On the Importance of Politics

 Dr. Firoz Mahboob Kamal

Politics is the only tool to clean up societies and to establish truth, human rights, and justice. In Islam it is the highest ibadah. It is called jihad. So, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) engaged in politics and was head of the state for 10 years. For such a political mission, more than half of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) became martyrs.

If Muslims don’t engage in this greatest ibadah then Allah’s sovereignty and laws (sharia) survive only in the holy Qur’an.  For such catastrophic neglect of politics, they must pay the penalty. And it is very heavy and awful. The penalty must be paid by being ruled by the worst criminals like pharaohs of the day. Such criminal rulers then work as the tool of Divine punishment. Bangladesh, Pakistan, and many Muslims countries are the exact examples. Most failures of these countries owe to the political failures. In the hereafter, these failed people will be dumped in hellfire. It is a Qur’anic promise of the Almighty Creator.

What is politics? It is the passionate struggle to implement policies to change the state and its institution. Therefore, those who have thoughts and plans for people, they must possess politics. Cattles do not have thoughts; hence they don’t have politics. They live for themselves. The same is true for those who don’t have politics. The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle defined man as a political animal. Hence it implies that those who don’t have passion for politics live only as animals.

As the viceroy of the Almighty Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala, changing state and societies as per Qur’anic guidance is indeed the job description of every Muslim. Hence, a Muslim can never stay away from politics. This is why 100 percent early Muslims took part in politics in the Prophet (peace be upon him)’s time. They invested their talent, money, time and even blood to bring success in politics. This was indeed considered the true marker of commitment for Allah Subhanahu Tala’s cause. Faith of a believer in fact expresses through politics. In the early days of Islam, those who didn’t take part in such a solemn effort were labelled as hypocrites (munafiq).

But now, the belief and behaviour of the Muslims have massively been corrupted. The faith that was preached by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) no more survives in most Muslims. They don’t bother about the fate of Islam and Muslims. Therefore, even one percent Muslims do not take part in politics. Instead, most Muslims take pride in staying away from politics. Changing societies, establishing justice, and aligning with Allah Subhanahu Tala’s cause is not their agenda. Strangely, staying aloof from politics is considered as a sign of spirituality. So, the political legacy of the Prophet (peace be upon him) has little place in their life.

This is why most Muslim countries could be easily conquered by the enemies of Islam without any tough fight. These non-political Muslims silently watched such a takeover by the foreign and native enemies. They think offering 5-time prayer, month-long fasting in Ramadan, zakat and hajj are the only things that Islam wants to promote. Because of their inaction, the enemies could dare discard al-Quran from the schools and sharia from the judiciary. What could be the worst betrayal against Islam than this. But such betrayal has become the policy in most Muslim countries. Most Muslims thus live without the true Islam. So, they continue to deviate and decline. 25/04/2023