Understanding ‘Deen’

THE CONCEPT OF RELIGION belongs to your Lord. Therefore, in recognition of this monumental achievement, glorify and praise Him, and seek His forgiveness for any shortcomings or mistakes that may have occurred while fulfilling your duties over these 23 years of service.” (page 94-95) In the excerpt above, if it had simply been stated that deen (religion), in terms of its list of directives, includes everything the Prophet conveyed throughout his Prophetic mission regarding individual and collective aspects of life, we would have no objection to that. In this sense, the term deen could indeed be seen as encompassing all Islamic injunctions. This is an accepted fact, and there is no question of disagreement with it (for reference, see Tafsir Khazin, Vol. 1, p. 278). However, what is stated here is different. It claims that deen is a complete system of governance (state) and that it is required of us in that role. The Prophet, it is asserted, came for this very purpose, and the ultimate goal of his mission was to establish this entire system above all others. This is said to be the revolutionary task the Prophet Muhammad carried out during his period of prophethood, and this is the same revolutionary mission that we, the followers of the Prophet, are expected to carry out across the entire world. We disagree with precisely this concept of religion as a political or state-centered mission. In other