At a time when the Muslim ummah grapples with wave after wave of sedition and calculated loss of life, we ponder more poignantly the warning of our beloved Nabi (SAW):
"Nations will soon summon (invite) one another to attack you, as people do when eating – invite others to share their dish." They [sahaba] asked: "Will we be few in number on that day O Messenger of Allaah?" He said: "No, rather you will be many, but you will be like the scum on the ocean. Allah will remove fear of you from the hearts of your enemies and place in your hearts al-wahn." They asked: "What is al-wahn O Messenger of Allaah?" He replied: "love of this world and hatred of death." [Sahih]
Very often the Ulama of our ummah stand accused of either doing too little to influence political change, or too much to encourage rebellion. Leadership isn’t necessarily a vocation for all Ulama and the example of different fingers on one hand is often used to expound this analogy. In South Africa alone we have Ulama with differing temperaments and skills, all have a valuable place within the structure of our Deen. Some respond to the needs of the times though politics, some through tableegh, some through education. Let us take the example of Deoband:
Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi (1832-1879) the founder of Darul Uloom Deoband, outlined the purpose of establishing the institution in the following words –
"The English perpetrated boundless acts of tyranny against the Muslims for their fault, if at all it was a fault, of the uprising in 1857 and their relentless endeavour for the independence of this country thereafter. They have left no stone unturned to plunder and obliterate the Islamic arts and science, Muslim culture and civilization. Endowments of Muslim educational institutions have been confiscated and as a result state funded schools have been virtually closed. It is therefore, necessary to adopt other method instead of relying upon the old system of endowments.” [Source]
More recently the topic of Sh. Bouti’s allegiances and martyrdom have been questioned.
Sheikh Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti was killed at the age of 84 in a suicide bombing that targeted a mosque in Damascus. Was he a sell-out for having supported Assad? His supporters will argue that he co-operated with the government because the prospect of civil instability was worse and inconducive to spiritual growth. We could consider the repercussions of the imminent US attack in this light.
“Rulings that would’ve been given before cannot be given after the fact, because the situation is different.”
Bouti was a vocal supporter of the Syrian regime since the early days of Assad's father and predecessor, the late President Hafez Assad. Following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, Bouti criticized anti-regime protests and urged demonstrators not to follow "calls of unknown sources that want to exploit mosques to incite seditions and chaos in Syria." He said “most of the protesters do not pray” and criticized prominent Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi for playing “demagoguery that opens the door of sedition.” Qaradawi has supported revolutions in several Arab Spring countries. But despite his open support for Assad, al-Bouti was reported to have issued a Fatwa, or a religious edict prohibiting the killing of protesters. In a recent study of the top 500 influential Muslim scholars in the Islamic world by the Jordan-based Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, al-Bouti, came in 27th place. [Source]
Mohamed Ghilan in his piece Muslim Scholars & Politics writes:
When Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah was asked to comment on the situation in various Arab countries and he said, “These countries have their own scholars who are physically there and know the situation on the ground, so they’re the best ones to give you a response.” When asked about the revolutions themselves he responded:
“They say rain in April is flowers in May. We’ve been seeing rains of blood ever since the beginning of these revolutions and we’ve yet to see their flowers. The young people who went out didn’t seek advise from anyone and acted from within themselves. Rulings that would’ve been given before cannot be given after the fact, because the situation is different.”
What does this conclude for us?
For one, it may conclude the argument that the role of the Ulama is as custodians of the Deen, to aid in the spiritual journey toward our first home, Jannah. The Ulama as the successors of the prophet’s needn’t bear responsibility for any specific role within political leadership, as theirs is an already socio-political role within religious functions. Those supporting this view could argue that when a country is being ‘Islamized’ like the cases of Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia it is Muslims first who react negatively, hence there is more of a need to work on Muslim spiritual development of than tinker in roles within secular leadership.
This too put forth by Sidi Habib Umar bin Hafizh [db]:
“There are two types of khil?fah. The first is the outward khil?fah, which relates to political power, which is not noble and honourable in itself. Anyone may attain political power, whether they be pious or corrupt, whether they be a believer or a disbeliever, whether they be a Prophet or a wretched person.
The second type is the khil?fah of prophethood, which is a noble and lofty thing. It relates to understanding the speech of Allah, to our connection with Him, to attaining a pure heart and attaining His pleasure. It is the preserve of the Prophets and their followers, the pious people in every time and place. No disbeliever or corrupt person may come close to it, nor someone with arrogance or pride in their heart. This is the khil?fah we should seek. Many Muslims have no desire to attain it, although it is the greatest form of khil?fah.”
Other approaches
Another similar approach is a gradualist approach – in the Syrian context said to be represented by the Rifa’i brothers in Kafer Souseh, Damascus, who remain aloof from authority and hope to achieve political change bottom up. We could equate the Tabligh-Jamaat’s approach as a close example. This being that citizens create governments and not the other way around. Naysayers of this technique believe it equates complacency. They use South Africa as an example, wherein grassroots community activism isn’t seen to bring tangible changes in domestic policies at a level where it matters.
Finally, there is the cherry-on-the-pie position of scholars from Homs and Deraa like Sayasne or the jurisprudent Rizq Abazayd and others like Sheikh Muhammad a-Yaqoubi who see themselves as representatives of the people. They believe they must critique and if necessary, prevent the authorities from abuses of power.
All of these positions [exclusion, minimal inclusion, full-on inclusion (persecution)] in lesser and more degrees are understood and accepted as valid not only within the Syrian tradition, but throughout Islamic history. For example, in a fiqh-related contention it was said that Imam Maalik (may Allah have mercy on him) blatantly refused to accept the position of the Qaadi (judge) on a certain matter so he was beaten, so badly that he could not put his hands on his chest when praying. He held them by his sides because of the pain. Some who saw that thought this was the Sunnah (not folding the hands in salaah) so they transmitted this from him.
“Worthy to note that this is the same Imam Malik, reported to have said:
“70 years under a tyrannical ruler is better than an hour of chaos.”
So it behooves us to consider that the relationship between Muslim scholars and politicians cannot be easily reduced to a black or white, take sides or don’t, speak up or stay quiet type of narrative.”
An Islamic society should understand well the dilemma that the ulama face. For this reason it isn’t fair that we unfairly critique Ulama bodies or individual aalim’s for calling or not calling to arms. Circumstantially, we only need remember that absolute silence is consent:
'Whoever of you sees something wrong should change it with his hands; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart, and that is the weakest form of belief.'" [Muslim]
Wa billah at’taufeeq.
Radio Islam Programming
2013.09.03
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