What is the guidance for Muslims who are being ruled by sinners or non Muslim rulers? There are circumstances when Allah provides opportunity to the Muslims as a group to bring in change for the sake of Allah alone and one should be ready to seize the moment then. Let me cite the circumstances (through examples from Quraan) where Muslims of the day were instrumental and successful in changing the old system with the one as ordained by Allah (swt): 1) Hazrat Ibraheim AS formed a new nation of Muslims out of his progeny, one of which resided in the new land of Palestine and the other in Mecca and descendants of both ruled respective areas as per divine commandments of Allah thereafter; with people of Israel AS getting their laws updated through the Suhafa of Messengers of Allah while that of Ismael AS (the “Umiyuun”) continued to govern through the laws enacted through Saheefa of Ibraheim AS. They stayed within their respective lands/ systems except when Bani Israel went to Egypt during the time of Hazrat Yusuf AS whose children ruled for 200 years (Hyksos) and then were enslaved by the Pharoahs. 2) Bani Israel, after getting released from the bondage of Pharoah, having been bestowed with new Law in the form of Torah on Tablets and cleansed of those who had worshipped the golden calf, was ultimately ordered by Allah swt to implement it in the land of Palestine but they refused to follow Hazrat Musa AS to fight Philistines, thus were punished with 40 years in the wilderness and ultimately their new generation conquered the land of Palestine and ruled it by the Book of One Allah swt. 3) Hazrat Sulaiman AS threatened the Queen of Saba (whom Sulaiman AS had come to know through Hud-Hud as worshippers of Sun ie that land was in the hands of those who were Mushriqeen, the greatest of the sins in the eyes of Allah) with the invasion of her land lest she submitted to the Unique Allah swt and to His Rule of Law alone. 4) Hazrat Muhammads (saw) emigration from the House of Allah/ land of Mecca once ordered by Allah swt whereas a unique opportunity was provided to him in the land of Medina where He (saw) was to be crowned as the new ruler to govern them as per the dictates of Quran being the new Law (Islam) and He being the only judge/ adjudicator .. any one not agreeing was either termed as Kafir or Munafiqeen .. both were fought against till the Holy Kaaba was cleansed of the system based on idolatory/ Mushriqeen and thus only the Law of Allah swt prevailed over whole of Arabian peninsula. I have cited different examples to show the varied reasons when change is considered essential, the circumstances / conditions / process governing the change, and the ways adopted, and whether these are offensive in nature or defensive. In circumstances where we live in a land ruled by a Muslim we are guided by Surah 4 verse 59 that is especially addressed to Momineen wrt to Muslim rulers as in this verse we have been commanded : O those/you who proclaim to have accepted-become believers, pay attention; You people listen and wholeheartedly accept the Word of Allah the Exalted and listen and accept the Word of the Messenger [Sallallaahoalaihwasalam]: Grand Quraan; And accept the word-promulgations of the holders of authority administering the affairs in society. .. And in case of the dispute we have been ordered as: …. thereat, if you mutually wrangled with men of authority-rulers in some matter; thereby, you are directed to resolve it by reverting to the word of Allah the Exalted and the Messenger: evaluate and decide according to dictate of Grand Quraan; if you people have truly been believing in Allah the Exalted and the Last Day. This is the best course; and in ultimate analysis-outcome it is most appropriate and balanced. [4:59] However, while living in a land ruled by Muslims who are sinner or Munafiqeen and who do not abide by the dictates of the above Surah, and there if you are trying to bring back the system based on Quraan alone, then Momineen should abide by the guidance of Allah by telling them to mend their ways through all means possible, and then resisting that regime peacefully as much as you can depending upon your strength; however it would be just a matter of time that soon you would realize that you do not have enough strength or support of requisite “Momineen” (as the number of Momineen are likely to shrink further as the humanity is constantly moving towards decline with each passing moment as per Surah AlAsr verses 1-2) that would be good enough to bring a peaceful change in a society that prevails in a so called Islamic/Muslim land. One should under the circumstances remain steadfast in one’s belief and exercise patience as advised by Allah and wait for the opportune time when Allah swt may either provide conducive circumstances wherein a person may raise strength with equal matching to bring in the desired change or else directed to a place like Medina to emigrate from where to launch a movement for establishing peace and justice with the blessings of Allah swt. As far as living in a land ruled by non Muslims or Munafiqeen while also you do not find another place where you may emigrate to live, then the way of Hazrat Yusuf AS should be adopted (see how Yusuf AS while remaining steadfast as a Muslim, showed utmost perseverance and patience and kept on passing the Message even in captivity till Allah swt moved him up the ladder into the corridors of power while still working under the prevalent laws of Aziz e Misr. In the world of today, non peaceful resistance may not be possible even if you try to bring in requisite strength of Momineen (the ratio being at least 1:2, 1:10 or even 1:100 depending on taqwa as compared to Ashaab e Badr), still you are not likely to achieve success as you would not only face resistance by the rulers of the old democratic setup but that of a secular standing army as well who would be getting all the financial support and technologically superior prowess of the crusading West while you being branded as terrorists too (see the recent example in Egypt). In my opinion citing the example of Iranian regime change is out of date as well as out of order .. firstly it happened because of support from the French/ West as they wanted regime change (it was linked with oil politics as against USA; Khamenie and Guards purportedly now holding probably the largest shares in Iranian oil) … secondly the change took place within the context of nation state as it did not represent the majority of the Muslim world and … thirdly it was a change from a regal state to a theocratic state within the same Iranian culture (that still follows its old pagan calendar, feasts and cultural norms). If you live in the areas /land ruled by non Muslims then the rule is that Muslims should not reside in those areas and instead are advised to emigrate to the land ruled by the Muslims or where they reside in abundance or move towards those areas where you can easily and willingly able to conduct yourselves as per the dictates of our Lord swt or lands where there is a better system of justice in place or a system closer to the Islamic principles; unless of course when you are temporarily required to stay there for trading purposes, or for gaining knowledge/ education, or for passing the message of Allah swt, or as part of governmental assignments/ duties like being part of the diplomatic corps etc. Those who are born, or get converted into the fold of Islam later, in an area under the domain of non Muslims, should decide what is best for them depending how best would they be able to conform to the dictates of Quraan or how much they want to please their Creator swt. Allah very well knows that it is the attraction of income that shall force you to stay at a place where you can not conduct yourself the way Allah wants, that is why Allah encourages us to emigrate from that area and not to worry about income, you never know that Allah swt has something better in store for you in a land where you can freely lead your lives which may please our Rab swt.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 22:25:26 +0000
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