Arguments from the Quran and Hadith

From these excerpts from the writings of numerous well-known scholars it is clear that a great many Quranic exegetes have understood the Quranic verse referred to here to mean the full acceptance of the basic teachings of the deen. Given this, how can the verse be interpreted to mean the imposition of the entire gamut of commandments of the deen that relate to all aspects of individual and social life—or, in other words, bringing about the establishment of Divine Government, as is believed by the proponents of the political interpretation of Islam? This does not mean, however, that besides the essential or basic teachings of religion, the establishment of the social and civilizational laws of the shariah is not an important issue. I only wish to show that their establishment has not been made incumbent on us in the absolute sense that proponents of the political interpretation understand it to be. That is why one finds no support for this interpretation even in those places in the Quran that talk about establishing the social laws of the deen. Now consider efforts to seek justification for the political interpretation of Islam from the corpus of the Hadith. In an article published in an official organ of the Jamaat-e-Islami, it was said: In the matter of the goal that the Jamaat-e-Islami has adopted for itself, the likes or dislikes of any individual play no part whatsoever. Instead, it has faith that God had sent all the prophets, and, finally, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for this objective, for this mission, and for