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.'
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