Religious Parties in or society can be classified into
three categories on the basis of their aims and objectives.
The first category comprises religious schools of thought
which have organised themselves into religious parties to propagate their
specific thoughts and safeguard their rights and interests. The basic principle
underlying their formation is that since Islam grants every person the right to
freely deliberate on all affairs of life and formulate his own views, therefore,
if a group of people adheres to certain thoughts in common, which may be the
result of a lone or a collective intellectual endeavour, they should be granted
this right also by Islam to organise themselves in the form of a party. We
acknowledge this principle and, in our opinion, upon its basis various schools
of thought can organise themselves into parties. They can strive with all
freedom to propagate their beliefs and increase their following. In this regard,
though, certain stipulations should be sought from them: They should abstain
from denouncing and censuring other religious schools and issuing religious
verdicts against them. Each party should refrain from inflaming and provoking
the common man against other parties and should also not be a source of any
hindrance in the propagation of their beliefs. Furthermore, the common practice
of the party leaders forbidding their followers to sit in the company of
scholars of some other religious school should be discontinued. They should only
be permitted to rationally reason out the flaws in the thoughts of other
religious schools and at the same time positively assert their own. Intellectual
disagreements are, in fact, a blessing. It is due to them that the frontiers of
knowledge expand, making the truth more and more discernable. But these
differences should remain within bounds and not exceed them by manifesting
themselves into rivalries and enmities. This is what actually leads towards
religious prejudice and bigotry, which are now so apparent in our society. An
Islamic State can in no way tolerate such attitudes and tendencies.
Among the second category are constituted those religious
parties whose aim is to disseminate the basic message of Islam and to reform the
moral character of the people. These are the parties that assist an Islamic
government in fulfilling its primary duties of Da‘wah-ilal-khayr,
Amar-bi-al-Ma‘rūf and Nahī-
‘anil-Munkarn and an Islamic
Government is as such indebted to them for this service. For an Islamic State
this noble collaboration is no doubt indispensable, but can only produce the
desired results when these parties base their message only and only upon the
Qur’ān and Sunnah. When such virtuous enterprises base themselves upon stories,
legends and folklore then inevitably the true picture of Islam begins to vanish
from the people’s minds, and they are ultimately not even able to distinguish
the good from the evil. Unfortunately, such religious parties are not free from
this serious drawback. Until and unless this flaw is overcome, no Islamic
government can accomplish its obligation of Da‘wah-ilal-Khayr.
The third category comprises parties that have been formed
to strive to establish an Islamic government and enforce the Islamic Sharī‘ah at
the state level. Quite obviously, after this enforcement they would have no
justification to exist upon previous objectives. They would, in fact, be left to
accept two alternatives: either to devote all their energy in reforming the
nation or to transform themselves into political parties and by adopting
constitutional measures strive for a better political leadership. These are the
only two options open for them, which would, of course, have the same
stipulations and restrictions mentioned earlier on.
However, among this category there are some other
religious parties as well which insist that even after the creation of Pakistan
as an Islamic Republic, a Muslim will die the death of Jāhiliyyah, if without
any excuse he is not a member of any such party or, otherwise, does not form his
own party. They further assert that for such a religious party of this third
category, the Prophet’s Sunnah is that its leader will assume the title of Amīr
and his followers would be required to pledge a covenant of Sam`u Tā`at (to
listen and to obey). This point of view is in obvious contradiction with the
Qur’ān and Sunnah and amounts to a revolt against the state affairs of Pakistan.
Therefore, no political party can be established on this basis in Pakistan.
Furthermore, a little deliberation on political process
shows that political struggle to bring about an Islamic revolution through
elections should be led by a person who is actually a politician and possesses
the qualities of leadership. People like Allama Iqbal, Mawlāna Abu-al-Kalām Azād
and Mawlāna Abu-al-‘Alā Maudūdī who are basically scholars and thinkers should
not lead such an endeavour. People like Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
and Nawaz Sharif are the suitable leaders of such enterprises. No doubt, if such
people lead the struggle for an Islamic revolution in the field of politics,
extraordinary results can be achieved, but if researchers and scholars tread
this path, all their efforts would inevitably end up in vain.
Moreover, if, for this purpose, a set-up is formed, it
should be a political party like the Muslim League or the People’s Party. The
party should regard the bringing about of an Islamic revolution as its object
and should try to win over people in its ranks who possess a political standing
and as such can become natural supporters of this movement. Religious parties
are neither appropriate for this struggle nor will they ever be. They are
destined to suffer successive set backs and to eventually lose their identity.
Whatever strategy is adopted during the elections, it
should be based on capitalising on the existing position of political
affiliation of the masses. Elections are not contested for the propagation of
one’s ideological views or as an introduction for the party; they are only
contested to benefit from the realities which exist and they are contested for
victory. In such matters, remaining indifferent to victory or defeat is against
human nature, and nothing against nature can persist in this world for long.
These are the pre-requisites of this methodology. If a
movement or a party does not fulfil them, its fate will be no different from
that of ‘The Jamā‘at-i-Islāmī’ whose struggle spans more than five decades.
Consequently, it is apparent to every keen eye that the Jamā‘at’s quest for
success in this struggle has:
--- almost totally deprived it of its ideological
identity, its goal of reforming the Muslims and its zeal of disseminating the
truth.
--- transferred the leadership within the various levels
of the party from scholars and intellectuals to people who are not only devoid
of these abilities but also politically ineffective. Consequently, an atmosphere
of gloom prevails at its various frontiers.
--- gone a long way in eliminating the integrity and
nobility its ranks once possessed and whatever little remains of them seems to
perish soon.
It is therefore certain that this methodology is
appropriate for a scholar or an intellectual only if his message has influenced
the masses so much and they agree to his leadership to such an extent that
elections for him merely become a constitutional need for a political change,
and whenever he intends he can obtain the public mandate in his favour through
them.
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