In the Aftermath of World War II

same responsibility that Islam had given them—that is to say, to leave politics to the politicians and to focus their energies, instead, on the spread of education, dawah work and social reform. However, instead of doing this, the Ulama again rushed headlong into the field of politics in a completely unwarranted manner. Before this, in the period of European colonial rule, the aim of the politics of these Ulama had been ‘the struggle for independence’. Now their politics was conducted in the name of ‘the enforcement of Islamic Law’. In numerous countries, including Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Algeria, Indonesia, the Ulama set up parties to establish political rule according to their understanding of Islamic law. This politics once again turned the Muslim countries into a battlefield, the only difference now being that while earlier, in the colonial period, the Ulama had been pitted against the non-Muslim ruling powers, now they were up in arms against a section of fellow Muslims themselves. Thus, these Islamic parties found themselves playing the role of the Opposition in almost every Muslim country. These efforts of the Ulama did not result in the establishment of purely Shariah-based rule in any Muslim country. However, what did result from all