IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SHARIAH LAW — Re-engineering Individual Minds

Had Muslim leaders opted for this two-fold wisdom, then certainly the conditions would gradually have changed. In these countries, first of all, a revolution in terms of thinking and character would have been brought about and then gradually politics and government too would have been revolutionized. But because of their blindness to prophetic wisdom, Muslim leaders have not only failed to achieve their objective, but they have also incurred great losses within Muslim society. There are a number of traditions in the books of Hadith which have expressly commanded Muslims not to opt for a collision course with their rulers under any circumstances, however much perversion has set in amongst them. And if they think that something needs to be done to rectify matters, they should advise them of this in private. Such movements should never be aimed at confrontation with the rulers. This policy of non-confrontation does not mean surrender. It means to remain strictly peaceful and continue to strive to educate people in nonpolitical spheres. This allows time for decisions to be taken about what action is necessary, if any, when it has become evident that political perversion has taken place. Efforts to resolve the problem without resorting to confrontation should be continued till conditions improve to the extent that the desired change can be effected peacefully. The policy of Islam in all matters is based on result-oriented action. If the result of an action is positive, only then should one go ahead, but if the result is likely to be counter-productive, then one had better opt for the way of peaceful reform, keeping oneself totally away from politics. With the adoption of this method, peace will necessarily prevail, while going against this method will inevitably result in war and violence. o Restraint Always confine your activities to your own sphere; if you infringe on the sphere of others, you are sure to clash with them: your progress will come to an abrupt halt.