The Quran and the "Arab spring": In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen change, in the form of the collapse of decades-old dictatorships, came surprisingly quick. Other Arab states, through popular pressure, announced political reforms. Yet other states, specifically the oil-rich ones, offered an increase in public spending and other monetary concessions, in the bid to appease the restless masses. Currently, no Arab country has emerged as a paradigm or model for others, in terms of achieving the mass protests’ goals: alleviating the social problems that spawned the uprisings in the first place and a transition to becoming a stable and peaceful democracy. Instead, the jubilant optimism of 2011 has been replaced with a harsh and stark realism. The road to political change has proven to be highly chaotic and messy; even violent and bloody. Change (taghayyur, tabdil) is, as one would expect, a central theme of the Qur’an too. There are many verses in it that speak about change (less about political, more about spiritual and social change). The following three verses of the Qur’an outline how the divine hand lends itself to societal change. It says about those who show ingratitude to God for the countless blessings He confers upon them, choosing disobedience to Him over obedience: That is because God never changes the blessings He bestows upon a people until they first change what is within themselves. [8:53] And similarly: God does not change the condition of a people unless they change what is within themselves. [13:11] It also lays down a clear method to attract divine blessings and to keep them tethered: And when your Lord proclaimed: ‘If you are thankful [for my blessings], I shall give you more. But if you are ungrateful, My punishment is indeed severe.’ [14:7] Thus gratitude, made manifest in terms of obedience to God, begets an increase in blessings upon a people; ingratitude, on the other hand, professed thorough acts of disobedience to God, necessitates their withdrawal. And without the blessings of divine guidance, help and facilitation, how are things ever to improve for believers? The much sought after political change in Muslim majority lands pretty much follows the same contours: God has promised to those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the land, as He made those before them successors, and that He will establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will change their state of fear to one of security; provided they worship Me and ascribe no partner to Me. [24:55] Therefore, those who wish to see God’s blessings manifest themselves in the collective lives of believers risk ignoring the above Quranic method of change at their own peril. Likewise, Muslim political analysis and activism that does not put this method at the very heart of its programme for change, is likely to be doomed from the outset. In fact, any and every political program that ignores this fundamental Quranic principle, or pays it scant attention, may in no way portray itself as “Islamic politics.” Such naivety would beggar belief!
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 05:27:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015