Chapter Four
The Problem of the Claim that the Islamic State Is Absent
We Muslims speak a lot and aloud about the Islamic civilization, and we are proud of our approach to civilization. We believe that we have to be proud for two reasons. The first is that our Islamic civilization has been based on the values, principles, and controls of our religion, which we believe to be the system of our Lord, the Lord of all people, and the Lord of Heavens and the Earth and everything between them, and the system that our Lord, the Most Glorious, has chosen for us and for all people.
The second is that our historical record and our contemporary conditions testify to our cultural merit, contribution, and creativity.
I do not think any just, objective, or neutral person would deny or dispute any of that, except for what few people, and not the majority, say. These tell us:
We are ready to go along with you and accept what you say about a great and bright civilization you had in the past. We testify, on the basis of what history tells us and what some of the preserved remnants you have, that you had a past civilization and that your forefathers made contribution to the human cultural structure. Your present condition, however, confirms that you are incapable of keeping up with the progress of civilization and with its requirements and tools. You and your culture and life style have failed to carry on the cultural contribution you started, which was a point in your favor at one time. But you have failed and the progress of civilization has sidestepped you and followed another party. That is because you have committed yourselves to a particular system, Islam, and locked yourselves within the cell of its teachings and principles. You have convinced yourselves that it is a good system for every time and place, although the logic of things and the standards of modernity and development say something different; they say that change, development, and renovation are necessary, required by the changes of time and place conditions.
We are told this also by a group of our own people, who believe in our religion and call themselves by the same titles we use. They are convinced of what the other says; they believe it, are enthusiastic about it, and struggle to spread it and influence our generation to get convinced of, adhere to, and apply it at the expense of their values and the principles of their religion and its divine system.
There is a third party that argues with us about our present conditions and insists that the approach of our civilization has nothing to do with it. They claim that the history of our civilization, at best, came to an end with the end of the Ottoman Caliphate. The caliphate state disintegrated and was divided into mini-states established as a result of the Crusader-Zionist conspiracy and representing the false deities of that conspiracy who founded them. Those mini-states and their rulers have nothing to do with the Islamic nation and the sovereignty of its peoples. They are illegitimate states that guard the interests of the enemies of Islam and represent our current situation in its backwardness, weakness, and shameful cultural absence.
The members of this group differ from others who speak of the absence of the good character of this nation in that they still believe in Islam, its values, and its principles, stress that Islam is good for every age and every place. They set out – in their conviction of the loss, on the part of the Islamic nation, of the attribute of being best of and the discontinuity of its civilization – from a belief in the theory of infinite conspiracy interpretation of successive events in the nation’s life and from a conviction that the false deities of the Crusader-Zionist conspiracy are the actual decision makers in Islamic countries. They believe that the attribute of being the best nation was lost at the end of Islamic Caliphate, and they are the only thing that remains of that attribute. I am not referring here to any particular faction, group, party, organization, movement, or school of thought. All the groups that carry one of these names agree in their belief that the Islamic nation’s attribute of being best is vanished, except for the exclusive possession of that attribute by them or the agency they belong to. They hold that the intentions and claims of governments and agencies are suspect.
I repeat that I am not talking here about a particular group or agency, but about an irksome phenomenon that has developed within our nation. The promoters of that phenomenon, divers as their tastes and conceptions are, agree on one thing, namely, stripping the nation of its attribute of being the best with which God has favored it over all other nations, and attributing being best to their own persons or the groups they belong to. They stress that the Islamic nation has been absent from the centers of authority and from the state as an institution, and that authority in Islamic countries is now held by the devil and his subordinates. They claim that the rulers of Muslims and of the Islamic states today are followers of Zionist and Crusader false deities, who are the allies of the devil and his subordinates. They are illegitimate governments that have attached themselves to infidels and false deities. Therefore, they are, with no exception, to be treated as those infidels and false deities. Thus, according to these, nothing remains to reflect the attribute of being the best nation and God’s authority on earth other than what each of these claims for himself and his group. Meanwhile, each of them insists on discrediting the other claimants who resemble him. Hence, they are partners who squabble with and curse each other in regards to what they claim and what they comprehend. Of course, all these groups base their interpretation and belief in the loss of the nation’s attribute of being the best on their wrong interpretation of a tradition of God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, which says, “A group of my nation continue to be prominent until they receive God’s will while they are prominent.”[1] In another version, the tradition says, “A group of my nation continues to be prominently upright until Doomsday.”[2] They also base their belief on an abnormal interpretation of the tradition that says, “At the beginning of every one hundred years, God sends someone who renews for Muslims the state of their religion.”[3] They insist on comprehending and believing that only individuals and groups are meant by “a group which is prominently upright.” It is they who represent what has remained of the attribute of being the best nation. This group, they believe, cannot exist at the level of state authority, politicians, rulers, and leaders, and there is no exception. They persist in saying that when politicians and states speak about following Islam and adhering to it in their lives, and when states affirm that they are founded on Islamic ground and are committed to God’s Book and the sunna of his Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, these politicians and states are, to begin with, suspect in regards to their intentions and sincerity, and their claim that they follow Islam and its Law is a type of deception, but their reality is known and exposed.
In answering these two groups of Muslims – the first that is deceived and fascinated by the statements of malicious non-Muslims, and the second that is full of illusion, conceit, and exaggeration, and that is unjust to itself and its people: the members and leaders of the Islamic nation – I say, “Slow down! Woe unto you! That is not the way things are done!” As already mentioned, the first group adopts the statements of malicious and unjust non-Muslims that Islam has used up its energy and validity and has expired with the death of its herald, Muhammad, son of Abdullah, and is no longer suitable, because of the changes in time and place. This group accepts the claim that Islam is incapable of meeting the requirements that result from the ongoing development of people and of their needs. I say to these, “You are not to be blamed, since you are lured by your whims, malice has blinded your vision, and your eyes are too blurred to see the evident, pure truth. You are not to be blamed, as your minds and thoughts are captive to the logic of trends, the chemistry of canned products, and the crazes of change for change sake, and since you have committed yourselves to the methodology of those who tamper with the cultures of nations and are busy with deforming the immortal divine values to satisfy the devil and their abnormal whims and caprices. Out of pity for you and because we are eager to carry out the duty of reminding and advising, I tell you that the Islam that you claim to belong to past long-gone time and is no longer capable to meet the requirements of people due to the changes of time and place is the same Islam that, shouting at the top of its voice and addressing all human beings, continues to urge you and urge all people, promoting the following.
1. Mutual acquaintance and coexistence in a state of security:
People, We have created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes in order to know each other. The noblest among you in God’s consideration are those who fear Him the most (Al-Hujuraat XLIX: 13).
2. The administration of justice for all people:
God commands you to deliver trusts to their owners, and if you judge between people, be just in your judgment (Al-Hujuraat XLIX: 58).
3. Respecting human dignity:
We have honored the children of Adam (Al-Israa XVII: 70).
4. Observing the inviolability of human life:
… if a person kills a soul, unless in punishment for murder or corruption on earth, it is as if he has killed all people, and if he saves a life, it is as if he has saved the lives of all people (Al-Maidah V: 32).
5. Respecting the freedom of belief:
There shall be no coercion in religion. The right way is now distinct from error (Al-Baqarah II: 256).
6. Respecting ecological security:
Do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered (Al-A'raaf VII: 56).
7. The alliance of nations to face corruption:
And had it not been for God using people to check each other, the Earth would have been corrupted (Al-Baqarah II: 251).
8. Mutual service among people:
We promoted some of them in ranks, so that they would use each other in service (Al-Zukhruf XLIII: 32).
9. Competition to do good deeds:
To each of you We have given a code of law and a way of life. Had God so willed, He could have made you all one nation; but He wants to test you by means of that which He has bestowed on you (Al-Maidah V: 48).
10. Observing covenants and agreements:
Believers fulfill your contract obligations (Al-Maidah V: 1).
11. Pursuit of learning and research:
From among God’s servants, the ones who fear him are knowledgeable people (Faatir XXXV: 28).
Say, “Look to see what the heavens and earth contain” (Yunus X: 101).
12. Exploitation of the resources of the earth:
So, walk around its regions, eat of His provision, and to him is the resurrection (Al-Mulk LXVII: 15).
13. Social solidarity:
He does not believe in me: the person who is full when he sleeps, while his neighbor next to him is hungry and he knows that.[4]
Gabriel, peace be upon him, kept commending neighbors to me until I thought he was going to tell me they would inherit.[5]
14. War on slavery and famines:
Would that you knew what the Ascent is. ◘ It is the emancipation of a slave, ◘ or the feeding, on a day of famine (Al-Balad XC: 12-14).
15. Respect for the property of others:
Do not consume your property among yourselves in vanity (Al-Baqarah II: 188).
16. Focusing on security:
If something related to security or fear comes to their knowledge, they make it known to all and sundry; whereas, if they would only refer it to the Messenger and to those from among them entrusted with authority, those of them who are engaged in obtaining intelligence would know it (Al-Nisaa IV: 83).
17. War on drugs and charlatanism:
Believers, intoxicants, games of chance, idolatrous practices and divining arrows are abominations devised by Satan (Al-Maidah V: 90).
18. Respecting the right of self-defense:
Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is waged, because they have been wronged (Al-Haj XXII: 39).
19. Refraining from aggression against others:
Fight for the cause of God those who fight you, and do not commit aggression. God does not love aggressors (Al-Baqarah II: 190).
20. Common benefit:
The best people are those who benefit people.[6]
21. Encouragement of commerce:
God has made trade lawful and usury forbidden (Al-Baqarah II: 275).
Nine tenths of livelihood comes from commerce.[7]
22. War on monopoly:
A person who monopolizes an item, aiming to make it expensive for Muslims, is sinful and deprived of the custody of God and His Messenger.[8]
A person who monopolizes is sinful.[9]
A person, who monopolizes food, keeping it from Muslims, will be stricken by God with leprosy and bankruptcy.[10]
23. War on corruption:
Do not cause mischief on earth, spreading corruption (Hood XI: 85).
24. Sea navigation:
It is God who subjected the sea to you for the ship to sail on it by His command (Al-Jaathiyah XLV: 12).
He has subjected to you rivers (Ibrahim XIV: 32-33).
25. Fish resources:
It is He who subjected the sea to you so that you may eat out of it tender meat (Al-Nahl XVI: 14).
26. Safeguarding the honor of other people:
Stay away from fornication; it is an indecent act and an evil course to take (Al-Israa XVII: 32).
27. Refraining from false statements:
… those who never give false testimony (Al-Furqaan XXV: 72).
28. Observing honesty in business:
Give just weight and full measure (Al-An' am VI: 152).
29. Giving special attention to agriculture:
If Doomsday arrives while one of you is holding a sapling in his hand and he is able to plant it before he is resurrected, he should do so.[11]
30. Focusing on professionalism:
God loves a believer with a profession.[12]
31. Being rational in spending:
…And who, whenever they spend their money, are neither wasteful nor niggardly, but always maintain a just mean between the two (Al-Furqaan XXV: 67).
32. Forbidding shameful deeds:
Do not commit any shameful deed, whether open or secret (Al-An' am VI: 151).
33. Supporting orphans:
Do not touch the property of an orphan before he comes of age, except to improve it (Al-An' am VI: 152).
34. Kind speech:
Speak kindly to people (Al-Baqarah II: 83).
35. Focusing on the dialogue culture:
Reason with the People of the Book only in a graceful manner (Al-'Ankaboot XXIX: 46).
36. Modesty in dealing with people:
The true servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk gently on earth, and who, whenever the ignorant address them, say: “Peace” (Al-Furqaan XXV: 46).
37. Appreciation of the work of others:
…and do not deprive people of what rightfully belongs to them (Al-A'raaf VII: 85).
38. Valuing honesty and condemning lying:
Honesty leads to piety, and piety leads to Paradise. A person keeps telling the truth until he is labeled by God as an honest man. Lying leads to dissipation, and dissipation leads to hell fire. A person keeps lying until he is labeled by God as a liar.[13]
39. Praising ethical behavior:
Among those of you I love the most are those with the best ethical behavior.
40. Tolerance:
…but the one who pardons and effects reconciliation will get his reward from God (Al-Shura XLII: 40).
41. Being merciful:
Have mercy on the ones on earth, and you will receive mercy from the One in Heaven.[14]
42. Complementary responsibility of man and woman:
Male and female believers are supporters of each other; they enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong (Al-Tawbah IX: 71).
43. Emphasis on the unity of a human family:
People, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and from it created its mate. From the two of them, He filled the earth with many men and women (Al-Nisaa IV: 1).
People, your father is one and the same.[15]
44. Cooperation
Cooperate in charity and piety and not in sin and aggression (Al-Maidah V: 2).
These points are just a fragment from a great block, whose words have no end, and whose riches know no limits. Now I say this to you: if justice, security, prosperity, peace, equality, freedom, social solidarity, mutual mercy, tolerance, cooperation, competition, human dignity, the sacredness of human life, respect of individual property and privacy, dialogue, mutual acquaintance, commerce, industry, agriculture, technology, research, creativity, investment, economy, ecological safety – if a war on corruption, vice, shameful deeds, drugs, and crime – if all these, and the other things that are promoted by Islam do not meet the needs of the age and of contemporary life and do not respond to the aspirations for renovation, development, and modernization in the lives of individuals and communities, what then does respond to these needs, I wonder! What are the requirements of modernization and contemporary life as you see them? Is it the permission of anal sex and same-sex marriage and passing the laws and constitutional regulations that give legal foundation to these practices and to their culture? Or is it your advocacy of sexual chaos among children and adolescents? Or is it social permissiveness, the abolition of the legitimate family, and the promotion of shameful types of family, which is a dangerous course that leads to community destruction? Or is it the encouragement of crime, theft, and greed? Or is it spreading the culture of consumption anarchy at the expense of the culture of production and rational consumption? Or is it the militarization of international relations at the expense of coexistence and peace? Or is it the madness of cows, fish, fowl, and vegetables? Or is it land, sea, and air environmental pollution? Or is it the increasing rates of human poverty and starvation? Or is it the phenomenon of incurable diseases unknown in earlier human history? Or is it destructive universal wars? Or is it the code of annihilation and racial and religious extermination all over the earth? Or is it the organized crimes of robbery that have become characteristic of the largest city in the world?
If this in your view is part of contemporary life and of the response to the requirements of cultural advancement, for which Islam is, as you think, unsuitable, I would thank you for this testimony of which we are proud and to which we hold on. It is true that Islam is not suitable for and does not approve those perversities, nor to those social and ecological diseases and the like. It rather loathes and rejects them. It even aims at purifying individuals and societies from their filth and blights. Here are the wise and rational men of the world joining us in the war on social evils. They warn against a state of imbalance between the movement of cultural and material construction and the process of the behavioral construction of rising generations. You will be alone the allies of absurdity and value disorder in the trenches of the devil and his associates, unless you regain your common sense, which I sincerely hope for. I like to remind you here of the statements of some politicians and wise men that warn against any disruption in the balance between science and values in the equation of the contemporary progress of civilization and against the hazards of moral and value decline of the security and the progress of societies.
I begin with the testimony of President Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, as it was called at the time. I quote some paragraphs from his famous book Perestroika, in which he refers to the causes of destruction that afflicted the Soviet empire at the time. He also refers to the material edifices of civilization that the soviet built at the expense of values, principles and human nature. He tries to prevent that destruction, but it is too late. He says:
§ Our rockets may reach Halley’s Comet and fly to Venus with astounding accuracy. But beside these scientific and technological advances, we find an evident shortage in the competence to use scientific achievements for economic needs. Moreover, many Soviet house appliances are of poor quality. Unfortunately, that is not all. A gradual decline of our ideological and moral values have started. Corruption has invaded public ethics, and the rate of alcoholism and crime is rising (pp. 18-19).
§ Our main mission today is to enhance the individual’s morale, respect his privacy, and give him moral power. We are striving to make the intellectual abilities and all the cultural potential of society work to create a socially-active, spiritually-rich, straightforward, conscientious individual (p. 29).
§ The world does not only live under nuclear threat, but in the climate of major, unsolved social problems and pressures caused by scientific and technological advance and the aggravation of world problems. Mankind faces to day unprecedented problems, and hazards and dangers will continue in the future unless we find joint solutions (p. 80).
§ Through the years of our heroic and brilliant history, however, we failed to give attention to the special rights of women and the needs arising from their roles as mothers and housewives, and from their educational function which children cannot do without. While women work in research, on construction sites, and in production and services, and while they contribute to creative activities, they no longer have the time to perform their daily household duties, i.e. housework; educate their children; and establish a healthy family atmosphere. We have discovered that many of our problems – in the behavior of our children and young people, and in our morale, culture, and production – are partly due to the decline of family relations and of the lax attitude we have towards family responsibilities. This is a result opposite to our sincere and politically-justified desire to have women equal to men in everything. Now in the Perestroika process, we have started to control this situation. For this reason, we are having hot debates in the press, in public organizations, at work, and at home, over what we should do to ease another problem, which is the employment of women in strenuous jobs that are hazardous to their health. This is the heritage of the war in which we lost huge numbers of men. Now we are beginning to cope seriously with this problem. One of the most pressing social problems for us and most serious missions is the campaign against intoxicants which will reflect on the improvement of family health and the augmentation of the role of the family in society (pp. 138-39).
Faced with this horrible disorder, Gorbachev tries to forestall and listen to reason, to deal objectively with the serious and painful reality which his country, as well as the whole world, has come to. He cautions and warns people, telling them the only chance they have is to be up to the collective responsibility that would keep them from the threat of drowning and destruction which everybody faces. In spite of all the contradiction in the world today, the variety of social and political systems it has, all the different options on which countries have been founded through the ages – this world is one entirety, and all of us are passengers on the same vessel, the Earth. We must not allow it to sink, for there will be no second Noah’s ark.
Now having quoted these selected passages from the testimony of President Gorbachev, the president of the wall of civilization that has fallen down due to the imbalance in the sensitive relationship between the elements of science and values, I turn to selections from the testimony of President Richard Nixon, former president of the United States of America. Here are my selections from his famous book Seize the Moment. He says:
§ America is now moving downward in a vortex towards scientific and technological illiteracy, not because Americans have lost their ability to learn, but because part of the knowledge they receive has been bypassed by time. We are raising – whether in the heart of cities or within the Middle and Upper Classes in the suburbs – a new generation which can be called the MTV generation. The amazing ignorance of many members of this generation does not result from the limited intelligence of young people, but from the failure to exploit their intelligence. They live in the world of loud music, which is played at such a volume that it pierces the ear, and of television that displays fast-changing images that can hardly be followed by the eyes, and successive, sexually arousing scenes. Mottos, which used to be displayed as stickers on bumpers, are now printed on shirts, but they are still as hollow” (p. 259).
§ The richest country in the world cannot possibly accept that its drug consumption is almost equal to the consumption of all the countries of the world together, although its population is not more than one twentieth of the world population. The richest country in the world cannot have the highest crime rate in the world , nor can it accept that the number of people who die in America is twenty times the number of those killed in the Gulf War over the same period” (p. 267).
§ The richest country in the world cannot possibly accept to have a class of villains that make our major cities so unsafe that life becomes unbearable. Dealing with these problems does not need new ideas, but rather a renewal of our belief in the principles that have made us what we are (p. 268).
While in his book 1999: Victory without War, President Nixon says:
§ In the twentieth century, our technological progress took a few steps ahead of our political progress, and that is something we should not allow to happen in the next century, in order to reduce the chances of war and enhance the participation in the benefits of peace (p. 327).
§ One day Stalin, mockingly and with contempt, questioned the Church power in influencing world events, saying, “How many brigades are under the Pope’s command?” This comment shows his failure to understand the world and what drives it. Ultimately, history is determined by ideas not arms (p. 331).
In this context:
§ The great Indian poet Tagore said in a conversation with a Western thinker, “It is true that you have been able to soar in the air like birds and to dive in the sea like fish, but you have not managed to walk on earth like human beings.”
§ American novelist John Steinbeck says, “America’s problem is in its wealth. It has too many things, but it does not have an adequate spiritual message. We need a blow on the head to make us wake up from our wealth. We have conquered nature, but we have not conquered ourselves.”
§ The well-known former U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles says, “It is not a matter of material things; we have the greatest production of material things in the world. What we lack is sound, strong faith, without which all what we have remains too little.”
§ Mr. Eden, a well-known British prime minister in contemporary history, says, “It is absurd that countries and nations spend millions of pounds to protect themselves from a lethal machine that frightens them, but they spend nothing to control it.”
§ Alexis Carrel, a scientist and Nobel laureate, says in his book Man the Unknown: “Our knowledge of life and of how a human being should live is a far distance behind our knowledge of material things, and this lagging behind is what makes us suffer.”
§ Professor Judd, head of the Department of Philosophy at London University, says, “Physical sciences have given us a power that is worthy of the great, but we use it with the mentality of children and beasts. This discrepancy between our amazing scientific conquests and our embarrassing social infanthood is something we face at every turn in our lives.”
§ Former U.S. President Roosevelt says, “It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it.”
§ In a long essay with the title “The Value Crisis Has a Heavy Cost,” published in the daily Asharq Alawsat (No. 5730, 10.7.1994) with permission from the Los Angeles Times service, former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker says, “The decline of social values that we have is the cause of the rise of explosive corruption in America. 73% of the Americans are worried, and have the right to be worried, that the nation is suffering a moral decline. According to some estimates, crime alone costs the American economy more than 600 billion dollars annually. The abuse of funds and corruption add to that uncountable billions more. The human price – paid in the form of death, human life destruction, and frustrated hopes – is, however, much higher and is bitterly suffered, in varied degrees, due to our lack of immunity. The current value crisis dates back to the sixties, when cultural relativity and moral permissiveness began. America began its ominous experiment with social permissiveness thirty years ago. Criticism of that process may require three more decades.” Baker concludes his essay with an impressive statement; he says, “Personal responsibility is what made us a strong nation, while the persistence of the value crisis will turn us into a weak one.”
§ Confucius is known to have said, “A government has to provide people with three things: order, food, and military gear.” He was asked once, “If you have to give up one of these three, which would you start with?” He said, “Military gear.” “How about if you had to choose between food and order, which would you give up,” he was asked. He answered, “I would give up food.”
Confucius is right and his answers are sound. He chose to sacrifice military gear and food for the sake of order, because he realized, as other rational and wise men do, that weapons without order are destructive and fatal, and that when order disappears, food would be lacking and growth would stop.
After this long and detailed discussion to show the invalidity of the claim of a group of our nation that Islam is not suitable to meet the requirements of the age and of cultural continuity, I will go on to show the invalidity of the claim of the other group that says the Islamic state does not exist in the lives of Muslims today. They maintain that Islamic countries are mini-states ruled by illegitimate regimes and created by the Zionist-Crusader conspiracy. They are, according to this group, mini-states allied to the enemies of God and the nation. To this group of Muslims, whose minds are possessed and whose reasoning is paralyzed by an extreme conspiracy interpretation, which tempts them to suspect the intentions and inward thoughts of their fellow Muslims, and encourages them to violate the sacredness of their faith and beliefs and to accuse them of hypocrisy and alliance to parties other than God and His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him—to this group I say: To begin with, I do not and cannot deny the conspiracy, nor the influence of conspiracy in human progress, past and present. Like them I believe in it and also believe that it is being served and its purpose facilitated by agents within the Islamic nation and outside it.
But I do not support the mania that uses conspiracy as the ultimate interpretation of all events within and around the nation, which is, unfortunately, the habit and approach of this group. For me, the assumption of the good intentions of Muslims takes priority over suspicion, and this is in conformity with the Islamic approach and ethics which we are commanded to adopt in the Glorious Qur'an, as when God, the Most Sublime, says, “Believers, avoid much conjecture, for some conjecture is a sin. Do not spy, and do not backbite one another…” (Al-Hujuraat XLIX: 12). God, the Most Glorious, also says, “Most of them follow nothing but mere conjecture. But conjecture can in no way be a substitute for truth. God has full knowledge of what they do” (Yunus X: 36). I also comply with the command of God, blessed are His Names: “… and do not, out of a desire for the fleeting gains of this life, say to one who offers you the greeting of peace, ‘You are not a believer,’ for with God are abundant gains. Thus have you been in days gone by. But God has bestowed on you His grace. Therefore, seek out the truth. Indeed God is always aware of what you do.” (Al-Nisaa IV: 94). He, the Most Sublime, also says, “… and weigh with even scales, ◘ and do not deprive others of what is rightfully theirs, and do not act wickedly on earth, causing corruption” (Al-Shu'araa XXVI: 182-83).
Concerning your odd understanding and disagreeable statement that the word “group” in the tradition of God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, that says “A group of my nation continue to be prominently upright until Doomsday,”[16] refers to individuals and religious groups exclusively, and does not cover governments and states at all, this is ingrate singling out that constitutes an onslaught against the approach of God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, and on the interpretation of the Well-Guided Caliphs, the Prophet’s other Companions, and early generations of Muslims in general, may God have be pleased with them all. It is even an onslaught against the Islamic approach, which cannot accommodate such sterile, morbid interpretation that completely contradicts the statement of God, the Most Sublime: “Among those whom We have created there is a nation who guide others by means of the truth and with it administer justice” (Al-A'raaf VII: 181).
This verse confirms the extensive implications of the word “group” as used in the tradition of God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him. These implications make the meaning of the word embrace the nation in its general sense, rather than in any particular sense, which may refer to one individual, as in the words of God, the Most Sublime, “Abraham was a nation” (Al-Nahl XVI: 120), or a group of individuals: “…he found there a nation of people drawing water” (Al-Qassas XXVIII: 23). The meaning even includes, specifically, the state and government, because establishing and enforcing justice is something that the state and leadership assume and that requires an active authority of the state and the ruler. This is the firm basis of the way that the early generations of the nation understood the Book of God, the Most Sublime, and the Sunna of His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him. For example, they understood well the Messenger’s injunction: “When one of you sees an abomination, let him alter it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; and if he cannot, then in his heart, and that is the weakest level of belief.”[17] The majority of scholars understand this tradition to have a specific, rather than a general, significance, in the sense of specifying authority, rather than generalizing it. They say that change with the hand is to be undertaken by the leader and government; change with the tongue, by scholars and reformers; and change in the heart, by people in general, or as the situation requires.
By referring to Ibn Kathir for the interpretation of God’s words, “Among those whom We have created there is a nation who guide others by means of the truth and with it administer justice,” we find the following:
- The phrase “Among those whom We have created” means part of the nation.
- The phrase “a nation who guides others by means of the truth” means that they do so by words and action, that is, they tell and promote it and invite others to it.
- The phrase “with it administer justice” means they apply it and base their judgment on it.
Traditionally, it is said that the nation mentioned in the verse is Muhammad’s nation. Sa'eed Ibn Qatadah, interpreting this verse says, “We have learned that when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, recited this verse he would say, ‘This one refers to you. The people before were allotted a similar one.’ He was referring to the followers of Moses, peace be upon him, as evident in God’s statement, ‘… among the people of Moses a nation who guide others by means of the truth and with it administer justice’ (Al-A'raaf VII: 159).”
In regards to God’s statement, “Among those whom We have created there is a nation who guide others by means of the truth and with it administer justice,” Abu Ja'far Al-Razi quotes Al-Rabee' Ibn Anas as saying that God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, says, “A group of my nation continue to be prominently upright, unaffected by those who fail them and those who oppose them, until Doomsday.”[18] In another version, it is “until God’s Will is done, and they are still as they are.”
That is what Ibn Kathir says in interpreting the verse “Among those whom We have created .…” It is clear from what is quoted above concerning the interpretation of “who guide others by means of the truth” that it means that they tell and promote the truth, and that “with it administer justice” means that they apply it and base their judgment on it. The words of God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, ‘This one refers to you’ confirms the meaning that includes the state and leadership, as the judiciary is a concern of the state and the leadership. Said while the Messenger is still alive and in charge of Muslim affairs, being the head of state, confirms that the reference in the statement “Among those whom We have created there is a nation who guide others by means of the truth and with it administer justice” is that the state and the authority of God’s Law will persist in the lives of people; that the authority of God, the Most Sublime, will not disappear from these lives; and that He, the Most Glorious and Sublime, will destine, in all times and places, some of his believing servants to assume the responsibility of applying His Law and establish His justice.
The gist of what is signified by the tradition of God’s Messenger, peace be upon him, “A group of my nation continue to be prominently upright …” is that this group includes, in general, individuals and groups, and, in particular and most especially, the state. This is because it is the state and the ruler that are concerned with God’s command to assume the responsibilities of establishing His Divine Law and applying justice among people.
With this understanding, I assert that the authority of God, the Most Sublime, will continue on earth and that the Islamic state and Law will not disappear from human life until God’s Will is done. It is true that over time and with the change in place, the Islamic state might suffer a state of weakness and backwardness, and it might have some types of impurity and disorder, as it is clear in a tradition narrated by Hudhaifah Ibn Al-Yaman, may God be pleased with him. He says:
People used to ask God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, about good, and I used to ask him about evil, fearing that I would be exposed to it.
I said, “God’s Messenger, we were in a dark and evil age and God sent us this good, but is there after this good any evil?”
He said, “Yes.”
I said, “And is there after that evil any good?”
He said, ‘Yes, and it will have some impurity’
I said, “What kind of impurity will it have?”
He said, “People who promote something other than my guidance, some of which you would recognize and some you would censure.”
I said, “And is there after that good any evil?”
He said, ‘Yes, people who will invite others to the gates of Hell, and when someone listens to them, they will cast him inside it.”
I said, “God’s Messenger, describe them for us.”
He said, “They are of our own people and speak our language.”
I said, “What do you order me to do if I live to witness that?”
He said, “You stay with the society and leader of Muslims.”
I said, “What if they have no society and no leader?”
He said, “Then keep away from all those groups, even if you have to abide by the stump of a tree until death comes to you in that condition.”[19]
As mentioned above, the gist of what is signified by the tradition of God’s Messenger, peace be upon him, “A group of my nation continue to be prominently upright …” is that this group includes individuals, groups, and the state. With this understanding, I assert again that the authority of God, the Most Sublime, will continue on earth and that the Islamic state and will not disappear from human life until God’s Will is done. It is true that, as implied in the tradition narrated by Hudhaifah Ibn Al-Yaman, may God be pleased with him, that the nation may be afflicted by weakness and impurity, but that does not make it disappear or cancel its existence. Its condition is contingent on the condition of its rulers, be it weakness, strength, sincerity, non-involvement, justice, oppression, uprightness, or immorality. Yet, whatever the condition is, positive be it or negative, that state remains an Islamic one, representing the strength and banner of Islam, the continuity of Islam’s leadership, and the presence of the Islamic nation. It maintains the rights and obligations of Muslims, protects their heritage and history, and guards their sovereignty among nations, which is possible only with the existence of the state and the leadership. On this basis, the argument that the establishment of a cultural presence of the Islamic state is not possible is refuted, and with it the argument that the absence of the Islamic nation from contemporary civilization is inevitable is also refuted.
However, there remains a question we are confronted with by a third group who want to be fair to us after being convinced, in theory, by what we say of Islam and its cultural approach. The say: You speak of Islam’s values, principles, purposes, and teachings. You present to us passages from the Qur'an and Sunna, and historical field samples of Islamic justice, equality, freedom, counsel-seeking, security, social solidarity, and research and its various applications, as well as other virtues and positive points, which support and confirm your statements about Islam and its cultural efficiency. We are thus inclined to be convinced by what you say and driven to see that model in your lives and believe in it and its cultural competence even more strongly. However, we look right and left, but we find no contemporary, live example that serves as evidence supporting that. We see no example that offers people a field model they can follow and use as a practical guide, and also use as evidence against the stubborn attitude of rejecters and antagonist of Islam’s values and teachings, those who try to keep people away from that great approach. What is then the secret of this estrangement and absence from real life?
In response I say, I am, to begin with, shocked by this question, which arouses in me certain questions. I ask: where does this feeling of estrangement originate? What evidence of it do those who pose the question have? What is the secret of this ignorance or overlooking of the condition in the Islamic countries close to and far from them? What are the causes of this estrangement that fails to recognize the nature of the current regimes in these countries? Are such questions realistic, based on investigation, scrutiny, and an objective picture of conditions in Islamic countries? Or do the questions stem from a deliberate oversight and an open denial of what they do know and conceive? Or are they questions raised for the sake of obstinate argument and unreasonable contention, or for envious and malicious purposes? I will assume good intention, for it is worthy of a Muslim to do so and it serves to make the dialogue objective. I will regard such questions as resulting from ignorance of reality, i.e. the absence of actual observation of the real conditions of certain Islamic communities, or that the questions result from a negative campaign in the media, from a failure of the concerned party in the field of information, or from a media blackout imposed by malicious parties, which, for purposes of their own or goals they are trying to achieve, are embarrassed and grieved when rising generations have the chance to learn about a field situation that represents the values, principles, and approach of Islam.
I will try to clear the ambiguity, regardless of its causes; to end the mystification, whatever its motives are; and to answer the questions, despite what we believe to be behind their emergence, at least in the minds of those who live the reality which I offer as an answer to this question, which is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is not an exclusive example, for, in my estimation, all Islamic countries have a certain degree of good and uprightness. I choose it, however, because Saudi Arabia is where I live, and thus it is the model and the reality which I experience, witnessing the impact of its system in people’s personal, family, social, cultural, political, security, agricultural, industrial, and commercial lives. I also feel how all this is related to Islam as a faith, an idea, a system, and a way of life. It is, by God’s will, a field demonstration to which everyone who has passed through or resided in this country testifies, if he is inclined to fairness, objectivity, and impartiality in evaluating what he experiences. I believe such people are, by the grace of God, many.
By the grace of God, the Most Sublime, and as a fulfillment of the promise He undertook when He said, “Among those whom We have created there is a nation who guide others by means of the truth and with it administer justice,” the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is, praise be to God, the fort of this Islam which will be maintained till Doomsday. God, blessed are His Names, says, “It is We Who revealed the Qur'an, and We shall preserve it” (Al-Hijr XV: 9). God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, says, “A group of my nation continue to be triumphant, unaffected by those who fail them, until Doomsday,” and he says,
“At the beginning of every one hundred years, God sends someone who renews for Muslims the state of their religion.” He, best blessings and peace be upon him, also says, “Arabia is not a place where two religions can coexist.” God has chosen the land of Arabia and its sacred heart, honored Makkah, to be the location of His pure revelation, Most Sublime is He; the source of the light of His great message: the message of Islam; and the lighthouse of divine guidance on earth. He destined for Arabia, throughout the ages, men selected by Him, the Most Glorious, to receive that great, blessed light; to declare, with it, their servitude to their Lord and Creator; to introduce it into their lives and the lives of following generation; and to invite the people around them to it.
The first of these men was the master of all creatures and the last prophet and messenger, our Master, Prophet, Messenger, and Leader, Muhammad, son of Abdullah, the illiterate messenger and prophet, the chosen one, best blessings and peace be upon him. Next came his dutiful caliphs, the rational, well-guided leaders – Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali, may they all receive God’s satisfaction and blessing – and those leaders of Muslims who followed their pattern through successive ages. Then, the Islamic nation suffered some disorder and weakness. It was fragmented; the intrigue, cunning, and malice of its enemies intensified; the awe they had felt towards Muslims was shaken; and they gained control over most of Muslim lands, looted Muslim resources, and tampered with the education of Muslim generations in an attempt to spoil their faith and deform their culture. However, this malicious abuse was always confronted with the adherence of this nation to its faith and the firmness of its belief in its identity and originality. Movements of liberation, reform, and resistance emerged in many Islamic countries, which regained their freedom, independence, and sovereignty.
To Arabia, which, as the rest of the Islamic nation, had suffered some flaw in its faith and some slackening in its strict adherence to Islam and its system, and which was afflicted with division and fragmentation – God, the Most Sublime, sent two venerable leaders – as I think them to be, without commending anyone beyond God’s assessment – namely, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud and, supporting him, Imam Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahab, may God have mercy upon both of them. They pledged to each other to undertake reform, revival, and guidance to rectify the damage suffered by the land and people and to counter the departure from Islamic Law. They were, by the Grace of God and assistance, successful in their efforts, and the nation began to regain its health, in its faith, worship practices, conduct, and responsibilities.
That blessing grew and its beneficial, sanctified effects spread. Later, the leadership of this revivalist reform movement was assumed by King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, may God have mercy upon him, and he resumed the efforts and the undertaking to follow the course of reform, revival, and construction, on the basis of God’s religion and Law. He unified the parts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and, by this, laid once again the foundations of a contemporary Islamic state, reaffirming the basics and starting points of such a state, basing on Islam and its Law its values and ideals in all the fields of its internal structure and foreign relations. What he did was a translation of the approach of Islam, with its integration and inclusiveness in governance and politics, an approach based on a balance between the world of values, principles, and behavioral rules, and the world of materials, tools, and skills. This balance was in turn based on the systematic teachings of Islam and on an emphasis on, and protection of, the distinctive character of Islam, and also on an emphasis of adherence to the principles of the Islamic principles of coexistence, competition, and cooperation with others in everything that may help to protect against corruption on earth and in human communities. The framework of such coexistence was mutual respect and appreciation, as well as positive cooperation to achieve the common interests of human communities, and maintain their security and stability, and the development of their resources, to guarantee, by all possible means, human dignity and freedom, and to administer justice among people.
Thus, on these principles and values, the structure of Islamic society has been firmly founded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The ethics and restraints of the relations between its sectors and forces have been given a firm foundation within a framework that clearly defines the standards and controls of full and pure loyalty on the part of both ruler and subjects to Islamic Law and to Islamic faith, values, and principles. It also defines the standards and controls of patriotism and the protection of the nation’s sovereignty and all what is sacred to it. Thus, the edifices of this pioneer Islamic state has risen high on the cultural, social, political, development, and security levels. In reference to this kingdom, one of the most prominent Islamic scholars in contemporary history, Sheikh Hasan Al-Banna, may God have mercy upon him, says, “Who could have thought that King Abdul Al-Aziz Al Saud – after his family had been sent into exile, his people scattered, and his dominion usurped – would be able to regain that dominion with twenty odd men? Then that dominion turned into one of the hopes of the Islamic World to restore its glory and revive its unity.”[20]
The Saudi movement towards realizing that great Islamic hope has been going on. The sons of King Abdul Al-Aziz Al Saud, may God have mercy upon him, have succeeded him in flying the banner, confirming their adherence to the blessed movement, renewing the pledge to follow the immortal divine system and to observe Islamic Law in their actions and judgment, and to apply Islamic values, principles, and teachings to all affairs of their country. God has blessed this progression, and the Kingdom achieved record development in record time in all fields: education, construction, health, industry, agriculture, and trade. The infrastructure of the country, with all its cultural components, has been accomplished at the highest level, both in extent and in quality.
Once, while I was discussing a subject in a symposium on “The Islamic Nation and the Crisis of Cultural Resumption,” I cited the Saudi experiment as an Islamic model that is moving forward, overstepping that crisis and its causes. An honorable friend, who has been residing in the West for a long time, addressed me, saying, “Sir, you are telling us about things we regard as dreams, while the information available to us asserts that there is not a single country in the Arab and Islamic World today that wants Islam to begin with, not to mention the reluctance to apply it and adhere to it the way you are describing. In spite of my confidence in you, I am afraid that what you mention is one of those exaggerations we are used to hear, that soon are belied and refuted by reality, causing embarrassment to the person who has spoken and to any of his listeners who happens to quote him out of confidence in him. Therefore, I am sorry to tell you how I feel, but I hope you can give us some evidence that supports what you say. I thank you and apologize if there is any offense in what I am saying.”
I said to that friend:
By God, brother, you have not offended me. You merely stated what you felt, and that is a manly, objective, and sincere search for the truth. I hope that God will reward you, and that there are many people like you. As for the evidence of what I have said, if you mean theoretical, written evidence in the jurisprudence (Fiqh) sense, that is evidence from the Qur'an and sunna, I admit, and declare at the outset, that I have no evidence from these sources that refers to the Saudi experiment by name, because, as you know, revelation stopped at the death of God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him. If, on the other hand, you mean field evidence and facts from practical everyday life, which I believed you do, I say that such evidence is manifest and visible to all people, whether they are close by or far away.
I can only talk here of things and facts, which I do not believe any member of this audience who has visited, resided in, or worked in the Kingdom would deny or disregard unless he is an ingrate or malicious person. I believe the members of the honored audience are too decent to be ingrate or malicious, although I do not commend anyone beyond God’s assessment, but that are what I think of you, and when God, the most Glorious, is on your side, you will need nothing. You all know, my God look after you, that the cultural purposes in Islam are defined by Muslim jurists and scholars as the purposes and necessary requirements of the Law. These are the protection of
1. religion,
2. reason,
3. the soul,
4. family honor, and
5. Property.
This quintuple set, and its requirements and enhancements constitute the Islamic approach in cultural progress. Believing in, applying, and adhering to this set, and striking a balance between its element that results in their integration, is the standard by which we can measure the accuracy of the cultural progress of people, and which we use as a foundation for any cultural experiment in the life of our Islamic nation, past and present. One exception to this is the centuries when its character of being best was definitely established, of which we are told by God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, when he says, “The best of all centuries is mine, then the one which will come after it, then the one which will come after that.” Another exception is the ages in which the nation is characterized as being best by the consensus of Muslim scholars, such as the reign of the well-guided caliph Omar Ibn Abdul Al-Aziz, may God be pleased with him. Other ages have to be evaluated by the cultural set I have mentioned and by its components, requirements, and enhancements. It is my opinion that any cultural condition of our nation in any Islamic country is deemed worthy in as much as it adheres to this set and improves itself on its basis, and it is deemed unworthy in as much as it departs from it and commits itself to some other cultural set.
Like other countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is subject to evaluation by this standard, by which its current conditions have to be examined and judged to determine, with full objectivity and impartiality how much of the character of being best it has.
Let us start with the first component, the protection of religion. As you know, religion is a faith, acts of worship, a Law, and the way of dealing with others. Let us take first the question of faith. Does any of you have some first-hand or learned information to the effect that people’s faith in the Kingdom is in danger? or that the system followed there strives to violate, deform, drive astray, or enfeeble that faith? Is that recommended, directly or indirectly, by educational curricula, which, as you know, are the most critical field of education and most sensitive to positive and negative influence.
I will give my own testimony as a person who has worked in the field of education and has had a direct experience with Saudi curricula for over twenty-five years. I have here in the audience honorable colleagues in the same field, who have formerly been in the Kingdom. I say in front of them and with full confidence and responsibility that I do not know of one single word that is contrary to, or in conflict with, the belief of the Followers of Sunna and Consensus in all elementary, intermediate, and secondary level curricula. I even know that some retired educationists use, jokingly, a colloquial Egyptian expression to the effect that the Saudis have gone a little bit too far, referring to the great emphasis on the question of faith and monotheism. I also know that some Saudi scholars and young people are accused of being too strict and of expanding the set of primary principles of jurisprudence (Fiqh) to include some of the secondary sources, doing so out of zeal and to emphasize the question of monotheism and primary principles. Here, to vindicate myself and give a true testimony, I say that the scholars of the Kingdom are innocent of this charge, that this kind of strictness is characteristic of some students and zealous youths, which, I assume, has been known throughout the history of the Islamic nation.
As for worship practices, the foremost of these is prayer, whose performance is the pledge of believers to their Lord and faith, as stated by God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, who says, “The pledge between us and them is prayer; those who uphold it uphold religion, and those who extinguish it extinguish religion.” What I know, and is known to those who have resided in the Kingdom, is that the question of prayer is officially written down in the state’s administrative system and included in the official daily duties of every worker in public administration. Every prayer has an officially determined hour in the workday. Government agencies of all levels and all public institutions suspend their work to perform prayer on time. Even shopping areas and marketplaces are closed for every prayer, so that everyone may perform it. Any person, who deviates from this, exposes himself to official questioning and to the prescribed penalty for his action.
The same applies to the obligation of fasting, with which, depending on the conditions of the time, the schedules and hours of public administration offices change, in order to serve this annual rite of worship and its special spiritual climate. The same is true of the pilgrimage obligation, but there is no sufficient time to go into the details of what is offered and paid to allow its performance to be at the highest possible level and safest possible way. As for Zakat, it is an integral part of the system in the country. Those who can afford it – and they are, praise be to God, many in the Kingdom – pay, in some cases, as much as scores of millions per person. The benefit of these funds reaches Muslims throughout the world through Islamic institutions inside and outside the Kingdom. Anybody who desires to have details on this point can refer to the programs and activities of the International Islamic Relief Organization and other charity institutions. In regards to transactions, the Kingdom, since it was founded, has been applying the text and spirit of Islamic Law. In fact it is sometimes taken against the Kingdom that it has no constitution that is written in the international conventional form, and that it is content with the Glorious Qur'an and the sunna of God’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, as a constitution and a basis for all its administrative and executive bylaws. This is a false, unacceptable charge. [Of course this presentation of mine took place before the date of the Kingdom’s basic system and also the date of the Advisory Council System and the Province Council System.] Commercial, industrial, and investment transactions, as well as the Judiciary, punishment, and other systems all follow the stipulations of Islamic Law and the teachings of Islam in general.
What I have said is just a fragment from a great block. To go into details about it, I would need much longer time than this meeting offers. For example, I have not spoken about the Two Holy Mosques and their affairs; King Fahd’s Compound for the publication and free distribution of the Glorious Qur'an, as well as Qur'an studies and translations to various world languages; schools for learning the Qur'an by heart and Glorious Qur'an societies, which exist in every part of the Kingdom; the annual contest for learning the Qur'an by heart, held in Makkah; the activities and institutions of Islamic advocacy; mosque activities, symposia, and periodical lectures all over the Kingdom, and their blessed valuable effects; or Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, its activities inside and outside the Kingdom, its institutes in various parts of the Islamic World and in Europe and America, and the study and advocacy courses on Islam and its teachings and values, offered in every continent. [This presentation was also at a time before the creation of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Advocacy, and Guidance, and the tasks and programs undertaken by it, whose advantages and positive ambitions have been recognized by all, locally and internationally.]
Nor have I spoken of the Islamic University in Medina, which admits students from the Islamic World; or the activities and endeavors of the Muslim World League (MWL), which was founded by King Abdul Al-Aziz in Makkah in 1926 and is the oldest international institution registered by the United Nations. The MWL, of which I have the honor of being the Assistant Secretary General, undertakes two major tasks: the enhancement of Arab and Islamic solidarity and the initiation of dialogue between cultures and civilizations.
Nor have I spoken of the Muslim World League and its offices in many countries of the world, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and similar institutions, the Agency of Qur'an and Sunna Scientific Miraculous Nature, the Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) Assembly, the World Higher Council of Mosques.
Now in the time remaining, I will briefly go through the conditions and facts relevant to the five purposes of Islamic Law. As already mentioned, adhering to and striking a balance between these purposes is the standard of cultural progress and refinement.
Let me speak of the component of “protection of the soul.” As you know, protection of the soul is achieved through maintaining a balance between spirituality (the spirit) and material aspects (the body). The nature of the spirit is protected by creating a spiritual climate for it and enforcing its characteristics. This can only be through Islam, as a faith, acts of worship, and a way of dealing with others. This is something I have spoken of in discussing the component of “the protection of religion.” As for the body, it is protected by guarding its safety and refraining from assaulting its constitutio