Establishing and Dissolving Political Parties in Islam
(Translated)
News:
The Interior Ministry announced on Friday the banning of Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan, saying the federal government had "reasonable grounds" to believe the religious political party was linked to terrorism. (News link)
Comment:
The revolution of 1857 was an example for the people of the Indian subcontinent to warn them against revolting against those in power. The British set this example, but even today, rulers continue to follow it. Since before its creation, Pakistan has been involved in a constant conflict between national and religious ideas. Before the partition of the Indian subcontinent, the Indian National Congress party emerged as a representative of all the peoples of India. However, it soon became clear that its leaders were mainly working to establish a Hindu-dominated government, presenting it as a national movement. Muslim leaders such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Muhammad Ali Johar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy worked with this party because the idea of separation never emerged as a solution and they believed in a united subcontinent as they had always seen it.
But over time, they realized that the Congress Party primarily served Hindu interests, ignoring Muslims. In response, a new party was founded to protect the rights of Muslims, the All-India Muslim League. This party was the product of a human mind, which gave its own definition to the survival and renaissance of Muslims. Islam stipulates that all ideas must be based on Islamic doctrine. This concession led to an incomplete solution, belonging neither to Islam nor to the modern world. About 40 years after its establishment, the League achieved its main goal, which was to establish an independent homeland for the Muslims of India. In the end, national ideas triumphed, but they were covered with religious sentiments to gain the support of the Muslim population.
We, the Muslims of Pakistan, are still suffering today from the complete submission to national thought. The inherited Islamic emotion is so deeply rooted in us that it does not allow us to demonstrate for Palestine, which increases the opportunity to exploit it. Since politics is the care and attention to public affairs, the political party in Islam is the gathering of a group of believers on the basis of Islam, which is all good, and calling to it as a political creed and a system that governs life.
Regarding political parties, the draft constitution prepared by Hizb ut-Tahrir states: "Muslims have the right to establish political parties to hold rulers accountable, or to reach power through the Ummah, provided that they are based on Islamic doctrine, and that the rulings they adopt are Islamic rulings. The establishment of the party does not require a license, and every bloc based on other than Islam is forbidden." No group of Muslims may be based on other than Islam as a creed and a system. While according to Article 17 of the Constitution of Pakistan, every individual has the right to form associations or unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, public order or morality.
The recent crackdown on Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and its banning, shows that the Pakistani government's standards for a political party differ from those of Islam. Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan is a political group, like other religious political groups, that participated in the elections and occupies a seat in the Council, which shows its submission to the regime and its contradiction with the concept of a political party in Islam.
Therefore, the treatment that the movement received comes from a regime that they first recognized and accepted and then criticized later, and thus in response to a sit-in against the government's policy on Palestine, its followers who took to the streets were treated in the same way as the demonstrators in the 1857 rebellion. This indicates the inherited British sentiment that the leadership carries today. This shows that the problem lies in the religious element. Once it is completely overwhelmed by the politics of national interest, it will become acceptable to the state. If Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan abandons the religious point of view today, even if it retains its name as it is, it will become harmless to the rulers of Pakistan.
Political parties may not participate in a secular rule that excludes Islam from power, neither by forming governments nor by participating in them. Allah Almighty said: ﴿And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient﴾.
The situation in Pakistan today requires the solution that was required a century ago, not by the emergence of the All-India Muslim League, nor by the demise of Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan today, but by returning to the roots of Islam, and handing over the state to the Caliph, who only rules by the orders of God Almighty, and assigns his forces to liberate the land of Jerusalem from the clutches of Jews. This time may be a turning point for Muslims to return to their collective identity rooted in Islam, an identity that transcends borders, ethnicities and languages.
Allah Almighty says: ﴿Indeed this, your religion, is one religion, and I am your Lord, so worship Me﴾.
Written for the Radio of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Ikhlaq Jehan
