice. Western systems of justice which
are adversarial in nature, with a winner and loser. Islam seeks to find solutions acceptable to all,
or at least those considered fair by all parties. The difference between these two approaches
can easily be illustrated by actual practice in conventional western courts and by cases from our
history.

In the US legal system, justice is an incidental by-product of a mediated struggle between

opposing interests. An excellent discussion of the ethical issues is given by a panel of lawyers in
“A case of competing loyalties” in Stanford Magazine (Fall 1983, p38-43). All on the panel
agreed that a lawyer defending a male client known to him or her to be guilty of rape
nonetheless is obliged to destroy the reputation of the female victim if this is the best possible
defence. All agreed that the American criminal defence system is an adversarial process with
artificial boundaries, rather than a pure search for truth.
The siege of Edirne illustrates the extremely high standards of Islamic justice. When supplies ran
out, the army proceeded to requisition the necessities from the entire population. However, the
Qazi ruled that the Kuffar who had paid Jizya had already paid for their defence and Muslims
had no further claim on their properties. Despite life and death consequences, the seized
properties were returned to the non-Muslims.

If we can achieve these standards of excellence, then people will flock to the newly found
Islamic courts for settling trade disputes initially, and other disputes at a later stage. Once the
taste for Shari’ah develops in the people, then a popular move to bring in the Shari’ah at a larger
level will attract the popular support necessary for its implementation.

8. CONCLUDING REMARKS
There are many signs that an Islamic revival in underway. Many Muslims are working on many
different fronts to bring about the changes which are needed to transform our current societies
to genuinely Islamic ones. It would be our good fortune if Allah T’aala includes us among those
who worked to bring this about, and makes us among those who are the apparent causes of this
change.

Inspired by the powerful vision of Islam, the early Muslims changed the course of history. They
derailed two powerful and ancient civilizations, and created a uniquely Islamic civilization the
likes of which had never been seen before. This endured for a thousand years, much longer than
any other enterprise of its kind. Among the many unique features of this civilization, one was
that the conquests and empire was motivated by the command of God to go and spread the
good to the whole world (“Amr bil Maaroof.”)

Thi na kuch taigh zani apni hukumut kay liay. Sar bakaf phirte they kya dahr main daulat kay
liay? [It was not for kingdoms that we used our swords – did we challenge the world for the sake
of riches? (no!)

This stands in contrast to other empires built for exploitation of foreigners and the search for
glory and power. The many contributions that Islam has made to shaping human consciousness
and all the world civilizations have been documented in many places; see for example Syed Abul
Hassan Ali Nadwi’s book on the The Gifts of Islam to World Civilizations. In the period of
dominance of the West, these contributions have been suppressed, but many recent books such
as “The Theft of History” are now bringing them out in the open.

All signs point to the impending decline of the West. The most fundamental institution which
shapes society is the family, where children receive instruction on what it means to be a human
being and their responsibilities towards society. Western worship of wealth, careers, luxury, and
greed have destroyed this institution so that large numbers of children growing up in the west
are from broken families. Infidelity has become so commonplace that the leaders admit to
having affairs and illegitimate children without provoking any serious censure. Children from
broken homes do not experience the love of their mothers or the protective environment
necessary for the development of basic social skills and sense of moral responsibility. The results
are manifested in a recent large scale survey of high school children in the USA in which 30%
admitted to stealing from stores.

The decline and fall of the West will not be of help to us. The rise of Islam can only be
accomplished by our efforts to change ourselves and the help of Allah which will accompany
such efforts. We must rise to challenge of finding bold and imaginative solutions to the
multitude of problems currently facing all of humanity. We must realize that our traditions and
Quran offer us wisdom and guidance which is outside the repertoire of the West. As single
example, the framers of the constitution of the USA thought that it was too much to ask for a
man to testify against himself, and protected him from this possibility via the 5th Amendment.
However Allah T’aala expects us to be just even to our enemies and to provide testimony even if
it goes against our personal interests and those of our kinfolk and friends.
4:135 O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the truth
for the sake of God, even though it be against your own selves or your parents and kinsfolk. Whether the person
concerned be rich or poor, God's claim takes precedence over [the claims of] either of them. Do not, then, follow
your own desires, lest you swerve from justice: for if you distort [the truth], behold, God is indeed aware of all
that you do!

This standard of excellence is not conceived of in the Western canons. It was the job of the
Prophet SAW to demonstrate standards of behavior which exceeded the imagination of men,
and this demonstration made it possible for other to follow in his way. For example, the way
that the Prophet forgave sworn enemies who had done so much harm and personal torture of
Muslims at the conquest of Mecca has been an inspiration and model for Muslim armies
through history. No other people can offer similar examples. This time the same demand is
being made of the Ummah as a whole. We must rise to present standards of behavior which are
a model of excellence for all of humanity to follow. In the past, our forefathers rose to this
challenge and created a civilization and culture which, according to Gibb “possesses a
magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and cooperation. No other society has such a
record of success uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity, and of endeavours so many
and so various races of mankind.” The same opportunity awaits us:

Sabaq phir parh Sadaqat ka, Adalat ka , shujat ka,liya jaye ga tuj se kaam Duniya ke Amaamat
ka" – Study once again the lessons of Truth, Justice, Courage – You will be given the leadership of
the world.

May Allah give us the taufeeq to grasp this opportunity, to live and die for His sake, and to utilize
this short life to fulfill purpose for which He created us.