Islamic Politics, Muslim Militancy and ‘Jihadist’ Movements

By Maulana Waris Mazhari

(Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)

Islam is not simply a collection of some beliefs and ritual practices. Islam, if
understood properly, is a complete code of life, covering all aspects of
personal as well as collective existence. The basic premise of Islamic Politics,
then, is that Islam is not merely a personal affair between the individual
believer and God. If this were the case, it would have been susceptible to
being manipulated to suit people’s whims and fancies, as has happened with
religion in the West, where excessive individualism has led to a great crisis of
human and religious values.

Islam does not ask its believers to seek to forcibly impose a particular system
all over the world, contrary to what many people believe. The laws of Islam
relate to the followers of Islam, and Muslims cannot seek to impose them on
others against their will. Islam respects religious pluralism and peaceful
coexistence, and the best evidence of this is the polity that the Prophet
Muhammad (Pbuh) established in Medina, where non-Muslims were granted
their religious and civic rights along with Muslims. This is the true model and
criterion for us to follow, and other models that depart from this practice
cannot be considered to be traditions that we must emulate.

Unfortunately, the history of Islamic or Muslim culture has been written in such
a way as to make it appear synonymous with Muslim political history. So
deeply-ingrained is this approach that even biographers of the Prophet sought
to present him mainly in the form of a warrior for the faith (ghazi), so much so
that in the initial stages the biographies (sirat) of the Prophet were referred to
as maghazis or records of wars. In the books of Hadith, too, this one aspect of
the Prophet’s life is given particular focus, although nowhere does the Quran
refer to the Prophet as a ghazi or mujahid.

The Prophet’s approach was based on the development of individuals’

personalities and character, awakening their hearts and souls, and for this he
used only patience, determination, preaching and inviting others to the faith.
That is why the Quran repeatedly reminds the Prophet that he is not the ruler
of people, that he cannot coerce them, that their faith is a matter that they
have to choose themselves, and that God alone can punish or reward them.

The Islamic movements that emerged in the modern period were deeply
influenced by the fact of brutal colonial oppression which much of the Muslim
world had experienced. They thus developed a reactionary approach, which
made them susceptible to extremism. Because they were, in large measure,
impelled by a desire for revenge against the West for the brutalities of
colonialism, some of them considered even such actions as Islam forbids as
permissible for them in order to attain their supposed ends, although such acts
gave Islam a bad name.

In 1943, the Jamaat-e Islami was founded in India by Syed Abul Ala Maududi,
who is regarded as one of the chief ideologues of modern-day Islamism. He was
an enormously prolific writer, and his books had a seminal influence on Islamist
ideologues elsewhere in the world. Islamist groups such as the Jamaat-e Islami
presently face a tremendous intellectual crisis. Their approach to and
understanding of Islam is one-sided, neglecting spiritualism and humanity and
making Islam almost synonymous with politics. The Jamaat in Pakistan, Kashmir
and Bangladesh keeps raising the slogan of jihad, and claims that it is an
inevitable means for the Islamisation of society. I seriously believe that such
sloganeering is simply a product of a defeatist mentality, which, in turn, is a
result of Muslims having suffered continuous defeat at the hands of the West
over the past two hundred years.

Islamists, such as Maududi and others, gave the understanding of the

supremacy of Islam a political meaning, arguing that the struggle in the
political realm was the principal task of Muslims. This added further fuel to the
fire, worsening the already dismal situation of the community. This politicized
notion of Islam’s supremacy over other faiths was further reinforced by scores
of Muslim writers, poets and preachers. But since in this period of Muslim
decline, this dream of political supremacy showed no sign of coming true,
disappointment was inevitable. To this feeling of despair were added the new
imperialist strategies and plans of seeking to further enslave Muslims, as
evidenced in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and various other Muslim countries.
All this added up to produce a very volatile mixture.

It is an undeniable fact that numerous self-styled Islamist jihadist movements

have not hesitated to engage in clearly un-Islamic acts despite speaking in the
name of Islam. These actions of theirs have given Islam a bad name the world
over, and this has further exacerbated Muslim marginalization. In fact, even in
Muslim countries the space for such movements is rapidly contracting. For
instance, in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria several thousand
Muslim activists have been imprisoned on charges of being involved with terror
groups. It is true that many of these people are probably innocent and have
been wrongly targeted by dictatorial regimes that do not tolerate any dissent.
Yet, it cannot be denied that among these people are many who would be
willing to engage in violence and armed conflict to seek to overthrow ruling
regimes, although this is allowed for by Islam only if the rulers exemplify open
or explicit opposition to Islam.

In many Arab countries today, several former radical Islamists have changed
their ways and are now engaged in peaceful Islamic and social activism. Many
of these people have even written books about their experiences and
explaining why and how they changed their approach. An interesting instance
in this regard is Rashid Ghanouchi, who was once considered to be a leading
Tunisian Islamist. Some months ago, the Jamaat-e Islami Hind invited him to a
programme in Delhi. I attended the programme and heard Ghanouchi speak. I
was surprised to note that there was not a single aspect of the Jamaat-e
Islami’s political ideology which he did not severely critique, although in a very
scholarly manner. He argued that groups like the Taliban as well as other
radical or militant self-styled Islamist outfits and movements were among the
greatest threats to Islam in the present-day. Another staunch critic of these
movements is the hugely influential Qatar-based Islamic scholar, Yusuf al-
Qaradawi.

In the last two decades the term jihad has been craftily manipulated so as to
promote a violent mind-set and culture. To combat this, efforts need to be
made at three levels. Firstly, at the level of Muslim political thought, the
notion of ‘united nationalism’ (mutahhida qaumiyat), embracing people of
different religions living in the same nation-state, must be accepted on Islamic
grounds and the entire world should be considered to be dar ul-ahad, or ‘abode
of agreement’. The ulema must collectively make an announcement to this
effect. This position has been accepted by such traditional ulema as Maulana
Ashraf Ali Thanvi and Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri. Further, there must no
longer be any hesitation in accepting religious pluralism and peaceful
coexistence of people of different faiths. After all, in the Quran God says that
people have the freedom to choose to adopt or reject Islam. It is not in God’s
plan of things that everyone should become a Muslim, for, if He had wanted,
He could easily have done so. This point is thus the basis of pluralism from the
Islamic perspective.

In this regard, it is also important for the crucial distinction between jihad and
qital, in the sense of defensive violence, to be made clear to people and for
Islamic activities to be pursued through peaceful means. The fact that Islam
does not allow for offensive war must also be impressed upon people. It gives
no sanction for the sort of so-called ‘pre-emptive war’ that an aggressive
imperialist power like America seeks to wrongly justify.

Muslim scholars must also come forward to be more actively involved in inter-
faith and inter-community dialogue, based on certain minimum common
beliefs, interests or issues, preferring dialogue to conflict as a means to resolve
differences. There is also need for the ulema to expand and broaden their
understanding of the question of relations between Muslims and others. In this
regard, some prescriptions contained in the traditional books of Islamic
jurisprudence (fiqh) need to be re-examined, being too extreme, as also
understandings and interpretations based on a selective and erroneous reading
of certain verses of the Quran and Prophetic Traditions that relate to people of
other faiths. Unfortunately, the reconstruction of Islamic thought in the
modern context in this and other regards has not gone very far. In the Indian
subcontinent, after Muhammad Iqbal, no one other person has been able to
effectively take up this urgent task. Likewise, the movement towards a
suitable reconstruction of Islamic thought that was pioneered by Muhammad
Abduh and his disciple Rashid Riza in the Arab world was unable to make much
progress.

The second level at which urgent action is needed is for Western imperialist
powers, most notably America, to cease from their oppressive and inhuman
policies. An immediate task in this regard is for American control of Iraq and
Afghanistan to be ended and for foreign troops to be withdrawn from these
countries. The continuing killing of Palestinians by the Israelis must cease and a
just settlement of the Palestine issue must be found. America must stop its
blind support to Israel and exercise full pressure on it to stop its crimes against
humanity. Without all this, I believe it will not be possible to stop the
radicalization of Muslims, for despair leading to radicalization often becomes
the only weapon of the weak.

The third front on which energies should be focused is on creating a truly

democratic climate in Muslim countries. In these countries, ruling pro-Western
cliques mindlessly use their powers to promote their personal and sectional
interests and brutally deny their populace their basic rights. These rulers must
be held accountable for their actions. They must not be allowed to misuse their
countries’ wealth, as in oil-rich states, to serve their own and their Western
masters’ vested interests.

In other words, we cannot change the present situation simply by talking of the
need to ‘reform’ radical and self-styled jihadist movements. There has to be
adequate and far-ranging change with regard to the policies of Western powers
as well as of ruling regimes in Muslim countries as well.

Waris Mazhari, a graduate of the Deoband madrasa, is editor of the New Delhi-
based Tarjuman dar ul-Ulum, the official organ of the Deoband Graduates’
Association.