۱۰ فروردین ۱۴۰۳ |۱۹ رمضان ۱۴۴۵ | Mar 29, 2024
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Islam invites us to the holy war, to defend and protect the oppressed, to implement hudud, and ta'zirat punishments, to extensively enjoin good and forbid evil, to set up a financial system, and to guard the unity of the Islamic community. It is clear that these aims cannot be actualized without a powerful regime and an integrated government.

Hawzah News Agency - To clarify the relationship between religion and politics, it is right to define "politics" first. There are two probable definitions for it:

1) Politics may be taken to mean deception and fraud as well as using any possible means to attain the goal: the aim justifies the means. Surely, this is not what the word really means, because it reduces politics to mere deceit and fraudulence, which are inconsistent with religion.

2) It may be understood as managing various affairs of the society on the basis of the correct Islamic principles. When taken it to mean so, politics means managing of the Muslims' affairs in the light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah; it is thus an integral part of religion.

 

Below are some reasons why religion and politics go together, and why there is a need to establish the government.

 

- The clearest evidence comes from the way the holy Prophet acted in the turbulent years of his Mission. A study of the holy Prophet's words and deeds clearly reveals that he had, from the beginning of his call, intended to establish a powerful government with belief in God and the ability to draw up the Islamic plans.

 

- Scholars of both of the Islamic sects have presented extensive proofs from the Book of Allah and the Prophet's Sunnah concerning the need for the establishment of a government and the running of the social affairs. Some of these are as follows:

 

- Shaykh Saduq –Shia scholar- quotes Imam 'Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (a.s) as having delivered a detailed sermon on the need for a government, part of which is as follows: 'We find no nation that can survive without a guardian and a leader, one to whom the issues, religious or otherwise, must inevitably be referred. It is thus improbable that the Wise God should leave unsettled the question that people are in need of and without which they cannot be consistent. It is upon the order of their leaders, then, that the nations fight off their enemies, divide the war spoils, hold their Friday and congregational prayers; and it is the ruler who keeps the oppressors away from the oppressed.'[1]

 

- Al-Mawardi –Sunni scholar- says: "Imamate and government have been decreed to serve as a succession to prophethood, a protection for the religion and a planning of the affairs of the world; it is an obligation unanimously considered to be a duty of the one who can establish it." [2] This Muslim scholar presents two proofs in support of his statement: rational and religious.

a) The rational proof: "for it is a disposition of the wise to follow a leader, one that may debar them from doing each other injustice, and keep them at a distance when they quarrel. Were it not for the leaders, the people would disperse and fall into confusion thus losing their efficiency."

b) The religious proof: "And as for the religious proof in support of vesting the authority in religion with the affairs, Allah the Majestic, the Glorified, has said,' O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those in authority from among you.' [3] Thus, God has made it incumbent on us to obey those in authority; they are our leaders and commanders." [4]

 

- It is impossible to analyze, in such a limited span as this, all the statements of the Muslim jurists in regard to this issue, for it requires a separate book. However, a survey of the extensive Islamic jurisprudence shows that unless there is a powerful government, most of the Islamic rules will not be put in practice.

 

- Islam invites us to the holy war, to defend and protect the oppressed, to implement hudud, and ta'zirat punishments, to extensively enjoin good and forbid evil, to set up a financial system, and to guard the unity of the Islamic community. It is clear that these aims cannot be actualized without a powerful regime and an integrated government. There must be a well- organized army to defend the holy religion of Islam and its precinct. To organize such a powerful army, there must be a mighty government based on Islamic values. The implementation of hudud and ta'zirat aimed at actualization of religious duties and prohibition of sins, the claiming of the right of the oppressed from the oppressors, and similar matters cannot be done without a systematic and harmonious organization, otherwise chaos will result.

 

These are not the only reasons for the establishment of a government in Islam, but they make it clear that religion and politics are not two separate things. Rather, it is an inevitable necessity, a duty of the Islamic community all over the world, to establish a government on the basis of the values that the most Shining Religion has set.

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[1] 'Ilal al-Shara'i', sub-section 182, tradition No. 9, p. 253.

[2] al-Mawardi's al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyyah, chapter 1, p. 5, 1st ed. Egypt.

[3] Quran: 4:59.

[4] al-Mawardi's al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyyah, chapter 1, p. 5, 1st ed. Egypt.

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