The Place of Politics in Religion

Translated by Zameelur Rahman It has become well-known of Christians that they distinguish between religion and politics by their well-known dictum Render unto Caesar what is Caesars and unto God what is Gods. It is thus as though religion has no relationship with politics and politics has no connection with religion. his worthless concept has slowly ad!anced to its ugliest form in recent times in the name of secularism "al-almaniyah# or secularisation which e$pelled religion from all matters of life until it did away with it completely. ruly this concept in reality is one category from the categories of association with %llah &i.e. shirk "polytheism#' whereby religions authority in the material world is not recognised and the authority of religion is restricted only to rituals and worship which one practices in his pri!ate &life' or in his place of worship. It is thus as if God is not god e$cept in &matters of' worship and ritual( and as far as worldly matters are concerned( they ha!e another god. %nd refuge is &sought' from %llah. )or this &reason' *uslims firmly rooted &in their religion' will continue to re+ect this de!iant concept in e!ery age and place because there is no scope for it in Islam which safeguards the creed of monotheism in its most accurate e$pression and its most perfect form( and which assigned di!ine rules in all affairs of life along with all that they contain of politics and economics. herefore( it is incumbent on the people of knowledge to re+ect this concept and refute it knowledgeably and satisfactorily. %nd indeed they ha!e undertaken this task( and all praise is due to %llah. ,owe!er some *uslims in our time&-' who undertook &the task' of refuting secularism ha!e gone too far in this until they fell into a subtle mistake( that changed the focus and caused many errors in this field. that is( they made politics and the establishment of an Islamic go!ernment the primary ob+ecti!e and highest aim of all the rules of religion( and it is as though the rules of worship etc. are not aimed at &anything' besides one goal which is the establishment of an Islamic go!ernment( and it is as though worship and religiosity "diyanah# are all means in the attainment of this primary ob+ecti!e. to &the e$tent' that they diminished the importance of worship and made it an e$ercise and training for the fundamental target( which is the establishment of a theocratic go!ernment "alhukumat al-ilahiyyah#. /ue to this cogitation( two dangerous causes of corruption emerged0 )irst0 since worship became a means in the establishment of a theocratic go!ernment( it is not regarded as an ob+ecti!e in itself( and by its &performance' is intended a gradual progression to the fundamental target. hus( if the conditions demanded that these means be sacrificed by choosing other means to &attain' that important ob+ecti!e then indeed from the results of this cogitation is that there is nothing pre!enting sacrificing them because they are not the ob+ecti!e. 1econd0 one does not ha!e a relationship with means besides a basic ordinary relationship &which falls' within the domain of necessity( and naturally he will regard it as a transitory passing stage( and will not regard it as his life target and the goal of his efforts( and will not progress in it and e$cel therein with the sensations of &spiritual' e$perience( delight and tran2uillity within him. In the words of the esteemed scholar and great preacher *awlana 1haykh 1ayyid %bu 3l-,asan 3%li al-4adwi "%llah *ost ,igh protect him# in his refutation of some of the writings of the deceased teacher( 1ayyid %bu 3l-%la *awdudi( Indeed those who obtain their religious information from the source of this interpretation of Islam alone( and limit their study of Islam to these books alone( their relationship with %llah will be rendered restricted and limited( and &will congeal' into dry( rigid formalism "jamidatun rasmiyyah#( empty of internal states which the belie!er is re2uired to ad+ust &himself' to. his is particularly when the emphasis that the root goal of sending 5rophets

and the end target of their teachings and the utmost of their actions is the production of change in this limited worldly life( and bringing about change for the better( and establishing human ci!ilisation on proper foundations( appears &many' times repeatedly &in these books'. and when the focus on this aspect appears with ferocity and irascibility( enthusiasm and passion( and in a manner that makes conceptions of di!ine lo!e( lordly pleasure and otherworldly success( meagre. it is natural and something that concurs with reason and is consistent with &logical' analogy that he departs the !ehicle of effort and work from the road of faith in the unseen( yearning for the %fterlife( seeking %llahs pleasure and de!otion to ,is lo!e( that road which the 5rophets instituted( to the path of seeking rule( glory( dominance( and achie!ing rule and subse2uently the materialist gala$y. "Al-Tafsir al-Siyasi li l-Islam( p. -67( published by 4adwat al-8lama 9ucknow( -:;; %,<-;7; %/# In sum( these authors in their eagerness to refute secularism( and their focus on the political aspect of the 1hariah( made all of Islam a political ideology( instead of making politics religious. he truth is that politics is a branch of the branches of religion( +ust as business and economics is a branch thereof( and indeed the rules of religion pertain to politics( +ust as they pertain to business. ,owe!er nothing of politics and business is the root goal of the message of Islam( nor a fundamental ob+ecti!e of its rules and teachings. hus( +ust as the connection of the rules of the 1hariah to business do not entail that business becomes the ob+ecti!e of religion( similarly the rules of the 1hariah pertaining to politics do not imply that politics be made the fundamental ob+ecti!e of Islam. ,akim al-8mmah 1haykh %shraf 3%li al- hanawi "%llah *ost ,igh ha!e mercy on him# drew attention to this point in a brief &but' firm statement( all of which is insightful( so we will 2uote it here( translating it from 8rdu to %rabic. ,e says "%llah *ost ,igh ha!e mercy on him#0 %llah *ost ,igh said0 3those who( if =e establish them in the land( establish regular prayer and gi!e regular charity( en+oin the right and forbid wrong0 with %llah rests the end and decision of all affairs. ">uran ??0@-#. It is clear from this !erse that the essential ob+ecti!e is religiosity "diyanah# and nothing of politics and +ihad is the fundamental ob+ecti!e A it is only a means to establish religiosity. %nd for this reason( spirituality and the rules &regulating' religiostiy were gi!en to e!ery one of the 5rophets "upon them be peace# without e$ception( while politics and +ihad were not gi!en to all of them. Bihad and politics were gi!en to some of them when the need and interest &of their communities' demanded &them'( and indeed that is the condition of means( since they are not gi!en e$cept for a necessity. It is possible that a doubt will arise here in the minds of some( which is that another !erse of the 4oble >uran indicates the opposite of this( that religiosity is a means( and establishment "tamkin# in the earth and politics are the ob+ecti!es( and this is ,is statement "*ost ,igh#0 %llah has promised( to those among you who belie!e and work righteous deeds( that ,e will( of a surety( grant them in the land( inheritance &of power'( as ,e granted it to those before them. that ,e will establish in authority their religion A the one which ,e has chosen for them "?@0CC#. 1ince this !erse makes belief and good deeds preconditions to the establishment &of Islam' on earth from what is apparent thereof of establishment and politics being the ob+ecti!e. he response is that %llah *ost ,igh promised in this !erse establishment and power( and conditioned them on faith and good deeds( whereby establishment is 2ualified upon them( so politics and power are promised &to the belie!ers conditional upon' faith and good deeds. It does not follow &howe!er' from it being promised that it becomes the ob+ecti!e( for otherwise %llah *ost ,igh said in another place0 If they had obser!ed the orah and the D!angel and that which was re!ealed unto them from their 9ord( they would surely ha!e been nourished from abo!e them and from beneath their feet ">uran C0EE#. 1o ,e promised e$pansion in pro!ision &conditional' upon the obser!ance of the orah( D!angel and the >uran. Can then one say that e$pansion in pro!ision is the ob+ecti!e of religionF 4o( rather it is promised. hus( it is established that a promise does not entail that it becomes the ob+ecti!e. 1imilarly in the !erse of establishment &i.e. ?@0CC'(

establishment is promised &conditional' upon faith and good deeds( so they are a conse2uence of them by the decision of it being 2ualified upon them( but that is not the ob+ecti!e of religion( nor a target of it. hereby it becomes clear that politics is a means from the means and the ob+ecti!e is spirituality. he implication of this is not that politics is not sought after altogether. I only intend thereby to specify the place of politics in religion in that it is not the ob+ecti!e( as opposed to spirituality( for indeed this is the essential ob+ecti!e. "Ashraf al-Sawanih @0?G-;( published in *ultan# Takmilah Fath al-Mulhim( !ol. :( pp. ??@-7 HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH -. his was written in the year -;G7 &'