The civil state is a tyrant that failed to establish justice in its own home, so how can it succeed in our home?!
The Sudanese Prime Minister, Kamel Idriss, announced in a press conference the formation of a new government called the "Government of Hope", consisting of 22 ministerial portfolios. In a speech called (historical), he revealed the features of the Government of Hope, which he called a civil government, and said that it is based on a clear vision and firm principles to save Sudan, put it on the path of progress and prosperity, achieve security and well-being, and a decent life for every Sudanese. He specified that the vision is to elevate Sudan to the ranks of developed countries. The values are honesty, trustworthiness, justice, transparency, tolerance, and the approach is scientific, practical, professional, collective, with clear plans and precise standards for success. The government will be technocratic without party affiliations, representing the voice of the silent majority, combining asceticism in the manifestations of power with the well-being of the people, and embodying the highest virtues.
The Prime Minister spoke about the desired results of his civil government, mentioning honesty, trustworthiness, justice, and others, and supporting this with Quranic verses. This is a deliberate mixing of disparate concepts to gain supporting public opinion. As for the truth that a conscious ear must understand, it needs details and depth away from emotions and wishes. Politics must be based on facts, away from misrepresentation.
Looking at the Muslim countries, including Sudan, one finds that the existing countries are the result of an agreement between the old colonial powers to divide influence in 1916 AD. They are functional states, made to perform a specific task, and they did not exist except by this agreement. These countries remained subordinate to the Western capitalism that created them, and throughout their existence, they continued to compete for the top spot on the list of failures every year, and they have proven with merit their abject failure on all political, economic, and social levels, no matter how the governments, ministers, and rulers change. So where is the problem? And why is this country rich in its multiple virgin resources and its people live in abject poverty?!
One of the greatest things that Muslims have been tempted with in our time is ideas and concepts related to governance and economics, and perhaps it is the focus of the West in its attack on Islam and in its focus on its political, intellectual, and economic hegemony and control.
The roots of the idea of the civil state go back to ancient times, where Westerners link it to the principles of justice and the rule of law in Greek civilization, through the democratic system of government in Athens, which focused on people's participation in decision-making. Then these concepts developed with the Romans, who laid advanced legal foundations for organizing the affairs of society, which contributed to the formation and crystallization of what is called the idea of the rule of law.
With the development of political thought in the Middle Ages of the infidel West, the civil state was affected by the conflict between the Church and the State in Europe. This conflict led to the strengthening of the principle of separation between religion and politics, especially after the Renaissance and the French Revolution, where calls escalated to establish states based on respect for individual freedoms and equality before the law without the intervention of religion in political affairs. In the modern era, Western countries and their leader, the United States of America, adopted it.
Here, a logical question arises as Muslims, with a different cultural heritage and a history unlike this history, deeply rooted in history, as the Prophet ﷺ; the founder of the State of Islam in Medina, and after him the Rightly Guided Caliphs, then the Umayyad State, the Abbasid State, and then the Ottoman State, all of this is a model of Islamic civilization and its authenticity and for the rule of the Islamic State that cannot be missed.
In order to delve deeper, we must know the principles of the civil state and what corresponds to them in the rule of Islam:
The civil state is based on a set of well-established principles that aim to achieve justice from the perspective of the capitalist West, with the idea of equality and the protection of individual rights. These principles represent the basic pillars of these countries. As for in Islam, sovereignty belongs to Sharia absolutely. God Almighty said: ﴿But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission﴾ And He said: ﴿It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.﴾ And He said: ﴿Then is it the judgement of [the time of] ignorance they desire? But who is better than Allah in judgement for a people who are certain [in faith].﴾.
These are texts from the Book of God, definitively proven and indicative, and there is no room for denying them. They all converge on one statement clearly, which means that sovereignty belongs to Sharia and not to reason, to God Almighty and not to the people.
They believe in the civil state according to the principle of sovereignty of the people that they have thus ensured the achievement of justice and equality in society, and prevent any abuses or exploitation of power, and thus the rule of law is what makes the government subject to legal rules and imposes mechanisms for holding officials accountable, which strengthens trust between the people and the state, although their reality today is contrary to that and is deeply rooted in the control of businessmen and money over governance and politics, and the general public are merely followers subject to them.
It appears that the rule of "Sovereignty belongs to Sharia" has made the system of government in Islam unique in achieving the beautiful meaning of the rule of law. This meaning that the advocates of the civil state have imagined that they have achieved, while in reality they have made sovereignty theoretically for the majority over the minority (and practically for a small minority of influential capitalists). The majority is the one who makes the law and the one who changes it, so how can the law be its master?! As for Islam, by removing legislation from human desires, it has ensured that the strong does not enslave the weak, nor the rich the weak, but everyone is subject to the law of God Almighty.
This is evident in the system of government, as the Lawgiver established commands and prohibitions in various areas of life and made the authority to implement for the nation (cut off, flog, ...), choosing from among them, by a pledge of allegiance with consent and choice, who implements the Sharia rulings on them.
Also, the civil state gives great importance to the protection of human rights and the guarantee of individual freedoms, and these rights include freedom of religion, freedom of opinion, personal freedom, and freedom of ownership.
The truth is that these ideas, in their true sense, have no currency among Muslims, and the reason for their emergence as words in the Muslim arena is the lack of awareness of their reality and the understanding of their reality as a point of view that contradicts Islam in its entirety, away from misleading propaganda. These ideas have emerged, and the revolutions have taken the lead as slogans expressing the rejection of injustice and the restriction of freedoms that have been practiced on the sons of Muslims by the rulers, agents of the infidel West, and their supporters. However, any Muslim knows that he is bound by the law of God and His commands and prohibitions.
Islam is a creed that requires its complete and general Sharia to regulate all aspects of life without exception. God Almighty said: ﴿This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion﴾.
The Muslims have a project of governance that God revealed and its foundations were laid by His Messenger ﷺ, in the State of Medina, the system of government by which Islam is applied, and justice and fairness prevail, so we return as we were Muslims to the Lord of the Worlds, carrying the torches of guidance instead of imitating the failed capitalists.
Written for the media office radio of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Ghada Abdel-Jabbar (Um Awab) - Sudan Province
