I remember spending many evenings at home watching CNN with my family when I was 11. It was the height of the Gulf War, and Saddam Hussein was the most evil man alive. One night they showed a clip of him praying at a mosque. My grandmother shook her head and muttered, \When are they going to leave that poor man alone?"" I tried to explain to her, ""Umi, do you even know what he's doing? He's not a good man, and just because you see him praying on television does not make him a good Muslim."" To that she shrugged and responded, ""Allah janay (only God knows),"" and sank back into the couch.
Islamic Awareness Week: Demystifying the Faith
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I can't fault my grandmother for the way she thinks. She, like many Muslims in so-called ""Islamic"" states, is a victim of both the oppressive regimes that come to power and the ill-bred religious leadership that allows them to maintain their rule. In the past few decades alone, we've witnessed dozens of tyrannical governments come to power and rule under the title of Islam.
In 1977, General Zia Ul-Haq declared martial law in Pakistan and had President Zulfigar Ali Bhutto executed. Ul-Haq promised elections within 90 days of his coming into power. But what followed was an 11-year stretch in which Ul-Haq had absolute power and imposed his strict version of Islamic law on the country. But the law, evidence shows, was only selectively applied in cases where it was in the interest of the ruling elite. At the time he seized power, the question of drug trade was of little relevance in Pakistan. By 1985, Pakistan supplied more than 70 percent of the world's high-grade heroin, and Karachi gradually became a city of addicts. Imprisonment and torture of those who rebelled was common, and in 1985, all political activities were banned. By 1988, the National Assembly had been dissolved and the prime minister was removed from office later that year. This was the price Pakistan was to pay for ""Islamization.""
But when one looks at the teachings of Islam, there is no justification for a dictatorship. Islam condemns it and teaches that decisions of the state should be reached through shura, or mutual consultation in which the judgment made is that of the majority. In a speech given by Dr. Ahmad Shafaat in 1983, he said, ""A government that comes to power without due shura has no legitimacy in Islam. ... Muslim dictators who first seize power by military force and then institute ""majlis-e-shura,"" or a controlled form of basic democracies through which only opinions favorable to the ruler are allowed to exist, has absolutely no validity in Islam."" The problem is that these dictators, rulers or kings are masters at manipulating Islam to gain support. They present their rule as a choice between accepting Islam or rejecting it in a way almost guaranteeing their maintenance of power.
Unfortunately, this is also true with the religious leaders so abundant in Muslim countries. Their numbers continue to multiply because anyone can label themselves as an Imam, Sheikh or Mullah with little formal training in Islam. A friend once told me that all Pakistani parents want their kids to go into medicine or engineering. If they're not smart enough, they try to get them to take a government job. And if that fails, they become Imams. They learn a few hadith (sayings of the Prophet Mohammed), memorize a few verses from the Quran and start preaching to those who have less knowledge. They go on to issue fatwas, many of which have no basis in Islam, with a ""throw your fist in the air""-type zeal aimed at pulling in the poor and uneducated. If one rejects their fatwas, one is labeled a kafir, or non-believer. However, it is hard to take seriously many of the rulings Imams have made. One Sheikh recently insisted birthday cards were an innovation of Satan. In fact, I could issue a fatwa on the heads of the members of *NSync, and it would be no less valid than the slew of fatwas popped out by charlatan Imams all over the Muslim world.
In most Muslim countries, the oppressive rulers and religious figures use Islam as a tool to manipulate and control the populations. Their teachings are beyond the periphery of true Islam, and yet it is their exploitation of the faith and its followers that gives them the clout they need in order to stay in power. The solution again is found in shura. The right to make decisions regarding the public must be permanently shifted away from the individual and given to the majority. This is essential, given that shura, as a binding decision-making process, is a cardinal principle in the formation of a true ""Islamic"" government.
