Question: What
is the objective of Islam? There are numerous revolutionary parties in
our society which are working for the enforcement of Islam. Are we required
by our religion to join such a party? What are our duties if our state
is not following the directives of Islam?
Answer: The objective
of Islam is Tadkiyah-i-Nafs (purification of the soul). Today the
world is becoming more and more sensitive to environmental pollution. Islam
wants us to become sensitive to moral pollution as well. Just as the filth
around us pollutes our environment, the evil found in our soul stains it.
Eyes may not see it, yet it cannot be concealed from the mind’s vision.
Both our religious concepts and the
deeds we do need purification. Also, this purification is required both
in the individual as well as the collective spheres of our lives. An individual
must purify his concepts and deeds and a collectivity (like a state) must
purify its concepts and deeds. The directives for the purification of the
individual and those of the collectivity are explicitly mentioned in the
Qur’an. Consequently, as an
individual, one needs to conform oneself according to these directives.
It is one’s duty to do the needful and it is the duty of the state to do
what is required from it.
If a Muslim state is not doing what
is required of it, then it is being disobedient to the Almighty. In this
case, it is the religious obligation of the religious scholars of the country
to warn them of the grave consequences of this disobedience.
Joining a revolutionary or any other party is not a religious
obligation at all. The responsibility of the common man is to exhort people
in his immediate surroundings towards good. Neither is he in a position
to reform the state nor is he required to do so by Islam. Of course, this
does not mean that he cannot join a party or create a pressure group for
communication of his demands regarding the enforcement of Islam.
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