ther Works by Mabammad Ad ISLAM AT THE CROSSROADS SAUTE AL-BUKHARL: THE EARLY YEARS ‘OF ISLAM ‘THE ROAD TO MECCA. ‘THE MESSAGE OF THE QUR'AN The Principles of State and Government in Islam MUHAMMAD ASAD Islamic Book Trust Kuala Lumpur© Pola Hamid Aan 1980 Ponty 1961 by Unive eft Pes New ion 1980 by ege 3007 ax 60377857706 Ena tt@rrcamyscom AUTHOR'S NOTE Countess ailions of Mustims pray to God five tines a day: "Guide us the stright way-the way of those upon whom Thou ns bestowed Thy Blasings™. Thos, eveyone of them invokes the ‘Creator on behalf ofall men and worn who ae wing to believe in Him—"guide w2"~and noe merely on bell of himself or hee elone: conciowly or unconsciously, « Musi who rei these Words of the opening srah ofthe Quis asking God to ‘show the “straight” or “ight” way to the community ae whole In further analysis, this amounts to praying for guidance not ‘merely inspiral r ethical concerns but le in eveything that ‘etains to the communis practical waye—that is fsa), ite Secial oniguratie and oll behavior. The realization that question of society and pols ae couly connected with spiritual problems and canto, therefor, be lssociated fom what we conceive of ar “religion” it a8 old as sims 1 has lays bee liven the minds of Musi thinkers ‘and in the emotions of the less articlte masses throughout Muslin intory, Indeed, very large part of that history has ‘voived under the impetus of deep-seated longing for the ‘stablsheat of what has been loos, and often confardy, conceived of tthe “Islamic state: « longing which very much in evidence amons the Mosims of our ines, and which i none ‘he es, subject tothe many confatons that have mae he achive ‘ment of al Islami polity imposible in he pst mille. For, tus be clr in our minds on one pat tls there has never exited a tuly Ilmic wate ar the tie of the Prophet tnd of the Medina Caliphate headed bythe Prophet's immediate success, the four Right-Guided Caliphs, ABD Bakr "Umar, "Uthma and Al. That Medina Caliphate was truly Il ia the ie)sense that it filly rected the pristine teachings of both the (Qurtn and the Prophet's Sunnah and was a yet uoburdened by later-daytheoloialecretons and speculations. Whatever forms of state and goverment care it being in Masti countries er that fi, east period were tte, a Tesero iphr eares, by ideological deviations trom the erstwhile simplicity and clarity of slamic Law, or even by outright, deliberate tterpson the part, ‘ofthe rulers conerned to deform and obscure that Law in their Hence, the past thousand yeas or so of Muslim History can fer eno guidaee in oor desire oashieve a pity which would realy dscve the epithet “Islami. Nori he confsion lesened ‘bythe aeacs to which the Muslim world has ben subjected in recent times. Modern Westen mentality doesnot fake kindly endeavous aimed atthe establishment of reipion asthe dominant factor in & community’ of 2 people’ ie; and since Western ivlization, based on superior technology snd sinc devlop- Imeot, undoubtedly dominates the worl today io. both IS “Captalit” and "Marsst” manifestations, it not surpeling ‘that educated Maslims ean only very rarely avid being intend by Westem pot thoupht in ter of it wo Formulations. ‘Ando, the Musins longing fora truly Islamic polity stands today, depte—oe perhaps because ofits intensity. under the sign outer confusion. This confusion manifests il in many wayepot the ast of them being the application ofthe purely Western term and concept of “revolution” to essentially amie movements and gals. Such & misapplication of terms and con: pts dos not help the Mastin to understand what the idea of an Islamic polity really implies: it makes then only more confused, nd mote helplessly dependent om non-slamic pote! thot “There Jam convinced, only one way for us Musins to come ‘ut ofthis confusion: we must Took for pukance to no other fours than the Quen and the Sunnah, and to rly on a0 sviors nore vi authority other than the explicit Word of God and the explicit leaching of His Las Propet. “This was my endeavour twenty years ago, when I wrote “The Principles of State and Government in Ii”. The book was ‘ublsed in 1961 in Engl bythe Universty of California, an ‘as fllowed by Arabic and Urdu tranltions, ‘As the origin Engishanguageeiton has been out of print for many year, Lam now placing i anew before the publi inthe hope that it may contribute something toward elation ofthe yet dream commen to al those to whom "Isami re than fan emply word, as well as towards beter emdertanding of Islami ideology by the non-Muslim Wet~an understanding 50 ‘aly eee i ou tine Tanger, dpi 1980