OPED: Will the Upcoming Election Bring Islamic Legitimacy to Pakistan?

By Dr. Manzoor H. Khatana Reprint | | Print |

NEW YORK, May 3 2013 (IPS) - It is almost universally acknowledged that Pakistan emerged a separate state in 1947 primarily on the basis of religion.  Yes, an Islamic state, but isn’t history rather murky on the question of legitimacy in Islam?  There are monarchies and then there are dictators/despots, followed by pseudo democracies, and finally normal democracies, all claiming to be legitimate Islamic states.  What makes a state truly an Islamic state?

Clearly the Prophet of Islam in 632 A. D. neither nominated anyone nor left any specifics injunctions as to how his successor ought to be chosen, except that with his death all spiritual functions had come to an end. It must be stressed however that the pre-Islamic Arabs did not like monarchies much nor did they quite prefer hereditary rulers.

The tribal chiefs ruled their respective tribes more on a seniority basis than on hereditary compulsions. All decisions relating to raiding, plundering and wars, were taken through consultation and consensus.  It seems quite logical then to assume that immediately after the Prophet’s death, it was this tradition of consultation and consensus seeking that had brought about the selection of Abu Bakr as the next Islamic ruler or Khalifah.

Of course, this is disputed by the Shi’ite branch of Islam, which believes Ali ought to have been the hereditary Islamic ruler after death of the Prophet.  Regardless, did the Prophet not abrogate, on Mount Arafat, in his “Farewell Pilgrimage” his own tribal BRADARY by declaring that “every Muslim was a brother unto every other Muslim”?

Pakistani voters will have the opportunity to transcend their BRADARIES and vote for a man who truly understand the essence of Islam; righteous in his conduct, honest in his dealings with others, pious in his religious behavior, moderate in his views, and admired by Muslims and non-Muslim alike for his virtues. And, if such people are elected, then their first task will be to recover billions of Rupees for the Pakistan treasury.

All politicians, must be made to read the Farewell Address of the Prophet, in which he asks that “Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners.” The most challenging tasks, other than the recovery of the stolen money, are tackling of corruption, eliminating of terrorism, stopping lawlessness, providing adequate energy for industrial and household use, curbing religious extremism (sectarianism), and ascertaining from where Mullahs, with extreme views, obtain their financial support.

On May 11, 2013, all voters in Pakistan would have the opportunity to elect parliamentarians on the basis of above mentioned criteria, ignoring the BRADARY system, and redirecting the floundering ship of Pakistani state back to its true Islamic moorings.

While Pakistani voters would have the opportunity to cast their votes for many upright individuals, who hopefully would have read about Islamic visions of Jinnah and Iqbal, it would be wise to highlight a few events of Islamic history, particularly for those who prefer to return to earlier times to practice their puritanical religion in the seventh century mud-houses.

Much water has flowed under the bridge since the post-Khulifa-i- Rashidun’s expansion of Islam. In 660 AD, Mu’awiah was proclaimed Caliph, and it was him who later established a Muslim dynastic tradition by nominating his son Yazid as his successor in 679 AD.  Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon had successfully and brutally kicked out the Muslims from Spain.

In the post Middle Ages, European imperialists had successfully expanded into Muslim lands. Unfortunately, the days when a Muslim of Tunisian origin can relocate to Cordoba (Arabic: Qurtubah) or a Central Asian Muslim can move and settle down in Cairo are gone.

The emergence of Jean Bodin’s concept of sovereignty in the sixteenth century has done his damage to the concept of a Muslim Ummah.  It seems SOVEREIGNTY has become more powerful than the concept of a MULIM UMMAH. Eventually, Muslims too succeeded in learning the concept of nationalism from the very imperialists, who had used their European rivalries and nationalism by expanding their imperialism into many Muslim lands.

While almost all Muslim nations had finally dislodged European imperialists, the cohesiveness within the Muslim world simply has not emerged during the post-colonial era.  Millions of third world Muslims workers are in the Muslim Middle East, but they remain outsiders. They are neither allowed to integrate nor are they permitted to socially mix with their host country Muslim brothers. It is amazing how even the most race-conscious Germans are offering citizenships to Muslims, and yet no Pakistani Muslim is allowed to get citizenship in many Arab Muslim states.

Now, why do the Pakistani or Afghan Taliban wish to reverse the course of history and go back to the seventh century Islam, when over 1,380 years, the global Muslim communities have failed to promote true Islamic Ummah or even to integrate their communities into a universal Islamic brotherhood? Incidentally, didn’t Jinnah himself dismiss ‘Pan-Islamism’ as an “exploded bogey,” although he wanted to establish friendly relations with all Muslim nations.

Finally, if I am allowed to borrow a statement of General Kayani who said that “If we succeed in rising above all ethnic, linguistic and sectarian biases to vote solely on the basis of honesty, sincerity, merit and competence, there would be no reason to fear dictatorship…”

So, ignore BRADARIES, trust your own feelings, listen to your heart, remember my dear voters that God is closer to you than your jugular vein, so please stand tall and cast your votes for individuals who would bring honor to your forefathers, dignity to your nation, and promote Islamic virtues by eliminating corruption and nepotism.  May your prudent decisions usher in an era of peace and prosperity, thus lending Islamic legitimacy to the Land of the Pure.

The writer is Chief Executive Officer of an Information Research & Analysis Company in the USA.