Political Islam: Should Muslim Youths Engage with Politics?

By, Md Maruf Hasan

A Muslim leader is standing to be hanged in few minutes, and he was offered to be released and give all the facilities by the state. Despite the offerings, he finally decided to get hanged. The choice was very simple “ Do you want Allah or worldly hypocritical luxurious life with secular ideology?” The romantic ideological dilemma was intense for this poet and scholar. It was like even if I were a criminal for my entire life, you would be informed that I chose the path of my Prophet Ibrahim and Muhammad (PBUH) at the point when my very last breath is going out from my materialistic body. It is not about death rather it is about intentional and informed choice to put very trust on the God of Ibrahim, Musa and Muhammad (Peace be upon them all). The Muslim scholar died with choice like Socrates who died by choice when his students made plan for him to be free. I am talking about Egyptian author Sayyid Qutb . Before he started writing for Islam , he was a poet and a literary figure in Egypt.

Those who are from BENL know if the course instructors are Dr. Siti Nuraishah Binti Ahmad and Sir Mazlan Bin Mohd Yusof, it is quite challenging to complete the semester. At least, it happened in my case during my undergraduate in the department o English Language and Literature. I was a bad student by the way academically since I had to struggle for English language itself though I got overall band 7 from CELPAD after two years of repeating level 6.

We were assigned a novel to analyze in Dr. Aisha’s class. It was by Charles Dicken . The novel name is “ The Great Expectation”. This novel was written during Industrial revolution. That means it was transition period from romanticism to modernism in English literature.

We did American Literature II with Mr. Mazlan Sir. We read Robert Frost’s works and I had to submit the final paper on the John Stenbeck’s “ The Wraths of the Grapes”. It was quite pessimistic. Modern American literature was interesting to me, and it encouraged me to read more and produce some Islamic response against secular narratives. Later during my PhD, I read the Great Expectation novel again from first to last as I had time in my hand. Dickens wrote a romantic phrase there. Pip, the protagonist, uttered as thus, “I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.” 

In Wadibudi, IIUM, your Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim came and delivered speech after he got appointed as PM. He mentioned an interesting conversation with late AbuHamid AbuSulayman. Anwar Ibrahim wanted to quit politics , but AbuSulayman asked him to stick to with politics. Why so? Think about a scenario in which Malay Muslims decide to quit politics. So, after elections , A Jew become religious minister of Malaysia. Do you think the budget of making the synagogue will be reduced? The natural answer is no because he is a Jew and he will prioritize to build more synagogues by his subjective mindset. 

“I do not like politics, and I am not involved with any politics”. Actually, this statement is very political in the sense that you are doing politics for yourself to be safe. Now I have another question. Who rules the country and how policies are made in parliament? We went to visit Malaysian parliament last month, organized  by ISTAC community and one of the Ministers was raising concern for the Palestinian people in the parliament by emphasizing the stance of Malaysia for the state of Palestine. Do you think if all Jews were in this parliament, did they utter the name of Palestine? So, the kings and leaders approve the policies for the state. There you need Muslim Kings and leaders to protect the Din of Allah SWT. If secular minds go to parliament, they will make secular policies for the State not caring about Islam. Do you think Allah is the King of everything? If so, did not His policies are the best for the whole of humanity since He is the Creator also?  In Quran , Allah mentions , “ Let there be a group among you who call ˹others˺ to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil—it is they who will be successful.” If you want to forbid bad deeds at a state level, you must lead the country. That is why Muslim youths should not abandon political thought completely. Political leaders and lawyers , these professions are seen negatively. What will happen if you are trapped with injustice? Good lawyers and politicians actually can help you out from the injustice that you are experiencing. 

Now I will write something strange ideas for you. I quoted Dicken’s Romantic phrase because in the West, in the modern literature religious moral framework was negated because the great minds started to think that God never exist . As a result, there is no necessary to take any moral framework from Religion. As a Muslim leader and scholar, you realize this deep-rooted problem with the secular state. The very existence of Allah and His rulings are treated as fictional imagination created by human minds. At this ideological battle, political writings and political Islam were very necessary. That’s why you heard the names of Muslim political party and figures in the 20th century onwards. Mawlana Mawdudi, Sayyd Qutb, Hasan Al-Banna were pioneer for Political Islam within Muslim land. Their thought is actually ideological response to Western political thoughts The very existence of Allah SWT and Allah’s rulings are emphasized by indicating the Allah is not fictional and his rulings and policies that were revealed in the Quran are not for vain. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) implemented the Quranic rulings and policies in the State level. Hence, when these leaders are offered worldly luxury for quitting politics, they negate because by accepting the offerings of secular leaders means you ideologically lose conconfidenceat Allah and his rulings are impractical and fictional. When these Muslim leaders are hanged by secular leadership, it is actually the divine Abrahamic ideological test of Allah SWT for these great leaders of the Ummah. When all man-made secular methodologies and epistemologies go against Allah SWT to negate, these Muslim leaders stay firm like Dickens’ character Pip romantically and practically by choosing Death as the highest literary expression and sacrifice for  Allah SWT. Let’s look at some Islamic literature to understand the gravity of the decisions taken by early Muslim political leaders. It is mentioned that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Whoever has three qualities will taste the sweetness of faith: that Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to him than anything else; that he loves a person only for the sake of Allah; and that he hates to return to disbelief as he hates to be thrown into the Fire.”-(Bukhari 16, Muslim 43)

“Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your spouses, your relatives, the wealth you have gained, commerce you fear will decline, and homes you love are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His cause, then wait until Allah brings about His command…” ( Al-Quran,9:24)

“Yet there are some who take others as equals to Allah. They love them as they should love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.” (Al-Quran,2:165)

When modernity came to the Muslim lands, Muslim political leaders left the remarks with their blood to affirm the very real existence of Allah SWT in making policies based on the Quranic teaching on Human affairs. To my understanding, these Muslim leaders’ deaths are not simple, but these are lessons for the next generations of Muslim Youths to stay firm on behalf of their beloved Lord. This is indeed an ideological battle that is related t the very fundamental teaching of Islam. Allah SWT states in the Quran:

“Do not think of those who are slain in the way of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and they receive glad tidings about those [to follow] who have not yet joined them — that there will be no fear upon them, nor will they grieve. They rejoice in a favor from Allah and bounty, and that Allah does not let the reward of the believers be lost.” (3:169-171)***