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Organ of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam based in Lahore. Representing Islam as a peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and liberal religion. A religion which teaches Muslims to respect the founders and followers of all religions.
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September 2014
Editors: Lord Shahid Aziz, M.Sc. Mr Mustaq Ali, M.Sc. Contents: Page The Call of the Messiah 1 Beating Women, or Beating Around the Bush, or … by Edip Yüksel 3 Muhammad (pbuh), Part I by Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao 5 West Leads the World in ‘Islamic Values’ by Ali SIna
م می
حالر
ن
م
ح اہلل الر
م س
ب
The Call of the Messiah
by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi
The second Messiah God Most High was then pleased to resolve that,
in accordance with the prophecy in the Torah
and the prophecy in the Holy Quran, another
Messiah like unto the former should be raised
towards the end of the Islamic order of the Khil-
afat. He therefore, in like manner, brought into
being this Messiah at the head of the 14th centu-
ry, and, as in the case of the first Messiah, news
about the advent of
the second Messiah
had also been com-
municated through
the Holy Prophet,
foretelling that he
would come at a time
when the Holy Quran
would have gone up
to heaven – that is to
say, when people
would have fallen into
various doubts and uncertainties and become
devoid of faith regarding the Day of Requital,
like the atheists – and that the Messiah would,
by means of his preaching, signs and spiritual
power, regenerate faith in them, deliver them
from doubts, and eliminate the work and activi-
ty of the Anti-Christ with his heavenly weapon,
without heaving any recourse to Jihad; that the
pure influence of the Holy Spirit would spread
in the world without the agency and force of
hands; that the cool breeze of truth-perception
would blow over human minds; that a major
revolution would come to pass, with peace,
goodwill and love of humankind; that Satan
would be overthrown and defeated, and the
Holy Spirit would be triumphant and victori-
ous.
Spiritual warfare Many prophets of God have uttered prophecies
about this, the last age, but it is regrettable in-
deed that our ignorant and witless maulvis
have unnecessarily thrust into it the doctrine of
Jihad. It had never been the intention of the
Holy Prophet (peace and the blessings of God
be upon him) and it should be remembered
that, for anyone who seeks to engage in Jihad,
this will not be a spiritual war between the
wind that heals and the wind that poisons, in
which the healing wind will at last be victori-
ous. The Promised Messiah has been raised
only for the purpose
of this spiritual war-
fare; and it is not nec-
essary that it should
reach its point of com-
pletion during his life-
time; rather this seed
which has been sown
in the earth will grow
up and enlarge slowly
until, in accordance
with the solemn word
of the God Most High, it will one day become a
big tree, and all those who hunger and thirst for
September
2014
Webcasting on the world’s first real-time Islamic service at
www.virtualmosque.co.uk
September 2014
2
innovated by the dajjal will become cease to ex-
ist.
The Antichrist It appears from a careful study of Hadith that
dajjal is in reality the name of Satan, and the peo-
ple by whom Satan will have his mission carried
out and fulfilled have also been called dajjal
metaphorically, for they function as his arms
and limbs. The Quranic verse خلق السموت والرض
khalq-us-samawati wa-l ,(40:57) اکبر من خلق الناس
-ardhi akbaru min khalq-in-nasi, “God’s works of
art and mechanisms are much bigger and better
than those of men”, make reference to those
people of whom it has been written that they
would, in the last age, make great mechanical
inventions, and thrust their noses into and in-
terfere with Divine works. The commentators
have written that by men is here meant the da-
jjal; and this statement is obviously an argument
for the fact that the dajjal is not one single man or individual, otherwise the term اس
(nas) ن
would not have been used for him; there is no doubt that the term اس
is used for a group of ن
men, and the group that will walk in the shadow
of Satan’s evil influence will also be known by
the name dajjal. To this fact also points the ar-
rangement of the Holy Quran, in that it has be-
gun with the verse رب العالمین al-hamdu l ,الحمد لل
-Illahi rabb-il-‘alamin, and ended with the state-
ment ور الناس من د الذی ی وسوس فی ص
alladhi ,(6–114:5) الجنۃ والناس
yuwaswisu fi-sudur-in-nasi min al-
jinnati wa-n-nas, “who whispers
into the hearts of men, of jinn and
men”. Here also the term نفاثات فی
قد ,naffathati fi-l-‘uqad ,(113:4) الع
“who blow on knots”, stands for
and denotes the dajjal. The sub-
stance of this chapter is that you
should seek refuge in God Most
High from the evil of the dajjal. The
chapter that precedes it is The
Dawn, which speaks of a dark age
and the deception and guile of
women; and, then, there is the Di-
vine direction to seek refuge in
God Most High from the kind of
people who walk in the way of Sa tan. It is, then,
plainly evident from this arrangement that it is
truth will rest and repose in its shade; and the
love of falsehood will vanish away from human
hearts, such that falsehood will meet its death
and cease to exist, and the spirit of truth will be
created in every heart. On that day will be ful-
filled all those scriptures in which it is written
that, like the sea, the earth will become filled
with truth. But all this, as is the Divine practice,
will be accomplished by degrees; and it is not
necessary, for this gradual growth, that the
Promised Messiah should be in living flesh-and-
blood form all the time; the existence of God
Most High will be sufficient and enough. Such
has not at any time been the requirement of God
Most High, and no change or alteration can ever
creep into the Divine Law. A man, therefore, who
would raise an objection at the time of the
Promised Messiah’s demise, saying, “What has
he done?”, will be utterly ignorant and un-
knowing; for, although not all at once, yet even-
tually all that seed that the Promised Messiah
has sown will begin to grow by degrees, and
attract minds towards itself, until it will, like a
circle, spread over the world. That time and
hour when this perfect and complete change
will come to pass is in the knowledge of God
Most High God only, just as you know that the
creed of the dajjal did not spread over the earth
all at once, but its seed grew up and flourished
slowly, in the same way, the world will turn to
truth but by slow degrees, like
lookers-on and spectators. You
should not assume that the
world will turn topsy-turvy
with one stroke; but just as
fields and trees grow and en-
large in a gradual manner, in
the same way will this also be
accomplished. It should be
remembered that, with regard
to the Messiah, i.e. the one im-
bued with spiritual blessings
of whose advent in the last age
the glad tidings had been given
to the Muslims, it is also writ-
ten that he will slay and de-
stroy the Antichrist. But this
destruction will not be accom-
plished by the edge of the sword or by rifle bul-
let; the significance, rather, is that the heresies
September 2014
3
trast to the verses in which God describes mar-
riage:
“Among His signs is that He created for you
spouses from among yourselves, in order to have
tranquillity and contentment with each other. He
places in your heart love and care towards your
spouses. In this, there are signs for people who
think.” (30:21)
Obviously, these mixed messages have both-
ered many contemporary translators of the Quran.
To avoid the moral and intellectual problems, they
tried to soften the word beat when they translate
the verse 4:34. For instance, Yusuf Ali uses a merci-
ful parentheses after beat to save women:
“… As to those women on whose part you fear
disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first),
(next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat
them (lightly) …” (4:34)
Many tried to beat around the bush to beat the
problem generated by the beat of 4:34.
When I finished the Turkish translation (of the
Holy Quran) (1991), this verse was on the top of
my orange list to study carefully. Whenever I en-
counter a problem regarding the understanding of
a Quranic verse, I remember 20:114 and pray ac-
cordingly:
“Most Exalted is God, the only true King. Do not
rush into (understanding) the Quran before it is re-
vealed to you, and say, My Lord, increase my
knowledge.”
Almost all of the transla-
tions have mistranslated
the four key words or
terms of this particular
verse. These are: Qaw-
wamune, Faddallallahu
ba‘dahum ala ba‘d,
Nushuzehunne, and
Fadribuhunne. In our
late book, “Errors in
Turkish Transla-
tions” (Istanbul, 1992) we have discussed the real
meaning of these words and the motivation and
reasons for mistranslating them. Here, we will fo-
cus on the last word, Fadribuhunne.
A famous multi-meaning word The problem comes from the word Idribuhunne
the same set of people who have, in other words,
been called Satan and, last of all, by mentioning
this horde, it is meant to indicate that in the last
age they will be dominant, and with them will be
missionary women such as will, by visiting homes,
try to separate wives from their husbands and
break and dissolve the marriage tie. These three
chapters of the Holy Quran, it should be clearly
remembered, speak of the age of the dajjal, and we
are commanded to seek refuge in God Most High
from the evil of this age so that we may be safe and
secure from it. Our attention, in this way, is called
to the point that those evils would be set aside and
removed only by the celestial light and blessings
that the heavenly Messiah will bear and bring with
him.
Perhaps the Sai Yuga that the Hindus have
been waiting for also refers to this age.
They have, in their commentaries, quoting
baseless traditions of the Israelites, deceived the
world.
Beating Women, or Beating
Around the Bush, or ….
by Edip Yüksel
(Editor’s note: Some 25 years ago, I came to the
conclusion that the verb DaRaBa used in 4:34 did
not mean beating the wife. Here is an article by a
Sunni brother who has deep knowledge and un-
derstanding of the Holy Quran, as he is a translator
of it, and who has in-
dependently come to
the same conclusion.
It is recommended
that, for a better un-
derstanding of the
thesis of this article,
you use the English
translation of the Holy
Quran to look up vers-
es mentioned here.)
“Verse 4:34 of the Quran orders believers to beat
their wives; so, Islam is a male dominant religion.”
Many of us have heard this criticism from Chris-
tians, atheists, agnostics, etc. Personally, every time
I read 4:34, I felt that something was wrong. How
does God, the Most Wise order us to beat our
women? What kind of solution is that? It is in con-
September 2014
4
which we used to translate as “beat them”. The
root of this word is DaRaBa. If you look at any
Arabic dictionary you will find a long list of
meanings ascribed to this word. That list is one
of the longest lists in all the Arabic dictionary. It
can be said that DaRaBa is the number-one mul-
ti-meaning word in Arabic. It has so many differ-
ent meanings, we can find numerous different
meanings ascribed to it in the Quran.
• To travel, to get out: 3:156; 4:101;
38:44; 73:20; 2:273
• To strike: 2:60,73; 7:160; 8:12; 20:77;
24:31; 26:63; 37:93; 47:4
• To beat: 8:50; 47:27
• To set up: 43:58; 57:13
• To give (examples): 14:24,45;
16:75,76,112; 18:32,45; 24:35; 30:28,58; 36:78;
39:27,29; 43:17; 59:21; 66:10,11
• To take away, to ignore: 43:5
• To condemn: 2:61
• To seal, to draw over: 18:11
• To cover: 24:31
• To explain: 13:17
As you see, in the Quran alone we can wit-
ness the verb DaRaBa having at least ten differ-
ent meanings. DaRaBa has also other meanings
which are not mentioned in the Quran. For ex-
ample, in the Arabic language, you do not print
money – you DaRaBa money, you do not multi-
ply numbers – you DaRaBa numbers, you do not
cease the work – you DaRaBa the work. In Turk-
ish we have many verbs similar to DaRaBa, such
as tutmak, calmak, vurmak etc. In English we
have two verbs which are almost equivalent to
DaRaBa. These are to strike and to beat.
Webster’s Dictionary gives fourteen mean-
ings to the verb strike: hit (against); ignite; (of
snake) bite; (of plants) (cause to) take root; at-
tack; hook (fish); sound (time) as bell in clock
etc.; affect; arrive at, come upon; enter mind of;
discover (gold, oil etc.); dismantle, remove;
make (coin); cease work as protest or to make
demands. The same dictionary gives eight mean-
ings to the verb “beat”: strike repeatedly; over-
come; surpass; stir vigorously with striking ac-
tion; flap (wings); make, wear (path); throb; sail
against wind.
At the beginning of this article (underlined)
I deliberately used beat in three different mean-
ings in a single statement just to show the varie-
ty of meanings in a single word. In English, when
we order someone to beat it we mean get out.
Similarly in Arabic, when we order someone
with the command form of DaRaBa, that is
iDRiB, we mean get out.
How can we find the appropriate meaning? When we encounter a multi-meaning word, we
select the proper meaning according to the con-
text, forms, and common sense. For instance, if
we had have translated DaRaBa in 13:17 as beat
instead of explain, the meaning would be ridicu-
lous:
“… God thus beats the truth and false-
hood” (13:17)
Another example of mistranslation of
DaRaBa can be found in the translation of 38:44.
All the translations (except Dr. Khalifa’s transla-
tion) inject a male-made story to justify their
silly translation. Here is how Yusuf Ali translates
the verse about Job:
“And take in the hand a little grass, and
strike therewith: and break not (the oath).”
Yusuf Ali, in the footnote narrates the tradi-
tional story: He (Job) must have said in his haste
to the woman that he would beat her: he is asked
now to correct her with only a wisp of grass, to
show that he was gentle and humble as well as
patient and constant.
However, without injecting this story, we can
translate it as the following:
Now, you shall travel the land to fulfil your
pledge (that is to deliver the message). We found
him steadfast. What a good servant! He was a
submitter (38:44).
Let’s turn back to 4:34
Additionally, the word Nushuz which is general-
ly translated as opposition has another meaning
which can be translated as degrees of disloyalty
ranging from flirtation to sexual liaison. If we
September 2014
5
study 4:34 carefully we will find a clue that leads
us to translate that word as flirting or cheating
or an extramarital affair. (Any word or words
that reflect the range of disloyalty in marriage.)
The clue is the phrase before Nushuz as reads: …
and observe God’s commandments, even when
alone in their privacy.
This phrase emphasises the importance of
loyalty in marriage life. Furthermore, the same
word Nushuz is used in 4:128, but it is used to
describe the misbehaviour of husbands not
wives as was in 4:34. So, the traditional transla-
tion of Nushuz, that is, opposition will not fit
here. In marital relations, opposition cannot be a
double-edged behaviour. So, translators try to
avoid this contradiction by ascribing just the
opposite meaning of opposition, i.e., oppression
in verse 4:128. However, the meaning of Nushuz
as disloyalty is appropriate for both cases de-
scribed in 4:34 and 4:128.
A coherent understanding When we read 4:34 we should not understand
idribuhunne as to beat those women. We must
remember that this word has many meanings.
God gives us three ways of dealing with extra-
marital-affair. In the beginning stage of such
misbehaviour husband should start from giving
advice. If it does not work and she goes further
and commit a proven adultery, that time hus-
band has the right to strike them out (4:34 &
65:1).
Let’s present our suggestion for the transla-
tion of verse 4:34
Men traditionally take care of women, since
God has endowed each of them with certain quali-
ties and men spend from their financial resources.
The righteous women are obedient (to God) and
during the absence (of their husband) they hon-
our them according to God’s commandment. As
for those women whom you are experiencing a
fear of disloyalty from, you shall first advice them,
then (if they continue) you may desert them in
bed, then you may strike them out. If they obey
you then don’t transgress against them. God is
Most High, Supreme.
Beating women who are cheating is not an
ultimate solution; but striking them out
[sending them away – Editor, The Light] from
your house is the best solution. And it is fair too.
Note by the editor of the original arti-cle In addition to all the well written information
from Mr. Yuksel (above), it must also be added
that those who interpret the word iddribuhhun-
na in 8:78 to mean physically beat are in fact vio-
lating three Quranic principles, and they are:
1- God prohibits all aggression. To physically
beat another person is an act of aggression no
matter what justification anyone may have: do
not transgress, God does not like the aggressors
2:190
2- God commands husbands and wives to
treat each other with love and mercy, once again
beating up the wife is not a merciful act: And
from His signs is that He created for you mates
from yourselves that you may reside with them,
and He placed between you affection and mercy.
In that are signs for a people who reflect. 30:21
3- In Sura 4 which is given the title Women
in verse 19 men are told specifically to treat
their wives bil-ma'ruf which means with kind-
ness. Needless to say, physically beating women
does not exactly qualify for anyone’s definition
of kindness.
4- To soften the issue, some scholars have
claimed that a husband may only beat his wife if
she commits adultery. But when we examine
this interpretation, once again we find that it
contradicts Quranic law. In the case of adultery,
God has already prescribed a fixed punishment
of 100 lashes (24:2). The important issue here is
that the same crime or sin should not entitle two
separate punishments. If a wife commits adul-
tery and is given 100 lashes, then her husband
beats her as well, she would have received two
separate punishments for the same sin.
Muhammad (pbuh), Part I by Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao
Head of the Dept. of Philosophy, Govt. College for
Women, University of Mysore, Mandya-571401,
Karnatika, India
[Editor’s Note: The following is reprinted from Islam and
Modern Age, Hyderabad.]
In the desert of Arabia was Mohammad born,
according to Muslim historians, on April 20, 571.
September 2014
6
The name means highly praised. He is to me the
greatest mind among all the sons of Arabia. He
means so much more than all the poets and
kings that preceded him in that impenetrable
desert of red sand.
When he appeared Arabia was a desert – a
nothing. Out of nothing a new world was fash-
ioned by the mighty spirit of Mohammad – a
new life, a new culture, a new civilization, a new
kingdom which extended from Morocco to In-
dies and influenced the thought and life of three
continents – Asia, Africa and Europe.
When I thought of writing on Mohammad
the prophet, I was a bit hesitant because it was
to write about a religion I do not profess and it
is a delicate matter to do so for there are many
persons professing various religions and be-
longing to diverse school of thought and denom-
inations even in same religion. Though it is
sometimes, claimed that religion is entirely per-
sonal yet it can not be gainsaid that it has a ten-
dency to envelop the whole universe seen as
well unseen. It somehow permeates something
or other our hearts, our souls, our minds their
conscious as well as subconscious and uncon-
scious levels too. The problem assumes over-
whelming importance when there is a deep con-
viction that our past, present and future all hang
by the soft delicate, tender silk cord. If we fur-
ther happen to be highly sensitive, the center of
gravity is very likely to be always in a state of
extreme tension. Looked at from this point of
view, the less said about other religion the bet-
ter. Let our religions be deeply hidden and em-
bedded in the resistance of our innermost
hearts fortified by unbroken seals on our lips.
But there is another aspect of this problem.
Man lives in society. Our lives are bound with
the lives of others willingly or unwillingly, di-
rectly or indirectly. We eat the food grown in the
same soil, drink water, from the same the same
spring and breathe the same air. Even while
staunchly holding our own views, it would be
helpful, if we try to adjust ourselves to our sur-
roundings, if we also know to some extent, how
the mind our neighbour moves and what the
main springs of his actions are. From this angle
of vision it is highly desirable that one should
try to know all religions of the world, in the
proper sprit, to promote mutual understanding
and better appreciation of our neighbourhood, im-
mediate and remote.
Further, our thoughts are not scattered as they
appear to be on the surface. They crystallize around
a few nuclei in the form of great world religions and
living faiths that guide and motivate the lives of mil-
lions that inhabit this earth of ours. It is our duty, in
one sense if we have the ideal of ever becoming a
citizen of the world before us, to make a little at-
tempt to know the great religions and system of
philosophy that have ruled mankind.
In spite of these preliminary remarks, the
ground in these field of religion, where there is of-
ten a conflict between intellect and emotion is so
slippery that one is constantly reminded of fools
that rush in where angels fear to tread. It is also not
so complex from another point of view. The subject
of my writing is about the tenets of a religion which
is historic and its prophet who is also a historic
personality. Even a hostile critic like Sir William
Muir speaking about the holy Quran says that.
“There is probably in the world no other book
which has remained twelve centuries with so pure
text.” I may also add Prophet Mohammad is also a
historic personality, every event of whose life has
been most carefully recorded and even the minut-
est details preserved intact for the posterity. His life
and works are not wrapped in mystery.
My work today is further lightened because
those days are fast disappearing when Islam was
highly misrepresented by some of its critics for
rea sons political and otherwise. Prof. Bevan writes
in [The] Cambridge Medieval History, “Those ac-
count[s] of Mohammad and Islam which were pub-
lished in Europe before the beginning of 19th cen-
tury are now to be regarded as literary curiosities.”
To write this monograph is easier because we are
now generally not fed on this kind of history and
much time need be spent on pointing out our mis-
representation of Islam.
West Leads the World in ‘Islamic Values’
by Ali Sina
Ali Sina is the author of Understanding Muhammad and working on his new book The Life of Muhammad
under the Light of Reason, a comprehensive review of the life of the Prophet of Islam. In this article he criticis-
es Hossein Askarai view that non-Muslim states have adopted and espouse Islamic values whereas Muslim
September 2014
7
states do not. He goes on to criticise Islam for this state of affairs rather the fact that it is misunder-stood and misused by politicians to further their
own objectives.
Are non-Muslim countries more Islamic than
Muslim countries? That is what Hossein Askari,
an Iranian-born professor of International Busi-
ness and International Affairs at George Wash-
ington University, believes. Askari says Ireland
“leads the world in Islamic values as Muslim
states lag.” After studying 208 countries and
territories he found that the top countries in
both economic achievement and social values
are Ireland, Demark, Luxembourg and New Zea-
land. Britain also ranks in the top ten. The first
Muslim-majority nation is Malaysia ranking at
33, while the only other state in the top 50 is
Kuwait at 48.
Askari then concluded that the Quran’s
teachings are better represented in non-Muslim
societies than in Islamic countries, which, he
believes, have failed to embrace the values of
their own faith in politics, business, law and so-
ciety.
Askari said Muslim countries use religion as
an instrument of state control. “We must em-
phasize that many countries that profess Islam
and are called Islamic are unjust, corrupt, and
underdeveloped and are in fact not ‘Islamic’ by
any stretch of the imagination,” Askari asserted.
“Looking at an index of Economic Islamicity,
or how closely the policies and achievements of
countries reflect Islamic economic teachings –
Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, the
United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Fin-
land, Norway, and Belgium round up the first
10”, Askari added.
Askari said:
“If a country, society, or community displays
characteristics such as unelected, corrupt, op-
pressive, and unjust rulers, inequality before the
law, unequal opportunities for human develop-
ment, absence of freedom of choice (including
that of religion), opulence alongside poverty,
force, and aggression as the instruments of con-
flict resolution as opposed to dialogue and rec-
onciliation, and, above all, the prevalence of in-
justice of any kind, it is prima facie evidence
that it is not an Islamic community.”
If Askari were right, the solution would be
simple. To get rid of corruption, oppression in-
justice and inequality in Islamic countries,
which according to Askari are not Islamic val-
ues, we could encourage Muslims to leave Islam
and follow the lead of non-Muslim countries. It
appears that the more a country is Islamic the
more it lacks “Islamic values.” Saudi Arabia, Iran
and Pakistan that are more Islamic are also
more oppressive.
But of course Askari is wrong. In Islam the
unbelievers are not equal to believers. “Is he,
then, who is a believer like one who is disobedi-
ent? They are not equal.” (Q. 32:18) In Islam
men excel over women. (Q. 4:34)
Also Islam honours the institution of slavery.
(Q 33:50, 23:5) Dawud reports a hadith
(14:2692) of a slave of Ibn Umar who ran away
to the enemy and when Muslims overpowered
them Muhammad returned him to Ibn Umar.
Dawud says that this slave was not distributed
(as a part of booty) among the rest of the cap-
tives who were also reduced to slaves.
As for freedom of religion, the Quran says
“No religion other than Islam will be accepted
from anyone.” (Q. 3:85) The argument that Islam
is tolerant because the verse 2:256 says there is
no compulsion in religion is a fallacy. This verse
has nothing to do with tolerance. According to
Islamic sources, the Jews of Medina had adopted
and raised the orphaned children of Arabs and
these children had embraced Judaism. When
Muhammad expelled the Jews from their city
the relatives of these children (now adults)
wanted to prevent them leaving but in loyalty to
their adopted parents they preferred to go. The
matter was brought to Muhammad who said, if
they want to go let them go, “there is no compul-
sion in religion.” Of course if they wanted to stay
they had to convert to Islam.
Askari’s argument that the prevalence of
corruption, oppression and injustice in a society
is prima facie evidence that it is not Islamic is
absurd. Governments are either democratic or
dictatorial. Corruption and oppression are more
likely in dictatorships. In democracies, people
have the power to remove corrupt governments,
unless they are so ignorant that they are easily
deceived, which is not the fault of democracy. In
democracy, laws are made by people. Islam does
not recognize the laws made by people. The
September 2014
8
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (UK)
The first Islamic Mission in the UK, established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission
Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, UK, HA0 4JQ
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laws are made by God and the ruler, as the exe-
cutioner of divine law, is not accountable to the
people. And as long as he adhered to the Islamic
law no one is allowed to criticize or oppose him,
even if he is unjust.
Muhammad said, “If Allah has on Earth a
caliph who flays your back and takes your prop-
erty, obey him; otherwise die holding onto the
stump of a tree.”[Dawud 35: 4232] So much for
freedom and justice!
The 18th century Muslim scholar Shah Wali-
ullah on the Obedience of the Caliph wrote,
The Prophet has said: “Hearing and obeying
is an obligation of every Muslim, whether he
likes the command or dislikes it, as long as he is
not commanded to commit a sin. If he is com-
manded to commit a sin, then he absolved of the
obligation to hear and obey.” [Sahih Muslim.]
(I say): Since an imam is installed for two
kinds of public weal, by which religious and po-
litical affairs are regulated, and since the Proph-
et was sent for their sake, and the imam is the
Prophet’s deputy and
an executor of his mis-
sion, therefore, obedi-
ence to the imam is
indeed obedience to
the Prophet. And diso-
bedience to him would
be tantamount to diso-
bedience of the Proph-
et except when he
commands to commit
a sin. For then it would
be evident that obedi-
ence to him is no long-
er in obedience to
God, and in that event,
he would cease to be a
deputy of God’s
Prophet. This is why the Prophet said: “Whoever
follows an amir, he indeed follows me, and who-
ever disobeys an amir, he indeed disobeys
me” [Sahih Muslim]. [Shah Wali Allah, Selection
from Hujjat Allah al-Balighah, English Transla-
tion, 2006, pp. 116-117]
As for economics, something Khomeini said,
“is for the donkey,” Islam has very little to offer.
Bukahri (3:39:541) reports Muhammad saying,
“There is no house in which these (agricultural)
equipment enters except that Allah will cause
humiliation to enter it.” The reason Muhammad
disparaged agriculture is because he wanted to
encourage his companions to earn their living
through jihad. He said that is the best bargain
and he who strives hard for Allah’s cause with
their wealth and in persons will reap the re-
wards. (Q. 6:11)
The irony is that Muslims can see something
is wrong with their societies, but can’t see its
cause. Western countries are not prospering
because they have embraced Islamic values.
How delusional is this thinking? They are pros-
pering because they drew a clear line
between religion and state, and have
embraced secularism. Muslims can’t do
such a thing. Islam is more than a reli-
gion. It is primarily a political system.
It is totalitarian as it controls all as-
pects of the life of the believer. Muham-
mad was not just a prophet but also a
dictator. His successors also ruled with
undisputed authority.
If Islamic countries are dictatorial, un-
just, oppressive and backwards we
should look for the cause of it in the
values that they espouse. Their failure
is evident even to them. But instead of
acknowledging the problem they keep
digging their heads deeper in the sands
of denial. Isn’t it time to wake up?