What are the conditions for a country to declare an Islamic state today? Thank you. Yes. In fact, at present no country is capable of doing it. You know, mainly, there are so many reasons, but mainly there is one big obstacle in the way of the Muslim states to declare genuinely their state to be Islamic. Because they believe, as against our belief, that the temporal powers should be held by the caliph. And he is the rightful authority to rule over the entire world of Islam.
So, in the absence of caliph, where a ruler draw his authority from? There is no caliph. This is exactly the argument presented by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk against those who believe in continuation of Khilafah and they wanted him to declare a Khilafat for the whole Islamic world. He resisted it and at that time some Muslim scholars of Turkey wrote very interesting articles. And this is even today the official position of the Turkish government. That unless a Khalifa is born or appointed by God, nobody has a right to rule in the name of Islam and nobody has a right to impose his Islam on others. From then on, a controversy developed and Abdo, what’s his name? Muhammad Abdo. He also wrote on this subject.
And other scholars from Egypt have also written on this subject. And the controversy is now raging as to what is an Islamic state and how it can come into being and so on and so forth. The opinion is divided. Some believe as I say, it is impossible for an Islamic state to come into being because there is no Khilafat and Khilafat can only be born through the institution of prophethood. Once it’s broken, then when there is no prophethood left at all, no Khilafat can ever come. So once and for all, the concept of creation of a Khilafat is gone to the four winds. The second opinion is that Islamic state, whichever it is, wherever it is, is based on the majority of Muslims.
And whenever a country has a majority of Muslim, an Islamic state is born. And that should be run according to the laws of Sharia. Whoever is the head of the state, he is also official representative of Islam and he’s also a spiritual head automatically. This is how Khilafat is born. But the objection against it is that the others raise this objection that all right, a Khilafat is born in one country. What about another Muslim state where the majority is Muslims, but they don’t want an Islamic state? And if they want, their caliph is different from your caliph.
And they don’t agree in principles. And the fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence are understood and interpreted differently by the two different states. So who would be the rightful caliph and which would be the Islamic state and which would be the non-Islamic state? So this rigmarole cannot be settled. It is a Pandora’s box which once opened. Nothing can go back into it again. Nuisance upon nuisance, problem upon problem is added. So whatever way you look at, the Islamic scholars of the present day have totally failed to give a strong logical justification for the creation of an Islamic state and how it comes into being. Yet you know, as you have yourself mentioned, Sudan claim for instance.
In Pakistan this is happening. In some other places, in Iran it is happening and so on. In each case you will understand, if you correctly analyze the situation, it is not Islam in which these people are interested. It is only a bona fides, a justification for rule the other people in the name of an ideology where you do not have the masses support. So whenever a minority in an Islamic country, which is not fully supported by the majority of that country, wants to rule that country, this is the ready-made excuse for them.
They can always say, well, in the name of Islam, we want to establish Islam, who are you to go against it? Islam will be established willy-nilly even if we have to remove hundreds or thousands of heads. Nobody has a right to rise against Islam. So they identify themselves as Islam. As if they themselves were Islam personified. And so under this ruse and this false excuse, they have raison d’etre for their rule. That’s all there is to it. They are not interested in Islam because all their states are run on corruption, on dishonesty, on lack of justice. On cruelty in some cases. Not that all the voices are together in all the present day states which are ruled in the name of Islam.
But some states would have this voice and some the other voice, whatever is necessary. If there is no corruption in Iran, well and good. But there is a positive cruelty and deviance from the Islamic way of justice. People are not given enough time or opportunity to defend themselves against whatever allegations are raised against them. And they are persecuted. Hundreds of thousands of people’s life have been taken, not according to the Islamic way of justice. But according to a dictatorial measure of justice.
So where is Islam? Go to the streets of Pakistan. The corruption is growing many folds. In fact it’s prospering like anything. It has risen to at least ten times to the time when General Zia took over as an Islamic dictator. All the voices in Pakistan are multiplying themselves, by themselves. Only recently I read the figures of drug addicts in a poor country like Pakistan. You know the present number is three million of Pakistani youth who have become committed drug addicts. It’s a very huge number. Very great destruction.
All this happened within the short period of the so-called Islamic regime. Islam, poor Islam is being exploited and brought bad name by these so-called Islamic regime. They don’t love Islam at all. What is happening in the streets of Pakistan, the crime is in the rampant. Also the same thing happened in Sudan and everywhere else. No way of a Muslim’s life was changed. Not a jot for the better. Nowhere where such Islam was imposed. In Iran they tell me that purdah was enforced. Some voices were crushed under the rule of the present regime. But for how long? In fact the voices went underground.
They went into hiding. And a different society is now being born in Iran because it is not the change of their heart which has caused the decrease of crime. It is the coercion from outside. So, in all such cases hypocrisy is born. Whenever such measures are taken, this is what always happens. So, although we have no positive proof, but psychologically speaking, understanding the human nature, I can well realize that a lot of criminal activities which were on the surface previously, under this coercion would have gone underground.
And people still are fed up. There are millions of people who are fed up of this coercion and the usurpation of the name of Islam. But they can’t raise their voice because it is a totally dictatorial regime. Moreover, you should not forget the possibility of chance playing factors. Any cruel, any rascal can possibly come in the name of Islam in a coup. Even an atheist. So, whatever Islam he wants to establish would be established by force. Yet it would be not the Islam of Hazrat Mohammad Mustafa Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Look at the Islam of all these states, Islam of Libya, Islam of Saudi Arabia and so on and so forth. You know, one Islam is communist Islam and the other Islam is an orthodox Islam of medieval ages. Islam of Syria against the Islam of Pakistan. One is a Shia Islam and the other is a Sunni Islam of Wahhabi stem. So, what is left of Islam? Which is Islam? Everything goes into the melting pot and we don’t know what is happening. So, all this is false. All this is an exploitation of a poor religion which has gone into decadence unfortunately, as far as the people are concerned. And it can’t be revived without the coming of that messenger which has been promised to our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam by God. Otherwise this drama will continue to be enacted to its ultimate failure and frustration.
