Chapter One
Muslim Authority or God’s Authority?
It is indeed God’s authority. A misguiding statement, interpretation, or thought, for example, is that some Muslims think it is a Muslim’s duty to convert – by force, coercion, and all other possible means – all people to Islam, so that Islam may become the faith of all human beings.
This group of Muslims does not realize the difference between the duty to make an effort to introduce Islam and its divine guidance to other people and then leave them to themselves, free to decide for themselves whether to embrace Islam, and coerce them into embracing it. To introduce Islam with wisdom and pleasant preaching is, undeniably, a duty and a laudable thing in God’s consideration. Religious coercion through force or any other means, however, is prohibited by God and distasteful to Him.
Others go even further. They believe it is the duty of Muslims to strive for the establishment of Islam’s world state, so that all people – whatever their religion, race, and gender are – would then be subject to the same leadership, the Muslim leadership, and all human beings would be citizens of a single state on earth, which is the Islamic state. This group of Muslims fail to realize the difference between the voluntary and willing submission of people to God’s authority on earth and their submission to the authority of Muslims and the Islamic state.
Unquestionably we, Muslims, believe that all people should, willingly and voluntarily, submit to God’s authority, and we wish that they do and that their lives and communities follow His sublime ends, for God’s authority on earth is based on sublime ends and general principles which include:
1. belief in God alone and in no partner with Him,
2. a contract between ruler and subjects,
3. settlement of the earth and cultivating life and justice,
4. safeguarding human dignity, and
5. safeguarding the safety of the earth and environment and causing no corruption in them.
Yes, we, Muslims, wish for all people, if they find that it serves their interests, to adhere to these sublime, divine principles, so that they may become a firm foundation for the substance and purpose of government in their countries and under their authorities. We do not seek, nor are we required by our religion to seek, to rule the world with these principles. What we are required by our religion to do, and what is an obligatory task for us, is to be, as Muslims, the practical example of applying God’s authority on earth and, as God has destined us to be, “the best nation that mankind has known.” This is to be achieved by serious, sincere, skillful, and efficient effort to enforce God’s Law and adhere to the basics of His authority. Thus, this rational and just example would serve as a lighthouse and a good ideal that people would love to follow and wish to have in their lives and communities. They would seek voluntarily to apply it and to adopt its values and its approach.
Therefore, I do not approve the claim of some Muslims, which is erroneous and stems out of a misunderstanding on their part of Islam and its benign message, that people in the world should be subjected by force and coercion to the single, Islamic state, must become citizens in such an international Islamic state, and must submit to its authority and obey its command, or that they must all submit to God’s authority under the leadership of a single, Islamic state that leads and controls the world, cancel the role of others, and deprive them of their freedom. There is nothing in the Islamic approach that calls for or give foundation to that claim. Domination, first and last, belongs to God alone and his authority, and not to any of his creatures, any state, or any nation over another. Nations and peoples have rather to be acquainted and to cooperate to achieve the good of mankind. They have to race to fend off any corruption on earth. They have to compete to make good things and destroy abominations. They have to exchange benefits with each other and form alliances to maintain virtues, spread good, fight against vices, eradicate abomination, and purify the earth and communities from all evil and corruption.
The imposition by force of its model of civilization and its democratic system on other nations, which the United States of America is attempting today is an aggression against the will of peoples, a barbaric violation of the principle of promoting multiple cultures and civilizations, and an attack on the cultural particularity of peoples and nations. It is, at the same time, a violation of God’s will, which approves the existence of multiple nations and peoples, and multiple religions, cultures, and civilizations. It is also a violation of and aggression against the will of the international community and its world order, which is endorsed by various nations and accepted as a framework to regulate their relations and control their joint interests and security. We, however, call for the reform, development, and improvement of that world order to base it on the rules and basic principles of the authority of God, the Lord of all creatures, which have been referred to above. Such reform will make nations turn – with their laws and ideals, within the framework of submitting to God’s authority – to fields of competition that aim at realizing what is better and more appropriate for human life and dignity, reinforce justice on earth, and establish the secure coexistence of communities.
From His Book (Partners ... not Guardians) Part Four / Chapter One
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To the Nation’s leaders - To the Nation’s scholars and intellectuals - To leaders of the world |
All Rights Reserved For The Author Prof. Dr. Hamid Al-Rifaie