Let Us Be Muslims. Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi
Читать онлайн книгу.
linked with Iman in the Qur’ān, and therefore with the whole Muslim life. It is the purpose which calls the Ummah into existence. But, for long, we have come to believe that we do not have to stir ourselves to undertake this vital duty for it makes no difference to our Iman.
This tragic chasm Sayyid Mawdudi spans forcefully and unequivocally.
It is this ‘unconcern’ with Jihad that, he says, empties all other acts of worship of their spirit. ‘But now, I say, you must understand that a heart devoid of any intention to undertake Jihad will find all ritual worship empty of meaning. Nor will those acts bring you any nearer to your God.’33 For, ‘if you believe Islam to be true, you have no other alternative but to exert your utmost strength to make it prevail on earth: you either establish it or give your lives in this struggle’.34
Why? His argument is lucid and convincing. Firstly, having believed in Allah and the Messenger, and accepted Islam as our Din, we must bring ourselves totally under God’s rule. Therefore Muslims ‘should rise to bring their King’s land under His law, to destroy the power of those rebels among His subjects who have set themselves up as sovereigns, and to free His subjects from the burden of slavery to others. Merely believing in God as God and in His law as the true law is not enough’.35
Otherwise, secondly, we would be living under two Dins: one, in our minds, or at most in our private lives; the other, in our public lives. For, ‘Din without power to govern is just like a building which exists in the mind only. But, it is the building which actually exists, in which you actually live, that is important’.36
One cannot follow two Dins, for he can obey only one at a time. ‘In reality you are followers only of that being’s Din whom you are actually obeying. Is it not then utter hypocrisy to call that being your ruler and to claim to belong to his Din whom you do not obey.’ Further, ‘is it not meaningless to assert that you have faith in this Shari‘ah when all your affairs are conducted in violation of this Shari‘ah and in fact you follow another Shari‘ah?’37
Obviously, thirdly, this situation is unacceptable. For ‘how can Allah’s Din accept to co-exist with any other Din, when no other Din admits of such partnership. Like every other Din, Allah’s Din, too, demands that all authority should genuinely and exclusively be vested in it’.38
Fourthly, because the lordship of man over man is the root cause of all corrupt rule on earth, it is our duty to ‘stand up and fight against corrupt rule; take power and use it on God’s behalf. It is useless to think you can change things by preaching alone’.39
History: Iman is squeezed out of life once we begin to take history as merely an interplay of material forces. Sayyid Mawdudi puts Iman back at the centre of history, just as he installs it at the centre of heart and life. It becomes the fulcrum by which the scales of destiny are tipped: ‘You are Muslims and yet are wallowing in ignominy! You are Muslims and yet are slaves! This situation is as impossible as it is for an object to be black and white.’40
Further, ‘it is impossible for a people to possess God’s word and yet suffer disgrace and ignominy, live under subjugation, be trampled on and kicked around, and carry the yoke of slavery on their necks, being led by the nose like animals’.41
How does, then, this come to happen? Sayyid Mawdudi has absolutely no doubt. ‘If it is an article of faith with you’, he argues, ‘that God is not unjust and obedience to God can never result in disgrace, then you will have to concede that there is something wrong in your claim to be Muslims’.42 In this respect Muslim conduct towards the Qur’ān is very crucial. ‘If a people possess Allah’s Book and still live in disgrace and subjugation, they are surely being punished for doing injustice to Allah’s word. The only way to save yourselves from Allah’s anger is to turn back from this grave sin and start trying to render His Book its due.’43
Although we had to quote from the text very extensively, it was necessary to show clearly the principal threads that run through Sayyid Mawdudi’s discourse in this book. The above discussion clearly demonstrates how they make his contribution distinctive and unique.
These threads underline the crucial and radical importance of Sayyid Mawdudi’s discourse summoning Muslims: Let us be Muslims. Everything which has either lost its original meaning or has been emptied of its true intent becomes redefined. But the most remarkable thing, as we said, is that he connects all of them together again. That is why while he says nothing very different from what others are saying, his impact has been tremendous. For, thus connected, Iman regains its original power to change man and his world.
IV
Anyone who reads Sayyid Mawdudi’s discourses will find no difficulty in understanding the true intent and purpose of what he embraces and expounds. One may disagree with it, or find it uninspiring, but he cannot deny that Sayyid Mawdudi is talking the same language and conveying the same message as do the Qur’ān and the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him.
But some have taken exception to what he says. He has replied to them in his Preface to the eighth reprint which is included herein. But we may still find it useful to compare his discourses with the Qur’ān and Hadith. For it is their light which radiates through his words.
Let us first look at the Qur’ān.
True Iman which resides in hearts, shapes lives, and finds acceptance with God is always differentiated from outward, legal Iman. ‘The Bedouins say, “We believe.” Say: you do not believe, rather say, “We have surrendered”, for [true] faith has not yet entered their hearts’ (al-Ḥujurāt 49: 15). Similarly mere verbal professions of faith, which are contradicted by actions, are rejected. ‘O Messenger, let not those grieve you who vie with one another in Disbelieving, from among those who say, “We believe”, with their mouths, but their hearts believe not’ (al-Mā’idah 5: 41).
Hence even believers are often called upon ‘to believe’, that is, to attain true faith. ‘O believers, believe in God and His Messenger, and the Book He is sending down upon His Messenger, and the Book He sent down before’ (al-Nisā’ 4: 136). Or, ‘Believe in God and His Messenger, and spend out of that in which we have made you vicegerents …’ (al-Ḥadīd 57: 7).
The link between Iman and actions is clearly manifest in the way both are almost always bracketed together: al-ladhīna āmanū wa ‘amilu ’ṣ-ṣāliḥāt (those who believe and do righteous deeds). Or, one only has to read those Ayahs which describe the demands and conditions of true Iman by saying: in kuntum muminīn (if you are believers).
The bond between true faith and ritual worship, on the one hand, and a life lived totally in worship, which leads to justice and compassion in society, on the other, is firmly established in many places: ‘Have you seen him who denies Judgement. That, then, is he who pushes away the orphan; and urges not to feed the needy. Woe, then, unto those praying ones who are unmindful of their Prayer, those who want to be seen, and who refuse [even] small kindnesses’ (al-Mā‘ūn 107:1 – 5).
Thus the claim of Iman upon the whole of life, its nature as a bargain, as a total commitment, is fully established. ‘O believers, enter wholly into Islam [self-surrender unto