Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Reaction...what is an Islamic State?

Reaction..............

My first reaction after reading Javed Ahmed Ghamdi's article in Jang newspaper on 22nd Jan 2015, was that 'none would be able to answer these tough questions raised and accusation business would start as it was (available in history books of pre-1947 era) when demand of Pakistan - an Islamic state- was at its peak and Muslims were arguing each other through the platform of Muslim League or Jamiet Ulema-e-Hind for dividing or not, the sub-continent.'

It happened the way exactly I perceived. First Allama Ibtisam Illahi, the son of notable Ahl-e-Hadith scholar late Allama Ehsan Illahi Zaheer has replied to queries of Ghamdi sahab viz a viz Islamic State, its formation, role of Caliphate in Islam, is it necessary to be worked upon, and how Islamic State would behave in modern world, means legislative part! Ibtisam Illahi's article was -in my view- scattered thoughts penned down in a hurry to respond as it lack the answers chronologically. It also contained weak references worth nothing for academic researchers to consider. Later, Mufti Taqi Usmani's article published, though little better than earlier response but lacks the same spirit. This means queries weren't discussed as they were raised by Javed Ghamdi. I assume that points not raised were agreed by Taqi Usmani as well. Only he highlighted where he disagrees or needed correction.

In both two articles, there were no single reference that 'why Caliphate system is needed, why it is missed for so many centuries by respected scholars of that times, why no efforts had been made, under what category Abdullah Ibn-e-Zubair's Caliphate is classified, could all Banu Ummaya/Hashim rulers be termed as Caliphs, why religious scholars of their times didn't raise their concerns etc.'

Likewise, what would be structure of modern Islamic state, who will perform legislation (extent is known and agreed upon - no law against Holy Quran & agreed Sunnah), & what would be role of religious scholars in the presence of legislators, nothing discussed in detail.

Typically, Justice Taqi Usmani labeled the writer as promoter of 'secularism' even knowing the fact that author Javed Ghamdi is an ex-disciple of Syed Maududi, a core hardliner of Islamic State formation (though Taqi Usamni had already argued with him too during his famous book Khilafat o Maulkiyat) and great adherent of sub-continent most respected scholar Maulana Amin Ehsan Islahi. These thoughts are not new and were also raised by Maulana Waheed uddin Khan from India. So this is not unique voice promoting secularism. But that's our beloved tradition, where arguments fail accusation starts!

Neither I am fan of Javed Ghamdi nor endorse his political mission, if any, by any means but as a student of Islam, Pakistan, & Islamic State, I wanted to learn something that is not available through books only and felt disappointed after reading these replies. I was under the impression that some reply should contain Imam Sarkhasi's 'Mabsoot' references, Ghazali or Abu Hanifa's vision about Islamic State (through books like 'Kharaj' of Abu Yousuf), or modern days political Islam supporters such as Syyed Qutub (his Tafseer Fee Zilala el Quran or Mualim/Milstones) or a short-but accurate discussion as why Hajjaj is not termed as Khalifa and what prompts scholars to term Umar bin Abdul Aziz as 5th Caliph, if any but not Hazrat Muawaiyah (RA)...

Sorry these are tough questions and we would like to remain in limbo as we are since 1300 years!

Nadia Khan

27th Jan 2015