FAITH AND POLITICS

God is the greatest concern of Islam. The greatest goal, according to Islam, is that a person should become a true worshipper of God. He should practise high morals. At the same time, he should convey God’s message to people. He should communicate the spiritual teachings of Islam to people in a purely non-political manner. He should prove to be beneficial to society in spheres such as reform and education. The establishment of political power is not the target of Islam. According to the Quran, granting of political power is a matter of putting man to the test, just as wealth is a means of testing a person. Wealth and riches are tests for human beings, which is why wealth keeps changing hands, because God has to test every human being. If wealth is permanently given to a single individual or group, then other people cannot be tested. Putting wealth in someone’s possession permanently is contrary to God’s creation plan. Same is true of political power. Political power is also a test paper. Political power is given to someone to see how he behaves after gaining power. Precisely for this reason, political power does not rest in the hands of one individual or a group, but rather it keeps circulating among different people. This principle is explained in these words in the Quran: ‘We bring these days to men by turns.’ (3: 140) The fact that political power in Islam is not an absolute requirement is not a shortcoming. It is a very important principle for the welfare of human beings. All major conflicts among people arise out of the struggle to grab political power. Therefore, Islam has adopted the principle of status quoism in the matter of political power. The benefit of this principle is that peace prevails in society. People should be occupied with the work of reform and construction instead of thinking of war and violence. o God is the greatest concern of Islam. The greatest goal, according to Islam, is that a person should become a true worshipper of God. He should practise high morals. At the same time, he should convey God’s message to people.