Critical Analysis of the Wahhab/Qutb Al Qaedan Islamototalitarian Memeplex

This is where those who wish to contribute are invited to memetically characterize this particular memeplex.  Before we begin, I would like to set a few groundrules:

1) At first, our purpose is limited to analysis; we shall not embark upon the task of devising memetic counter-strategies until a clear majority of us are satisfied that we have substantially completed the task of characterization.  We shall endeavor to be both comprehensive and thorough, working both with the overarching memplexic system and with its modules and submodules, and the connections between them.  This will thus be a multileveled analysis, to include both general structure and particular details, and how they all systemically interact, both top-down and bottom-up (combined recursive whole-part analysis).

2) All contentions must be logically and factually supported, with URL's provided to evidence for any facts or history cited.  In other words, if one asserts that something is based in the Qu'ran or Hadiths, the particular verse and sura must be cited.  If one makes an assertion as to a position taken by Wahhab, Qutb, Bin Laden, Zawahiri, Qawadrawi, Al-Banna, or any other Al Qaeda members or seminal theorists, a link to the particular writing where that position is taken must be provided, and the relevant passage)s) excerpted.  If one asserts that an event has taken place, a link to a report of that event must be included.  If one claims that a certain person or persons were involved in that event, URL citation must be provided.  If someone claims a logical argument entails that particular attitudinal and/or actional consequences following from certain doctrines, they must clearly state their premises, their conclusions, and the logical path which connects them.  If someone else's logical argument is cited, say, one made by Richard Dawkins or Lionel Tiger, the link to the article wherein that argument is found must be included, and the relevant passage(s) excerpted.  If the fact or argument that is being cited is one made by someone else here, then a link to that post should be provided.

3) It is important for our analysis that we characterize to some degree the memeplex of which the one we are studying is a variant; therefore we must to some degree memetically characterize Islam as it is found in the Qu'ran and the Hadiths, so that we can use this as a foundation from which to characterize the mutational variant which is our primary object.  It is also necessary to characterize to some degree the overall memetic stucture of the family of Patriarchal Monotheisms, of which Islam, along with Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism, is a part, as well as the evolution which Patriarchal Monotheism has undergone, and the variants that have issued therefrom, since it first appeared as a cognitive phenomenon.  Offshoots that postdate the inception of Islam, such as the Mormon structures, can be safely excluded from these considerations. 

(Actually, Patriarchal Monotheism's first recorded appearance was short-lived, with the Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten; also, the Ten Commandments seem to have been derived from the antecedent Hammurabic Law, and the Noah myth is found in an earlier version in the Epic of Gilgamesh;  I mention these things in passing, as I doubt if they will have any relevance to our analysis.)

I will, in the next few days, be providing links to books and articles that are written either by acolytes of the memeplex in question or by academics who critique them and attempt to draw out their logical consequences.  These articles are open to extension and/or critique; although they will not determine the results of our enquiries, they can serve as jumping-off points.

I would like to commend in advance those among us who are willing to collaborate in the undertaking of this exercise in applied memetic analysis.

The Qu'ran and the Hadiths may be accessed online at the following site via links in upper right hand corner:

http://www.knowislam.info/drupal/

Prof publishes bin Laden’s words
by Orcun Unlu
http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/13/4326b40f29070?in_archive=1

Only days after the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, a Duke professor is trying to explain the motivations of the tragedy’s organizer—jihadist Osama bin Laden.

Bruce Lawrence, professor of religion, edited and wrote the forward to the book Messages to the World—The Statements of Osama bin Laden. The text, which goes into print today and will arrive in bookstores in the fall, is the first to include the translations of the Arabic writings of bin Laden.

The book features a collection of 22 speeches and interviews given by the leader of the terrorist organization al Qaeda between 1994 and 2004.

Verso Books, a British publishing company, approached Lawrence in March, asking him to write the introduction and analyze bin Laden’s writings.

“No one has ever looked at all of his writings,” Lawrence said, adding that most of the resources about bin Laden are not written down, existing primarily as audio-cassettes or videos from al-Jazeera, an Arabic-language news network.

Lawrence said the new book focuses on understanding what makes bin Laden tick.

“If you read him in his own words, he sounds like somebody who would be a very high-minded and welcome voice in global politics,” Lawrence said.

After analyzing his writings, Lawrence said he concluded bin Laden does not have an ultimate goal that he wants to achieve in his jihad but that he does have a specific target.

“He has no special bad language for Republican or Democratic presidents—they are all bad,” Lawrence said.

He added that if bin Laden were to name his own “axis of evil”—a phrase used by President George W. Bush in reference to Iraq, Iran and North Korea—it would include Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former President Bill Clinton.

Lawrence noted that bin Laden is a persuasive speaker who can utilize the Arabic language for his purposes.

“A major purpose of this book is to show how he manipulates the Arabic language with an extraordinary awareness of past speakers: the prophet Muhammed and his companions, passages from the Qur’an, anecdotes from early Islamic history... and Islamic poetry,” Lawrence explained.

He said bin Laden echoes the language of early Islamic speakers, from a time when Islam was the world power.

“He does it such a way as to appeal to the sensibilities of people who are devout and dissatisfied,” Lawrence said.

He added that bin Laden is not just a good organizer and speaker but also a very clever agent and director of the information age.

“His whole career as a public figure on the world stage coincides with the Internet, satellite TV and the World Wide Web,” he said. “And he makes use of all three.”

Lawrence said he hopes the book will offer insight regarding the al Qaeda mastermind, as expressed through bin Laden’s own words.

What follows is a sympathetic biography of Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, Usama Bin Laden's spiritual mentor:

The Striving Sheik: ABDULLAH AZZAM
http://www.islam.org.au/articles/14/AZZAM.HTM

Among The Believers are men who Truly fulfilled their covenant with Allah (i.e. they have gone out for Jihad and showed not their backs to the disbelievers); of them some fulfilled their pledge (i.e. have been martyred), and some are still waiting, but they have never changed (i.e. they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah) in the least." [33:23]

His Birth & Upbringing

Despite the fact that Sheikh Abdullah Azzam was buried in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on the borders of Afghanistan, he was born in the village of Ass-ba'ah Al-Hartiyeh, province of Jineen in the occupied sacred land of Palestine in 1941 AD. He was brought up in a humble house where he was taught Islam, and was fed with the love of Allah, His Messenger (s.a.w.), those striving, the righteous people and the desire for the hereafter.

In 1966 he graduated from the University of Damascus with a Bachelor Degree in Shariah (Islamic Law). In 1969 he graduated from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, with a Masters Degree, and in 1979 he obtained his Ph.D. in the principles of Jurisprudence.

The late Sheikh understood the meaning of Iman and Tawhid (Science of oneness of Allah) in their true and complete sense. He held the essential belief that the concept of the Oneness of Allah's Names and Attributes would be defective and incomplete unless it is reinforced with the Doctrine (Aqeedah) of loyalty towards the Believers and to be clear from and immune to the disbelievers (i.e. Alwala' Wa Albara'). Allah says: "..Whoever takes them (i.e. disbelievers) as protectors (Awliyah) then he surely is one of them" [5:51]. Therefore the truth of Allah's Oneness implies the belief that only Allah is The Sole Ruler and Omnipotent Prescriber of Laws in the Shariah; in His Hands rests the command of permission and prohibition. He alone is worthy of worship and there is none worthy of worship except Him.

The Sheikh's life revolved around a single goal, namely the establishment of Allah's Rule on earth, this being the clear responsibility of each and every Muslim. So in order to accomplish his life's noble mission of restoring the Khilafah, the Sheikh focused on Jihad (the armed struggle to establish Islam).

He believed Jihad must be carried out until the Khilafah (Islamic Rule) is established so the light of Islam may shine on the whole world.

Jihad: The Only Solution

From his pulpit Sheikh Azzam was always reiterating his conviction that "Jihad must not be abandoned until Allah (SWT) alone is worshipped (by mankind). Jihad continues until Allah's Word is raised high. Jihad until all the oppressed peoples are freed. Jihad to protect our dignity and restore our occupied lands. Jihad is the way of everlasting glory".

When Sheikh Azzam realised that only by means of an organised force would the Ummah ever be able to gain victory, then Jihad and the Gun became his pre-occupation and recreation. "Jihad and the rifle alone: no negotiations, no conferences and no dialogues." he would say.

By practicing what he was preaching, Sheikh Azzam was one of the first Arabs to join the Afghani Jihad against the communist USSR. Prior to this, he did his share of Jihad in his own country: Palestine. His heroic deeds in the Aal-Shaykh refugee camps in Jordan spoke loudly for him and rightly justified his long experience with Jihad.

Emigration For Aqeedah

In the early 1980's, Sheikh Azzam came to experience the Jihad in Afghanistan. In this Jihad he found satisfaction of his longing and untold love to fight in the Path of Allah. Allah's Prophet (s.a.w.) once said, "A few moments spent fighting in the Path of Allah, is worth more than seventy years spent in praying at home." [Authentic, At-Tirmithi and Al-Hakem]

Inspired by this Hadith, Sheikh Azzam asked to be transferred from the University of Jordan where he taught, to Islamabad in Pakistan. He immigrated with his family to Pakistan in order to be closer to the field of Jihad (against USSR). He then moved from Islamabad to Peshawar to be even closer to the field of Jihad and Martyrdom.

In Peshawar, Sheikh Azzam founded the Mujahideen Services Bureau with the aim of offering all possible assistance to the Afghani Jihad and the Mujahideen through establishing and managing projects that supported the cause. The Bureau also received and trained volunteers pouring into Pakistan to participate in Jihad and allocating them to the front lines.

Unsurprisingly, this was not enough to satisfy Sheikh Azzam's burning desire for Jihad. That desire drove him finally to go to the front-line. On the battlefield, the Sheikh gracefully played his destined role in that generous epic of heroism.

In Afghanistan he hardly ever settled in one place. He traveled throughout the country, visiting most of its provinces and states such as Lujer, Qandahar, Hindukush Heights, the Valley of Binjistr, Kabul and Jalalabad.

These travels allowed Sheikh Azzam to witness first hand the heroic deeds of these unkempt and disheveled people who had sacrificed all that they possessed -including their own lives - for the Supremacy of the religion of Islam.

In Peshawar, upon his return from these travels, Sheikh Azzam spoke about Jihad constantly. He prayed to restore the Unity among the divided Mujahideen commanders; called upon those who had not yet joined the fighting to take up arms and to follow him to the front before it would be too late.

His Character & Example

History, as well as anyone who knew Sheikh Azzam closely, all testify to his courage in speaking the truth, regardless of the consequences. He always bore in mind the command of Allah to: "Proclaim openly that which you were commanded, and turn away from the polytheists (Mushrikeen)" [15:94].

On every occasion Sheikh Azzam reminded all Muslims that, "Muslims cannot be defeated by others. We Muslims are not defeated by our enemies, instead, we are defeated by our own selves."

He was a fine example of Islamic manners, in his piety, his devotion to Allah, his modesty in all things and he would never adulate in his relations with others. Sheikh Azzam always listened to the youth, and he was dignified and did not allow fear to have access to his brave heart. He practiced continual fasting especially the alternate daily fasting regime of Prophet Dawood peace be upon him. He strongly counseled others to practice fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. The Sheikh was a man of uprightness, honesty and virtue, and was never heard to slander others or to talk unpleaasently about an individual Muslim.

His Martyrdom

When Allah (s.w.t.) willed that Sheikh Azzam should leave this world to be in His closest company, the Sheikh did departed in a glorious manner. This great martyr of Islam was assasinated when a land mine exploded beneath the car he was driving with his two sons on the way to the local mosque for Friday Prayer.

That fateful blast indeed ended the worldly journey of Sheikh Azzam which had been spent well in struggling, striving and fighting in the Path of Allah (s.w.t.). It also secured his more real and eternal life in the gardens of Paradise - God willing-, that he will enjoy along with the illustrious company of "those on whom is the Grace of Allah, the Prophets, the Sincere ones, the Martyrs and the Righteous. The Best of company are they". [4: 69]

We ask Allah The Almighty to raise up many examples of Sheikhs of his calibre, to support the Mujahideen everywhere, to grant us the Shahadah (martyrdom), and to resurrect us with the most righteous servants for He is most capable n

Written By Br. Abdullah Bin Omar,
Translated by Br. Mohammed Saeed

And here is another one:

Sheikh Abdullah Azzam:
Bin Laden’s spiritual mentor
Colonel (Res.) Jonathan Fighel
ICT Researcher
http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=388

Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was born in the village of Seelet Al-Hartiyeh, in the province of Jenin in the West Bank in 1941. He received his early elementary and secondary education in his village, and continued his education at the agricultural Khadorri College near Tul Karem, where he obtained a Diploma. After graduating from Khadorri College, Azzam worked as a teacher in a village called Adder in southern Jordan, and later enrolled in Sharia College at Damascus University, where he obtained a B.A. Degree in Shariah (Islamic Law) in 1966.

After the 1967 war, in which Israel conquered the West Bank from Jordan, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam immigrated to Jordan. There, in the late 1960’s, he joined the Jihad against the Israeli occupation. Soon afterwards, he traveled to Egypt and graduated with a Masters Degree in Shariah from the University of Al-Azhar.

In 1970 Jordanian forces expelled the PLO militants from Jordan. This effectively ended the Jihad against Israel from Jordanian territory, and Sheikh Azzam took up a teaching position in the Jordanian University in Amman. In 1971 he was awarded a scholarship to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, eventually obtaining his Ph.D in Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Usool-ul-Fiqh) in 1973

Sheikh Abdullah Azzam spent many years involved in the Palestinian Jihad. However, he eventually came to believe that those involved in the Jihad were too far removed from “The real Islam.” For this reason, he turned his back on Jordan and his home in the West Bank, and traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he took up a university teaching position. Sheikh Azzam became convinced that only by means of an organized military force would the Ummah (Islamic nation) emerge victorious. He became preoccupied with religious warfare: “Jihad and the rifle alone: no negotiations, no conferences and no dialogues.”

In an attempt to practice what he preached, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam became one of the first Arabs to join the Afghan Jihad against the Soviet forces, who invaded Afghanistan in 1979. He left his teaching position at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan, to be close to the Afghan Jihad. There, he became acquainted with the leaders of the Jihad. During his initial time in Pakistan, Azzam was appointed a lecturer at the International Islamic University in Islamabad. However, he eventually resigned this position in order to devote all his time to the Jihad in Afghanistan.

In the early 1980’s, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam immigrated with his family to Pakistan in order to be closer to the fighting. Soon after, he moved from Islamabad to Peshawar to be even closer to the front lines. In the Jihad, he said, he found the “satisfaction of his longing and untold love to fight in the Path of Allah”.

In Peshawar Azzam founded the Bait-ul-Ansar (Mujahideen Services Bureau), with the aim of offering all possible assistance to the Afghani Jihad and the Mujahideen. The bureau’s mission was to establish and manage projects in support of the cause, and to absorb and train the many volunteers pouring into Pakistan to participate in the war. However, this work did not satisfy Sheikh Azzam’s desire for Jihad, and his lust for battle eventually drove him finally to Afghanistan to take part in the fighting.

In Afghanistan he rarely stayed in one place for long. Instead, he traveled throughout the country, visiting most of its provinces and states. Among the places that Azzam reportedly visited at one time or another were Lujer, Kandahar, the Hindukush Heights, the Valley of Binjistr, Kabul and Jalalabad. These travels made a deep impression on him, allowing him to witness first-hand the “heroic” deeds of these ordinary people, who had sacrificed all that they possessed—including their own lives—for “the Supremacy of Islam.”

Upon his return to Peshawar, Azzam became an active propagandist for the Jihad. He attempted to bring together the estranged Mujahideen commanders, and called upon those who had not yet joined the fighting to take up arms and to follow him to the front while there was yet time. In this way, he gained a reputation for leadership, eventually becoming one of the foremost figures in the Afghani Jihad, apart from the Afghan leaders themselves. In particular, he was instrumental in promoting the Afghan cause to the rest of the world, especially in the Muslim world.

In his travels throughout the Arab world, he called on Muslims to rally to the defense of their religion and lands. In addition, he wrote a number of books on Jihad, including Join the Caravan and Defense of Muslim Lands. Azzam’s goal was to impel young Muslims all over the world to join the fighting in Afghanistan, which he presented as an Islamic cause, of significance to all Muslims. Due to his efforts, the Afghani Jihad became an Islamic symbol, bringing together Muslim volunteers from every part of the globe. Azzam saw his goal to be the establishment of the Khilafah, or “Allah’s Rule on earth,” which he believed to be the responsibility of each and every Muslim. The Jihad, according to his belief, was the vehicle that would establish the Khilafah (Islamic Rule) over the whole world.

His work in Afghanistan had made Abdullah Azzam the main pillar of the Jihad movement in the region. He played a significant role in influencing the minds of Muslims concerning the meaning of Jihad, and served as a role model for the younger generation of Muslims, who flocked to Afghanistan in droves.

However, Sheikh Azzam was not without enemies within the Jihad movement. The movement was split by rivalries and factionalism. In 1989 a lethal amount of TNT explosive was placed beneath the pulpit from which the Sheikh was to deliver his Friday sermon. The bomb did not explode.

On 24 November 1989 three bombs planted along the route that Abdullah Azzam regularly traveled to the mosque detonated as he passed. The Sheikh was killed, along with two of his sons. Rumors have consistently linked Osama Bin Laden to Azzam’s assassination, though there is no proof of a connection. Upon his death, Azzam left behind him dozens of books on religious doctrines, religious Fatawa (rulings) and a comprehensive ideology of Jihad.

The ideology founded by Abdullah Azzam, and its realization in the Afghan war, gave rise to a number of processes in modern history:

The creation of a kind of Islamic “internationale” through the recruitment of volunteers throughout the Muslim world to aide the struggle of the Afghan mujahideen.

The creation of a global network of radical Muslim terrorists through ties between these volunteers and radical Islamic movements throughout the Muslim world.

The creation of a mystique of invincibility. The Islamic fighters’ victory over the Soviet forces won them international acclaim and served as a source of inspiration to Islamists throughout the Muslim world.

The creation of a broad-based cadre of highly motivated and experienced warriors, bent on exporting the Islamic revolution to the world at large.

Osama bin Laden is one of the outstanding products of the Afghan war, and his Al-Qa’idah organization is one of the main expressions of the Afghan phenomenon. Bin Laden views his struggle as part of the conflict between the Islamic world and other civilizations, particularly “the Jewish-Crusader Civilization,” as he calls it.

As a cultural struggle, the world-wide Jihad is waged on three fronts. The most immediate front is within Muslim countries, where the goals is to reinstate the rule of Shari’a law. The second front is in countries with Muslim minorities, situated on “fault lines” with other cultures, such as the Balkans, the Caucasus, Kashmir, etc. And the last front is the international cultural struggle, in which Islam takes on Western— particularly American—civilization, perceived by the fundamentalists as the source of all evil, and the primary threat to Islam.

Chapter One
The Islamic Movement In The Field Of Intellect And Knowledge


The Government In The Field Of Intellect And Knowledge
The first and foremost field, in my opinion, is the intellectual field, for it is the basis for the enhancement of the call and Islamic Education.

It appears to me that our dilemma is an intellectual one in the first place. There is a clear deficiency in the understanding of Islam among many people, and an obvious lack of knowledge of Islam's teachings and their relevant hierarchy of importance, which is higher and most important, which is just important, which is not important at all. There is a lack of knowledge of the present time in which we live; of the reality that surrounds us.

There is an ignorance of others, in which we fall prey to either overestimation or underestimation, while others know everything about us and have laid us bare up to the very marrow!

There is even an ignorance of ourselves. Up to this day, we have not put our finger on our points of strength or weakness, often making a mountain out of a molehill, or seeing a blizzard as a sheer storm in a teacup. It is the same whether we are looking at our capabilities or at our shortcomings.

This ignorance is not restricted to Muslim masses, but it does also include the vanguard on which the hope for helping the cause of Islam now rests, and which represents the groundwork on which the aspired Islamic work will be built.



Our Need For a New Fiqh
In fact, we need a new fiqh, so that we may deserve to belong to those described by Allah as "people who understand" . By 'fiqh" here I do not mean fiqh as it is used in Islamic terminology, i.e. the science of jurisprudence that determines the particular terms and judgments of Shari'ah from their detailed evidence, such as the terms and conditions of ablution, impurity worship, transaction, marriage, divorce, baby - nursing etc. Important as it may be, this is not what we mean here. Neither do we mean the sense in which the word "fiqh" is used in he Quran and hadith, since it was among those words and concepts that have changed overtime, as Imam Al-Ghazali said in the Chapter on "knowledge" in his well-known encyclopedia called. Ihya ulum al-Din "Revival of the Sciences of religion".

The Quran had mentioned the root "F. Q. H. " (to understand) in its Meccan surats before the detailed rules of what is allowed and what is forbidden under the Shari'ah were sent down, and also before the faridas, hudud (punishment) and judgment were ordained. Read What Allah the Almighty says in Surat al An'am (65) , which was sent down in Mecca, "say": has power to send calamities on you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in factional strife, giving you taste of mutual vengeance- each from the other.
See how we explain the Signs by various (symbols); that they may understand" (65) See how we explain the Signs by various (symbols); that they may understand" (65)

Also read in the same Surat, (It is He Who has produced you from a single person: Here is a place of sojourn and a place of departure. We detail Our signs for people who understand) (98)

The word "fiqh " in the two verses means: an in-depth understanding of the unchanging practices of Allah in souls, minds and horizons, and His creation and of the punishments He has in store for those who stray from the right path preordained by Him.
Read in Surat Al Araf (7), which is also Meccan, what Allah the Almighty says about the people He has ordained for Hell. He describes them saying, "They have hearts wherewith they do not understand" and then says that they are (like cattle -nay, more misguided: for they are heedless [of warning]) (179)

Also read in many surats the description of the attitude of polytheists towards the Quran, which Allah the Almighty described by saying, (We have thrown veils on their hearts, so that they may not understand it, and deafness in their ears) [Al An'am: 25, Al-lsra: 46, Al-Kahf: 57]. in their ears) [Al An'am: 25, Al-lsra: 46, Al-Kahf: 57].
In Medinan Quran, the word "fiqh" was used in several surats to deny the presence of the quality of "fiqh" in polytheists and hypocrites.
In Surat Al Anfal (, Allah the Almighty addresses His Messenger and the believers, saying (If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding) (65)

The denial of possession of fiqh by warning unbelievers here means that they lack the understanding of the unchanging practices of Allah and how He gives days [of varying fortune] to all people by turn.

In Surat Al-Tauba (9), Allah dispraises the hypocrites by saying, (They prefer to be with the women who remain behind [at home]: their hearts are sealed, and so they do not understand) (87)

The understanding meant here is the understanding of the necessity of jihad and contribution to protection of the religion, life, honor and property and the community as a whole - an objective that precedes any individual interest, however urgent. In the same surat, Allah the Almighty describes this sort I of people [who lack this understanding] by saying, Whenever a surat is sent down, they look at each other [saying] (Does anyone see you?" Then they turn aside: Allah has turned their hearts [from the light] for they are a people who do not understand) oes anyone see you?" Then they turn aside: Allah has turned their hearts [from the light] for they are a people who do not understand) (127)
These muddle - headed people forget that Allah sees them before humans do, but they really have lost their fiqh: their understanding.

In Surat Al-Hashr (59), Allah speaks to the believers about hypocrites, saying, (Truly, you are stronger [than they are] because of the terror [thrown] in their hearts by Allah. This is because they are a people who do not understand) ( 13)
In Surat Al-Munafiqun (63), Allah says, (That is because they believed, then they rejected faith: so a seal was set on their hearts: therefore they do not understand) (3)
Also in he same surat, Allah says, (They are the ones who say, "Do not spend anything on those who are with Allah's Messenger so that they may disperse. "But to Allah belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites do not understand) (7)
This shows that the hypocrites have the lion's share of the Quranic description of "people who do not understand". It is because the hypocrites imagine that they are intelligent, that - they managed to sit on the fence, live with double faces and try to deceive Allah and those who believe, and when they meet those who believe they say, "we believe", but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, "We are with you".

But Allah the Almighty uncovered their secret, unveiled their hesitation and disclosed their deception in many verses. See for instance: (They try to deceive Allah and those who believe, but they only deceive themselves and do not realize [i]) [Surat al-Baqara: 9].

In short, they have been scandalized before Allah and people, lost earthly life and the Hereafter, and they will certain!, be thrown into the Lowe depths of Hell. What stupidity could be more abysmal?
No doubt that anyone meeting this description enjoys no even a grain of understanding!


Conclusion:
In Quranic parlance, the word "fiqh: does not have the terminological, meaning it has in today's language, i.e. jurisprudence, but refers to understanding [and learning] of Allah's words and His practices in the universe, life and society.

Even the fiqh of religion referred to by the phrase "devote themselves to studies in religion mentioned in Surat al-Tawba (9): (If a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies in religion and admonish their people when they return to them, so that they [may learn] to guard themselves) (122) does not refer to the traditional meaning of the word, as such reference to jurisprudence] would not result in a warning that could make the recipient vary or be on his guard, and is far as can be from performing this function - a function of the Call primarily.

There is a similarity between the usage of the word "fiqh" in this sense [understanding in these verses of the Holy Quran, and its use in the following hadith of the . (If Allah wants to do good to a person, He makes him well-versed in the religion) It means that Allah will enlighten his vision so that he may delve deep into the truths, secrets and aims of religion to understand them better instead of contenting himself with mere words and superficial meanings.

 
The Types of ,fiqh [Understanding] We Need
I have dealt with the types of fiqh we need, or at least with some of them, on various occasions.
A part of my argument is included in my book "The Islamic Awakening Between Ingratitude And Extremism", dealing with the fiqh of practices and the fiqh of ranks of deeds.

Another part of the argument is included in my book entitled "The Islamic Awakening Between Permitted Difference And Undesirable Disunity", dealing with one of the main types of fiqh we need: the fiqh of difference. In that book, I argue that there are five types of fiqh that we need. However, I will focus here on only two of these five. These are:

The Fiqh of balances.

  The  Fiqh of priorities.


The Need for Two Levels of  Fiqh
    The Fiqh of Priorities in the Prophet's
Surat (biography)

Integration of the Two Types of
Fiqh in Examining Interests and Evils
    The Interrelationship Between the  Fiqh
of Priorities and the  Fiqh of Balances

The Difficulty of Practice in Real Life
    The Necessity of Observing Proportions
Among Shari'ah Taklifs [Legal Commands or Mandates]

Proof of the  Fiqh of glances from the Holy Quran
    The Neglect of the  Fiqh of Priorities Among
many Muslims

The Opinion of Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymia
    Imam Al-Ghazali and the  Fiqh of Priorities

When the Fiqh of Balances is Absent
    Imam Ibn Al-Qayyom's Judgment on Preferred Worships



I believe that a stop at each of them is in order.

 
The Fiqh of Balances
By the fiqh of balances we mean several matters, as follows:

Balancing interests against each other, in terms of size and capacity; value and effect; as well as, endurance, so as to determine which should be given precedence and which should be discarded.

Balancing evils against each other in the same way of balancing interests, so as to determine which could be accepted and which has to be avoided.

Balancing interests against evils if they contradict, so as to determine when to give the avoidance of evil a precedence over the gaining of interests, and when to forgive evil for the sake of interests.
 
The Need for Two Levels of fiqh
In this respect, we need two levels of Fiqh as follows:

The Need for the fiqh of Shari'ah:
The first of these levels is a Shari'ah Fiqh based on a profound understanding of the letter and spirit of Shari'ah, so as to establish the soundness of the said "principle of balances" and determine its evidence, which should be clear to those who endeavor to understand the judgments and texts of Shari'ah and delve deep in its secrets.
Shari'ah was sent down only for achieving benefits for humans in earthly life and in the Hereafter, in the known ranks of these interests: Al-Daruriyyah (the indispensable) Al-Hajiyyah (the needful) and Al-Tahsiniyyah (the dignifying).

The Need for the fiqh of Factual Experience:
The second level is a rather positivistic fiqh based on the study of contemporary reality - a study that is careful comprehensive and dependent on the most accurate information and statistics. However, we have to warn here against misleading and unrealistic figures based on propaganda leaflets, inadequate information and questionnaires aimed at serving a specific objective, not at serving Truth as a whole.

 
Integration of the Two Types of  Fiqh in Examining Interests and Evils
Both the  Fiqh of Shari'ah and  Fiqh of factual experience should be integrated so that we may reach the proper academic balancing process that is free from both extremism and neglect.

The Shari'ah aspect here is clear in principle It was discussed in the books of Usul Al-Fiqh (principles of Jurisprudence), starting with "Al-Mustasfa" and up to "Al Muwafaqat"", as well as the books on rules, similarities and differences. When interests conflict, lower interest is sacrificed for the sake of higher interest, and private interest is sacrificed for the sake of common interest, and the owner of private interest is to be compensated for his loss. Also in cases of conflicting interests, temporary interest is forsaken in favor of long-term or permanent interest; superficial interest is neglected for the sake of real interest, and sure interest is given precedence over uncertain interest.

In the Treaty of Hudaibia, we saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) give prominence to real, basic and future interests over some considerations that others would never have relinquished. He agreed to such conditions that at first glance seemed unfair or humiliating to Muslims; he agreed to the removal of the phrase, "In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate", in whose place was written "In They name O God": He also agreed not to be mentioned as the Messenger of Allah in the pact, and to write his name only as Mohammad Ibn Abdullah. The examples are many. If evils conflict, and some of them are indispensable, then one should chouse the lesser of two evils and the lower of two degrees of harm prescribed.

Muslim Scholars have prescribed that harm should be eliminated as much as possible and that a lesser harm should not be eliminated with a greater harm. A minor harm should be tolerated if such tolerance would make it possible to avoid a major harm, and private harm should be accepted for the sake of avoiding common harm.

Many examples of this are mentioned in books on the "rules of  Fiqh" or "similarities and analogies".

If interests and evils conflict, they should be examined carefully in terms of their size, effect and duration.

A slight evil should be forgiven for the sake of realizing a major interest.

A temporary evil should be forgiven for the sake of realizing a long - term or permanent interest.

Even a great evil should be accepted if its elimination would lead to a greater evil.

In normal conditions, the avoidance of evil should come before the realization of interest.

It is not enough that we should accept this concept in theory, but rather we have to apply it in practice, for many of the differences among the active Islamist groups are related to these balances.

Is alliance with now - Muslim forces acceptable?  Is reconciliation or pacification with governments that do not adhere to Islam acceptable?
Is it allowed to participate in a ruling regime that is not purely Islamic and operates under a constitution that has loopholes or does not have our full approval?
Should we join an opposition front that comprises political parties for toppling an infidel backshading regime?
Should we establish Islamic economic institutions in an environment dominated by a usury-based, man-made economic system?
Should we allow Muslim elements to work for usury based banks and establishments, or should we keep all the religious elements that adhere to the teachings of Islam away from such establishments?


The Difficulty of Practice in Real Life
It is easy to lay down a principle, but difficult to put it to practice. The  Fiqh of balances is not easy to grasp by the layman and by others who can raise a hue and cry for the slightest cause.
The erudite scholar, Mawdudi, and his followers met much resistance and embarrassment when he, in the light of the fiqh of balances, was of the opinion that electing "Fatima Jinnoh" was less harmful than electing "Ayyub Khan". They became a target of a ferocious campaign invoking the hadith (A people who appoint a woman to lead them will never thrive). So how about a people who appoint as their leader a tyrant, would they do any better? Never!

The fiqh (of balance) here examines the two evils to choose the lesser one and avoid the greater of them.

Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi and his brothers in Sudan were attacked by some Islamists because they had decided to join the Socialist Union and had accepted some government appointments under Ja'far Nimeiri s regime, even before he announced the application of Islamic Shari'ah in Sudan.

Our brothers in Syria fared the same (opposition) when they decided to ally themselves with some non-Islamic forces to resist the regime that was seeking to annihilate them, although Prophet Mohammad allied himself with the tribe of Khuza'a who were polytheists, and he sought the support of one polytheist group against the other at times, too.

However, I am not taking sides here. I am only advocating a principle: the fiqh of balances, on which the structure of Shari'ah politics" should be built.

In positions taken by the Prophet and his Companions, and in the provisions of our comprehensive Shari'ah is much evidence supporting this argument: that it is permissible to participate in a non-Islamic rule or ally with non-Muslim forces.



Proof of the Fiqh of glances from the Holy Quran
If we carefully examine the Holy Quran, with its Meccan and Medinan revelations we will find much proof of the fiqh of balances and how to weigh things against one another.

A balancing of interests is present in Aaron's reply to Moses (may Allah have peace on both of them) "O son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard nor by (the hair of) m! head. Truly I feared that you should say, (You have caused a division among the Children of Israel and did not respect my word) (Surat Taha: 94).

A balancing of evils is found in the explanation given b) Al-Khidr when he scuttled the boat, (As for the boat, it belonged to poor people who plied on the water, and I wanted to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a king who took every boat by force) [Surat Al-Kahf: 79].

If the boat would be kept by its owners because it was scuttled, then the situation would be less damaging than it would be when the boat was to be lost completely. Saving some is certainly better than losing all.

Quite in point on the fiqh of balances is Allah's saying ("They ask you about fighting in the Prohibited Month Say", "Fighting therein is a grave. [offence], but graver it is, in the sight of Allah, to deny Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and drive out its members". Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter) [Surat Al-Baqara: 217].

Allah the Almighty is telling us that fighting in the Prohibited Month does constitute a grave offence, but may be undertaken for resisting something graver.

For a comparison between abstract and concrete interests, let us read the Almighty's admonishment of Muslims after the Ghazwah of Badr. (It is not fitting for an apostle to have prisoners of war until he has thoroughly conquered the land. You look for the temporal goods of this world, but Allah looks to the Hereafter, and Allah is Exalted in might, Wise) [Surat Al-Anfal: 67].

For a balancing of interest and evil, let us read the Almighty's saying, (They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, "In them, there is great sin, and some profit, for men, but the sin is greater than the profit) [Surat Al-Bakara: 219].

In comparing non-Muslim groups and forces one to another, let us read the opening verses of Surat Al-Rum (the Romans) which predict the Romans' victory over the Persians. On that (though both parties are non-Muslims [the surat says,day the believers shall rejoice) though both parties are non-Muslims [the surat says, day the believers shall rejoice) (4) because the Romans were people of the Book, which made them closer to Muslims than the Persians who worshipped fire.

 
The Opinion of Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymia
Sheikh Al-lslam Ibn Taymia gave a very strong opinion on the permissibility of assuming some public offices in an unjust state, if the occupant of such office would seek to alleviate some of the injustice or curb evil and corruption (see Annex. 1).

He also wrote a comprehensive chapter on the conflict of good things or bad things, or their combination if they came together and could not be separated but were to be taken as a whole or left as a whole (see Annex. 2).

A Muslim symposium devoted to Islamic economics and comprising some jurisprudents and some economists opined that it was legal [from the Shari'ah point of view] to subscribe to the shares put up for public sale by companies and enterprises which are established in Muslim countries to operate in authorized fields but could have a tinge of suspicion of riba [usury] in their transactions. The symposium, examining that issue in the light of the fiqh of balances, saw that such vital and effective concerns should not be left to non-Muslims or unreligious Muslims, as such action would entail a grave danger, particularly in certain countries. Shareholders can donate a proportionate part of their profits as a sadaqat [charity] for that part of the profit he may deem as resultant from riba - related transactions.

According to this fiqh, conscientious Muslim youth were given the religious opinion that they should not leave their jobs in banks and insurance companies and their likes, albeit their stay would entail some sin, because their stay would make them gain experience that they might use to serve Islamic economy. They would be rejecting the evil, even if only in their hearts, while they joined efforts with those who seek to change the whole order into an Islamic one.

 
When the Fiqh of Balances is Absent
If we do not apply the fiqh of balances, we will be closing many doors of good and blessing in our own faces, making the philosophy of rejection a way of dealing with everything, and taking self - isolation as a pretext for avoiding problems and shirking a confrontation with the adversary on his home ground.

It would be so easy for us then to say "No"! or "This is haram [prohibited by Shari'ah]!" to every proposal that requires thought or ijtihad [passing a legal opinion on some issue that is not specifically dealt with by Shari'ah].

But if we apply the fiqh of balances, we will find a way to compare one situation to another and weigh profits against losses in the short and long runs and at individual and collective levels, and then choose what we judge as leading to the realization of interest and the avoidance of evil in the best way possible.

Over ten years ago, I was invited to write for the "Doha" magazine that was published in Qatar. It was a general publication of literary and cultural pursuits, and most of its editorial staff were secularists, while its predominant line, though not against Islam, was not pro-Islamic or defending Islam either.

I hesitated for a long time, but, thinking of the proposal in a balancing manner, I judged that to write for the magazine would be better and more useful than boycotting it, because its readers represented a broad base of the cultured masses, most of whom do not usually read Islamic magazines. The readers of that magazine are unlike those who read the "Al-Umma" magazine and the like, so we have to make our word reach them whenever we have a chance. It is our divine duty to the Call to do so.

This is what makes us agree to be interviewed by reporters of newspapers and magazines whose line may not gain our approval. Some of our brothers still blame those who write in the daily newspapers which do not follow an explicit Islamic line. Some even blamed me for serializing my book, "The Islamic Awakening Between Allowed Difference And Rejected Dispersal" in the Saudi Asharq Al Awsat newspaper because that newspaper had adopted certain attitudes they did not approve of, but I had realized the benefit of publishing the book in such a widely-read newspaper.

There are even those who believe in boycotting mass media in all their forms - the printed, the audio and the visual, c account of their deviated thoughts and practices. They forget that; leaving the mass media will only make them worse and will give a chance to the secularists and dirty - minded to infiltrate deeper into them and sabotage them, while it will deny us chances c which we do not find equivalents. If we examine this issue in the light of the fiqh of balances, we will find that entering these important and vita fields is not only legal but desirable, even imperative, as well because it represents a means for discharging the duty of the Call and fighting evil as best we can. If something is required b' duty, then it is a duty in itself, as it is already known and established.

 
The Fiqh of Priorities
By fiqh of priorities", we mean putting everything in true perspective; no prominent issue should be postponed, and no minor issue should be given prominence; no big matter should be underestimated, and no small matter should be exaggerated.

This is what the laws of nature and the rules of Shari'ah dictate.

I mean that Allah's creation and commands (Verily His is the Creation, His the Command) [Surat Al-A'raf: 54] make it imperative to observe true perspective.

 
The Fiqh of Priorities in the Prophet's Surat (biography)
During the Meccan phase of the Message, the Prophet's mission was confined to calling the people to the Cause of Allah and bringing up the faithful generation that would carry the Call later to the Arabs and then take it to the four corners of the world. At that time, the Prophet focused on establishing the creed, cultivating monotheism, eliminating polytheism and idol-worship and nurturing values and virtues.

The Holy Quran supported this trend during that phase, so it did not distract Muslims with particulars or secondary provisions, but urged them to concentrate their efforts on building the Muslim image mentioned in Surat Al-Asr, (Those who have faith and do righteous deeds and [join together] in the mutual teaching of Truth and of Patience and Constancy) (3).

During the Meccan phase of the Message, the Prophet did not allow Muslims to take their axes and destroy the idols they saw around the Ka'ba everyday, or brandish their swords to defend themselves or fight their and Allah's enemies who were meting out torture to them. He only told them what the Quran said, (Hold back your hands and establish regular prayers)Hold back your hands and establish regular prayers) [Surat Al-Nisa: 77] at the time when they came to him beaten and wounded. There is a proper time for everything. If something is sought before the time is ripe for it, it will most likely be harmful, not useful.

 
The Interrelationship Between the fiqh of Priorities and the fiqh of Balances
The fiqh of priorities is related to the fiqh of balances, and in the certain domains the two of them overlap or run parallel to each other, as a balancing process may lead to a certain priority, and thus fall under the fiqh of priorities.



The Necessity of Observing Proportions Among Shari'ah Taklifs [Legal Commands or Mandates]
The fiqh of priorities embraces the observance of proportions among actions and Shari'ah taklifs.
Upsetting the proportions set by Islam among Shari'ah taklifs would badly damage both religion and worldly life.

In Islam, belief comes before work, as belief is the foundation and work is the building. No building can stand without a foundation.

Belief precedes actions, which are very diversified. The Prophet said in a sound hadith (Belief is divided into seventy-seven levels: the highest is "There is no God but Allah" the lowest is removing harm from the road [of people]).

The Holy Quran tells us that deeds are divided into higher lower orders before Allah, not one order only. Allah the Almighty says (Do you make the giving of drink to pilgrims or the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equal to [the pious service of1 those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and strive in the Cause of Allah? They are not comparable in the sight of Allah, And Allah does not guide those who do wrong. Those who believe and suffer exile and strive in the Cause of Allah with their property and their persons have the highest rank in the sight of Allah. They are the people who will achieve [salvation]) [Surat Al-Tawba: 19-20].

This is why Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymia said that the acts of jihad were better than the acts of hajj [pilgrimage]. The Hanbale jurists and other faqihs even classify jihad as the best physical activity to be volunteered.

Many traditions praise jihad. Those include Abu-Hurayra narrated. He said, (One of the Prophet's Companions passed a ravine where a sweet-water spring r Liked the ravine and said, "How I would like to isolate from other people [to worship Allah]! I will not do it I asking the permission of the Messenger of Allah (may have peace on him)". The man told the Prophet of his wish.  the Prophet said, "Do not do it. Your striving for the Cause Allah is better than praying in your house for seventy years" [A/-Tirmidhi & Al-Hakim].

The hadith narrated by Salman (and traceable to the Prophet) tells us of the merits of ribat (guarding Muslims infidels): "A r ibat for one day and one night is better fasting and night-praying for a month. and if one dies while state of ribat, he will have his good deeds kept counted h favor (as if he were alive), and (if alive) he will be safe the Tempter (the Devil)." [Muslim].

This is what made an imam like Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak who was in an encampment during jihad, write to his friend Al-Fudayl Ibn-lyad, a hermit worshipper who was always traveling between the two holy shrines in Mecca and Medina, saying, in verse: "O worshipper of the Two Shrines, if you could see us, You will learn that your worship is mere play. Some may wet their cheeks with their tears, wet our chests with our own blood. to the end 0 the poem.

According to the fiqh [in the sense of jurisprudence], a nafila [optional practice of worship in contrast to farida, which means a compulsory worship] should not be given precedence over afarida; an individual obligation has the precedence over a collective obligation; the collective obligation undertaken by an inadequate number of people or by nobody at all has the precedence (as a duty) over that which found people enough to fulfill its undertaking; an individual obligation related to the group or the Nation comes before that related to rights of individuals; and a duty whose time is limited and has already come has precedence over a duty whose time is ample. Fiqh also prescribes that the interests stated by Shari'ah vary in importance, from the indispensable through the needful to the dignifying in this same order of priority. Also, when the interests of the Nation conflict with those of individuals, the former should be given precedence. So, that's a point on which the fiqh of balances and the fiqh of priorities converge.

 
The Neglect of the fiqh of Priorities Among many Muslims
The problem with many groups of the Islamic Awakening advocates is that the fiqh of priorities is nonexistent to them, as they often seek the secondary before paying attention to the principal, try to examine the particulars before grasping the generalities, and hold to the controversial before familiarizing themselves with the established. It is a pity that we ask for instance about the blood of a gnat, and do not care about the shedding of Al-Hussein's blood, or fight for nafila, while the. people have wasted the faridas, or quarrel over a form, regardless of the content.

This is the situation today for Muslims in general. I see millions making the umra [minor pilgrimage] every year in Ramadan and other months and others making hajj for the tenth or even the twentieth time: if they saved the money they spent on these nafilas, they would accumulate thousands of millions of dollars. We have been running around for years trying to collect one thousand million dollars for the Islamic Philanthropic Institution, but have not collected a tenth, or even one-twentieth or one-thirtieth, of that amount. If you ask those performers of supererogatory umra and hajj to give you what they would spend on their voluntary journeys so that you may direct it to resisting Christianization or communism in Asia and Africa, or to combating famine here or there, they will not give you anything. This is a long-time ailment that no heart doctor has ever been able to cure.

The fiqh of priorities requires that we know which issue is more worthy of attention, so that we may give it more effort and time than we give others. The fiqh of priorities also requires us to know which enemy is more deserving of directing our forces and concentrating our attack against him, and which battle is more worthy of waging, for people are divided into several kinds in Islam's eye, as follows:

There are the Muslims, the unbelievers and the hypocrites.

Unbelievers have in their ranks the pacifists and the militant. They also include those who only did not believe, and those who did not believe and also blocked the path to Allah [before those who believed].

Hypocrites include those of the lesser hypocrisy and those of the greater hypocrisy.
With whom do we start, then? Which area is more worthy of work? Which issue is more deserving of attention?

The fiqh of priorities requires that we know the time-limited duty so that we may treat it properly and not delay it and thus waste a chance that may not present itself again until after a long time, if it ever does.

A poet admonishes us about the value of time by saying: "Avail the chance, for a chance, If unavailable, becomes a grief. Our Arabic adage also says: "Do not put off today's work till tomorrow".

When Omar Ibn Abdel-Aziz was once advised to postpone some chore to the next day, he replied, "I am already tasked by a day's work, how will I feel if I have two days work to do tomorrow? "
A wise saying by Ibn-Ata is "There are certain duties with plenty of time given for their fulfillment, so they could be cautioned within the time-limit, but there are, besides, time-limited duties that, if out of time, are irredeemable, for with every new time there is a new duty and a new task demanded by Allah"!

 
Imam Al-Ghazali and the fiqh of Priorities
In his book "Al Ihiya"', Imam Al-Ghazali criticized those who were content with worship and did not pay attention to the | ranks of deeds. He said: "Another group is keen on nafilas but not as keen on faridas. We see some of them very pleased with the duha [forenoon optional] prayer and tahajjud "nighttime optional prayer] and other nafilas, but they find no pleasure in the farida's, nor are they as keen on performing the farida prayers early in their time. They forget what the Prophet narrated from the Qudsi hadith [inspired by Allah the Almighty to His Messenger]: "Nothing that my slaves shall do to bring themselves closer to me shall be better than doing what I have ordered them to perform [as faridas]" (Al-Bukhari). Neglecting the order of prominence in good deeds falls under evil conduct. An individual may even find himself obliged to do only one of two compulsory things, or forced to do two things with a very limited time for one and ample time for the other: if he does not preserve their order, then he is deceived. "The similar instances are countless, for obedience and disobedience [of the commands of Allah] are both obvious. What is really ambiguous is giving precedence to some forms of obedience over others, such as giving prominence to faridas over nafilas; to individual duties over collective duties to a collective duty with no one to fulfill it over that fulfilled by other people; to the more important individual duties over those which have a lesser importance, to what cannot be postponed over what can be postponed; and to the needs of one's mother over those of one's father. The Prophet was asked, "Who is more entitled to be treated with the best companionship by me?" He replied, "Your mother". And the man said, "Who is next?", and the Prophet said, "Your mother". And the man asked again, "And who is next"? and the Prophet said, "Your mother". And the man asked for the fourth time, "And who is next?" and the Prophet said, "Your father". And the man further asked, "And who is next?" and the Prophet replied, "The closest and then the closer of your relatives."). A person should devote his companionship by the closeness of relationship. If two of his kins are of the same degree of relation, then he should help the one who needs help more, and if they need help equally then he should help the more pious of them.

"Similarly, if someone cannot meet the Costs of spending on his parents and making a pilgrimage at the same time, he should not make the pilgrimage because if he does, he would be acting in ignorance, for he should give the rights of his parents precedence over pilgrimage. In this case, he will be giving prominence to a religious duty over another religious duty that is of a lower rank.

Moreover, if someone has an appointment and the time for jumua [Friday congregational prayer] comes upon him, then he has to go to the prayer. If he goes to his appointment, he will be committing an act of disobedience [to Allah], even though the fulfillment of the appointment is, as such, an act of obedience.

Someone may also find some najasa [impurities] on his garment and speak roughly to his parents on that account. While najasa is unacceptable, hurting the parents is also unacceptable, and caring to avoid hurting the parents is more important than caring to avoid najasa.

"The examples of the combination of tabooed deeds and of compulsory duties are countless. He who neglects the order of Priorities in any of them is certainly deceived'' (l)

 
Imam Ibn Al-Qayyom's Judgment on Preferred Worships
Ibn Al-Qayyem examined various opinions on: which worships are better, are they the hardest to perform, or the more beneficial? "

He judged that there is no such thing as an absolutely preferred worship but there is a time at which a worship was preferred most.(2)

In times of famine, providing food is the best deed that brings a Muslim closer to Allah.
When infidels invade a Muslim country, jihad is the best deed, followed by providing mujahids (performers of jihad) with arms and money.

When scholars die and there is nobody to succeed them, I learning religion is the greatest act for which a Muslim may I seek reward from Allah and have his fellow believers' praise. his is how deeds should be balanced against one another, according to their competent merits.

Chapter Three
The Islamic Movement In The Field Of Education And Religious Training


Belief based
Education is the basic and necessary approach for any Islamic movement that seeks to change the state of affairs by changing people themselves.

The point of focus in the field of education should be the preparation of the Muslim vanguard who will aid the cause of Islam. They would be to our age what the Prophet's Companions were to the Prophet's age.

The foremost quality that members of this vanguard must have is belief, by which I mean the belief of Quran and Sunna; the belief that has over seventy branches of values and morals; the belief on which whole volumes were compiled, for belief does not come about by the wish or by pretence: it is what settles in the heart and is proved by acts.

So, what is meant here is not just the mental knowledge whose effect does not extend to the heart to light it or to the will to move it. Neither is it just filling the memory with words and terms such as God and the Lord; religion and worship; the various branches of monotheism; idols and (the Times of) Ignorance, and then feeling proud that one possesses what makes a true believer and what constitutes yaqin [perfect and absolute belief] and dragging others to arguments and verbal battles over these words and terms.

Neither argument nor verbal battles would yield a belief like that of Pharaoh's magicians when they believed in the Lord of Moses and Aaron, or like that of the Prophet's Companions when they believed in the Message of Allah's Messenger.

The needed belief is the one of the first generation, as prescribed in the Quran and Sunna.
Only one verse from a surat in the Quran needs to be quoted here: it is the verse with which Allah answers the desert Arabs who said, "We believe" while belief had not entered their hearts: (Only those are believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and have never since doubted, but have striven with their belongings and their persons in the Cause of Allah. Such are the sincere ones) [Surat Al?Hujurat: 15]. It is also narrated in the hadith that the Prophet said, (Whoever possesses the following three qualities will have the sweetness [delight] of faith: to love Allah and His Messenger more than anything else; to love a person only for Allah's sake, and to hate to revert to atheism [disbelief] after Allah saved him from it like hating thrown into Hell) [Bukhari & Muslim].

It may be enough for the common people who follow the leaders to have a half, or even a quarter, belief, but the leading vanguard must have a true belief. They should never include a half ? or a quarter ? believer.

Imam Hassan Al?Banna used to say to his disciples, "Give me twelve thousand believers, and I will conquer with them the mountains, cross the seas and invade the land''.(l)

But is this number enough to bring about the great hopes and realize the ambitious aspirations of the Islamic Nation? I say yes, we will do with twelve thousand of the true believers. But I also say that we will not do with twenty-four thousand half believers or forty-eight quarter believers, or any of the "fractions" of believers whom one stumbles upon as a result of their stupendous numbers but who can do nothing of use in times of need.

We want believers like the Ansar of Medina, who were described of becoming large in number at the time of war and few at the time of distribution of the war booty.

As for those who are many in numbers but of little use in reality and are no better than 'the scum of the torrent, they will never be fit to be in the leading vanguard, even if they are millions in number.

Belief based or God inspired education is the first precondition for bringing up a generation that will defend the cause of Islam.

It is this generation that has been described by the Almighty (you who believe, if any from among you turn back from his faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him ? lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of Allah and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the Grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He pleases. And Allah encompasses all, and He knows all things) [Surat Al?Ma'ida: 54].



The Necessity of a Measure of Proper Sufi education
A measure of proper Sufi education based on the Quran and Sunna is in order here, as it would help in shaping a religious character whose owner would put Allah before Allah's creation, the Hereafter before earthly life and the motives of religion before the motives of desire.

Not all Sufism is evil as some would imagine. Neither are all Sufists misled as claimed by those who lack in knowledge or fairness. Sufists are like other groups, as Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn?Taymia said in his treatise entitled "Al?Fuqara"' [the Poor]. He said about them, "Among them you find the straightforward and the deviant; the one who wrongs his own soul, the one who follows a middle course, and the one who is, by Allah's leave. foremost in good deeds".

Of course, we reject all the fallacies of philosophical Sufism (including such tenets as: hulul" divine incarnation" and ijtihad "mystic communion with God"), ecstatic utterances of heretic Sufists and the deviations of money oriented Sufism. What we really seek is the pure, quintessential Sufism of the pioneer Sufists, such as Al?Hassan Al?Basri, Al?Fudayl Ibn?lyad, Ibrahim Ibn?Adham, Abu Sulayman Al?Darani, Abul?Qasim Al?Junayd and others like them.

We seek the sunnite Sufism that follows a balanced line of Quran and Sunna ? the Sufism that cares about the "piety of hearts" before it concerns itself with the "acts of the organs of the body". It is said in the sound hadith that (Allah shall not look at your bodies or your faces, but rather into your hearts} [Muslim].

We seek the Sufism that addresses the ailments of the heart, plugs the holes through which Satan can steal into hearts, and resists the desires of the human soul, so that it may have proper morals and virtues and abandon sins.

Someone described Sufism in a nutshell, saying, "Sufism is being true to Allah and good to mankind". This is what Allah the Almighty means by saying, (For Allah is with those who restrain themselves and those who do good) [Surat Al?Nahl: 128]. The Sufists are with Allah by being pious, and with people by doing good.

Allama Ibn Al?Qayyim quoted the early Sufists as saying, "Sufism is good manners, an anyone who surpasses you in manners should be better than you in Sufism". Ibn Al?Qayyim comments on that by saying, "No, religion is good manners, and anyone who surpasses you in good manners should be better than you in religion".

True ! And we need only to quote the Prophet's hadith, (I have been sent [with the Message] to make manners perfect) [Bukhari].



Four Points of Focus
There are four points of focus in this education, as follows:

Pure Intention:
The first focal point is making one's intention pure, so that his work may be done solely for the sake of Allah, not for the sake of any other gain such as money, power, people's favor or any other of the ambitions that the soul may covet in secret.

Islamic work is a worship and a jihad. Worship is good only when it is practiced in pure intention for the sake of Allah: (And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true [in faith]) [Surat Al?Bayyinah: 5].

Jihad in Allah's cause is proper only when it is performed with an intention that is pure and is directed at making the Word of Allah exalted to the heights.

Allah the Almighty does not accept a deed with shared objective, nor a heart with shared beliefs.

This why Imam Hassan Al?Banna was keen to raise his first slogan as, "Allah is Our Goal", so as to assert that the pleasure and reward of Allah are our most aspired goal. We might say that we seek to establish an Islamic community, an Islamic state or an Islamic ruling system, or that we work for restoring the integrated Islamic way of life, or any other near ? or long ?term objective, but our goal in all this will be to gain the pleasure of Allah so that He may count us among His righteous servants.

Every Islamic worker should bear in mind these two verses,
(Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are [all] for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds. He has no partner: thus I am commanded, and I am the first of those who submit to His will) [Surat Al?An'am: 162?163].

Causes are not made victorious through the efforts of fame ? seekers, but through the efforts of those who were described in hadith to be (charitable, pious and quiet people, who are not felt when present nor missed when absent, and whose hearts are the lamps of [Allah's] guidance) [Al?Hakim].


Fearing Allah:
The second focal point is to fear Allah in any deed, so that such deed may take its share of perfection.

This is why the Prophet, when Gabriel asked him about perfection, said: (Perfection is to worship Allah as if you were seeing Him, for although you do not see Him, He does see you)

This is a prerequisite in any deed, be it earthly or religious, for perfection in work is a farida that every Muslim should seek to observe. Allah has prescribed perfection in everything, and nothing should make a man seek perfection more than his feeling that Allah sees and hears him and knows all that he does.

Perfection is more a prerequisite when the deed in question is related to religion, such as work in the fields of the Islamic Call and the Islamic Movement, where Islamic workers discharge
their duty on behalf of other Muslims who sit idle and watch, and even sometimes attacks them and try to bring them to abandon their efforts.

Islamic workers never lack in supervision, nor do they ever require administrative inspections, for they are under supervision from within themselves, and they are the first inspectors of their efforts, as they always have in mind Allah's saying, (And He is with you whosesoever you may be, and Allah sees well all that you do) [Surat Al?Hadid: 4].


Calling Oneself to Account:
The third focal point is self accounting. First, we have to have a true intention before setting to work. Second, we have to seek perfection in our work. Third, we have to call ourselves to account. It is the hadith (A wise man is that who calls his soul to account and works for that which comes after death, and a helpless (fool) is that who gives his soul a free right and hopes for Allah's forgiveness [without cause for such forgiveness] )
It is also related that Omar said (Call yourselves to account before you are called to account, and weigh your deeds before they are weighed against you) Another saying by Maymun ibn?Mahran, is: (A pious man is that who calls his soul to an account that is fiercer than that of a tyrant ruler and a tight?fisted partner.)

The origin of our point here is Allah the Almighty's saying in the Quran, (And I do swear by the self reproaching soul) [Surat Al?Qiyamah: 2).

Self accounting always breeds more effort towards rectification of errors and elimination of shortcoming, making one always seek perfection and avoid self admiration, conceit and contempt of others.

Calling oneself to account is also one of the moral and educational fundamentals in Islam. This is why it is considered as a must by all Sufists and experts of education.

People nowadays repeat the term "self-criticism". There is no harm in using this term, but there does exist real harm in regarding its meaning as being new to us and regarding it as a practice that we have copied from others, for it is nothing but the self accounting that is called for by our Quran, our Sunna and our very culture.


Putting One's Trust in Allah:
The fourth focal point is putting one's trust in Allah. It is the spiritual weapon that turns weakness into strength and few numbers into large numbers. It was also the weapon with which the Apostles of Allah faced up to the tyrants among their people, never being intimidated by their tyranny or weakened by their mischief, but saying, (Why should we not put our trust in Allah? Indeed He has guided us to the ways [we follow]. We shall certainly bear with patience all the hurt you caused us. For those who put their trust should put their trust in Allah) [Surat Ibrahim: 1 2].

Putting one's trust in Allah means to take Allah as one's guide, following His commands and depending on Him, as He says, ([He is] the Lord of the East and the West: there is no God but He, take Him therefore for [your] disposer of affairs) [Surat Al?Muzzammil: 9].

You should take Allah as your disposer of affairs, however, only after you prepare yourself and, take every precaution, then go ahead in confidence that Allah will not abandon you.
Putting one's trust in Allah should by no means be taken to mean neglecting one's work, abandoning the means that lead to ends, ignoring the approved practices or waiting to reap unsown seeds or harvest unattended crops. It means what the Prophet and the Apostles before him did: doing one's best and leaving the outcome to Allah, out of trust in Him, out of conviction in His promise and out of belief in His support.

Our noble Prophet made the best arrangements for his hijra, but the unbelievers managed to reach the cave where he was hiding. When Abu?Bakr said, "If any of them looks under his feet, he will certainly see us!", the Prophet said, "What do you think of two people whose third is Allah?" (Have no fear, for Allah is with us) [Surat Al?Tawbah: 40].

This was also what Moses said to his people when Pharaoh pursued them at the head of his army, and they were caught between the sea before them and their enemy behind them: (And when the two bodies saw each other, the people of Moses said.

"We are sure to be overtaken". He said, "By no means!! My Lord is with Me! Soon will guide me!) [Surat Al?Shuara: 61?62].

We really need this sort of conviction to face up to the grandchildren of Pharaoh and Abu?Jahl, trusting that Allah is with us. Those who have Allah with them will not fail (If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) [Surat Al?Imran: 160]. If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) [Surat Al?Imran: 160].



Focusing on Seeking Right in Addition to Pure Intention
In preparing vanguards, we have to insure the presence of a combination of two things: pure intention and correct work.

Pure intention and goodwill are required in every Islamic work, because every Islamic work is a worship and a jihad, and no worship or jihad will be accepted unless there was a pure intention behind it, as we have already said. This is why our 'ulama' attach so much importance to the Prophet's hadith saying, (Deeds are [measured] by the intentions behind them) that they regard it as a quarter, a third, and even a half, of Islam as a whole.

However, this alone is not enough for steering the Islamic Movement's ship among the waves and winds of the tempest. For besides pure intention, there should exist an ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and even differentiate between the more right of two opinions and choose the lesser of two evils or the best of two good things. It is said that a man in his right mind is that who knows good from evil, but a wise man is that who knows the better of two evils, if there could ever be an evil that is good!

True, a Muslim is required to try and seek what is right; and if he goes wrong, he is excused, even rewarded. However, as the hadith says, one who tries and goes wrong is rewarded only once, while one who tries and goes right is rewarded double: once for trying and making the effort, and once for going right.

A double reward is promised to those who go right so that "seeking correctness" may always be an objective for those who try, and that all wise believers may set their sights on going right in their endeavors.

However, I would like to underscore two points here:

First, he who gets rewarded for trying should be qualified for trying in the first place, i.e. he should possess the minimum qualifications to make an ijtihad [personal reasoning]. I do not mean the literal meaning of ijtihad as pertaining to the conditions for making such endeavors as they are mentioned in usul al?fiqh [ principles of jurisprudence] books, but rather to any attempt made in any field that requires special knowledge. Making a trial in politics is certainly different than making a trial in the military, economic or educational fields, as each field requires special knowledge in addition to common sense.

But he who launches himself into a topic that he does no. know well, passing judgment in it without proper knowledge, should only wrong himself, his topic and his people, and should get no reward at all, but rather get (a punishment for) an undeniable sin, for he would be passing judgment in ignorance and wading into waters he does not know how to swim in.

This was why the Prophet said in hadith (Judges are three kinds: one shall go to The Garden, and two shall go to Hell. The first is a judge, who knows right and judges by it, and he shall go to The Garden. The second is a judge who passes judgment in ignorance, and he shall go to Hell. The third is a judge who knows right but passes judgment unjustly, and he shall go to Hell) [Abu?Dawad, Al?Tirmidhi, Ibn?Majah, Al?Nasa'i, Al?Hakim].

This hadith makes a judge who passes judgment in ignorance equal to a judge who knows right but passes unfair judgment, as an ignorant judge would be sailing in unknown waters that he would get lost into, and had better leave them to those who can steer the ship safely through them, and give the helm to a skilled master.

Even if he does right, a man of this kind will not be rewarded by his right deed, as it is a shot without a marksman, and a right word from the wrong quarter, having no value because.: it is not based on a proper methodology.

It is said in the hadith, (He who gives his own opinion [without knowledge] in the Quran and goes right shall be wrong) [reported by Al?Tirmidhi who classified it as "gharib", i.e.. a hadith which is related by only one narrator. In other Sunna collections it is classified among the "da'if", i.e. weak traditions].

He will be wrong, although his opinion is right, because his right opinion came out of a haphazard trial, not through a proper methodology that he followed strictly. Such a haphazardly reached right is not to be depended on.

The second point I want to note here is that those who will be rewarded for their ijtihad, even with the single reward for trying, will be worthy of reward only if they do their best in seeking the truth and exert every effort to ensure that they understand things right. In so doing, they have to use all the means at their disposal and digest all the available information to discover right. They have also to consult knowledgeable people, so as to arm themselves with sound opinions and valuable experience that will help them do right.



The importance of ideological education of future leaders
Preparing Leaderships for the Future
The problem of the Islamic Movement in many countries is that its base is larger than what its leadership can cope with. There is no shame in admitting that.

The reason for this situation is that the contemporary Islamic Movement has spread all over the world, driving roots in all countries, its base becoming more expansive. However, this growth has not been accompanied by the appearance of a suitable number of leaders that can cope with it at ideological, educational and political levels.

This is a situation that the current readerships have to bear in mind and prepare for in the next phase.

The first fact that should be taken into consideration here is that being faithful to the Call, making sacrifices for its sake or being among the first to enter its field are not the only qualifications for leadership of the Islamic Movement, though they have their weight as points in favor of candidates and have their own value before Allah and in the eyes of people.

The required type of leadership should enjoy certain mental, psychological and practical abilities in addition to the traditional prerequisites of morals, behavior and faith.

By leadership, I do not mean the figure at the top of the hierarchy, but rather the group that plans for work, launches the work and directs and controls it and gets out the best in those working under its command, so as to divert them from destruction to construction; from argument to work; and from idleness to serious endeavor.

Those who were first to assume leadership should not stand in the way of new leaders, thinking that leadership is a life?long right that is invalidated only by death, thus denying the youthful talents and young abilities the opportunity to come into the light.

We have to abandon the idea that leaders are selected for life, like the Rightly Guided Caliphs, whom we were commanded to take as an example.

In fact, such historical precedents are not a law that the Nation should observe until the Day of Judgment, and we have discussed this point elsewhere.

However, what matters here is that we should, even must, prepare the readerships required for the coming phase, so as to ensure that there will stand at the helm only those leaders who are strong, honest, dependable and knowledgeable.

We must prepare ideological, educational and political readerships.

This is what we must seriously think of, taking the practical steps and measures to achieve. We have to bring it about from theory to application.



A special Institute for Preparing Leaderships
I suggest, for this purpose, that an institute be established for preparing Islamic leaders. Its students should be selected from among the faithful talented elements who possess the required mental, psychological, behavioral and belief related qualities. They should also be recommended by prominent figures known to be good judge of men. They should also sit for written and oral examinations of various kinds before they are admitted to this institute.

The institute had better be a boarding ? school ? type, so that the students may live as a community in it, leading a life in which religion, knowledge, the Call, brotherhood and jihad will be the basic elements.

The curricula of this institute should be comprehensive, profound and diversified, combining traditions with contemporary knowledge, mixing religion with human sciences from an Islamic perspective, and giving due attention to the study of the local, Arab, Islamic and international state of affairs, with emphasis on the examination and analysis of the forces opposing our religion, our Nation and our march. This institute should combine knowledge and work, theory and practice.

The faculty to teach these curricula should be selected from among trustworthy professors who combine high qualifications with mature thought and true belief. They should be far from being either lax or extreme. There should exist among them an integration and a coordination that would ensure that none of them would tear down what another has built, and that there would not be among them Accidentalists and Orientalists or Rightists and Leftists who would wreak contradiction, confusion of thinking and disturbance in the character ? formation process among the students.

However, I do not mean that the great professors we should seek should be replicas of one another: I only mean that there should be a harmony among them in terms of the general way of thinking of major issues and in terms of the general philosophy that will be adopted in the institute. At this point I would 1ike to discuss some of the features of the ideology we should established through this ambitious endeavor.



Features of The Ideology Needed
What I would like to assert beyond any doubt or ambiguity is that besides the belief? based education that is the foundation of the moral upbringing of future leaders of the Islamic Movement, there should be a strong ideological education that is based on the sort of 'fiqh" explained earlier, which we want for the Movement in its days to come.

Belief, to us Muslims, is not against reason or intellect. On the contrary, it is based on and fed by reason, and the believers are described in the Quran as "men of understanding", and the Quran is meant to give signs to "people who understand" or " people who ponder". Reason to the prominent intellectuals of the Nation is the basis of all [inherited] revealed knowledge, for without it nobody could have proved the existence of Allah or the validity of prophethood.

Through the instructions it contains, the Quran has laid down the foundation of the "scientific mentality" which worships Allah superstitions and denounces the imitation of forefathers or prominent figures.



A Scientific Ideology
The ideology on which our aspired education is based has specific features that should be sought and established by teachers and driven home by educational curricula.

First, this ideology is scientific in the full sense of the word.

By " scientific ", we do not mean that it is scientific as related to abstract and applied sciences ? though they are a field that should be sought by Muslims by all means ? but rather that it is an ideology that would not accept any claim without proof, any result without preamble, any evidence without documentation or any preamble that is not totally free from suspicion.

We want "scientific thinking" and scientific spirit'' to guide our life in every way, so that we may view things, issues, situations and people in a scientific way, and pass our tactical and strategic decisions on issues related to economy, politics, education and other fields with a scientific mentality that is free from the influence of emotions, improvisation, self ?centeredness, herd ? effect and the many diversified pretexts given for everything today. Such adverse factors have come to dominate our behavior to a great extent. A decision maker who is under the influence of his or his party's whims will only be seeking to appease the public by doing what they like, not what is good for them and their future in their homeland and their Nation as a whole.

The "scientific spirit" has major characteristics that I have already dealt with in my book, "The Islamic Solution: A Farida And A Must" In the course of "self ? Criticism" of the Islamic Movement. However, I think it would be better to recall them here for purposes of reasserting the Nation's need to them, not to imported "secularism".



Characteristics of the Scientific Spirit We Need
The scientific spirit has many characteristics, the most important of which are as follows:

Adopting an objective attitude towards matters, situations and statements, regardless of who is behind them. Ali Ibn Abi?Talib said, "Do not know Truth by men. Know Truth, and you will easily know the men who belong to it"


Respecting specialization. The Quran says, (Ask of those who possess the Message) [Surat Al?Nahl: 43] (Ask, then, about Him of any acquainted [with such things]) [Surat Al?Furqan: 59] and (And none [O man!] can inform you like Him who is All?Aware) [Surat Fatir: 14]. Religion has its own experts, as do economics, military affairs and other branches of knowledge, especially in this age of ours, here specialized knowledge is the rule. He who knows religion, politics, economics, arts and military arts, giving his opinion on everything, is a jack of all trades who is a master of none.


Having the ability of self-criticism, admission of mistakes and learning from them and evaluating past experiences under a fair light that is not dimmed by the "glory seeking" view which sees the past only as being full of glories and victories.


Employing the latest and best techniques so as to ensure success, and learning from the experience of others, including enemies. Wisdom is a believer's quarry, wherever he finds it, he is more worthy of it than any other man.


Subjecting everything, except religious and ideological incontestable facts, to tests and accepting the outcome regardless of whether it is in one's favor or not.


Avoiding haste in passing decisions and judgments, and adopting attitudes only after a careful study based on examination and evaluation and only after a constructive dialogue [with the other side] that would reveal shortcomings and advantages [of the issue being discussed].


Appreciating the other view and respecting the opinions of those who adopt contradictory attitudes towards multi?faceted issues in fiqh and all branches of knowledge, so long as each has his own evidence and argument, and so long as the point at issue is not decided by a clear text that would preclude any dispute. Our 'ulema' have established that there is no ban on an ijtihad ?based opinion, as no one who tries to come out with a judgment based on ijtihad should be regarded as better than another. However, this should not prevent constructive dialogue and academic, impartial verification in an atmosphere of tolerance and love.



Some Practices that Run Against Scientific Ideology
It is against the scientific way of thinking to oversimplify complicated issues, underrate serious issues, view difficult problems with an alarming superficiality or deal with major issues with the mentality of the uneducated and the practices of the dervishes.

It is detrimental to our thinking that we should see behind anything that we do not like those invisible hands and evil foreign powers that had masterminded our plight wickedly and waited patiently until we stepped into the trap of our own accord. This may be true in some cases, but it is wrong to generalize it.

This explanation of events in our history to be the results of schemes and conspiracies, regardless of whether the events in our countries are political, economic, social or cultural, only bears two bad fruits:

First, if such a feeling escalates, it breeds a sense of "fatalism": that there is nothing we can do about these satanic schemes because of the gigantic financial and intellectual capabilities of the forces of them and our own weaknesses and shortcomings. This way, we become "chessmen on a chessboard", as is often said. Such a feeling would breed only despair and a destructive sense of defeat.

Second, this attitude prevents us from self-criticism and precludes any sincere attempt to understand our deficiencies, remedy our ailments or examine our failures and sins. It impedes any effort to look for the causes of our diseases so that we may find a cure for them. This situation will remain as long as any deficiency, neglect, corruption or ruin is seen as the result of a devious foreign scheme, not as the consequence of our own behavior.

We had often adopted this attitude despite the fact that the Quran teaches us to blame only ourselves whenever we are met by a misfortune or are the target of a calamity or a defeat, as Allah the Almighty says, (Whatever misfortune happens to you, is because of the things your hands have wrought, and for many [a sin] He grants forgiveness) [Surat Al?Shura: 30].

After the Muslims had been struck by the calamity of losing seventy of their heroes in the Battle of Uhud while they had scored a dazzling victory in the Battle of Badr, they asked themselves what the reason was. The answer was sent down by Allah in (What! When a single disaster smites you, although you smote your enemies with one twice as great, do you say? ?"Whence is this?" Say [to them]: It is from yourselves) [Surat Al?Imran: 165]



A Realistic Ideology
Among the characteristics of the scientific ideology we want for the Islamic Movement in the next phase is that it is based on reality, not on illusion or dreams.



Balancing ambitions with Capabilities
One of the realities we have to etch on our minds is that we should balance our ambitions with our capabilities and weigh what we wish against what we can actually get, so that we may not commit ourselves to matters for which we are not prepared or for which we do not possess the necessary tools.

The Holy Quran includes an authorization for a warrior to turn his back to battle if "he is trying to execute a stratagem of war or retreat to a troop of his own people".

A warrior is also authorized to withdraw from battle when the situation is not in his favor as a result of the presence of large enemy numbers that are more than double the number of the Muslim army: (For the present, Allah has lightened your [burden], for He knows that there is a weak spot in you: But [even so], if there are a hundred of you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred, and if a thousand, they will vanquish two thousand, with the leave of Allah: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere) [Surat Al?Anfal: 66].

In the Battle of Mu'ta, the Roman Army was many times the number of the Muslim Army (the Muslims were 3,000 against 150,000 Romans). This correlation of troops made the military genius Khalid Ibn Al?Walid plan for the Muslims withdrawal to safety, preferring that to throwing his army into a battle that would be more like suicide.

When he returned with his companions to Medina, the enthusiastic Muslim youths received them by throwing stones at them, describing them as the deserters", but the Prophet defended them saying, "No, they will be the attackers by the will) of Allah".

A wise commander is that who cares for his troops lives. This is what made Omar Ibn Al?Khattab early in his reign reluctant to invade the Byzantines, saying to those who urged him to do so, "By Allah, a single Muslim is dearer to me than the Byzantines Empire and all [the wealth] that it has"!
A wise Muslim is that who does not get himself involved in things he cannot undertake. Allah the Almighty says, (So fear Allah as much as you can) [Surat Al?Taghabun: 16].

It is said in the hadith ("A Muslim should not humiliate himself", [said the Prophet]. "How could he humiliate himself, O Allah's Messenger?" [asked the people] "By shouldering such ordeal he cannot carry", [answered the Prophet]).

A mistake that the Islamic Movement could easily make is to be driven by the emotions of the common people in making vital decisions.

In some countries, the Muslim masses may push some of the Movement's leaders into the political battle where they would be fighting with all their might before they are fully in possession of the mental, political and specialized abilities required for that task. In so doing, these leaders would be shouldering more than they can carry, which is sure prescription for failure.

Such failure is the result of haste, miscalculation, overestimation of one's abilities and underestimation of the abilities of others.

We have before us the example of the Prophet when he denied his Companions in Mecca permission to initiate an armed clash with the polytheists, even when they were being harmed and tortured. He used to say, ( Hold back hands from fight and establish prayer).

The Prophet followed that practice until Allah provided for him a free land and a solid base for launching his operations, whence he started jihad and launched battle. It was then that Allah the Almighty sent down His Words: (To those against whom war is made, permission ? is given [to fight], because they are wronged; and verily, Allah is Most Powerful for their aid) [Surat Al-Hajj: 39].



Burying Old Problems
We want the new ideology to make us bury old problems that have preoccupied Muslim minds and wasted Muslim efforts for some time, such as the problem of divine entity and qualities; attributes are the divine attributes the very divine essence, or rather something else? Or are those attributes neither essence nor anything else? The problem of whether, the Quran was "created" and the ensuing ordeals to which a number of Islam's prominent Imams were subjected; the unneeded exaggeration in raising controversies about Ta'wil (exploring hidden meanings in interpreting religious texts) between early and later generations; the attempts to refute the tenets of Asharites, Maturidites and their proponents among the Muslim world's religious universities scholars of Al?Azhar, Al?Zaytuna, Al?Qarawiyyin, Diobard, etc.

None of those problems should be allowed to preoccupy the minds we prepare for the next phase to face up to Zionists, Crusaders, Marxists and advocates of destructive philosophies that blow on our Nation from East and West alike.



A Debate that We do not Need Today
The realistic ideology we need is one that focuses on construction and work, not on haggling and debate. For when Allah wants to punish people, He preoccupies them with debate and denies them [serious] work.

By debate, I mean debate on problems that are historical, purely hypothetical or have a controversial nature.

A debate that we do not need, or would not benefit from today is that debate which is raised from time to time about the nature of military jihad (fighting) in Islam: whether it is a "defensive" Jihad for defending Islam's creed, sanctums and territories, or an "offensive" Jihad for spreading Islam in the world.

Many of the contemporary scholars wrote on this topic, and have been divided into two groups as follows:
Those who adopted the first opinion [that jihad should be defensive] include: Sayyed Rashid Reda, Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltut, Sheikh Mohammad Abdallah Diraz, Sheikh Abdel?Wahab Khallaf, Sheikh Mohammad Abu?Zahra, Sheikh Mohammad Al?Ghazali and Sheikh Abdallah Ibn?Zeid Al?Mahmoud.
Their argument is based on many verses from the Holy Quran, such as, (Fight in the Cause of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress limits, for Allah does not love transgressors) [Surat Al-Baqara: 190]; and (Therefore if they withdraw from you but do not fight you and [instead] send you [guarantees] of peace, then Allah has opened no way for you [to war against them]) [Surat Al?Nisa: 90] etc.

The second group includes Allama Abul A'la Al?Mawdoudi, Imam Sayyed Qutb and others.
Their argument is based on what they call "the Verse of the Sword" which to their claim, has abrogated all the verses that preceded it and were representing a phase that had ended. However, they have differed over the Verse of the Sword itself, being unable to determine unanimously which verse it is in the Quran.

I believe that there is no call for this fierce controversy over this issue at present, for three reasons:

First: we Muslims have not discharged the duty of jihad that is compulsory for everyone of us in many Islamic countries to liberate the Muslim land from usurpers and aggressors in Palestine, Eritrea, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and other Muslim republics (and cities) of the Soviet Union, and other similar places in China, Ethiopia and Thailand, etc. No Muslim can argue against the necessity of rescuing them from the hands of anti?Islamic forces, and Allah's judgment in the Holy Quran included in the following verse applies to them, (And why should not you fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill?treated [and oppressed]? Men, women and children whose cry is, "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors, and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from you one who will help!") And why should not you fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill?treated [and oppressed]? Men, women and children whose cry is, "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors, and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from you one who will help!") And why should not you fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated [and oppressed]? Men, women and children whose cry is, "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors, and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from you one who will help!") [Surat Al?Nisa': 75].

The Muslim Nation has not carried out this compulsory defensive duty, so how can it talk now of offensive jihad?

Second: offensive jihad, to those who advocate it, is removing the forces that block the path of Allah's servants and have taken it upon themselves to prevent Muslims from conveying the Word of Allah to people.

But no force can stand in our way today if we act in earnest and devote our efforts to conveying our Call to the whole world. The spoken, written and televised word can be spread all over the world in all languages by radio, television, book, messages, the Press and the Muslim communities in all countries of the world.

However, we are the most abysmally negligent people in this respect, if we compare our efforts to those of the men of Christian missionization and what they do to promulgate their doctrine and translate their Bibles to languages and dialects that may be counted by the thousand, sending their missionaries, male and female, to the four corners of the earth in hundreds of thousands, to the extent that they now aspire to convert us to Christianity so that we may follow their creed!!

Third: we depend on others for military power. Those against whom we want to launch our offensive jihad are the same people who make all sorts of weapons and sell them to us. But for them, we would be unarmed, defenseless and unable to do anything!

That being the case, how can we talk of launching offensives to subject the whole world to our Message, when the only weapons we can muster are those given us by them and when the only arms we can carry are those they agree to sell us?



A Traditionalist Ideology
Among the characteristics of this ideology is that it is a traditionalist ideology.

By traditionalist here we mean that it should be an intellectual methodology based on an application of the understanding of the provisions of the Quran and the guidelines of Sunna by the best generations of the Umma; the Prophet's Companions and those who followed correctly on their path.



Fundamentals of the True Traditionalist Methodology
This methodology is generally based on the following principles and fundamentals:

Judging by the infallible texts, not by men's sayings.


Having recourse, in determining the meaning of the intricate (texts), to the perspicuous ones of the inconclusive ones to the conclusive ones.


Understanding secondary concepts and subsidiary judgments in the light of the principles and generalities.


Advocating ijtihad (personal reasoning) and renewal, and denouncing rigidity and imitation.


Advocating commitment (to proper conduct), not looseness, in the field of morals.


Advocating facilitation, not complication. in the field of jurisprudence.


Advocating tabshir (being affable to people and giving them a nice and kind example) rather than tanfir (scaring them away by behaving harshly with them) in the field of guidance.


Devoting attention to the cultivation of true and firm belief, not argumentation, h1 the field of faith.


Devoting attention to content, not form, in the field of worship.


Paying attention to adherence to rules in religious matters, and innovation of rules in earthly matters.

This is the essence of the methodology followed by the early believers and applied in the theoretical and practical education of the cream of this nation's generations, who were praised by Allah in the Holy Quran and by the Prophet in the hadith, and proved to be worthy of that praise as told by history, for they have handed down to their successors the Holy Quran after they had led a life in which they kept the approved practices, accomplished conquests, spread justice and goodwill, established the State of science and belief and laid the foundations of a universal, moralistic, humanitarian and religious civilization whose memory is still alive in history.



The Wronging of "Traditionalism" by Both Proponents and Opponents
The term salafiyya (traditionalism) has been wronged by its proponents and opponents alike.
Its proponents ? those who are claimed by people and by themselves to be its proponents, or many of them, to be precise ? have confined this methodology to a framework of formalities and polemics on issues of scholastic theology, jurisprudence or Sufism. They spend their days and stay awake all night in a relentless attack against anyone who goes against their opinion on any of these issues or refutes their judgment on any particular detail.

Their attitude has become so absurd that some people now think of traditionalism as the methodology of polemics, not construction and work, or that it focuses on details at the expense of generalities; on disputed concepts at the expense of approved concepts; on form and letter at the expense of content and spirit.

The opponents of traditionalism, on the other hand, describe it as being "backward" ? always looking back but never going ahead, and never caring for the present or the future. They also describe it as being fanatic, never listening or even paying attention to the other opinion, as they regard it to be against renewal, innovation and ijtihad and also far from moderation. In fact, this is an injustice to real traditionalism and to its true advocates.

Perhaps the most prominent advocates of traditionalism in old times were Sheikh Al?Islam Ibn Taymia and his disciple Ibn Al?Qayyam.

They were truly the most worthy of being representatives of the Islamic revivalist movement in their time, for theirs was an all encompassing renewal of the sciences of Islam.

They stood in the face of blind imitation and the ideological, theological and jurisprudential fanaticism that had been dominating Islamic thought for several centuries.

However, although they had stood against the fanatic methodology of imitation, they did give the imams of the schools of jurisprudence their due share of respect and esteem, as manifested in Ibn Taymia's treatise, "Lifting The Blame Off Prominent Imams".

Moreover, in their campaign against the ideological and doctrinal aberrations, especially by the proponents of hulul and ijtihad and behavioral deviations that had infiltrated into Sufism, at the hands of the ignorant, the imposters and the mercenary people, Ibn Taymia and Ibn Al?Qayyem did do justice to true Sufism, and paid tribute to its faithful advocates. They produced much literature in this field, including two volumes containing the fatwas (Islamic legal opinions) of Ibn Taymia and a number of books by Ibn Al?Qayyem, the most famous of which are "Madarij al?Salikin", Sharh "Manazil al?Sa'irin" ("The Pathway of The Travelers", a commentary on "The Stations of The Walkers") in three volumes.



Adopting the Methodology of Early Muslims, Not Just Their Judgments
I have to emphasize here that you should adopt the methodology of early Muslims, not just apply their judgments on spdetails, as you could apply their judgments on some details but know nothing of their balanced, integrated, all ?encompassing methodology.

You could also apply the spirit of this methodology and seek its goals while differing with some of the opinions given by early Muslims.

This is how I stand from Imam Ibn Taymia and Imam Ibn Al?Qayyem: I do respect and appreciate their overall methodology, but that does not make me accept all that they say.

If I accepted all that they say, I would be imitating them in everything, and thus violating the very methodology which they advocated and for which they had to contend with so much trouble and opposition, for their methodology called for contemplation, judging by proof and weighing by the judgment itself, not by its author.

How can one be right in criticizing those who imitate Abu?Hanifa and Malik in one is himself imitating Ibn?Taymia or Ibn Al?Qayyem?

It would also be unfair to the two Imams to mention only the academic and intellectual part of their lives and ignore the other bright sides of their active lives.

We should not ignore the righteous trait that made a man like Ibn?Taymia say, "Sometimes I say: "if the people of the Garden are leading a life like mine, then they should be leading a good life!".

We should also remember that it was the same trait that made him say in his distress and captivity, "What [harm] can my enemies do to me? My captivity is a seclusion [for worship], my banishment is religious travel, and my murder is martyrdom!"

He was a man of godly taste, and so was his disciple Ibn Al?Qayyom, as must be realized by anyone who reads their literature with attention and good faith.

Moreover, we should never ignore the aspect of helping the Call and jihad in the lives of the two Imams. Ibn?Taymia took part in some of military battles himself, fighting with his hands and raking the flames of enthusiasm in the hearts of other warriors with his words. The two Imams lived in a continuous struggle for renewing Islam, going to prison several times on account of their zealous efforts, until Sheikh Al?Islam Ibn Taymia died in prison in the year 728 A.H. This is what true traditionalism is!

If we examine our contemporary history, we will find that the most prominent scholar who advocated traditionalism in his articles, his books and his magazine, which carried the flag of modern traditionalism, was Allama Mohammad Rashid Reda, owner of the "Al?Manar" magazine, in which he published the "Al?Manar Interpretation" (of the Holy Quran), and which was famous all over the Muslim World.

Imam Mohammad Rashid Reda was the true renewer of Islam of his time. Anyone who reads his "Interpretation", his "fatwas" or his books such as "The Inspiration Of Mohammad", "the Facility Of Islam", "A Call To The Fair Sex", "The Caliphate", "The Arguments Of The Reformer And The Imitator" and many other books and articles, will certainly realize that the man's thought was a real "lighthouse" [manar, the name of the magazine] that has guided the ship of Islam in modern history. The man's practical life was a real application of his traditionalist ideology.

Imam Reda was the originator of the golden rule which was adopted later by Imam Hassan Al?Banna, namely, "We should cooperate in what we agree upon, and find excuses for each other in what we differ on". What a marvelous rule, if only it could be properly understood and applied by those who claim to be advocates of traditionalism.



A Revivalistic Ideology
Another characteristic of the ideology we want is that it is revivalistic and would not be confined to the boundaries of the "old", nor would it adhere to inherited forms or accustomed means. It is an ideology that believes in ijtihad and adopts creativity, as it rejects imitation and subordination and sees stagnation as death itself. It renews jurisprudence, education, politics and all other fields.



Revivalism is not Opposed to Traditionalism
There is no contradiction between revivalism and traditionalism, as I explained in my book "The Islamic Awakening And The Woes Of The Arab?Muslim world". On the contrary, the two of them are two faces of the same coin: revivalism is true only when it is traditionalist, and traditionalism is true only when it is revivalistic.



Islam Approves of Revivalism
We should never say that the Movement is Islamic in it`; origin, direction, goals and principles, that Islam is only one thing that is fixed and cannot be renewed. First, we say that Islam itself approves of [the legitimacy of] revival, as told in the accepted and verified hadith (Allah shall send [a man] who will revive the religion of this Nation at the start of every hundred years) [Abu?Dawud & Al?Hakim].

Revival is legitimate and required by hadith, and what .say could be better than the Prophet's'?
We should not be intimidated by the term revival in religion, now that it has proven to be stated in the [accepted] hadith. What we should do here is to determine the meaning of "revival" so that no manipulators would manipulate the religion in the name of their so-called revival while they are far from revival as can be.

I have explained in a study I had written on this hadith the meaning of "revival". its aspects and who should undertake it. In short, reviving something does not mean eliminating it and substituting something for it, but means restoring it as much as possible to the shape it was in when it first emerged into existence, and maintaining its essence, characteristics and features to the minutes" detail without altering them in the least.

This applies to both the concrete and abstract senses. Renovating an ancient building, such as a palace, a temple or a mosque, does not mean demolishing it and building another in its place along the latest lines of construction, but rather means restoring it and taking every care to return it to its original state as much as possible. This is what true revival is.

Revival of religion includes the renewal of its understanding? its fiqh, which is an ideological revival; renewing belief in it, which is a spiritual one; and renewing the effort for its help and the call for its promulgation, which is a practical one.

Each age requires its own type of revival that addresses the deficiencies and cures the ailments of this specific age.

However, there is an area that renewal can never enter under any conditions: it is the area of "conclusive" where Islam has passed its decisive judgment in the various aspects of doctrine, worship, morals and legislation, which embody the doctrinal, spiritual, intellectual and behavioral unity of the Muslim Nation.

I have elaborated on this point in other books, which the reader may refer to if he so wishes.



The Necessity of Renewal in Means
Second, we say that the Movement, though it is Islamic in source, orientation, principle and objective, adopts such methodologies and means as it sees fit to serve its religion and establish it on the earth, as appropriate to time, place and conditions.

Methodologies, means and systems are not as immortal as Islam itself. They do not possess the consistency of Islamic fundamentals and principles, as they are tools produced by human endeavor and effort for reviving and renewing Islam in the hearts and in life itself.

Imam Hassan Al?Banna, who laid down the first rules of organized work of the Islamic Movement for the renewal of Islam, did not claim infallibility for himself or for the tools which Allah inspired him with, despite the fact that his tools were so good and powerful that it was right for Sayyed Qutb to call them "the genius of building" and for Guide General Omar Al?Telmisani to describe him as "the inspired, talented leader". and for Sheikh Al?Ghazali to say that he was "the reviver of the fourteenth century after Hijra. "These means should be subjected to evaluation from time to time, just as education experts do to their curricula and reference books, bringing them up for revision every few years and making a deletion or insertion here and an amendment there. This is necessary for any human activity, regardless of how close it may be to accuracy or perfection".



Hassan Al?Banna was not stiff
Hassan Al?Banna himself was not stiff, but was always renewing and developing means and approaches for the Movement's structures, institutions and systems.

Hassan Al?Banna would not turn in his grave if some of his children and followers went against him in an issue on which he had passed an opinion in the past, such as the multi?party system in an Islamic state, which I myself have done in one of my studies.

Hassan Al?Banna would not do that either if somebody added to his fundamentals others which that somebody deems as complementary to these fundamentals, which Sheikh Al?Ghazali has done in his explanation of the twenty fundamentals in his book entitled "The Constitution of Cultural Unity For Muslims".

There is nothing legal, traditional or mental that prevents the reconsideration of educational means and systems inside the group, such as the (Muslim Brotherhood's) Fraternal Groups and Katiba, with a view to adding new means or systems to them if appropriate.

It should also be right to re?examine political tools in the light of local, regional and international changes and developments, which would make it imperative to enter into fronts or alliances, or resort to truces or partnerships, as dictated by the high interests of Islam, the Nation and the Movement under the current circumstances. Every country has its unique conditions, every period has its own rules, and every group has its own capabilities, imperatives and conditions that are known to it better than to any other group.

The Islamic Movement, like jurisprudence and other Sharia?related sciences, will not live, prosper and grow without the minds of studious. creative renewers, and will wither, shrink and become impotent only through the minds of the stiff imitators, if what they had in their heads could be called "minds"!



Stiffness is a Serious Disease
Stiffness is one of the diseases that afflict the "systemized" ideologies of the Islamic Movement, and one of the obstacles that hinder the Movement from within, as I have explained in my book "The Islamic Solution: A Farida And A Necessity" [Stiffness' its] sticking to a stiff pattern in organization, stiff methods in education, stiff means in advocating the Call, stiff procedures in attaining an objective and stiff ideas in pursuing politics, so that anyone who tries to change or amend these procedures, means and methods finds facing zealous refusals, even accusations and denunciations.

Once again, I would like to stress that the renewal we seek does not mean the abolition of the old. it rather means modernizing, improving, upgrading and adding to the old, especially in terms of tools, means and procedures, which are flexible and changeable, with a view to making use of' the capabilities afforded by our contemporary age and possessed, and used. by others. The word of wisdom should always be sought by believers.



What I Fear for the Islamic Movement
My worst fear for the Islamic Movement is that it opposes the free thinkers among its children and close the door to renewal and ijtihad confining itself' to only one type of thinking that does not accept any other viewpoints which prescribe different objectives. means or phases for the Movement, give a different assessment of events, situations or men, or differ with that single way of thinking in any other of the pursuits that fall under human ijtihad. For human ijtihad is always subject to development and change according to the changing conditions and factors. Our felyih.` said long ago, "A fatwa must change with the change of time. place, customs and conditions". If my fear turns into reality, then the capable minds that can renew and innovate will escape from the ranks of the Movement like water through fingers. leaving behind those conservatives who can only imitate and who like everything to stay as it is regardless of how ancient it is, as they believe that what we know is better than what we do not know and that what we have tried should be better than what we have yet to try.

The end result will be for the Movement to lose the creative minds among its ranks and eventually fall prey to stagnation, or to an impotence that afflicted jurisprudence and literature in the ages of imitation. The remaining members of the Movement will then creep into their shells, despairing of any fruitful effort to help Islam, or they will work individually, disassociating themselves from any collective effort, or they will throw themselves with others in another collective venture whose consequences are unknown.

The worst damage to Muslim minds in all ages, past and present, has been done by that adage which says, "The predecessors have left nothing to be added by the successors"! or, in other words," It cannot be better"!

There is nothing that can benefit Muslim minds now more than the adoption of a contrary adage saying, "The predecessors have left a lot to be added by the successors"! or. "It can always be better!" (And He has created [other] things of which you have no knowledge) [Surat Al?Nahl:8].

Continued next post

Towards A Rational Political Fiqh
Adverse Ideological Phenomena
There are ideological phenomena that no careful examiner can miss in the sphere of the Islamic Movement, particularly in the political field.

There is the ideology of the crisis "which still influences many of the leaders and writers of the Islamic Movement and tints, in one way or another, much of the material written for purposes of promoting the Call or for education, as well as the political tendencies.

The Movement has to shake off this ideology of the crisis and deal with people, life and the world as a whole according to an "ideology of well-being".

There is the "Zahirite ideology", which stops at the letter of [religious] texts and does not go beyond it to deal with the [real] purposes of Shari'ah, thus not heeding the interests of people. Prominent ulema have affirmed that rules are meant to serve the interests of people in earthly life and in the hereafter. Any rule that abandons interest for evil, or neglects wisdom in preference of nonsense, has no relation whatsoever with Shari'ah, even if it is misunderstood as belonging to Shari'ah, as Imam Ibn Al?Qayyem said.

Such an ideology might be acceptable in relation to some rituals or rules that apply to individuals, but it can never be acceptable in the field of "Shari'ah politics" which should be based on flexibility and tolerance and take into account the change in time, place and the humans themselves.
There is the Kharijite ideology "whose advocates are characterized by honesty and bravery but are narrow-minded and near?sighted in their attitude towards religion and life, violent in dealing with others and always rejecting, accusing and suspecting everybody, even the Islamists themselves, while they admire their own opinions, which is a fatal shortcoming indeed.

There is the "Imitational ideology" which seeks an answer to every ideological, political or legal problem in the books of the earlier scholars of its school, never breaking out of their boundaries or examining Shari'ah in its broader concept and with its various schools and methodologies, nor addressing this age and its contemporary developments and problems. In adopting this attitude, such an ideology narrows what Allah has made expansive, and makes difficult what Islam has facilitated.
The Islamic Movement will not have a rational political ideology unless it overcomes these adverse ideological phenomena and their effects on its men and nurtures this new type of fiqh that we are focusing on: the fiqh of [approved] practices, the fiqh of goals, the fiqh of balances and the fiqh of priorities.



A Deficiency That Should Be Addressed in Political fiqh
The Islamic Movement should seek to rectify the defective, strange concepts and decisions that we read and hear, and the methodologies of deduction that are even more strange and more peculiar.
These peculiar concepts, rules and methodologies are most evident in political fiqh, which has not received in the past the same degree of attention devoted to the fiqhs of worship, transactions, marriage etc.

The political fiqh of today is afflicted with much misconception and ill judgments, and its basics are so much varied in the minds of Islamists that the rules applied by some may be far from those applied by others like east is far from west.

We have seen some people who regard shura [consultation] as mere informative, not a compulsory duty, we have seen others who vest the head of state with the right to declare war and conclude treaties without consulting the representatives of the nation, and we have seen still others who consider democracy as a form of unbelief.

We have also seen those who believe that woman has no place in Islamic politics and that her only place is her father's house, from which she may only go to either of two place: her husband's house or her grave. To them, woman has no right to vote in any elections, let alone run in the elections for local governments or the Parliament.

There are also those who see political plurality as an arrangement that is rejected by Islam, and believe that no parties, groups or bodies that have any political views or affiliations should be established in a Muslim state.

I was dismayed when some brothers showed me a treatise that some zealous advocates of the Call had written under the title "Monotheism Is Against Membership Of Parliament", for I saw that as a peculiar confusion of issues of practice with issues of doctrine. Issues of practice deal with right and wrong, not belief and unbelief, and they are part of Shari'ah politics where ijtihad is rewarded twice when it is right and once when it is wrong.

The same mistake was made by the Kharijites in the old days when they branded Imam Ali lbn Abu?Talib as an unbeliever on account of a worldly matter related to politics that they had turned into a doctrinal issue, saying "He had given people control over the Religion of Allah, and none but Allah shall have judgment". The Imam's reply to their allegation was most eloquent, as he said, " A word of right intended to establish wrong"!



An Important Dialogue on Political fiqh
I was greatly amazed to see among the ulema of Afghanistan, those who have led the jihad so zealously and bravely, some who see the education of women as haram (illegal) and think the same of using elections as a means for selecting people's deputies or the president of the state. They also believe that the determination of the term of office of the president of the state and the saying that shura is obligatory are haram.

One of the brothers who are convinced of such ideas discussed them with me, saying that the failure of the Islamic Movement in modern times had been brought about by its belief in ideas which he regarded as non?Islamic and that we [Muslims] would not succeed unless we used Islamic means to attain Islamic ends.

I asked him, "What makes the determination of the term of office for presidents haram if Muslims deem it as being in their interest"?

He replied, "It is against the practice of Muslims since the days of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr Al?Seddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). None of the Caliphs was chosen for a fixed term but they stayed in rule for life, especially the Rightly?Guided Caliphs whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered us to cherish and follow every practice they set and cling to it stubbornly. The Prophet warned us in this hadith narrated by Al?Irbad Ibn?Sariya against newly?invented matters, as he said that every innovation (in religion) is a straying [from the straight path], and this is a new matter that the people have invented".

I countered, "We were ordered to follow the Prophet's Sunna [practices] before following the practices of the Rightly?Guided Caliphs, as the Sunna is the second source of legislation in Islam and should be referred to, besides the Quran, in any disagreement, and the hadith you mention that was narrated by Al?Irbad says {Follow my Sunna and the practices of the Rightly?Guided Caliphs ) Therefore, you have to refer to the Prophet's Sunna first.

The Sunna of the Prophet, as everybody knows, is either a statement, an action or an approval. His actions in particular may not be obligatory in themselves, but indicate only allowance and permissibility, except when they are coupled with other pieces of evidence that indicate recommendation or compulsion.

That is why some of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs went against the actions of the Prophet whenever they saw that the interests for which the Prophet had done such actions had changed so that acting in the same way would not be in the interest of Muslims. An example of that is distribution of [the property in] Khaybar among fighters by the Prophet after its conquest, while Omar did not do the same when he conquered the rural areas of Iraq, as he saw it more fit for his time not to do so. Many of the prophet's Companions argued against Omar's opinion, particularly as his opinion was contradictory in letter to the general provisions of Surat Al?Anfal (And know that out of all the booty that you may acquire tin war], a fifth share is assigned to Allah) [41].

Omar commented by saying, "I found property that can suffice for the people in present and future. Do you want the people of the future to find nothing left for them?"

This means that Omar took into account the welfare of coming generation, which is a wonderful act of mutual dependence among the generations of the Muslim nation, so that one generation may not live in luxury at the expense of a coming generation or generations. Omar's argument in so doing was based on the verse of Surat Al?Hashr which stipulated the distribution of the war booty between the Muhajirin and the Ansar (and those who came after them) [10].

Imam Ibn?Qudama explained the difference between the action of the Prophet and that of Omar by saying that each had done what was most appropriate for his time.

Now, if the actions of the Prophet. which were a part and parcel of his Sunna, were not compulsory for those who came after him and the companions sometimes acted otherwise for certain consideration, how can the actions of the Muslims after him be compulsory for those who come after them?

Precedents do not have the property of legal obligation. It is only that they were adequate for their time, place and circumstances. If these factors change, so must the actions built on them.
The focal point here is that we should choose from the systems and legislations of those before us what is suitable for our time, our environment and our circumstances within the limits of the general texts and goals of our tolerant Shari'ah.

As for the argument that Muslim scholars unanimously stand against the limitation of the term of office of rulers, it is somewhat misleading.

There is no arguing against the unanimous agreement that a ruler may reign for life. However, the limitation of terms of office, on the other hand, was never discussed or researched, but was a subject of complete silence by these people. It is said that no words should be attributed to a silent man, therefore we should not attribute either affirmation or negation on this issue to them.
On the other hand, as for the saying that the determination of the term of office of the head of state is an introduction of a newly invented matter in Islam and that it is unanimously agreed that every innovation is a straying, we admit that the second part of the saying ? i.e. every innovation is a straying ? is accepted. However, the first part of the saying ? i.e. that such action falls under innovation in Shari'ah ? it lacks proofs.

In fact, an innovation is what is invented in matters of a purely religious nature, such as creeds and worship and their branches, while the changing matters of life such as norms, traditions, customs and administrative, social, cultural and political practices are no innovation at all, as they fall under what ulema call 'public interests" as explained by Imam Al?Shatibi in his book "Al l'tissam". Thus, the Prophet's Companions did some things that the Prophet did not do, such as writing copies of the Quran, using registers, levying land taxes and building a jailhouse.

Those Muslims who came next, after the Prophet's Companions, did, in their turn, things that their predecessors (the Companions) had not done, such as minting money, organizing a mail service, etc.
Muslims have introduced innovations that were unheard of in the days of the Prophet and his Companions, such as recording the sciences that were existent before their time and introducing other sciences like sciences of religion, linguistics and various human sciences.



The Wrong Employment of the Prophet's Sirat for Absolute Inference of Judgments
One of the reasons of error and misjudgment in political fiqh is the confusion of the Prophet's Sunna [practices] and Sirat [biography] in argumentation.

The Sunna is a source of legislation and guidance in Islam besides the Holy Quran. The Quran is the basis and the origin, and the Sunna is the explanation and the application.

However, some people make the mistake of putting the Sirat in the place of the Sunna, citing the events of the Sirat as if they were as compulsory as the Quran and the Sunna.

The Sirat is not a synonym for the Sunna, as there are some details in the Sirat that have nothing to do with legislation at all. That is why the ulema of Usul (principles of jurisprudence) have not integrated the Sirat into their definition of the Sunna. They only said, "The Sunna is what the Prophet either said, did or approved." They did not include the Sirat in that.

But the ulema of Prophetic Traditions have added to the Prophet's actions, statements and approvals a description of the Prophet: how he looked like, how his morals were like and what his biography was. That's because they usually gather everything that pertained to the Prophet, regardless of whether any of the pieces of information they collected was related to the field of legislation or not. They have told everything in the Prophet's life: his birth, his nursing, his upbringing, his marriage, his conduct, his looks and every other piece of information that pertained to his life and death.
What concerns us here is that some Islamic groups regard the Sirat as an absolute proof to support judgments. and they believe that it is compulsory to all Muslims.

Here I have to point out two things:
First, the Sirat includes many events that have been narrated without irrefutable proof that they have been handed down from one narrator to the next, as they [the narrators] used to narrate the Sirat with a flexibility that they did not use in their narration of the hadith related to legal provisions and matters of halal and haram .

Second, the Sirat represented the practical part of the Prophet's life, i.e. it mostly dealt with the "action" part of the Sunna. Actions are not an indication of obligation and compulsion by itself; it only indicates permissibility, as another proof must be present for compulsion to be effective. True, we are required to follow the example of the Prophet:
(You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah an excellent exemplar for him whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who remembers Allah much) [Surat Al?Ahzab: 21], but this verse indicates that it is recommended, not compulsory, to take the Prophet as an example.

However, following the example of the Prophet should be in morals, values and general, not detailed, situations.

It is not necessary to copy the example of the Prophet by starting the spreading of the Call in secret, if it is possible and authorized to spread it openly.

It is not necessary to migrate as the Prophet did, either, so long as we have nothing that requires us to migrate from our homelands where we feel safe and are able to spread our Call.

It is for this reason that migration to Medina is no longer a farida for every Muslim after the conquest of Mecca, for the Prophet said ( there shall be no hijra after the Conquest [of Mecca] but jihad and yearning for it; when you are called you should go forth), which meant that there would be no migration to Medina, but what was allowed was the migration from any land where Muslims are unable to establish their religion.

It is also unnecessary for us to request "help" from those who are strong and powerful as the Prophet did with some tribes and the Aws and Khazraj tribes responded to his call, for this method is no longer adequate for our age.

It is not necessary for us to nurture the creed and spread the Call of Islam for thirteen years as the Prophet did, for we live today among Muslims who believe that there is no God but Allah and that Mohammad is the Messenger of Allah, and therefore do not need such a long time to learn the creed.
If we devote our attention today to such issues as social justice, shura, freedom, the Palestinian Uprising or the Afghan struggle, we will not be acting against the guidance of the Prophet who cared about such things only in Medina. For while he was in Mecca before the hijra, the Prophet was living in an ignorant, polytheist community that adamantly rejected the Call, and therefore his first battle with that community was over monotheism and the Message.

Our society is not like that. It believes in Allah, His Religion and His Messenger, though it may have its faults and deviations from the path of Allah.



The Movement and the Liberation of Muslim Territories
Nobody with a fair judgment on things could deny that the Islamic Movement has made the liberation of Muslim territories ? all Muslim territories ? one of its foremost concerns since it emerged into existence.

I heard Imam Hassan Al?Banna in one of his speeches saying, "Our efforts and our jihad are focused on two main axes: the Islamic idea and the Muslim land".

He combined the two of them because an idea can only be established in an independent, free land where its value is preserved and its judgments are enforced.

Hence the importance of "Dar Al?Islam [the Land of Islam]" in which Islam lives and out of which it operates and leads the Nation.

This is why the faqihs of Islam have agreed that it is a duty to defend every land invaded by infidels, stating that such jihad is imperative for Muslims in this land as an individual obligation and that all Muslims must support them with money, arms and men as required until all their land has been liberated from any aggressor who usurps it.

Therefore, the Islamic Movement cannot stand idle and watch while any part of Muslim land is occupied by a foreign aggressor.

It is not strange that the general headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo was the home of mujahideen (freedom fighters) and revolutionaries who fought the occupation in all parts of the Arab and Muslim worlds from Indonesia to Morocco.

I heard imam Al?Banna once describing the national demands of the Muslim Brotherhood in a national conference. He spoke of the minor homeland that comprised the Nile Valley, i.e. Egypt and Sudan; the great homeland that comprised the Arab World, which extended from the Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean; and the greater homeland ? the Muslim World that extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. He emphasized that emancipating that greater homeland from every foreign influence imposed on Muslims was a farida for all Muslims and one of the major missions of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Palestine was one of the major issues that Imam Al?Banna put at the top of his list: he attracted attention to its seriousness, urging the masses to pay attention to the Land of Messages, of Isra' and Mi'raj and to be aware of the Jewish threat that was lurking to pounce on it while many Arab and Muslim leaders were unaware of the great conspiracy being staged against the first of the two qiblas, the Al?Aqsa Mosque, whose precincts are blessed by Allah.

Many were the articles that Hassan Al?Banna wrote, many were the marches he led, the conferences he organized, the men he recruited, and much were the funds and arms he collected, for the Palestine cause.

It is enough credit for him to mention the heroics performed by his spiritual children and fighters on the land of Palestine in 1948 ? those feats that have gone down in the annals of history, as testified to by Major?General Al?Mawawi and other Egyptian Army commanders, and even by the Jews themselves.

Kamal Al?Sherifs book entitled "The Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestine War" contains more than enough facts that testify to this glorious jihad.

This has always been the role of the Islamic Movement in every cause of the Muslim Nation in East and West and against imperialism of all colors, be it Eastern or Western, white or red.

Hence the Movement's interest in the cause of Afghanistan, which represents the first line of defense against the red communist sweep. This interest has been so keen that some people thought that the Movement had forgotten the Palestinian cause. In fact, the Movement has never forgotten and will never forget the Palestinian cause, because Palestine is the first and foremost Islamic cause, and its liberation is the first and foremost duty, as the Afghan Mujahideen themselves believe. It is only that the Palestinian cause required an Islamic flag that would gather people around it, uniting them in one: this has come about since the outbreak of the revolution in the mosques and the Intifada [ uprising] which has taken its sole slogan as there is no God but Allah, and Allah is great, and has been crystallized in the steadfast, brave, aware Islamic resistance movement "Hamas". Hamas is an embodiment o f the Palestinian People's belief in its Muslim and Arab origins, and a testimony that this people is still alive and will never die and that its jihad will be carried on by pure hands and clean hearts until victory is achieved with the will of Allah.

The Islamic Movement should consider itself at the beck and call of every Islamic cause, responding to every cry for help wherever that cry may come from.

It should stand with Eritrea in its jihad against the unjust Marxist Christian regime that wants to swallow it and keep it as a colony under its rule, with its people as the serfs of the land in feudal systems.

It should stand by Sudan against the treacherous Christian racist rebellion that wants to impose its racist fanaticism on all the territories of Sudan to remove it from the Muslim Nation and the Arab World.

It should support the Muslims of the Philippines against the biased Christian regime that seeks to annihilate them, leaving only those who accept the life of slaves who can do nothing to help either themselves or others.

It should help the Muslims of Kashmir in their struggle for self-determination, until they attain annexation to Pakistan or gain autonomy, so as to foil the conspiracy of the Indian imperialism which is trying to obliterate the province's Muslim identity through non?religious education and encouragement of sin and drug addiction to turn it into a base of conspiracy on Pakistan and the Muslim World as a whole.

It should support the Muslims of Somalia against the tyrants who kill scholars, persecute the religious and hunt down anyone with religious or intellectual tendencies.

The Islamic Movement should have good information on all these movements. It should have some sort of presence among their readerships and ranks. It must also work incessantly for their unity and solidarity in order to close the gaps in their ranks and remove their minor disagreements for the sake of greater goals. The most serious disease that can afflict jihad is disunity among its groups. Allah the Almighty says ((Truly Allah loves those who fight in His cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure) Truly Allah loves those who fight in His cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure) [Surat As?Saff:4].

The Islamic Movement should mobilize the Muslims of the world for the Palestinian cause as the Zionist Movement has mobilized the Jews of the world for the Israeli cause. It should even mobilize the support of all the conscientious elements in the whole world for our just cause.

Such efforts by the Islamic Movement are most badly needed at present, for this is a serious stage of the Palestinian cause: a stage where there are plans to bring Soviet Jews into the Occupied Territories at the expense of the Palestinians, in order to realize the old dream of Greater Israel that extends from the Nile to the Euphrates, and then to the land of Hijaz, Medina and Khaybar as a later ambition!



The Movement And Liberation Movements
The Islamic Movement's concern should not be focused solely on the Muslim lands ? albeit they should enjoy a special attention by virtue of the mutual dependence and solidarity called for by Islam. The Movement should support all the causes of freedom from serfdom, imperialism and injustice all over the world, regardless of whether the subjects of persecution and imperialism are Muslims or not.

Islam was sent down as an all ? embracing call for the emancipation of man, on the grounds that man is honored by Allah who made him His vicegerent on earth and subjected all that is in heaven and on earth to his power.

Islam came to liberate man from slavery to any Taghut [anything worshipped other than Allah] and to qualify him to stand against any Taghut.

While the Message of Moses was one for liberating the Children of Israel from the tyranny of Pharaoh, Haman and Qarun, the Message of Mohammad was one for emancipating all mankind from all the Pharaohs, "Qaruns" and "Hamans" who enslave people and impose themselves as high and mighty rulers without right, looking down their noses on the servants of Allah, as they seek to share with Allah His Greatness and Grace, and so make themselves into gods that enslave their people.

The Quran has carried the call for freedom loud and clear. sending it through the Messenger of Allah to Caesars and monarchs: (Come to common terms between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we do not erect from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than Allah) [Surat Al?Imran: 64].

Reb'iyy Ibn?amir declared [it] before Rustom, commander of the Persian troops, saying, "Allah has sent us to turn people away from the worship of humans to the worship of Him alone, from their narrow world to the vast expanses of the whole world, and from the injustice of religions to the justice of Islam".

Allah the Almighty sent down His Books and tasked His Messengers to carry the Messages only for establishing justice on earth, as He says in the Holy Quran, (We sent aforetime our messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance [of right and wrong], that men may stand forth in justice) [Surat Al?Hadid: 25].

Therefore, any injustice by individual against individual, group against group or people against people, is an injustice against all the Messages of Heaven, especially when it is committed by tyrants and powerful men against the weak and downtrodden.

Hence the Quran's fierce attacks on tyrants and fearsome threats to them, as conveyed by the following verses:

(But they sought victory and decision [there and then], and frustration was the lot of every powerful obstinate transgressor. In front of such a one is Hell, and he is given, for drink, boiling fetid water) [Surat Ibrahim; 15?16].

(Thus Allah seals up every heart of arrogant and obstinate transgressors) [Surat Ghafir: 35].
(So enter the gates of Hell, to dwell therein. Thus evil indeed is the abode of the arrogant) [Surat Al?Nahl: 29]

The Quran also attacked the unjust in its Meccan and Medinan surats, see:

(Verily Allah does not guide a people unjust) [Surat Al Ma'ida: 51].

(Truly to no good come those who do wrong) [Surat Yusuf: 23].

(Such were the towns we destroyed when they committed iniquities) [Surat Al?Kahf: 59].

(Now such were their houses, in utter ruin, because they practiced wrong?doing) [Surat An?Naml: 52].

(Such is the chastisement of your Lord when He chastises communities in the midst of their wrong: grievous, indeed, and severe is His chastisement) [Surat Hud: 102].

(Of the wrong?doers the last remnant was cut off. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds) [Surat An'am: 45].

(And incline not to those who do wrong, or the Fire will seize you; and you have no protectors other than Allah, nor shall you be helped) [Surat Hud: 113].

Islam does not only hold injustice at fault and prohibit it to the extreme, it also urges that it must be fought by all means, holding those who do nothing against injustice as participants of sorts who are sinners on earth and will be punished in the Hereafter.

Islam even considers a nation where wrong?doers commit their wrong freely, with nobody facing up to them or denouncing their deeds, as a nation that has brought upon itself the punishment of Heaven and will certainly come to ruin. When the punishment comes down [on such a nation], it will take all of its members: the wrong?doers for their doing, and the silent for their silence.

Allah the Almighty says, (And fear tumult or oppression, which does not affect in particular [only] those of you who do wrong: and know that Allah is strict in punishment) [Surat Al?Anfal: 25].

A Prophetic Hadith says, (If people see a wrong?doer and do not prevent him, they come close to a punishment from Allah, coming down on all of them).

Another Hadith (When you see my Nation fall victim to fear and does not say to a wrong?doer, "You are wrong", then you may lose hope in them]. The above texts generally include all wrong?doers, regardless of whether their wrong?doing is against Muslims or others, for all wrong?doing is evil.

It should not also be strange that Islam blesses every positive step that involves resistance of wrong?doers or support of the wronged and the weak. It even considers that [resistance and support] as an act of worship and jihad in the cause of Allah. We find the Holy Quran urging believers to fight wrong?doers and rescue the weak from their evil, saying, (And why should not you fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated [and oppressed]? ? men, women and children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from You one who will protect; and raise for us from You one who will help!) [Surat An?Nisa: 75].

True, the weak [referred to] here are believers, hence their prayers mentioned in the verse, but Islam would not accept injustice for anyone even if he is an unbeliever, as hadith says, (Beware of the supplication [in complaint] of the wronged, even if he is an unbeliever, for there is no barrier preventing it [from reaching Heaven].

The Prophet (peace be upon him) once heard the story of a weak woman who had been wronged by a cruel man of power in the land of Abyssinia, and the Prophet commented, (How does Allah hold as sacred a nation where the right of the weak is not taken from the strong?) Abyssinia was Christian at that time.

Islamic conquests were in their reality a rescue of oppressed, wronged peoples from the tyranny of wrong?doers and the injustice of oppressors, and a liberation of these peoples from the domination of Persian monarchs and Roman Caesars. It was for this reason that these peoples welcomed Islam and took it up voluntarily.

It is the duty of all those who have a true faith and proper morals to urge one another to resist any wrong against a weak person and to support such a person until he gets his right wholly from the person who has wronged him.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) told us of an experience of that kind that he had witnessed and participated in during the Age of Ignorance while he was a young man ? that is Hilf Al?Fudul [the Alliance for Charity]. This pact comprised a group of good. charitable and honest men whose mission was to stand by the weak against the strong so as to get them back their rights and save their pride.

It was in speaking of this pact that the Prophet said, (I witnessed with my uncles in the house of Abdullah Ibn?Jud'an a pact that I regarded as most precious. Were I to be invited to join such a pact in [the time of] Islam, I would readily agree). And why does not Islam restore the right of humans when they are wronged, abused, persecuted or forced to do what they do not want to do, when it defends the mute animals that are wronged, tortured or made to carry burdens that they cannot carry?



The Movement And Muslim Minorities
Muslim minorities all over the world should be among the targets of attention of the Islamic Movement.



Important Facts About Muslim Minorities
We must take some factors into account in this connection, including the following:

These minorities account for about one ? quarter of the total number of Muslims all over the world, perhaps even more, as indicated by the studies made in Imam Mohammad Ibn?Saud Islamic University in Riyadh about fifteen years ago.


One of these minorities represents, in sheer numbers alone, the second largest Muslim community in the world: that is the Indian Muslim minority, which comprises over one hundred million Muslims and has had its historic, scientific and cultural impact on the Indian subcontinent and Islamic culture in general.


Some of the so-called minorities are actually peoples of purely Muslim countries that were annexed by force to larger countries so that they might dissolve in them and become oppressed minorities among larger majorities. Examples of these are the "Muslim republics" of the Soviet Union ? Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan etc, which, on examination, have proven to be part and parcel of the Muslim World.


Some of the Muslim minorities counted as such by ?biased world statistics are in fact quite the contrary, as true figures state that Muslims are an overwhelming majority in the countries in question despite the fake statistics that intentionally cite smaller numbers for Muslims, especially in certain regions, so as to serve the political purposes of the enemies of Islam. The most obvious example of that is the Muslims of Ethiopia: they are a majority, but an oppressed one that is deprived of even the most basic human rights.



What Do These Minorities Need Most?
These minorities need many things from their fellow Muslims in the big Muslim World, such as the following:

They need support for their religious institutions, especially educational establishments, so that they may preserve the Muslim character, especially in the face of the fierce campaigns that the advocates and establishments of Christianization wage against Islam to uproot it.


They need to obtain the original Islamic references that explain Islam's creed, worships, morals and legislations in the languages of these minorities, so as to provide them with a proper source of knowledge. They particularly need the interpretation of the Holy Quran and a number of the approved and accepted hadith collections.


They need to have some of their members admitted to the Islamic universities of Arab states, so that they may return later and preach and instruct in Islam in their own countries (And admonish their people when they return to (And admonish their people when they return to them ? that thus they [may learn] to guard themselves [against evil]) [ Surat Al?Tauba: 122]. Unfortunately, such universities have recently been closing their doors to students from these countries, despite the risk posed by such action to the future of Muslim minorities and the Islamic call in these countries, even to the future of the Muslim Nation itself.


They need support for the teaching of Arabic and the financing of Arabic schools in their countries, a field where the failure of Arabs has been most abysmal. Advanced countries pay tens, hundreds even, of millions of dollars for spreading their languages, which are the messengers of their civilizations and cultures. But not the Arabs, who hold to their pennies when it comes to spreading their language. If the Muslim minorities were not moved by their own love for their Religion, their Prophet and their Book into learning Arabic and building schools and colleges for teaching this language on the basis that it is the language of the Holy Quran, hadith, worship, Islamic culture and understanding among members of the Muslim Nation, then we would not find anyone outside the Arab World who knew Arabic or ever heard of it. I am only to speak highly here of the Association of Arab Schools headed by Prince Mohammad Al?Faisal Al?Saud and managed by Dr. Tawfiq Al?Shawi. It has held several useful courses in many African and Asian countries to promote Arabic and help educational establishments that teach Arabic there.


They need preachers and teachers who are well?versed in the languages of these minorities, so that they may live among their people, teaching the ignorant and admonishing the straying, answering questions and giving fatwas, uniting people on religion and piety and hearts on love and goodwill. We have, however, to beware of destructive preachers, who only know how to demolish and set fire through useless debate and dissent that only produce hatred. Some of those [preachers] may be good?intentioned, but good intentions coupled with foolishness yield more harm than good, as the old adage goes: God deliver me from my friends, far from my enemies 1 will deliver myself.


They need frequent meetings and visits with prominent intellectuals, education experts and preachers, as such meetings open new horizons for thought and boost the morale of members of these minorities. Such meetings, visits and symposiums should be arranged as frequently as possible, so that those brother whose destiny is to be living in countries far from the heart of this Nation may not feel neglected by the mother Nation, or isolated from the focus of thought and feeling by the leaders of the Islamic Movement.


They need, perhaps before everything else, to be united in one front, so that they may be able to preserve their entity and religious presence. It is unfortunate that we should see minorities all over the world uniting and closing their ranks to form stronger entities against the majorities facing them, except for Muslim minorities, which are always at odds with one another and spending their time and effort on useless and meaningless disputes, especially religious differences over jurisprudential or doctrinal issues.

It is the duty of all Muslims to stand side by side as ordered by Allah. It is enough for them that they have a unity from which to start, for they are united on belief in, Allah, the Prophet and the Holy Quran.

I say this although I know that Muslims living in the heart of the Muslim World have their grievances. So how could those Muslim minorities living outside the Muslim World not complain?

If the Muslims living in Muslim countries are suffering persecution, injustice and oppression at the hands of rulers who are supposed to be Muslims, why should we expect no complaints from those Muslims living in non?Muslim countries and ruled by non?Muslims, be they Christians, Communists or Heathens?



A Nation Without a Leadership [Neither a Caliph nor a Pope]
The most serious problem of Muslims and their minorities scattered all over the world is that our Muslim Nation, expansive and large in numbers as it is, has no leadership that can order it to move, stop, cry or keep silent, or turn right or left.

We did have a caliphate system that united Muslims under one flag someday. We did have a caliph who represented the central leadership of the unified Nation. When the enemies of the caliphate system plotted against it and managed to tear down that magnificent edifice which embodied the unity of the Muslim Nation, we no longer had one entity, nor one flag under which to gather.
We lost the caliphate system, and we have found no other system to replace it, so we have lived without any leadership of any kind.

Christianity has its leadership recognized by its followers. This leadership is an organized religious one that has its own institutions and its own men; and its financial means come third to those of the United States and Russia. Its preachers are all over the world, including Muslim countries.
But we Muslims have neither a caliph to obey nor a Pope to listen to. We are like orphans that are turned away from every door they knock at.

There used to be a position called Sheikh Al?Islam one day. Though there was no official post like that in Islam, some scholars were so knowledgeable, studious and pious that they deserved to be honored by the Muslim masses who gave them this title. Today, with ulema keeping in step with? the rulers, not only refraining from speaking the word of right but speaking the wrong word, people have lost confidence in prominent sheikhs, and none of the senior ulema is called "Sheikh Al?lslam" any longer! As for those scholars who resist temptation' they turn on them with their tremendous resources and with the tools of their masters who dictate their acts and words, trying to isolate or taint them, unless they stop resisting and thus become isolated from the people.



The Movement's Mission In This Regard
The Islamic Movement should play the role of the missing leadership of the Muslim Nation with all its trends and groups. It should seek the support of true scholars until a real "Sheikh Al?lslam" appears from amongst them to claim their loyalty and support and possess the ability to call the great Muslim Nation at the time of need and find a response to his call.



The Movement And Expatriates
Besides minorities that live in non?Muslim countries, there is another group that the Movement should devote its attention to: expatriates who moved from Muslim countries to Western countries in Europe and the Americas, to Australia and to the Far East.



Why The Interest In Expatriates?
Expatriates are no longer few in number: they are counted in millions, especially in France where there are large communities of North Africans; in Britain where Indian and Pakistanis go; in Germany due to the presence of Turks; and in the United States because of the presence of Americans who descend from Muslim ancestors who were kidnapped from Africa long ago as well as the intensive immigration to that country.

There is not a single Western country that does not have transient expatriates, who go there to study or work, anti permanent immigrants who intended to stay there for good. Despite the numerous recommendations by different Islamic conferences that scholarships should be confined to those scientific and technological fields that Muslim countries do not have, Western countries still receive more newcomers who go there everyday at their own expense or at the expense of their countries to study. More expatriates are also leaving Muslim countries for Western countries in search for employment or to seek protection or freedom.

Allah the Almighty says, (O My servants who believe! Truly, spacious is My Earth. Therefore serve Me ? [and Me alone]!) [Surat Ankabut: 56].

The presence of the Islamic Movement in Western countries was at first guided by the Almighty and not planned by the Movement. Young men and women had emigrated there to escape with their religion from the rifts tearing their homeland apart and to seek knowledge, freedom and safety, then they found very good opportunities for working and spreading the Call amongst their fellow Easterners, scholars and others alike.



The Necessity Of Islamic Presence In The West
I believe that it is necessary for Islam in this age to have a presence in such societies that affect world politics.

Islamic presence is necessary in Europe, the Americas and Australia for several reasons, including the following:

Islamic presence is required for spreading the Message of Islam and getting Islam's voice heard among non?Muslims through good word, rational dialogue and exemplary conduct.


It is required for taking in new Muslims in order to follow their conduct and nurture their belief in an Islamic environment that helps them lead a healthy Islamic life.


It is required for receiving newcomers to Western countries, such as scholars and immigrants, so that such newcomers may find themselves among people like the "Ansar" [the people of Medina who received the Prophet well and supported him at the time of hijra] who love those who migrate to their land and provide for them an atmosphere of Islam.


It is required for defending the causes of the Muslim Nation and the Muslim Land against the antagonism and misinformation of anti?Islamic forces and trends.


It is not right, in my view, that Christianity should monopolize all these countries unrivalled, or rivaled by Zionist Judaism that only joins forces with it against us.

This is what I told our brothers in America, Canada, Australia and other countries years ago.
However, it should be done through good plans and proper organization and according to the fiqh of priorities.

We should look for the best place, the best work and the best means.

Muslims should have their own communities in well?known states and cities, and they should have their own religious, educational and recreational establishments.

They should also have amongst them their own ulema and men of religion to answer their questions when they ask them, guide them when they lose the way and reconcile them when they differ among themselves.



A Conservatism Without Isolation, And An Openness without Melting
I used to tell our brothers in foreign countries, "Try to have your small society within the larger society, otherwise you will melt in it like salt in water. What has preserved the Jewish character over the past centuries was their small community that was unique in its ideas and rituals and was known as "the Jewish ghetto". Try to have your own "Muslim ghetto then".

I am not advocating self?isolation and keeping our doors closed to the people around us, for this will be the same as death itself: what is required is openness without melting ? the openness of people with a message who seek to affect and interact, not people who imitate and whose only concern is to go along and be affected to the extent of following in the very steps of others, whatever they do.
We have complained for some time of the drain of Arab and Muslim brains in important fields of specialization as a result of the migration of scientists who fail to find a place for themselves in their home countries but find it in foreign countries.

If this is true, we must not let such geniuses lose their loyalty to their religion, their nation, their culture and their fatherlands. We have to exert every effort to ensure that their loyalty and feelings remain with their people and homeland.

This will only be possible if their loyalty remains with Allah, His Messenger and the believers, and if they continue to be concerned over the woes of their nation and riot their own interests alone.
It is the duty of the Islamic Movement not to leave these expatriates to be swept by the whirlpool of the materialistic trend that prevails in the West, for they must always be reminded of their origins, to which they long all the time.

I believe that Islamic student unions have played a praiseworthy role in this respect over the past three decades, after the elapse of the era in which the Leftists, the Nationalists, the Secularists dominated and guided the actions of these unions.

No one with a grain of fairness in him can deny the efforts of the Association of Muslim Students in the United States and Canada. The Association has established branch offices and organized several conferences. Other establishments have emanated from it, such as the Union of Islamic Sociologists, the Society of Muslim Scientists and Engineers, the Islamic Medical Society, the Islamic Association in North America and others. There is an intention to base the Movement in the United States, so that it may assume its natural position in a society based on multiplicity and freedom.



The Five Duties Of The Muslim Expatriates
I have participated in conferences organized by the Union of Muslim Students for several years. What I saw there was a source of gratification. The same applies to the Society of Muslim Students and the Federation of Islamic Societies in Britain and other organizations in Europe.

In my meetings with expatriates, I always reminded them of five duties as follows;

The expatriate's duty to himself: to preserve and develop himself.

The expatriate's duty to his family: to protect it from disruption and establish it on Islam.

The expatriate's duty to his fellow Muslims: to unite with them to form one group.

The expatriate's duty to the non?Muslim community living around him: to invite the members of that community to the way of Allah with wisdom and beautiful preaching.

The expatriate's duty to the causes of his Muslim Nation: to care for them and support them.



Warning Against Two Things
There are two serious things that I have to warn about: racial and nationalist sympathies, and extremism and differences.

It is regrettable that we should see racial and nationalist sympathies given expression by several Muslim groups, with each closing itself to others and isolating its members from other Muslims, except for those spared [this wrong?doing] by the Grace of Allah.

Even the mosques are attributed to this or that group. It is not strange today that when you visit a city you may be told that this is the mosque of the Turks, that is the mosque of the Moroccans, and the third mosque over there is the mosque of the Yugoslavs and the fourth is for Indians, the fifth for Pakistanis; the sixth for Arabs, or a certain group of Arabs.

In the United States, in particular, there are special mosques for black Muslims.

Islam has come to eliminate the differences among people and make them equal. Mosques are just the tools ordained by Allah for performing this mission, so how can they become a tool for discrimination?

True, the language difficulties had made such separation necessary at first for the first generations of expatriates that did not know the native languages of the countries they had migrated to. But this could have been remedied by the allocation of lectures for each group in the same mosque for some time until there was a common language for all the Muslim community in each country or city.

However, this separation has become unnecessary in most cases, but the mosques remain attributed to certain groups or nationalities!

A mosque should be a mosque for Muslims and nothing else, and the flag under which the expatriates should unite must be the flag of Islam alone.

Expatriate Muslims will be strong only if they unite and help each other, for unity is strength, and dissent is weakness. Although solidarity is always required, it is more so in the case of being in an alien land, where one needs others of his kind to help him overcome his loneliness.

The second thing I want to warn about is extremism and differences over minor details, a phenomenon that, while still in its bud in Western countries, dates back to some time ago.

Our brothers in the East should not carry their differences and problems to the West, reviving and reliving them in their new home countries. For the time, place and people have changed, and these expatriates have been taught by their religious teachers that a fatwa changes with the change of time place and people, so why do not they apply what they have been taught?

About ten years ago, I visited the Islamic Center in Los Angeles, where some brothers asked me disapprovingly, "Is it right to show films in a mosque, even if they are educational films?" I replied, "What is in that? If these films teach some thing good, watching them would be an act of worship, and a mosque is a place of worship and a forum for knowledge and education ".

I added that the Prophet [peace be upon him] had allowed Abyssinians to dance with their spears in his mosque and had allowed his wife Aisha to watch them and had encouraged them to go on dancing.

Others asked, " May women not wearing Islamic dress be allowed to enter the mosque on Saturdays and Sundays, when lectures and lessons are given? "I answered", Yes, because if we restrict the admission into mosques to women who wear Islamic dress, where would others hear the Word of Islam and receive the Message of Allah? If we deny such women access to the mosque and its lectures and lessons, we will lose them forever, for the Call will not reach them. But if we Allow them to go to the mosque, then there is a great hope for them to be guided by Allah to observance of the rules of Islam. Many a true word has been made by Allah to open a heart, even several hearts".

At the time I was getting this manuscript ready to go to the press, I received a report, or rather a letter, from my honorable brother, the doctor, scientist, poet and advocate of Islam, Dr. Hassan Hathoot, in which he explained some of the activities performed by the Islamic Center in Los Angeles and the responsibilities carried by the center to help Muslims and non?Muslims alike. It was a letter that would warm the heart of any Muslim who reads it, as it was a true manifestation that Islam will never wither if it has on its side men who combine proper understanding and good intention.



The Movement And Political Freedom And Democracy
It is the duty of the Movement in the coming phase to stand firm against totalitarian and dictatorial rule, political despotism and usurpation of people's rights. The Movement should always stand by political freedom, as represented by true, not false, democracy. It should flatly declare its refusal of tyrants and steer clear of all dictators, even if some tyrant appears to have good intentions towards it for some gain and for a time that is usually short, as has been shown by experience.

The Prophet said, (When you see my Nation fall victim to fear and does not say to a wrong?doer, "You are wrong", then you may lose hope in them). So how about a regime that forces people to say to a conceited wrong?doer, "How just, how great you are, O our hero, our savior and our liberator!"

The Quran denounces tyrants such as Numrudh, Pharaoh, Haman and others, but it also dispraises those who follow tyrants and obey their orders. This is why Allah dispraises the people of Noah by saying, (But they follow [men] whose wealth and children give them no increase but only loss) [Surat Nuh: 21].

Allah also says of Ad, people of Hud (And followed the command of every powerful, obstinate transgressor) [Surat Hud: 59]

See also what the Quran says about the people of Pharaoh: (But they followed the command of Pharoah, and the command of pharaoh was not rightly guided) [Surat Hud: 97], (Thus he made fools of his people, and they obeyed him: truly they were a people rebel [against Allah]) [Surat Az?Zukhruf: 54].

A closer look at the history of the Muslim Nation and the Islamic Movement in modern times should show clearly that the Islamic idea, the Islamic Movement and the Islamic Awakening have never flourished or borne fruit unless in an atmosphere of democracy and freedom, and have withered and become barren only at the times of oppression and tyranny that trod over the will of the peoples which clung to Islam. Such oppressive regimes imposed their secularism, socialism or communism on their peoples by force and coercion, using covert torture and public executions, and employing those devilish tools that tore flesh, shed blood, crushed bone and destroyed the soul.

We saw these practices in many Muslim countries, including Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, [the former] South Yemen, Somalia and northern African States for varying periods of time, depending on the age or reign of the dictator in each country.

On the other hand, we saw the Islamic Movement and the Islamic Awakening bear fruit and flourish at the times of freedom and democracy, and in the wake of the collapse of imperial regimes that ruled peoples with fear and oppression.

Therefore, I would not imagine that the Islamic Movement could support anything other than political freedom and democracy.

The tyrants allowed every voice to be raised, except the voice of [slam, and let every trend express itself in the form of a political party or body of some sort, except the Islamic current which is the only trend that actually speaks for this Nation and expresses its creed, values, essence and very existence.

However, some Islamists still have their reservations on democracy, and are even wary of the word " democracy " itself.

What I wish to stress here is that Islam is not democracy and democracy is not Islam and that I would rather that Islam is not attributed to any principle or system. Islam is unique in its means, ends and methodologies, and I do not wish that Western democracy be carried over to us with its bad ideologies and values without us adding to it from our values and ideologies in order to integrate it into our comprehensive system.

However, the tools and guaranties created by democracy are as close as can ever be to the realization of the political principles brought to this earth by Islam to put a leash on the ambitions and whims of rulers . These principles are: shura [consultation], good advice, enjoining what is proper and forbidding what is evil, disobeying illegal orders, resisting unbelief and changing wrong by force whenever possible. It is only in democracy and political freedom that the power of Parliament is evident and that people's deputies can withdraw confidence from any government that breaches the Constitution, and it is only in such an environment that the strength of free Press, free Parliament, opposition and the masses is most felt.

The fears of some people here that democracy makes the people a source of power and even legislation (although legislation is Allah's alone) should not be heeded here, because we are supposed to be speaking of a people that is Muslim in its majority and has accepted Allah as its Lord, Mohammad as its Prophet and Islam as its Religion. Such a people would not be expected to pass a legislation that contradicts Islam and its incontestable principles and conclusive rules.

Anyway, these fears can be overcome by one article stipulating that any legislation contradicting the incontestable provisions of Islam shall be null and void because Islam is the religion of the State and the source of legitimacy of all its institutions and therefore may not be contradicted, as a branch may not run against the main stream.

It should be known that the acceptance of the principle that legislation or rule belong to Allah does not rob the Nation of its right to seek for itself the codes necessary to regulate its ever-changing life and earthly affairs.

What we seek is that legislations and codes be within the limits of the flawless texts and the over all objectives of Shari'ah and the Islamic Message. The binding texts are very few, while the area of "permissibility" or legislative free space is quite wide and the texts themselves are so flexible and capacious as to accommodate more than one understanding and accept more than one interpretation, which leads to the existence of several schools and philosophies within the expansive framework of Islam.

I perused some laws that were passed in Qatar recently, and have found them to include scores of articles that rest on realizing interests and removing evils, but were not directly introduced by texts except for one or two of them.

The most serious danger threatening the Muslim Nation and the Islamic Movement is the rule of the Pharaohs who believe that their opinion is infallible and is right itself that can never go wrong. Such rulers adopt Pharaoh's logic: (I but point out to you that which I see [myself]; nor do I guide you but to the path of right) [Surat Ghafir: 29]. (I but point out to you that which I see [myself]; nor do I guide you but to the path of right) [Surat Ghafir: 29].

To these rulers, every opinion that runs against theirs is rejected, even accused, just like Pharaoh spoke of Moses: (What I fear is lest he should change your religion, or lest he should cause mischief to appear in the land!) [Surat Ghafir: 26]. fear is lest he should change your religion, or lest he should cause mischief to appear in the land!) [Surat Ghafir: 26].



The Islamic Movement And Ethnic And Religious Minorities
The Islamic Movement must take a decisive attitude towards ethnic and religious minorities in the Arab and Muslim Worlds.



The Problem of Ethnic Minorities is Solved in Islam
Ethnic minorities do not constitute a problem in the Islamic system that the movement advocates, for Islam embraces all races under one creed, on qibla [direction of prayers] and close brotherhood.
Islam regards Muslims as one nation, regardless of their origin, color, tongue or homeland. It sees as equal all Muslims, be the Arabs, Persians, Berbers, Kurds, Turks, Indians or members of any other race; the lowest among them in rank is as entitled to speak in their name as the highest, and they stand as one man against their enemies. They are as Allah the Almighty describes them: (The Believers are but one brotherhood) [Surat Al?Hujurat: 10].

No Arab is better than a non?Arab, and no non?Arab is better than an Arab; no white man is better than a black man, and no black man is better than a white man, unless by virtue of piety and righteousness (The most honored of you in the sight of Allah is [he who is] the most righteous of you) [Surat Al?Hujurat: 13].

The [esteemed] position of Sulayman the Persian, Bilal the Abyssinian and Suhayb the Roman in the eyes of all Muslims in all ages is known to everybody.

The position enjoyed by non?Arab scholars who served Islam and Arabic language cannot be denied by any scholar of Islam, either. The history of Islam is full of numerous examples of prominent scholars and geniuses of Islam, such as Al?Hassan Al?Basri, Ibn?Sirin, Ata, Said Ibn?Jubayr, Abu?Hanifa, Al?Bukhari, Muslim, Abu?Dawad, Al?Tirmidhi, Al?Nisa'e, Ibn?Majah, Sibaway and others.

Although all of them were originally non?Arabs, Islam made them Arabs when it made Arabic their language, so that they spoke, wrote and researched in the language of the Quran. A hadith, reported by Ibn Asakir said, ( Being an Arab is neither father nor mother: it is the tongue. He who speaks Arabic is an Arab ).

Those who did not take Arabic as their mother tongue when they adopted Islam, such as the Kurds, the Berbers, the Persians, the Malaysians and other non?Arabs, were Arabized in their hearts and minds through Islamic culture and through Islam itself that was carried to their lands by the Arabs many centuries ago to guide them to the straight path through the Guidance of Allah.

Every Muslim loves Arabic because it is the language of the Quran, Sunna and worship. Every Muslim loves the Land of Arabs, because that is where the Ka'ba and the Prophet's Mosque and Grave are. Every Muslim loves Arabs, because they are the defenders of the Prophet and Islam and have spread Islam all over the world. It is therefore said in the sayings handed down to us by past generations, "If the Arabs become strong, so will Islam; and they become weak, so will Islam!"

There is no ethnic problem in the Islamic perspective, then. The Islamic outlook is even the infallible remedy to the ethnic problem.

But if the Arabs call for an Arab nationalism that is separate from Islam, the Kurds will also claim their own Kurdish nationalism, and the Berbers will call for a Berber nationalism, and so on, which will certainly tear the one Nation, even individual countries, apart among these ethnic sympathies that were a characteristic of the Age of Ignorance that was replaced with the Islam brotherhood by Islam. Our noble Prophet has disowned anyone who advocates, fights for or dies while believing in a fanatic nationalism or tribalism.



How to Solve the Problem of Religious Minorities?
The problem that should be addressed is the problem of religious minorities, or what I called in a previous study the "non?Muslims in the Muslim community".

This problem should be solved within a context of frankness.

Continued next post.