Islam is an ideology (contd....)

The Islamic State is established on the Aqeeda. It is not allowed by the Shari'a to be separated from that in any way whatsoever. So when the Messenger of Allah (saw) established the State in Madinah on the basis of the Islamic Aqeeda, the verses of law had not yet been revealed. He made the Shahada 'There is no ilah but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah' the basis of the Muslim's life, and the basis of the relations between people, the basis of removing the injustice and settling the disputes i.e. the basis of their entire life, and the basis of ruling and authority. Islam obliged Muslims to maintain the Islamic Aqeeda as a permanent basis for the State. Islam ordered them to bear arms and fight in case flagrant Kufr (Kufr buwah) appeared in the State. The Messenger of Allah (saw) was asked about the tyrant rulers: "Should we not then resist them?" He (saw) said: "No, as long as they continue to establish prayer among you." i.e. as long as they rule by Islam. It was also narrated by Ubada ibn Samit concerning the pledge that he (saw) said: "that we would not dispute with the people in authority, unless you witness flagrant Kufr of which you have a conclusive proof from Allah."

The remaining pillars upon which the Islamic way of life is built themselves have the shahada as their foundation and they follow the same principle that they their manner of implementation must be taken from Islam. Each of them remains suspended in part while the Islamic state is not existent, as they depend upon the state for their full implementation. It is unacceptable to leave any of these pillars of Islam in this state and it means that our worship to Allah is incomplete without their full application.

The arkan (pillars) of prayer are as much a part of the duty of establishing the Salah as the provision of facilities for congregational prayer are. Also are the education of prayer and creating the environment where prayer is normal and there are no obstacles to praying. The book 'bidayat al-Mujtahid' by Ibn Rushd contains a page documenting the discussion between the Imams of the four schools about the punishment for the one who does not pray. All agreed that the person should be punished but disputed whether death or imprisonment was the suitable penalty. However, today, no ruler in the world treats the prayer as an obligation protected by the state's law and enforced by the judiciary and police. Rather the principles of 'free-choice' and 'freedom of worship' are preferred over Allah's command. This only proves that for the prayer to be fully implemented requires the apparatus of a state which creates the atmosphere where prayer is understood to be an obligation and not optional.

Ramadhan is coming soon, and we pray to Allah that we do not see the same scenes as in previous years, where Muslims have so many Ramadhans and Eids. Allah Ta'ala only allowed the Muslims to have one Eid and Muhammad (saw) warned that 'only Shaytan fasts on Eid day', which proves the obligation of Muslims unifying on the beginning and end of Ramadhan. Yet unless the Khilafah is re-established, which would unify the Muslims' lands under one authority, how can we expect to see the Muslims unify their fasts? With over fifty nation states' rulers all trying to gain legitimacy for their nationalist divisions and each despising what will unify the Muslims, we do not remain optimistic that the fasts will be unified under these conditions.

Any Hajji can testify that Hajj obviously cannot be organized without a state. The task is just too enormous and costly to be done otherwise. However today the nation of the Saudia family, who do not make shahada as the basis of their state, enforce their kufr nationalistic policies upon the hajjis to the point that the whole worship becomes tainted by the constant reminder of the disobedience to Allah. Hajj is another pillar which depends upon the sighting of the moon and its announcement by the leader of the Muslims. Yet today the moon must be sighted by a Saudi national before the day of Dhul-hijjah is announced, regardless whether it has already been seen elsewhere by another Muslim.

Finally, Zakat requires more than a voluntary offering for its establishment. It is entirely dependent upon the existence of a state for its full implementation. It is the Khalifah who appoints the Zakat collectors who are the only authorized agents to collect and distribute according to the eight allowed categories. During the time of Muhammad (saw) and the Sahaba never did we witness a time when Zakat was not managed by the State. "Alms are for the poor, the needy, the employees who administer the funds, those whose hearts have been recently reconciled to the Truth, those in bondage, those in debt, in the cause of Allah, and the wayfarer, (thus it is ) ordained by Allah, and Allah is most knowledgeable, most wise."(TMQ 9: 60)

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