That which falls under the responsibility of the State:
1) The establishment of the Hudood (proscribed punishments):
It is known that the human being is not an angel or a robot but rather he is a social being who is tested by good and bad. He has the potential to be seduced, for his feet to buckle, for Shaytaan to overcome him so that he commits a violation, a sin or falls short in his fulfilment of an obligation, or aggresses against another. So who then will discipline him or prevent him and make him refrain? So for instance, is it the right of the father to implement the Hudood upon his fornicating or thieving son? None of the Muslims have ever said that this is permitted. This is because it is known from the Deen Bid- Daroorah (By necessity) that the safeguarding of the collective group, dispersing of the disputes, the safeguarding of rights and binding the individuals to abide by the laws, do not fall under the responsibility of the individual but rather they are the task of the person whom has been delegated on behalf of the Muslims to assume the undertaking of these affairs i.e. it is the responsibility of the Nizhaam (regime) and those responsible for implementing the Nizhaam (system). This is because these matters are obligatory upon the Ummah (Moslems Society) as a whole and as such the Muslims appoint a Khalifah on their behalf, to assume on their behalf the implementation of that which has been obliged upon them, in their description as a collective group. So he (the Khalifah deputy) is responsible over the implementation of the speech of Allah (swt):
The female fornicator and the male fornicator lash each one of them with one hundred lashes (An-Noor 2).
This is despite those being addressed are the collective of the Muslims and this is similar to His speech (swt):
And the male thief and female thief cut off their hands (Al-Maa’idah 38).
And so on. And no individual has the right to enforce the punishment or to apply the Hadd punishment upon any violator unless he has been deputised on behalf of the Muslims as a whole or by a person the Khalifah in his role as the deputy of the Muslims has entrusted to undertake it. Therefore it is the responsibility of the Khalifah to safeguard this section of the general public relationships and what this collective does as.
Allah (swt) has stated: And you have in Al -Qisaas life, O those of understanding. so that you may attain Taqwa (Al-Baqarah 179).
2) Taking care of the affairs of the collective group in their description as a collective group:
It is well known that the collective group (i.e. the society) requires affairs and facilities or utilities that must be established amongst them and taken care of. These have been made obligatory by Allah (swt) upon the Muslims in their description as a collective grouping and He (swt) has made it the responsibility of the caretaker of the collective and not from the responsibilities of the individual or the responsibility of a group of individuals. This is like bringing the public utilities like roads, town squares, schools and hospitals in addition to taking care of the interests like securing the means of communication like telegraphs and mail and the development of the natural resources and distributing them, which includes extracting the natural resources, minerals and oil amongst other materials. This also includes taking care of the wealth and public properties amongst other matters that relate to the facilities, utilities and interests of the people. So is it permissible for the individual or obligatory upon him to engage in the undertaking of these matters without holding any central responsibility over them. Have they been delegated on behalf of the Muslims or been delegated by the deputy of the Muslims (i.e. Khalifah) to undertake the caretaking of these matters? And when we present the components of the individual, then does knowledge over these matters and their undertaking fall within these components and do they represent a part of them? Does the correctness of the individual and his uprightness lead to the regulation of these relationships and does it lead to the securing of these utilities and interests? Or is it essential for there to exist a body or organ that has been delegated and entrusted by the one whom the Muslims have delegated and deputised in order to assume the responsibility of taking care of these affairs and to secure the Muslim utilities.
3) Protecting the security of the Muslims internally and externally:
Is it the responsibility of the individual to undertake the safeguarding of the internal security? So that they assume the role of the police and the judiciary and chase after the criminals and those who go outside of the law? Or is there a specific organ or institution that assumes this role? This is because it is known that within any society whatever its level of elevation and the heights it reaches, that there will be those who violate what the people have agreed upon in terms of customs that have formulated laws that regulate their lives. And in the high probability of the existence of this reality, then it is necessary for there to be a specific body or institution present that spreads security and tranquillity within the hearts of the people by securing the safety and protection of them, their properties, possessions, dignities and rights. This in regards to the internal security and as for the external security, it is known as ‘Himaayat Ath-Thugoor’ )Protecting the areas where the enemy can attack from). This is because any political entity that occupies an area of land, with known borders, is surrounded by other entities and a natural result of that within the life of people and societies is for disputes and rivalries to occur, which could lead to the occurrence of wars and strife. It is like someone stated: ‘If you are not a wolf then you will be eaten by wolves’ so any society that is not capable of protecting its borders and vantage points by one means or another will be invaded by another state, divided amongst its neighbours or made to submit to the authority of one of them and there is no escaping from this. This is a sensed witnessed reality today as it has been throughout history, as this is the nature of people and societies. As such, is it from the individual’s components and makeup to be an army and to represent a force that is capable of protecting the borders of the political entity that he is a part of? If it is so, then this was not found in the study of the components of the individual and the factors that achieve his uprightness and soundness. Therefore the one responsible for safeguarding the internal security and protecting the borders externally is the one whom the Muslims have delegated and deputised on their behalf to undertake that which they have entrusted him with, in their description as being a collective grouping. As such he has the responsibility of preparing and readying the police and security institution or organ that safeguards the internal security and he is also responsible for the preparation and readying of the army and to deal with the enemy. This is whilst it is the collective grouping of the Muslims who have been addressed with this in their description as a collective grouping when Allah (swt) addressed them with:
And prepare against them all that you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy (Al-Anfaal 60).
4) The carrying of the Da’wah (Islamic Propagation):
In regards to every ideological society and indeed every individual who carries an idea or an ideology that he believes in, this idea will not be able to remain imprisoned within the one who holds it. This is because the ideology carries within its folds and indeed its bases the obligation to spread it and the explanation of the manner of carrying it to the people, in addition to the manner of establishing it in the reality of their lives. This is because these are the components of any ideology as we have previously mentioned and explained where we stated that the ideology is an intellectual Aqeedah from which a system emanates. And we have also stated that it is a Fikrah (thought) about living and a Tareeqah (method) of implementation.
The Fikrah (thought) comprises of: a) The Aqeedah (belief) of the ideology (Mabda’).
b) The treatments or solutions that emanate from the ideology’s Aqeedah that treat the problems of life.
c) The carrying of the Da’wah (Islamic Propagation) to embrace the ideology and believe in it.
As for the Tareeqah (method) for its implementation and its preservation then we have stated that this comprises of: a) The preservation or safeguarding of the Aqeedah of the ideology.
b) The manner of implementing every treatment or solution from amongst the solutions that it has come with.
c) The manner of carrying the invitation to it to the people (or mankind).
The role of implementing the Ahkaam (rulings) of the Tareeqah, the implementation of its treatments and solutions, the undertaking of the burdens of the Da’wah (Islamic Propagation), spreading it to the people and carrying it to the entire world is entrusted to the Khalifah and the institutions or apparatus that he appoints to deal with these matters, in his description and capacity as the deputy of the Muslims.
As such it is the ideology (Mabda’)that has obliged the carrying (of the Da’wah (Islamic Propagation)) upon us and has defined and specified a manner for undertaking it and it has obliged those carrying it to make the people submit to its rulings and its treatments and that is only accomplished by way of Al-Jihaad. The ideology did not leave the style or way of spreading it to the individuals and their activities. This is the nature of the ideology and a basis from its fundamental bases is the obligation to spread it in accordance to a defined manner that it has specified. The carrying of the Da’wah (Islamic Propagation) to the people represents the basis of the relationship of the Muslims as a collective grouping with others from amongst the entities of disbelief that surround and neighbour the Muslims. So the foreign policy or the taking care of and fostering of the affairs of Islam and the Muslims externally, which represents the relationship that exists between the Muslims and the entities of disbelief, is also taken charge of and entrusted to the deputy of the Muslims who acts on their behalf i.e. the Khalifah.
It is the ideology itself that has divided the world in to two households and lands, Daar-ul-Islam (The household and land of Islam) which is represented by the Khalifah and the Daar-ul-Harb or Kufr (Land of war or disbelief) which is represented in all of the entities of disbelief. And it has divided these entities of disbelief further into the States that have a covenant (Mu’aahadah), those that are at war in actuality (Harb Fi’lan) and those who are at war by rule (Harb Hukman) and the relations of the Muslims with them are defined in accordance to what these categorisations dictate and oblige.
This is in line with what the Messenger of Allah (saw) proceeded upon throughout his life in regards to regulating the foreign relations, from the time that he laid down the very first constitution in Al- Madinah, until the time that he was raised up to Ar-Rafeeq Al-‘Aalaa. So he made treaties on behalf of the Muslims, he took care of the non-Muslims under his authority and took the Jizyah from them and he made war with the neighbouring political entities and States in order to break the material obstacles that stood in the way of the spread of the authority of Islam upon the people. His noble Sahaabah (rah) followed the same manner of politics and this continued until the last days of the Islamic State. So, is this the task of the individual and does it fall under the components that he is composed of or under the bases upon which his uprightness is established?
The above is a quick glance comparing the components that makeup the individual, to those that the society comprises of. However those who are not clear about this and are following the wrong path, may require many more details and clarifications until they can comprehend that the method of reforming the individual in order to reform the society is an approach that will never lead to the accomplishment of what they are working for. It will never lead to the correction and reformation of the society, the resumption of the Islamic way of life and the revival of the Ummah (Moslems Society) to the level that is befitting for her. This is because their method begins with the individual and ends with the individual and does not go beyond that at all.
The single reason that has led to this great error is no more than an adoption of a bad understanding and the lack of a full comprehension of the reality that they wish to reform and correct i.e. they did not comprehend the components of the individual and the components of the society (and their differences). For this reason we hope that they revise their view in relation to understanding this reality and indeed it is easy to be able to distinguish between the reality of a society in a village with one thousands inhabitants and the reality of a ship with thousands of passengers. This is because the village is a complete society whilst the passengers upon a boat are a collection of individuals who do not represent a society.
And had the reality been as they have assumed and the society been merely a collection of individuals, then many societies would exist within a single society and the unity would be split up due to all of the political entities that would arise built upon this understanding.
And it is necessary to be aware of the fundamental principle that is required when issuing a judgement upon any matter and this is that it is essential to understand the reality and to gain a deep understanding of it before issuing the judgement and providing treatments and solutions for it.
And this issue was not restricted to one group alone from amongst those movements working to revive the Ummah (Moslems Society) but rather it affected numerous groups with different names and different methods. All of them proceeded along a single path that drew them to the incorrect understanding of the reality of the society and despite carrying different names and numerous methodologies none of them escaped from the line that we have finished discussing above. This is because there are not many differences between them and all of them revolve around the components that the individual is composed of and the paths leading to his uprightness. This is whether they are from those who have focused on the acts of ‘Ibaadah alone and prohibited the political work by calling to turning to Allah only through ‘Ibaadah, or they are from those who look at all aspects of the individual or those who view that the method of reforming the individual inevitably leads to the correcting of the society and the establishment of the entity and State that will take hold of the responsibilities of the collective and restore their honour and glory.
It is strange in regards to them that they talk about reforming the society and establishing the State without possessing any clear vision about the well being or uprightness of the society because they did not fully comprehend its composition and they did not possess even the least of an image of the State that they wished to establish. All of this is despite the rational principle and indeed the obvious rationally accepted fact that states: ‘The one who does not possess a matter or a thing cannot give it (to others)’.
As for the doubt in regards to the attention paid to the affair of the Daa’iyah (advocate) and the one who carries the thought of reform and works for it, then it can be added to say that the Daa’iyah or the one carrying the thought would represent a copy that is in line and harmony with the origin of what he carries from the Aqeedah and the thoughts that he is calling to. Otherwise he would represent only a portion of what he carries and he would cause offense to that which he is calling to. Therefore the issue revolves around the upright and believing structures and there is no room to target or exposes individual people or the behaviour of individuals. Therefore it revolves around which path they are following, the path of reforming the society or the path of reforming the individual? As for the obligation of the Daa’iyah being an upright believer then this is a matter that is given and accepted and I do not believe that there is a Kutlah, Jamaa’ah or Hizb that does not take care and pay attention to the culturing of their members so that they are committed in deed to what they are calling (others) to and accept into their ranks those who are not in harmony with their thought and their Da’wah (Islamic Propagation).
Similarly it is necessary to regulate the conduct of the individuals by way of a culture that the Hizb, Jamaa’ah or Takattul has adopted and due to this it is not valid or correct for this doubt to be used by some to hide behind. This is like when it is said: ‘The Sahaabah (rah) used to say: We used to learn ten Aayaat and that by Allah we would not go past them and move on until we had acted by them’. And here I would like to ask: When were the Shari’ah Takaaleef (legal responsibilities) revealed and where are the actions and Takaaleef that have appeared in the Makkan Surahs? But rather the intended meaning of this statement from the Sahaabah (rah) is that they did not move on past these Aayaat until they had understood their meanings, memorised them and applied them to the reality in front of them that they had been revealed to treat whether they dealt with attacking the thoughts of disbelief, the leaders of disbelief or the corruption of the relationships existing between the disbelievers, as these were the subject areas that the Surahs and Aayaats were dealing with.
Therefore the issue at hand is related to which path these believing and committed structures and parties proceeded along and did they proceed along the course of reforming the individual or the course of reforming the society? This therefore is the issue. As for those who call to the reformation of the individual in terms of his Aqeedah and ‘Ibaadah in order to arrive to the correction of the society and the building of the Ummah (Moslems Society), the establishment of the State, whilst at the same time forbidding themselves from undertaking the political work and accounting the rulers, then their calamity was greater:
Allah (swt) says:
Will they not reflect (and contemplate) upon the Qur’aan or are their locks upon the hearts (Qur'an Surat Muhammad: 24).
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