Religious Parties in or society can
be classified into three categories on the basis of their aims and objectives.
The first category comprises religious
schools of thought which have organised themselves into religious parties
to propagate their specific thoughts and safeguard their rights and interests.
The basic principle underlying their formation is that since Islam grants
every person the right to freely deliberate on all affairs of life and
formulate his own views, therefore, if a group of people adheres to certain
thoughts in common, which may be the result of a lone or a collective intellectual
endeavour, they should be granted this right also by Islam to organise
themselves in the form of a party. We acknowledge this principle and, in
our opinion, upon its basis various schools of thought can organise themselves
into parties. They can strive with all freedom to propagate their beliefs
and increase their following. In this regard, though, certain stipulations
should be sought from them: They should abstain from denouncing and censuring
other religious schools and issuing religious verdicts against them. Each
party should refrain from inflaming and provoking the common man against
other parties and should also not be a source of any hindrance in the propagation
of their beliefs. Furthermore, the common practice of the party leaders
forbidding their followers to sit in the company of scholars of some other
religious school should be discontinued. They should only be permitted
to rationally reason out the flaws in the thoughts of other religious schools
and at the same time positively assert their own. Intellectual disagreements
are, in fact, a blessing. It is due to them that the frontiers of knowledge
expand, making the truth more and more discernable. But these differences
should remain within bounds and not exceed them by manifesting themselves
into rivalries and enmities. This is what actually leads towards religious
prejudice and bigotry, which are now so apparent in our society. An Islamic
State can in no way tolerate such attitudes and tendencies.
Among the second category are constituted
those religious parties whose aim is to disseminate the basic message of
Islam and to reform the moral character of the people. These are the parties
that assist an Islamic government in fulfilling its primary duties of Da‘wah-ilal-khayr1,
Amar-bi-al-Ma‘ruf2
and Nahi- ‘anil-Munkarn3
and an Islamic Government is as such indebted to them for this service.
For an Islamic State this noble collaboration is no doubt indispensable,
but can only produce the desired results when these parties base their
message only and only upon the Qur’an and Sunnah. When such virtuous enterprises base themselves upon
stories, legends and folklore then inevitably the true picture of Islam
begins to vanish from the people’s minds, and they are ultimately not even
able to distinguish the good from the evil. Unfortunately, such religious
parties are not free from this serious drawback. Until and unless this
flaw is overcome, no Islamic government can accomplish its obligation of
Da‘wah-ilal-Khayr.
The third category comprises parties
that have been formed to strive to establish an Islamic government and
enforce the Islamic Shari‘ah at the
state level. Quite obviously, after this enforcement they would have no
justification to exist upon previous objectives. They would, in fact, be
left to accept two alternatives: either to devote all their energy in reforming
the nation or to transform themselves into political parties and by adopting
constitutional measures strive for a better political leadership. These
are the only two options open for them, which would, of course, have the
same stipulations and restrictions mentioned earlier on.
However, among this category there
are some other religious parties as well which insist that even after the
creation of Pakistan as an Islamic Republic, a Muslim will die the death
of Jahiliyyah, if without any
excuse he is not a member of any such party or, otherwise, does not form
his own party. They further assert that for such a religious party of this
third category, the Prophet’s Sunnah is that its leader will assume
the title of Amir and his followers would be required to pledge a covenant
of Sam`u Tav`at (to listen and to obey). This point of view is in
obvious contradiction with the Qur’an and Sunnah and amounts to a revolt against the state affairs
of Pakistan. Therefore, no political party can be established on this basis
in Pakistan.
Furthermore, a little deliberation
on political process shows that political struggle to bring about an Islamic
revolution through elections should be led by a person who is actually
a politician and possesses the qualities of leadership. People like Allama
Iqbal, Mawlana
Abu-al-Kalam Azad and Mawlana
Abu-al-‘Ala Maududi who are basically scholars and thinkers should not lead such an endeavour.
People like Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif are
the suitable leaders of such enterprises. No doubt, if such people lead
the struggle for an Islamic revolution in the field of politics, extraordinary
results can be achieved, but if researchers and scholars tread this path,
all their efforts would inevitably end up in vain.
Moreover, if, for this purpose, a
set-up is formed, it should be a political party like the Muslim League
or the People’s Party. The party should regard the bringing about of an
Islamic revolution as its object and should try to win over people in its
ranks who possess a political standing and as such can become natural supporters
of this movement. Religious parties are neither appropriate for this struggle
nor will they ever be. They are destined to suffer successive set backs
and to eventually lose their identity.
Whatever strategy is adopted during
the elections, it should be based on capitalising on the existing position
of political affiliation of the masses. Elections are not contested for
the propagation of one’s ideological views or as an introduction for the
party; they are only contested to benefit from the realities which exist
and they are contested for victory. In such matters, remaining indifferent
to victory or defeat is against human nature, and nothing against nature
can persist in this world for long.
These are the pre-requisites of this
methodology. If a movement or a party does not fulfil them, its fate will
be no different from that of ‘The Jama‘at-i-Islami’ whose struggle spans more than five decades. Consequently, it is apparent
to every keen eye that the Jama‘at’s quest for success in this struggle has:
--- almost totally deprived it of
its ideological identity, its goal of reforming the Muslims and its zeal
of disseminating the truth.
--- transferred the leadership within
the various levels of the party from scholars and intellectuals to people
who are not only devoid of these abilities but also politically ineffective.
Consequently, an atmosphere of gloom prevails at its various frontiers.
--- gone a long way in eliminating
the integrity and nobility its ranks once possessed and whatever little
remains of them seems to perish soon.
It is therefore certain that this methodology
is appropriate for a scholar or an intellectual only if his message has
influenced the masses so much and they agree to his leadership to such
an extent that elections for him merely become a constitutional need for
a political change, and whenever he intends he can obtain the public mandate
in his favour through them.
(Translated from Ghamidi's "Burhan" by
Shehzad Saleem)
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