Sayyidina RasoolAllah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) brought with him a way of life which is so complete that it covers every aspect of our day to day activities. Whatever problem there may be, a solution can be obtained from the blessed Sunnah of Sayyidina RasoolAllah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam). We are living in an age where everyone is crying for help in the sense that there is no justice in the world. Complaints about the treatment of Muslims world-wide is a common topic of discussion amongst the Ummah. Whatever part of the world you visit there will always be people complaining about the state of the area or country in which they reside.

   If you go to Pakistan, the people are complaining about injustice inflicted by the people in power, the bribes taken by government employees, the untruthful traders etc. If you come to England you will find evils of a different nature. Indecency is widespread, prostitution and pornographic material is bombarding you wherever you go and burglary is a common fear for almost everyone who lives here.

   This list of countries could go on and on until I have mentioned every country in the world. Each country having problems and issues of disorder of its own. The Governments and rulers of each and every one of these countries will try to counter the problems faced in the territory of their rule. Many intelligent people will put their minds together and work out policies to solve their problems, but every time they create a policy it has an effect for a limited period of time before the criminals work out an alternative method for carrying out their activities.

   Now as mentioned earlier, the solution to any problem can be found in the Sunnah of Sayyidina RasoolAllah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) and when we say any problem that also means the problems faced by a country with regards to implementation of Law. If we look at the life of Allah’s Holy Last Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) we will find out how he established an Islamic state in Madinah. History proves that this state was the best ever in terms of justice and order, and also that the rule of the Khulafa Rashideen (The rightly guided Khalifas, Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhum) has never been matched.

   Why was it that this state was so successful? What made the people want to live under such a rule? Why was it so peaceful? A person may say "but we have plenty of Islamic states in the world today, we have Pakistan, we have Malaysia, we have Iraq and Morocco etc.", but still these countries face problems of disorder and lack of peace. The Muslim countries of the world cannot be called Islamic States, the reason for this being that although there are Muslims living in these countries they are not Islamic States, as an Islamic State is that country which is ruled by the Laws of Allah derived from the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah - and this is called the Shari’ah.

   The Muslim countries of today are not ruled in this manner. If you go to a Muslim country today you will find all sorts of man-made laws which oppose the Shari’ah. Some countries are ruled by dictators who have no aims except for their own worldly benefits which they achieve by oppressing their subjects and eradicating anyone who they see as a danger to their power. Other countries are ruled by people who look up to the West and idolise a concept which they call democracy.

   Al-Islam rejects all these man-made ideologies and accepts only what Allah has ordained for us. Only the Creator can know what is best for His creation and it is to His creation that Allah sent His most beloved of Messengers, Sayyidina RasoolAllah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) who brought with him a complete Shari’ah and his Sunnah covered every aspect of life, including politics.

   It is with these Ahkaam of Allah that Sayyidina RasoolAllah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) and his Khalifas established just and pure rule over the Islamic State which had its headquarters in one of the most blessed of cities, Madinah-tun-Nabawi (the city of the Prophet).

   When you tell the people who think of themselves as modern, intelligent and progressive that a country should be ruled by Shari’ah, they reply ‘But we are living in the twentieth century how can those things be applicable to us now?’ They use their intellect to try and explain what is good for the Ummah, not looking at the real source which is the Qur’an and the miracle of which is that it came not just for the seventh and eighth centuries but for all the centuries to come, until the Last Day. The Holy Qur’an contains guidance for every person, every household, every country and every nation that ever was and that will ever be. So the belief of a Muslim should be that the Laws of Allah provide a political system which is free of faults and is completely just. This is so because it is from Allah.

   Now if any person begins to call the punishments prescribed by the Holy Qur’an regarding adultery, burglary and other sins as backward, barbaric or cruel then that person loses his/her Imaan, as rejection of any Ayat of the Holy Qur’an makes a person a kaafir.

   Now for those people who say such-and-such countries are Islamic States, let us ask them in which Muslim country is the person who neglects Salaah punished according to Shari’ah, in which country is the adulterer stoned, in which country is a person punished in the manner described for burglary. Infact many crimes do have punishments but they are not the punishments described in the Holy Qur’an. The human-being tries to use his brain to innovate new punishments which, according to him, are more suitable for the modern age, but it is this kind of self-conceived modern thinking by people who form policies of governing that destroys nations.

   Even in Saudi Arabia, where some of the Laws are according to Shari’ah, you can find corruption. Western video films and music cassettes are freely available, shaving of the beard and displaying photographs of the ruling families are things which have become acceptable let alone unpunished. They must real ise that the Shari’ah is there to be implemented wholly, not partly.

   Now a person may say ‘What can we do about it, we are only ordinary civilians, how can we change governments, how can we influence the people of power?’ By asking ourselves such questions we ignore the issue concerning the Ummah and carry on with our worldly lives not realising that every Muslim has a role to play in this matter as it is stated in a Hadeeth narrated by Hadhrat Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri  (Radhi Allahu anhu) who said that Allah's Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) stated

"He who amongst you sees something which is munkar (abominable/ evil), should modify it with the help of his hand and if cannot do it then he should do it with his tongue. And if he cannot do so then he should abhor it from his heart and bear in mind that this is the weakest of faith" (Saheeh Muslim)

   Let us ask the heads of the Muslim countries to adopt the Sunnah of Sayyidina RasoolAllah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) in their own lifestyle and also to implement the Shari'ah Law over their subjects. If they are frightened of losing their lives and wealth then let them know that the reward for being killed whilst striving in Allah's path is Paradise, and no wealth in this world can compare to the rewards for the pious in the Hereafter.

   So how do we start? In Bukhari and Muslim there is a Hadeeth narrated by Abdullah Ibn Umar (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) who narrates that RasoolAllah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) said

"Verily, every one of you is a shepherd and every one of you is responsible for his subject. The leader who rules the people is a guard and responsible for his subject. The husband is the head of the members of his household and is responsible for his subjects. The wife is the custodian of the house of her husband and of his children and is responsible for them. The slave of a man is the custodian of the wealth of his master and is responsible for it. Indeed! every one of you is a shepherd and every one of you is responsible for his subjects."

   So whoever you may be, you have responsibilities; firstly there is Huqooq-ul-Ibaad (the rights of people) and secondly there is Huqooq-Allah (the rights of Allah). Both of these must be fulfilled by a person. If we are employees then we should be trustworthy, honest and should not be dishonest to our employers and at the same time we should not neglect our Salaah and other Faraa’idh.

   If you are a wife then you are responsible for the household of your husband. You are responsible for the raising of his children, having his best interests at heart wherever he may be and at the same time you must pray your Salaah, fast in the month of Ramadhan and also be obedient to your husband so long as what he tells you to do does not oppose Shari’ah; if you are a husband then you are responsible for bringing up your children in the manner of the Sunnah, you must treat your wife with kindness and be just towards her. You are responsible for providing food, clothing and shelter for your wife and children. And at the same time you must pray your Fardh Salaah in congregation in the Masjid, you must fast in the month of Ramadhan, you must pay the Zakaah from your savings and must fulfill all the other commands of Allah that are binding on you.

   If you are an Imaam of a Masjid then you should fear Allah and not the people and must speak the Haq. You should inform the people of Haraam and Halaal and in this way help them to obtain a better Aakhira. No matter who you are, you have responsibilities and every one of us will have to answer for those responsibilities which we neglect.

   In the same manner, the leaders, rulers and political figures of countries have responsibilities. They are responsible for establishing the Law of Allah (the Shari’ah) over the land. If they do not do this or work towards doing this, then they are neglecting their responsibility for which they will have to answer for on the Day of Judgement. Now they should either establish Shari’ah or they should step down from their temporary seats if they fear Allah.

   But the sad reality is that not only do our rulers refuse to establish Shar’iah with their power, they refuse to accept it as the only form of ruling a nation. They neglect the Sunnah in their own lives and anyone who speaks the Haq (i.e. someone who says that we should follow the Sunnah in our own lives and also implement the Shari’ah Law) is considered to be backward and extremist and often such people are punished and imprisoned for speaking the Haq. These rulers don’t real ise that they themselves are the extremists since they have deviated extremely from the Sunnah of Allah’s Holy Last Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam).

   Finally, pray that Allah gives us the tawfeeq to practice the Sunnah in our lives, to fulfill the rights of the people around us and to fulfill the rights of Allah. So that we may be successful in this world and in the Hereafter.

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