Spirit of Islam, Sept-Oct 2021

W HAT is the leadership role of the ulema or religious scholars in contemporary times? To understand this, one first needs to be clear about what role Islam sets for religious scholars. This will provide us the proper criterion for examining the course of action adopted by the religious scholars in our times. In my understanding, the following Quranic verse gives us appropriate guidance about the role of religious scholars of Islam: “It is not right that all the believers should go out [in time of war] all together. Why, then, does not a party from every group come to [the Prophet] in order to acquire a deeper knowledge of religion and to warn their people, so that they can guard themselves against evil?” (9: 122) This verse gives a guiding principle that one section of the Muslims has to engage itself full time in the sphere of knowledge, while the other looks after the sphere of politics. Thus, Islam differentiates between the arena of activity of religious scholars and that of political leaders. To this end, religious scholars have to keep themselves away from the political field and provide intellectual and spiritual guidance to the people, while politicians are charged with the task of administration and organization. This principle does not indicate any opposition between religion and politics, but, rather, a division of the arenas of activity among the believers. This division is fully in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence. In the words of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), for political leadership, the strong and capable person will be preferable to the weak person even if he is more virtuous. (Majmu al-Fatawa by Ibn Taymiyyah, Vol. 28, p. 255) From this, we can understand that as far as practical politics is concerned, those who engage in this field must possess the necessary skills. Not everyone can shoulder the responsibility of practical politics. It was based on the recognition of this difference among people in terms of their capabilities that the Prophet of Islam repeatedly indicated to the Muslim community that after him they should appoint Abu Bakr as their leader, while, on the other hand, he advised Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Abu Hurairah and Hassan bin Thabit never to accept any governmental post. ROLE OF ULEMA IN THE CONTEMPORARY TIMES Targeting the Priorities