Political Extremism

upon the devotees of God. Similarly, this modern revolutionary view has led to political extremism, placing God’s servants in difficulties that God did not actually require of them. A clear example of this is the issue of employment in institutions established under the current un-Islamic system, which this interpretation has labeled as “illicit income.” In this view, there is no distinction between different components of this system—every part is equally tainted, regardless of its apparent innocence. Even the elements that appear entirely harmless are, according to this interpretation, as impure as other components that are more obviously corrupt. Furthermore, they assert that a non-Islamic system governed by Muslims is equally condemnable; Muslim control does not grant it any certification of purity. Just as many people, under the influence of monasticism, subjected themselves to various forms of self-inflicted suffering, the outcome of this new ideology is that many have abandoned government jobs, considering them forbidden, to the point that even schoolteachers and clerks in the railways and post offices resigned. In doing so, they unnecessarily imposed hardships upon themselves and their families that God did not obligate. A more regrettable aspect of this situation is that most people could not sustain this unnatural course of action for long. Eventually, they were forced