Part One: SEERAH (Biographical Sketch) CHAPTER

C:\Users\Admin\Dropbox\The Message - Material of Maulana\16. Books and Review\Apa's Books\Life And 45 belong to the human world, but both are totally governed by God. From these verses it emerges clearly that political power is a promise from God, and not a target. That is, it is not something that Muslims should aim at, for they can receive it only by divine edict. Another point that we learn from this verse is that power is not granted to any group simply because of its struggle to that end, but rather on the fulfilment of two specific conditions. The Quran makes it clear that true faith and virtuous character alone are the deciding factors in receiving political power. What is meant by faith is that the group who is to be the recipient of political power should have undergone the intellectual and spiritual revolution called Iman (Faith) in the Quran, that is, they should evince absolute trust in God, total submission to the Prophet, full conviction on the existence of the angels, of the Hereafter, of hell and heaven; in short, they should display a keen desire to mould their lives in accordance with the spirit of the Quran. When such qualities of faith are produced within a group, the time will come for it to be considered by God for the grant of political power. Good deeds necessarily entail full conformance to the divine commands regarding worship, moral character and the upholding of justice. In the words of the Quran, our lives should be wholly dyed in God’s hue. When this quality of good character has been developed in the majority of the people only then is political power given to that group by God’s command. Then there is another verse in this connection which throws further light on the subject. This is in the context of the granting of political power to the Prophet Solomon. The words uttered by the Prophet Solomon after receiving power was ‘Leabluani’ (This is meant as a test). These words tell us that political power is given in order to try us. The test contrives to separate the grateful from the insolent servants of God (27:40). Thus, according to the Quran, the nature of political power in this world is exactly the same as that of other things. That is, when an individual is given wealth, offspring or anything of a material or worldly nature like success, all