Islamic Revolution as a Spiritual Revolution
It cannot be emphasized enough that the primary purpose of the seizure of power by Islamists is to promote Islam in its totality. Islam cannot allowed to be used merely as an ideology to motivate the masses to challenge the domination of the Ummah; it must be activated into a living, breathing tradition that has spiritual, legal, political, economic, and military dimensions. The goal of Islamic revolution, then, is not merely political power, but rather, to subvert all of human behavior to the supreme directive: the worship of Allah 
(subhana wa ta’ala). If people talk about political change without the ultimate desire to implement the Shari’ah, then they are merely shouting words into the wind. Real change is not judged by military domination or economic vitality, but by submission to the one, true Lord of all of the creation. While the application of the Shari’ah must be done with hikmah, if a particular group or movement contravenes the Shari’ah in order to apply it, then they are bound to fail in this life and the next. Now, obviously, the Shari’ah must be applied not only in form but in substance as well. Thus, while a strict adherence to the literal interpretation of the Shari’ah is important, so are the underlying objectives (Maqasid) and necessities (Darurrah). However, to leave out the discussion of the Shari’ah altogether in a political arrangement will spell disaster for the Ummah. Success in the Akhirah is determined by hearing and obeying Allah (subhana wa ta’ala).
Hence, any political actor, group, or movement, that claims to be “revolutionary” will be discredited if they do not aspire for the complete application of the Shari’ah from its criminal aspects to its economic aspects to its political aspects and to its military aspects. The Shari’ah is a comprehensive package, either you accept all of it or you undermine all of it. It cannot be implemented piecemeal as many of the nation-states today have done.
Furthermore, if the goal of the upcoming Islamic upheaval is the implementation of the Shari’ah, the state and the citizenry must restore the authority of the ‘Ulema that operate with respect to the classical tradition. The ‘Ulema are the true guardians of the Islamic state and therefore, shall play a pivotal role in the return to the Islamization of Muslim societies. Thus, any group (whether Ikhwan al Muslimeen, Hizb e Tehrir, Jamat Islami, Tanzeem e Islam or any one of their shoot offs) that does not have a basic respect and adherence to the fatawa of the ‘Ulema, at least those which there is ijmaa, is not a revolutionary Islamic movement, but a threat to the preservation of the integrity of the Ummah. The standard by which we should judge the authenticity of the ‘Ulema is their ascription to the classical formulation of Aqeedah, Fiqh, and Tasawwuf. Those ‘Ulema which lack one of those three elements, while great individuals, are not necessarily authoritative. The ‘Ulema should be treated as a bar association; a self-regulating profession that maintains its independence from both the state and from the masses while also reducing the economic incentive. When the Islamic revolutions occur, the world as a whole will become fixated upon the proper application of the Shari’ah in a just and equitable manner and a key component in that will be the revivification of the Islamic sciences. To promote the complete and just application of the Shari’ah, an independent judiciary that is self-regulating and uninhibited by the pressures of capitalist society is fundamentally necessary. Thus, the state must be set up in a manner that is comprised of a system of checks and balances, with a strong limitation on the executive function and a strong emphasis of the independence of both the scholars and the judges. Of course, the latter has a very different function within the state than the former, but this will be elaborated on in the future. For the purposes of the Islamic revolution, both the scholars and judges are instrumental in guiding the upheaval of the Muslim world against Western hegemony to ensure that such a massive transformation occurs in complete compliance with the Shari’ah from its inception to its conclusion which shall, inshaAllah, be the restoration of the Khalifate.
Sphere: Related ContentPublished June 14, 2007 . Filed under: Islamic Revolution
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Again this is all nice to write about, but in essence only a traditionalist populace will be able to accept this, and even then, probably only very few of those. The creation of such an entity will require the coordination of millions of people, and I think this can only occur naturally, and not as the result of any force. I will again disagree with you that the seizure of power by Islamists will necessitate a shariah based government of the type you propose. At most it will be something that is hardline and inflexible. Traditionalists are very comfortable in this day and age, and are not revolutionaries. As much as they may have been, in India, etc, at this point they are not.
June 14, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
Only a “traditionalist” populace? What world do you live in? The Ummah is exploding as we speak, every day, a new group pops up dedicated towards the restoration of the Shari’ah. The battle is being fought everywhere. The only thing stop the Islamic resurgence is the police state set up and sustained by Western governments. The creation of the entity has occurred before in Islamic history out of scratch and we know from the hadeeth of the Prophet (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) that it will be established at least twice in the future. So the Khilafah and the application of the Shari’ah in its entirety is inevitable.
I don’t think the seizure of power by Islamists necessitates a hardline and inflexible approach, look at the UIC in Somalia. What human rights violations did they commit? What about Hezbullah? What about HAMAS? All of these groups have shown a remarkable capacity to work within the system. Most of the portrayals of “hardliners” has been by the kuffar. In Islam, the hadd punishment is a component of Islam that if a person rejects, they are not a Muslim. If a person is a Muslim, they have to accept the hadd.
With regards to Traditionalists, they’re history is full of resistance and revolutionary movements both in the classical era and during the colonial era. What we lack is not the potential of revolution, but a workable plan and a global network uniting the current revivalist and resistance movements.
For every Islamist movement that is established, the kuffar will undoubtedly try to thwart it, expending more resources and undermining their capitalist system. All that needs to be done is to stretch their reach to the point where it becomes unsustainable and then a counter-resurgence to seize power in the creation of the vacuum.
Your objections are not really directed at the concept of Islamic revolution, but the implementation of Islamic government. Your beef is not with Islamists or traditionalists, your beef is with the Shari’ah. You have a problem with submitting to the commands of Allah
(subhana wa ta’ala).
June 14, 2007 @ 8:42 pm
Asalamualaikum bro!!…i like the optimistic thinking..im a pessimist though sadly :(…
Ideally this works…but the problem here is you have 20 different groups in any given area all fighting for Islam and Shariah, but the way they implement it is what seperates them. Which way is then the correct way to implement it? lately its been a duke it out till the last remains, and the last remaining rules type of way to figure this out…obviously theres going to be a right way to do it, and a wrong one…so which way is it? not all groups want to implement it the same way, nor do they even have the same understanding of it. Until we have a just ruler to rule over the masses we wont unite and either will the different groups who are willing to put up arms…they’ll just end up doing what they do best…that is turn and fight amongst each other.
And as for only traditionalists wanting it. where im from everyone wants it, but only if its ruled by a just leader, not an illiterate person who claims ’scholarhood’
June 14, 2007 @ 9:25 pm
Wa alaikum assalam
This is nothing new, whenever the Muslims have been invaded, they often ended up bickering among themselves. Ultimately, those movements succeed which are allied with the ‘Ulema and those that do not ultimately fail. So if you look at these groups, ask yourself: which one follows the ‘Ulema. The ones that don’t follow the ‘Ulema should automatically be excluded. Stick with the jamhur, and we should be okay.
Also, the classic strategy of the kuffar will be to divide and conquer. We can try and minimize this strategy as much as we want, but all of us will have to face it. We shouldn’t expend excessive energy in worrying about these different groups but focus on our goals. There is no formula for how to deal with these differences. However, we should try our best to reconcile the various parties and make peace between them. If two parties fight among each other, a third party should moderate and if one the party is still aggressive, then the third party should unite with the other party and forcefully suppress them.
That is the way of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
June 14, 2007 @ 9:54 pm
“You have a problem with submitting to the commands of Allah
(SWT) (subhana wa ta’ala).” I will not get upset at this comment, and your implication that I do not accept Hadd and therefore may not be a muslim.
; those that I understand to be correctly interpreted as identified by scholars that I adhere too. I will absolutely submit to a sharia system, but you are right that my main concern is the implementation of a government, and which interpretation it will follow.
I am a muslim, and I will absolutely submit to the hadud and commands of Allah
I am glad you brought up the UIC - I was going to site it as a failed attempt at implementation at Shariah. When I initially read reports about it sounded great, violence was quelled, warlords were disarmed, people were getting fair trials, and this as reported by conventional news media. Great! So I showed everyone I know who said shariah based systems produce chaos, that here, here is an example of a functioning breathing AND just shariah system. Then there was news of its widthdrawal, and then news that it does not want to institute shariah, it just wants law and order, and to give back decision making power to the people. How will you impose shariah on the people? It has to be something they choose.
And please, do not assume things such as saying I have a problem submitting to the commands of Allah
, that is an extremely false assumption.
June 15, 2007 @ 9:51 am
Plus I think citing UIC is bad in that there was a power vacuum in Somalia for decades, and their reign was so short that its almost a non-event. Also, where above I said you implied I was not muslim - I am not imputing that you called me a non-muslim, and if it came out that way I ask your forgiveness.
June 15, 2007 @ 10:09 am
Okay, so where we agree is that the Shari’ah itself is obligatory upon Muslims, where we disagree is how it is to be implemented and we both agree that it can’t be done by force.
My argument is not that Islamists should seize power and implement the Shari’ah immediately, but like the UIC, come into power and slowly and steadily change various laws and began a slow process of reconstructing the society in accordance with Islamic law.
With regards to the UIC, the fact of the matter is that they did not withdraw but were invaded by Ethiopia which had the support of the CIA. The UIC was attacked primarily because it sent 700 soldiers to train with Hezbullah last summer when Lebanon was being bombed by Israel. So the situation is a little more complicated then you are making it out to be. The UIC has not “withdrawn” from Somalia, they are still fighting hard to regain control.
Irrespective of the current outcome of the situation in Somalia, everyone agreed that the UIC was behaving in a wise and equitable manner. They had begun correcting only the worst of things, such as the banning of narcotic substances and certain movies, etc.
However, as usual, the interference of the kuffar is a major problem.
The reason I cited the UIC was as a modern day example that the seizure of state power and the implementation of the Shari’ah does not have to be done in a manner that other states such as the Taliban or Iran or Saudiyyah have done. It illustrates that a modern implementation of the Shari’ah is possible. Moreover, even if we can’t find a modern day example of the Shari’ah, at the very list we have over 1000 years of our history where states had successfully applied the Shari’ah.
June 16, 2007 @ 3:21 pm