Arguments From
the Quran and the Hadith
Someone might ask, “If Maulana Maududi has made politics the central aspect of Islam, what is so objectionable about it? It could perhaps be that this is really what the status of politics is in Islam.”
The question here arises as to what proof there is that this is really how politics is envisioned in Islam. It is not enough simply to claim that this is so, or to write books championing this argument. Evidence for this claim must be present in the Quran and the Hadith if it is to be accepted—and this evidence should be in the form of explicit mention in these sources. To use any other sort of proof in order to try to validate this claim will only make the claim even weaker than it already is.
In my book Taʿbir ki Ghalati, I critically researched and analyzed, in a very detailed manner, the arguments that Maulana Maududi and some other writers who belong to his circle sought to provide from the Quran and the Hadith to back their claim. In that book, I proved that none of the Quranic verses and hadith reports that Maulana Maududi and other writers of his circle cited to back their claim can truly be considered to legitimize the Maulana’s particular interpretation of Islam.
Let me cite two examples, one, a Quranic verse, and the other, a hadith report, to clarify this point. Among the Quranic verses that are used in support of the political interpretation of Islam is the following:
God has ordained for you the same religion which He enjoined on Noah, and which We have revealed to you, and which We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus, so that you should remain steadfast in religion (aqim ud-deen) and not become divided in it. (42:13)
In the political interpretation of the deen of Islam, the word ad-deen used in this verse is taken as referring to the entire gamut of the commandments and laws of the Islamic shariah, covering personal, social, national and international affairs. The term aqim ud-deen in this verse is interpreted as ‘to enforce’ the laws of the deen of Islam in their entirety. Now, because this understanding of the deen cannot be realized without a Government, ‘to establish the deen’, as mentioned in this verse, is taken by proponents of a political interpretation of Islam to mean establishing the ‘Divine Government’, or what Maulana Maududi called Hukumat-e Ilahiya.
The fact of the matter, however, is that, as far as I know, no Quranic exegete worth mentioning has interpreted this Quranic verse in this manner. Almost all scholars of Quranic exegesis take the term ad-deen to mean the essence of the deen or the basic teachings of the deen of Islam, and not the complete commandments of the deen, the deen in its totality. They take aqim ud-deen or iqamat-e deen not to mean establishing the entire shariah system, but, rather, as adopting fully that part of the deen that is incumbent on every person and in all circumstances, fully abiding by which a person becomes a Muslim in God’s eyes.
The translation of the term aqim ud-deen or iqamat-e deen as ‘establish the deen’—which is how proponents of the political interpretation of Islam render it—is not in itself incorrect. But it creates a sort of misunderstanding. When people whose minds are shaped by a political interpretation of Islam consider the phrase ‘establish the deen’, they take it as a commandment to do something—to establish the dominance of the deen or to enforce it, or, in other words, to establish the Divine Government. The fact, however, is that this is not the meaning of the phrase aqim ud-deen in this Quranic verse. A better rendering is ‘to maintain the deen’ or to ‘keep the deen established’. That is why Urdu translators of the Quran have taken the phrase in this sense. They do not take to mean ‘establish the deen’ (in Urdu: deen qaim karo), but, rather, in the sense that I take it—to ‘maintain the deen’ or to ‘keep it established’ (in Urdu: deen qaim rakho). This, for instance, is how well-known South Asian Quranic scholars, such as Shah Abdul Qadir, Shah Rafiuddin, Shaikh Abdul Haq Haqqani, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, Deputy Nazir Ahmad and Shaikh ul-Hind Mahmud ul-Hasan, have taken it.
This understanding of this phrase is based on the fact that if it is seen in the context of the whole Quranic verse of which it is a part, it will be clear that it is a commandment about the establishment of the very same deen that was revealed to all the prophets, from the Prophet Noah to the Prophet Muhammad. Now, as far as the beliefs and fundamental principles taught by the different prophets are concerned, their deen was identical, but there were considerable differences in terms of the details of the laws (shariah) and practical commandments that they taught. This is why this Quranic verse can only indicate that portion of the deen that was common to the teachings of all the prophets.
As the noted Quranic commentator, the twelfth century Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi (d. 1209 C.E.) noted in his Tafsir al-Kabir, the term ad-deen here refers to those aspects of the teachings of all the prophets that they shared in common, which is to say matters in their teachings other than the laws and commandments that were different for different prophets. This, Imam Razi wrote, consists of faith in God, His angels, His books, His prophets and the Day of Judgment as well as matters that emerge from faith (iman)—detachment from the world, concern about the Hereafter, cultivation of morals and abstaining from evil.
In a similar vein, the noted Indian Muslim scholar, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (d. 1943 C.E.), wrote in his Quranic commentary Bayan ul-Quran, that by ad-deen is here meant ‘the principles of the deen’ (usul-e deen) that are common in all the shariahs of the different prophets—as for instance the oneness of God, prophethood, resurrection, and so on. This verse indicates, Maulana Thanvi said, that one must ‘keep this deen established’ (deen qaim rakhna) ‘and not change or abandon it’.
This same opinion is voiced by almost all other Quranic exegetes. Some of them have taken the term ad-deen in this verse to mean the beliefs common to the teachings of all the prophets, while some also include, in addition to these beliefs, certain practices or actions that come into being in people’s lives as a necessary result of these beliefs.
Thus, for instance, Abul Aliya (d. 708 C.E.) opined:
In this verse, iqamat-e deen means devotion to God alone and His worship.
Mujahid (722 C.E.) wrote:
God ordered every prophet to establish prayer, give zakat, acknowledge God and obey Him—and this is what iqamat-e deen is.
Abu Hayyan (d. 1344 C.E.) commented about iqamat-e deen in this context as follows:
It is a name for the beliefs held in common that are related to the oneness of God, obedience to God, faith in the prophets, faith in God’s books, faith in the Last Day and recompense for deeds.
Al-Khazin (d. 1341 C.E.) wrote:
Here, iqamat-e deen refers to the oneness of God, and faith in God and His books and the prophets and the Last Day and obeying God in matters of His commandments and prohibitions and doing all those things the performing of which makes a person a Muslim. In this context, deen does not connote the shariahs that are revealed according to the conditions and interests of different communities because, as the Quran clarifies, these are different.
Al-Alusi al-Baghdadi (d. 1854 C.E.) commented about the term iqamat-e deen as used in this context as follows:
The deen of Islam is the name for the oneness of God, obedience to God, and faith in His books, His prophets and the Day of Recompense and all those things on the basis of which a person becomes a true believer (momin). By iqamat-e deen is meant to properly follow the affairs of the deen and to remain established in it.
Qumi Nishapuri (d. 1328 C.E.) opined that the phrase iqamat-e deen as used here means:
To be established on the oneness of God, prophethood and the Hereafter and to follow other similar basic teachings that are other than those minor legal details (furuʿat) that are different in the different shariahs.
Likewise, al-Qurtubi (d. 1273 C.E.) noted:
It [iqamat-e deen] means the oneness of God and obedience to Him, and faith in His prophets, His books and the Last Day, and all those things on the basis of which one becomes a Muslim. Here is not meant the shariahs that are given in accordance with the conditions and interests of [different] ummahs, because these have always remained different.
Similarly, Ibn Kathir (d. 1373 C.E.) commented that by iqamat-e deen is meant:
Those things that are in common in the teachings of the various prophets relating to the worship of the one God without any associates, although besides this, their shariahs and methods are different.
Similarly, Hafizuddin Nasfi (1310 C.E.) wrote that this Quranic verse indicates that:
In other words, you need to abide by the deen of Noah, the deen of Muhammad and the deen of the prophets who appeared between them, and what is common to the teachings of these exalted prophets. By aqim ud-deen is here meant the establishment of Islam: the oneness of God, obedience to God, faith in the prophets, the [heavenly] books and the Day of Recompense and all those things through which someone becomes a Muslim. This commandment does not refer to the shariahs of the prophets, because these have remained different between the different prophets.
From these excerpts from the writings of numerous well-known scholars it is clear that a great many Quranic exegetes have understood the Quranic verse referred to here to mean the full acceptance of the basic teachings of the deen. Given this, how can the verse be interpreted to mean the imposition of the entire gamut of commandments of the deen that relate to all aspects of individual and social life—or, in other words, bringing about the establishment of Divine Government, as is believed by the proponents of the political interpretation of Islam?
This does not mean, however, that besides the essential or basic teachings of religion, the establishment of the social and civilizational laws of the shariah is not an important issue. I only wish to show that their establishment has not been made incumbent on us in the absolute sense that proponents of the political interpretation understand it to be. That is why one finds no support for this interpretation even in those places in the Quran that talk about establishing the social laws of the deen.
Now consider efforts to seek justification for the political interpretation of Islam from the corpus of the Hadith. In an article published in an official organ of the Jamaat-e-Islami, it was said:
In the matter of the goal that the Jamaat-e-Islami has adopted for itself, the likes or dislikes of any individual play no part whatsoever. Instead, it has faith that God had sent all the prophets, and, finally, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for this objective, for this mission, and for this purpose. And until the Day of Judgment this is the reason for the very existence of ummat-e muhammadi. In this way, the objective of the Jamaat-e-Islami is directly connected with the purpose of the sending of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
In the words of this Jamaat-e-Islami writer, the objective of the Jamaat-e-Islami is ‘to establish the Government of God’s laws (Allah ki tashriʿi hukumat) in the world’, ‘to enforce the deen and shariah sent by God and reform the world’ and ‘to establish the deen and to make it dominant over all false deens.’ This, he says, is the purpose of God’s sending the Prophet to the world. He says that this is mentioned in the Quran, Hadith and books of Islamic history. However, despite claiming to have a vast storehouse of evidence for his claim, he cites in this regard just a single hadith report that, according to him, confirms his argument and which, so he contends, ‘is a very good explanation’.
This single piece of ‘evidence’ is a report contained in the Sahih of Imam Bukhari, which some other Hadith scholars have also cited in their books. The report relates that Ata ibn Yasar (d. 721 C.E.) says that he met Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (d. 683 C.E.), a Companion of the Prophet and requested him to describe to him the qualities of the Prophet Muhammad that have been mentioned in the Torah. Abdullah told him about these qualities, one of which was that God would not take the Prophet away from the world until through him the ‘crooked community’ (millat-e awja) was straightened and people began saying, ‘There is no god but God.’ Through this, the Prophet would open many blind eyes, deaf ears and closed hearts.
Commenting on this hadith report, this Jamaat-e- Islami-oriented writer says that the purpose behind God’s sending the Prophet Muhammad was iqamat-e deen. He adds that a very long time before the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad, the Torah had predicted that ‘until the deen became established’ the Prophet would not die. Then, in conclusion, he writes:
These details fortify our conviction that the Jamaat-e-Islami has made no error in the objective that it has adopted for itself. Rather, this is the objective of the entire Muslim ummah, which the ummah is neglecting.
To properly appreciate the hadith report that this writer refers to in order to back his argument, it is useful to turn to what two noted scholars of Hadith, Aini and Ibn Hajar had to say about this report. Allama Aini (d. 1451 C.E.) writes in his Umdat ul-Qari that it means that, through the Prophet, God would negate polytheism and affirm His oneness. He adds that the ‘crooked millat’ mentioned in this report are the Arabs. ‘The Arabs are called “crooked” because they changed the deen of their ancestor the Prophet Abraham and idolatry emerged among them,’ he comments. Hence, according to him, this hadith report indicates ‘establishing the Arab millat’ and ‘taking them out of infidelity (kufr) and towards faith (iman)’.
Likewise, in his Fath ul-Bari, Ibn Hajar (d. 1449 C.E.) opines that the ‘crooked millat’ mentioned in this hadith report are the ‘Arab millat’ and that they have been referred to here as ‘crooked’ because they had taken to idolatry. Their iqamat or ‘establishment’ means, he says, ‘taking them out of infidelity and towards faith’.
From this explanation, it is clear that the meaning of this hadith report that the Jamaat-e-Islami-oriented writer provided is not correct. For one thing, this hadith talks about making people say ‘There is no god but God’. I do not know on what basis he took this to mean the ‘reform of the world’ and establishing ‘the Government of God’s laws’. Moreover, this hadith does not talk about the duties of the Muslim ummah. Rather, it is about an action that would be undertaken in the future by God through the Prophet. This hadith report mentions that God would not let the Prophet die before he made people say, ‘There is no god but God’. This is clearly about the Prophet. But if one were to argue from this that this applies to all the followers of Islam, it would mean that every one of us would have to undertake not to die until we have made all our opponents into Muslims! Will the writer of this article make such a promise?
Now, this does not mean that reforming the world or establishing a government based on God’s laws is something separate from Islam. The fact, however, is that in Islam, rules for individuals, on the one hand, and for social life, on the other, are of a different nature. The mistake made in the political interpretation of Islam is that injunctions relating to individual life and social life have been given the same position—although this cannot be proven from the Quran and the Hadith.
There are some aspects of Islam that relate to individuals, and these are necessary to be followed under all circumstances, as long as one is in a position to do so. It is different, however, with laws about social or collective life. They become applicable only when the entire society is willing to put them into action. That is why these laws were always revealed at a time when the believers had already established a political structure and were in a position to put into effect social laws of this kind. Only a Muslim society that possesses the necessary authority, and not individual Muslims, can be expected to put into action these social laws of the shariah.
To make this point clearer, consider the history of the Children of Israel. They were not given any legal commandments in the Torah as long as they were in Egypt. However, after they left Egypt, their status changed—they were now a free community possessing authority, and so God sent them certain laws. The same sort of thing happened in Arabia. When the Prophet was in Makkah, that portion of the shariah was revealed that applied to every believer in his or her individual capacity, and which the believers were duty-bound to follow at all times, no matter what the circumstances. The rest of the shariah was revealed over time, in accordance with the then prevailing conditions. This was at a later stage, when the believers acquired political power.
The order in which the different shariah commandments were revealed clearly indicates that under normal or ordinary conditions, believers are duty-bound to observe and follow only that portion of the deen of Islam that was revealed to the Prophet before the acquisition of political power. Abiding by the rest of the laws becomes incumbent as a duty binding on them only if and when they acquire the opportunity of running a Government, which is necessary for enforcing such commandments. It is clear that the entire gamut of shariah laws can be put into action only if the necessary conditions prevail. Their application depends on the actual circumstances of the concerned individuals and groups. As regards shariah laws that relate to the collective sphere, it is only those groups of believers that have the capacity of putting them into action that are expected to do so. Believers who may exercise power only at a limited level are not commanded to enforce religious commandments at the societal or national level. People can be expected to abide by laws only to the extent that it is practically possible for them.
There is a clear principle of the shariah in this regard. The Quran says: La yukallifullahu nafsan illa wusʿaha, or ‘God does not charge a soul with more than it can bear.’ (2:286) From this we learn that God does not expect people to do more than they are capable of. Given this, how can God give believers commandments that they are not in a position to follow? If someone claims that the believers are required by God, under all conditions, to enforce all the laws of the deen in their entirety, it is just the same as if someone were to argue that since zakat is payable on various forms of wealth, it is the duty of every Muslim to try to become the owner of every such form of wealth so that he can fully abide by the duty of giving zakat!
It should be clear by now that the entire gamut of the detailed demands of the deen of Islam are not required to be put into practical effect in the form of laws at all times. This is only possible depending on the circumstances. As the sphere of the believers expands, the demands of the deen expand, too. If an individual Muslim is all by himself, he is duty-bound to observe only that part of the deen that relates to his person. At this time, he will apply Divine laws on and to himself. When the believers expand in numbers and become a family or a couple of families, the scope of the laws that they are expected to observe will correspondingly expand. And when an entire society of believers comes into being that has the necessary authority, it then becomes the duty of the whole society to fully observe all the Divine laws relating to social affairs. This can only happen if the society possesses the necessary political authority, in which case it would need to appoint a leader or amir who will ensure that these laws are obeyed.
