ULEMA AND THE MODERN AGE — Misguided Politics

region, near the Afghan border. Sayyed Ahmad Shahid was selected as the head of the state, the Amir ul-mumineen (leader of the believers). But, very soon, internecine rivalry broke out, so much so that local Muslims set about slaughtering the representatives that Sayyed Ahmad Barelvi had appointed in their areas. And so, this ‘Islamic government’ collapsed almost as soon as it had been established. This failed experiment in seeking to establish Islamic rule without preparing Muslim society adequately for it was not, however, accepted as a warning sign by later generations. That is why efforts continue to be made even in our day to repeat this experiment which, some 250 years ago, very clearly showed how impossible it was for it to succeed. By the middle of the 20th century, movements aiming for what they called ‘Islamic Revolution’ emerged almost all across the Muslim world. These were led by ulema as well as ‘pro-Islamic’ intellectuals. But these people, both when they were in the Opposition as well as when, in some cases, they came to power, simply became a cause for giving Islam a bad name. It is a fact that these movements in the name of ‘Divine Government’ (Hukumat-e Ilahiya), the ‘Islamic System’ (Islami Nizam) and the ‘Enforcement of the Shariah’ (nifaz-e shariah) proved only to be counter-productive. It was the task of the ulema in these countries to shoulder the very same responsibility that Islam had given them. It is worth noting in this regard that numerous great non-Muslim thinkers, from the late 19th till the mid-20th century, had declared Islam as the solution to the problems besetting humanity in the present age. But, at the end of the 20th century, no important non-Muslim thinker made any such announcement. The cause for this was the wrong representation of Islam by the socalled revolutionary Muslim leaders. Prior to this, the intellectuals of the world were presented with the history of the early phase of Islam, and, impressed by it; many of them had a very positive image of Islam. But the meaningless movements stirred up in the name of Islam by the present-day ulema and other Muslim leaders turned into nothing but yet another cause for adding to human misery. Faced with the record of these so-called representatives of Islam in our times, many people