UPRIGHT SYSTEM OR UPRIGHT INDIVIDUAL?

UPRIGHT SYSTEM OR UPRIGHT INDIVIDUAL? True Islamic Ideal A T the end of the nineteenth century, the communist outlook spread. The first Communist system was established in the Soviet Union in 1917. Then, the Communist propaganda began to rapidly spread, in a much more organized way. At that time, the ideology of Communism spread so much that Professor J K Galbraith said,"Never in the world has a theory been so much promoted as the idea of Communism". Just as people at large were swayed by this intellectual environment, many Muslim scholars were also influenced, for example, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Maulana Muhammad Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, Gamal Abdel Nasser, etc. Influenced by this environment, Maulana Abul ‘Ala Maududi began to describe Islam in terms of a socio-political system. He claimed that Islam is a complete socio-political system, and that it is the solemn duty of the Muslim ummah to establish this ideal human system in the world. For them, according to Maulana Maududi, the purpose of jihad was to defeat man-made socio-political systems and replace them with the superior system of Islam. But the fact is that this concept was born in response to Communism. It was like an Islamic edition of Communism. The Quran provides no basis for such an interpretation. Even in the time of the Prophet of Islam and the Pious Caliphs, there was no such ‘standard system’. If the purpose of religion is to create a standard social system in the world, then this target has never been fulfilled in the time of any prophet in history. On both the theoretical and the practical fronts, this concept is still unproven as well as impractical. The commandments given in the Quran are mostly individual in nature, not only in the matter of faith and the practising of good deeds but also in other mundane matters, e.g. remain steadfast in religion (42: 13), act in all fairness (57: 25), enjoin what is good, and forbid what is evil (3: 110). These directives are in essence addressed to the individual. These are not meant to be enforced by a government. The commandments given in the Quran are mostly individual in nature, not only in the matter of faith and the practising of good deeds but also in other mundane matters.