Problems with current thinking of many muslim political parties today like Brotherhood and hizb-ut-tahrir and others

Problems with current thinking of many muslim political parties today like Brotherhood and hizb-ut-tahrir and others:

They think that our duty as muslims in our societies is to implement islam politically and ensure Allah swt’s laws are implemented at a state level. My view is that our duty is to implement Islam on ourselves first. This will then lead to the correct communal response I believe. Here is how :

As civilians in a state or country we will want to live such that we are not humiliated but respected and valued in our countries. Not threatened by the regime etc. But the reality is that we have despots ruling in our regions so we need to think about what to do to improve things. Firstly threatening the despots isn’t going to help things. They will just learn to work harder to oppress us. Especially if they know we want to put someone else in power other than them.

So instead we need to see if we can go to a middle ground where we can make improvements to our condition. Without being afraid of the despot. Negotiation. We may agree to let him rule provided he allows certain freedoms etc. And that we would not threaten his rule. That we can both live together. If he isn’t willing then we need to think more about what we can do. Perhaps leaving the country is the only option. Or maybe planning a cue if possible. If he is willing then we can enter a period of better stability and a better situation for all. The economy can flourish a bit etc. But mainly we can then live in our country instead of flee from it seeking asylum. And we can then strengthen the relationship with the despot to see if we can get more comprises that would help the country as a whole. We need to be aware of the political environment both locally and globally. There maybe a rich minority that is happy with the despotism and there maybe world powers who are supporting this despot for certain interests he protects for them. The more politically astute we are the better for us. It means we maybe able to keep the country in reasonably tolerable conditions. And we know that things aren’t going to be changed over night. And hopefully we won’t be needing to flee the country. And slowly we work to improve things.

So what we want is to talk with the people to make them work to improve the country as much as they can. To reduce poverty etc. To identify what the economic and social problems are and to create solutions. We can try to talk to the ruler too etc. Slowly things may improve. And we may find that the key to our bad situation is that our society is not willing to help itself. To work to improve the situation with whatever small efforts all citizens can exert. We may find that society is unable to do basics. Could be from ignorance or bad habits. Eg there maybe cheating at work , lying in business transactions, tax avoidance etc. Everyone thinking only if their self instead of the country and the collective good. That there is little care for society as a whole. That each person thinks mainly about their tribe or sect etc. Meaning that the country is very weak. Sectarian and tribal divides may rule. People may also be uninterested in Allah and busy for dunya (material greed). All these are ills in society that need addressing. And removing the despot will not remove these. Infact it maybe that because we have those ills that there is a despot ruling us ie punishment from Allah for our hypocrisy ie saying we are Muslim but behaving as corrupt people. So in that case the despots will only be lifted once we have cleansed ourselves and become purified people. So there would be a lot of nurturing and helping of society to become better citizens. Who would put rubbish in a bin rather than on the street. Our relationship with God would also get improved. Especially if we understand that these despots are here because of our sins. And only if we remove them will our situation improve. Just removing the despot may not actually lead to improvements.

So the issue for muslims is not implementing Islamic laws but in creating improved societies. Changing the emotions and thinking in society rather than focussing on who is ruling. Once the society is purified or improved then the political situation will naturally have to change. The ruler will see the changes infront of him. So Islamic parties should be culturing the people for better behavior rather than seeking power. It was never about seeking power. A society will always get the ruler it deserves I believe . So always focus on changing society through calling it to change rather than wanting power. Those who go after power just want to replace one despot with another I think. Muslim despots may use the excuse that it’s a duty to implement sharia on society. But the duty is actually to interact with society and change it gradually through speech and role modeling I believe.

Once a society changes it can then achieve wonderful changes and Allah will help it I believe. So Muslim activists should be agents of positive societal change. The society will then choose a good system to live under and be a good contributor to humanity too.

Furthermore the Muslim political parties use ayas like “whoever doesn’t rule (yahkum) by what Allah has revealed they are the kafiroon/fasiqoon/dhalimoon” and think this is about the ruling system. و من لم يحكم بما انزل الله فاولائك هم الكافرون/فاسقون/ظالمون.

No, the ruling system is called the amr. الأمر. This is what the people referred to it at the time of the prophet pbuh. “To whom will be the amr after you oh profit?” some would ask. As for the ayas regarding hukm (ruling) I believe this is to do with judges ruling by islam when ruling on cases. It’s not related to government and power I believe. This is a mistake that was done. A big mistake that made us think that implementing Islamic rule is a duty. We call society to change for the better and then it will choose the right system for it. A fair and just system for all its citizens. The Quran speaks about justice (عدل) and shura (consultation) and freedom (there is no compulsion in religion) as key principles. Amruhum shura امرهم شورى. Here the word Amr is governing related. Today we have forgotten about freedom as we think Islamic rule is about dictatorship. So our thoughts about islam are completely upside down these days because we left the essence and took on a distorted view. 

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