The Testimony of Truth
[This is a speech by Maulana Maududi (may Allah have mercy on him). He delivered this speech at the Jamaat-e-Islami conference in Lahore on December 30, 1946. The conference was held in Muradpur, near Sialkot.]
All praise belongs to Allah Ta‘ala, the sole Creator, Owner, and Ruler of the entire universe, who governs this world with infinite knowledge, grace, and power; who created humankind, granted it priceless faculties such as knowledge and intellect, and appointed it to the dignity of His caliphate on earth; and who, through the prophets, sent down books from age to age for the guidance of humanity.
May Allah’s abundant mercy descend upon those honored and righteous servants of His who came into the world to teach people true humanity, awaken them to the purpose of life, and show them the correct way to live. Whatever light of guidance, moral purity, virtue, and piety is seen in the world today is the result of the guidance of these righteous servants of Allah. The people of the world can never forget this favor of theirs.
Dear friends, we divide our conferences into two parts. In one part, we sit together to examine and review our activities and advise one another on taking them further. In the second part, we present the da‘wah to the ordinary inhabitants of the place where the conference is held. Today’s conference is being held for the latter purpose. We are now troubling you only to tell you what we invite people toward, or what our da‘wah is.
Our Da‘wah
Our da‘wah is directed, first, to those who are Muslims by descent and, second, to all groups of humanity who are not Muslims. We have a special message for each of them. But it is regrettable that I do not see members of the latter group here. As a result of our past mistakes and present condition, a large part of humanity has moved away from us. In these circumstances, we have very little opportunity to convey to them the message that their great Lord and ours sent through the prophets to guide us. Be that as it may, since they are not present here, I shall present only the specific part of the da‘wah intended for Muslims. Our appeal to Muslims is that they fully understand and fulfill the responsibilities and duties incumbent upon them as Muslims.
You cannot become free of your responsibility merely by saying, “We are Muslims; we have accepted Allah and His Din.” Rather, you must also be conscious that the moment you accepted Allah as your Lord and His Din as your way of life, a great responsibility fell upon you. Furthermore, we must consider how that responsibility is to be fulfilled. For if you fail in this, both your worldly life and your Hereafter will be ruined. You will find no escape anywhere from its evil consequences.
The Responsibility of Muslims
What is that responsibility? It is not merely to believe in Allah and His angels, His Book, His Messenger, and the Hereafter; nor is it merely a matter of offering prayer, observing the fast, paying zakat, and performing Hajj; nor is it merely accepting some Islamic injunctions in matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Rather, a great responsibility above all these has been placed upon you. It is that you must stand before the entire world as witnesses to the great truth in which you have believed.
In the Noble Qur’an, you have been granted the status of a distinct nation under the name “Muslims.” Its sole purpose is that you should stand as complete witnesses to the truth before all humanity.
وكذلك جعلناكم امة وسطا لتكونوا شهداء على الناس ويكون الرسول عليكم شهيدًا .
“We have made you a moderate nation so that you may be witnesses to the people, and so that the Messenger may be a witness over you.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:143)
As a nation, this is the sole purpose of your emergence. If you cannot fulfill this purpose, it must be said that your lives have ended in vain. This responsibility has in fact been assigned to you by Allah Himself.
Allah’s command is—
يايها الذين امنوا كونوا قومين بالقسط شهداءلله
O believers, stand firm as witnesses to the truth for Allah.” (Surah An-Nisa 4:135)
This is not merely moral advice; rather, it is a strict command. Allah says—
ومن اظلم ممن كتم شهادة عنده من الله .
“Who can be more unjust than one who conceals testimony he has from Allah? (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:140)
Allah Ta‘ala has also informed you of the terrible consequences of failing to fulfill this responsibility. Before you, the Jewish nation was placed in the witness stand. But they concealed some of the truth and testified against some of it. Thus, as a whole, they became witnesses to falsehood instead of truth.
As a result, Allah Ta‘ala struck them with a mighty blow and removed them, and their condition became such that,
وضربت عليهم الذلة والمسكنة وباءو بغضب من الله.
“Humiliation, disgrace, dishonor, decline, and misery settled upon them, and they became surrounded by Allah’s wrath.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:61)
The Testimony of Truth
The responsibility of giving testimony that has been placed upon you means that you must testify before the world regarding the truth that has come to you and been made manifest to you, its truth and authenticity, and the fact that it is the straight and direct path. You must give such testimony that its truth is established in its true form and the final proof of Allah’s Din becomes manifest before the people of the world. In fact, prophets appeared throughout the ages precisely to give such testimony to the truth, and fulfilling this responsibility was their indispensable duty. In the absence of the prophets, this responsibility has collectively fallen upon the entire Muslim nation.
The Importance of Giving Testimony
You can understand the importance of giving this testimony from the fact that Allah Ta‘ala has established the system of reckoning people and rewarding or punishing them on its basis. Allah Ta‘ala is All-Knowing, Merciful, and the Establisher of justice. It cannot be expected from His immense knowledge, boundless grace, and justice that He would hold people accountable for following the wrong path when they could not know the teachings of their religion. Nor can He punish them for failing to follow the straight path when they did not know of it. Indeed, it is utterly impossible that people should remain unaware of what they must answer for, yet be questioned about that very thing. This is why Allah Ta‘ala created the first human being as a prophet. Thereafter, He sent countless more prophets throughout the ages to teach humanity His will and the correct way to live in this world. They taught people: Look, by following this path you can attain the pleasure of the true Master. These things, however, are to be avoided, and you will be held accountable for them, and so forth.
The Final Effort
Allah Ta‘ala caused His prophets to give this very testimony. The Noble Qur’an states regarding its purpose—
رسلا مبشرين ومنذرين لئلا يكون للناس على الله حجة بعد الرسل ط وكان الله عزيزا حكيما .
That is, “Allah Ta‘ala sent the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and warners, so that people would have no opportunity to argue before Him, ‘We were unaware.’ And Allah is always Almighty and Wise.” (Surah An-Nisa 4:165)
In this way, Allah Ta‘ala entrusted the prophets with the responsibility of warning humanity, and they devoted themselves to fulfilling this important duty. If they fulfilled the responsibility of giving testimony properly, people could be held accountable for their own deeds. But if they were deficient in giving testimony, they could be held accountable for the misguidance of ordinary people. In other words, the prophets were entrusted with an immense and difficult responsibility: either they had to give proper testimony to the truth and establish it conclusively before people, or they would have to face the accusation of ordinary people that Allah Ta‘ala had given them knowledge but they had not conveyed it to them, and that they had not taught them the correct way of life that He had taught them. This is why the prophets felt the importance of this responsibility so intensely. And this is why they made desperate efforts to fulfill the duty of testifying to the truth and to establish it conclusively before people.
Accountability
Those who received knowledge and guidance through the prophets subsequently became one ummah or nation. The responsibility of testifying to the truth that had been placed upon the prophets fell upon the ummah in their absence. They were now invested with the status of the prophets’ heirs. If they properly fulfilled the responsibility of testifying to the truth, yet ordinary people did not become followers of the truth, they would still be rewarded and the ordinary people would be found guilty before Allah. But if they showed any negligence in testifying to the truth or stood as witnesses to falsehood instead of truth, they would be seized before anyone else. They would certainly be questioned about their own actions; moreover, they would have to answer for the actions of those who followed the paths of misguidance, corruption, and error because of their negligence in giving testimony or their false testimony.
The Method of Giving Testimony
Gentlemen! This critical responsibility of testifying to the truth rests upon me, you, and all those who identify themselves as the Muslim nation and possess Allah’s Book and the guidance of the prophets. Now consider how this testimony is to be given. There are two kinds of testimony: one is verbal testimony, and the other is practical testimony.
Verbal Testimony
Verbal testimony means presenting before the world, through speeches and writing, the truth that has reached us through the Prophet. It means introducing the people of the world to Allah’s chosen Din by adopting every possible method of making them understand and touching their hearts; using every possible means and resource of da‘wah, tabligh, publicity, and propaganda; and mastering all the tools produced by modern knowledge and science. It also means explaining this teaching with complete openness for every aspect and sphere of human life—thought, belief, morality, culture and civilization, social customs, livelihood, transactions and courts, politics and the state system, and all other human affairs—proving its truth through arguments and evidence, and pointing out through reasoned criticism the faults and shortcomings of all existing ideologies opposed to it. But verbal testimony cannot be fully discharged until the entire Muslim nation thinks like the prophets in order to show people the path of guidance. To fulfill our duty, we must make this work the central aim of all our collective efforts, striving, and national activity, and keep this purpose in view in everything we do. Moreover, we must be prepared to tolerate no voice among us that testifies against the truth.
Practical Testimony
Practical testimony means that the principles we proclaim as true must be reflected in our actual lives. The people of the world should not merely hear us verbally discussing the truth of those principles; rather, they should be able to see with their own eyes their beauty and benefit manifested in our lives. Through the blessings of iman, people should be able to experience its sweetness through moral character and conduct. They should be able to see with their own eyes what kind of ideal people are produced under the guidance of this Din, what kind of just society is formed, how a righteous social order is established, how pure and transparent a civilization develops, how knowledge, science, art, and literature advance along the right course, what kind of justice, compassion, and financial cooperation begin, and how every aspect and sphere of individual and social life becomes purified, well ordered, and filled with the resources of welfare. In fact, if we can personally and collectively become embodiments of the Din, if our personal character offers proof of its truth, our homes become filled with fragrance, our educational institutions become illuminated by its light, our art, literature, and journalism devote themselves to cultivating its beauty, and our national policy and collective efforts become brilliant manifestations of its truth, then the responsibility of giving testimony can truly be fulfilled.
In short, wherever we meet any person or nation, they should be able to see in our individual and national character the truth of the principles that we believe to be true and through which human life can genuinely become beautiful and elevated.
The Fulfillment of Testimony
In this connection, I would also like to say that this testimony can become complete only when a state is established on the basis of these principles and, by fully accepting Allah’s Din, testifies through its justice, fairness, reformative programs and orderly systems, peacefulness and service to the welfare of the people, the upright character of its ruling class, sound internal politics, a foreign policy based on justice, honorable warfare, and treaties based on loyalty, that the Din or way of life which gave birth to this state is truly capable of ensuring human welfare, and that the establishment of such a state contains the welfare of all humanity. Only when such testimony is joined with verbal testimony can the Muslim nation become completely free of this responsibility. Then the truth can be conclusively manifested before humanity, and standing in the court of the Hereafter, our nation will be entitled, after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), to testify: “Whatever he conveyed to us, we conveyed to the people of the world exactly as it was.” Even so, those who did not come to the path of truth will themselves be responsible for their misfortune.
Gentlemen, as the Muslim nation, it was our duty to give such testimony through our words and deeds. But consider today what kind of testimony we are actually giving.
An Analysis of Verbal Testimony
Let us first consider verbal testimony. Today, very few among us can be found who are engaged, individually or collectively, in testifying for Islam through speech and writing. Even among them, those who are performing this work properly are extremely few. In any case, if this small number is excluded, it will be seen that the general testimony of the Muslim nation is not in favor of Islam; rather, it is moving against it. Our landlords have testified that ignorant customs are correct instead of Islam’s laws of inheritance. Our lawyers, solicitors, and judges and magistrates testify that all of Islam’s laws are not merely erroneous, but that its fundamental legal system is unacceptable and man-made law is flawless. Our teachers, professors, and educational institutions testify that secular Western doctrines regarding philosophy and jurisprudence, history and sociology, economics and politics, jurisprudence and moral regulations are true, while Islamic doctrines deserve no consideration and are unsuitable.
Similarly, our literary figures testify that the ideals of the secular atheist writers of England, America, France, and Russia are their ideals as well, and that, as Muslim writers, their literature has no distinct message.
Our newspapers and publicity organs testify that their principles and methods of propaganda are exactly the same as those found among non-Muslims. The businessmen and owners here testify that the Islamic method of transactions has become impossible to follow. Business can now be conducted only according to the methods followed by non-Muslims. Our leaders testify that they too possess the same nationalism and patriotism, national demands, methods of solving national problems, and principles of politics and government that exist among non-Muslims. It is as though Islam has shown them no guidance in these matters. Our people testify that nothing is discussed on their lips except worldly business and affairs. They have no connection with any religion whose subjects could occupy some of their time. This is a sample of the verbal testimony being given today not only by the Muslims of India—the subcontinent—but collectively by the Muslims of the entire world.
An Analysis of Practical Testimony
Now look at some examples of practical testimony. This condition is even more deplorable than verbal testimony. Of course, in some places there are good people who reflect Islam in their lives. But what is the condition of most people? The representation of Islam by the Muslim masses in their personal lives is that those raised in an Islamic environment are not superior or distinct in any respect from those raised in an unbelieving environment; rather, in many respects they are worse than them. They can lie, betray trusts, oppress, deceive, break promises, steal and rob, create riots and disorder, and commit every kind of shameless and immodest act. In such immoral behavior, on average they are no better than any unbelieving nation. Furthermore, in our social customs and practices, conduct, gatherings, traditions, festivities, fairs and religious festivals, meetings, and processions—in short, in no aspect or sphere of social life are we truly representing Islam. Our conduct gives practical testimony to the fact that those who follow Islam consider ignorance more worthy of imitation than Islam itself.
Whenever we establish an educational institution, we adopt everything in it—the education, educational methods, and philosophy of education—from non-Muslims. Whenever we establish an association, we take its purpose, organizational method, and working policy entirely from non-Muslim societies. When our nation devotes itself to a collective effort, its demands, methods of pursuing them, party constitution, rules, procedures, resolutions, speeches, and statements are all exact replicas of those of non-Muslim nations. Even where we have an independent or semi-independent state government, we have borrowed the foundations of the state, the state system, and all its laws from non-Muslims. In some Muslim states, Islamic law has remained only as personal law. And in some states, even that has not been left unchanged. Recently, an English writer named Lawrence Brown mocked this in a book entitled The Prospects of Islam, saying:
“When we abolished the civil and criminal laws of Islam in India, considering them outdated and useless, and retained them only as the personal law of Muslims, this seemed highly unpleasant to the Muslims. For as a result, their status had become like that of non-Muslim dhimmis in a former Islamic state. But now our policy has pleased not only the Indian Muslims; the Muslim states too are following the very policy we adopted. Turkey and Albania have even amended their laws of marriage, divorce, and inheritance according to our standards. This proves that the Muslims’ belief that ‘the source of law is nothing but the will of Allah’ was merely a pious fiction.”
This is a sample of the practical testimony that the Muslims of the entire world are collectively giving against Islam today. Whatever we may say with our mouths, our overall conduct testifies that we are satisfied with none of the principles of this Din of Islam and that we find neither welfare nor salvation in the laws it has instituted.
The Punishment for Concealing the Truth
Today we are engaged in concealing the truth and giving false testimony of precisely this kind. And we are being made to face exactly the terrible consequence that Allah Ta‘ala has decreed for such a grave offense.
When a nation ignores one of Allah’s blessings and betrays its Creator, Allah punishes it both in this world and in the Hereafter. This eternal law of Allah Ta‘ala was fully enforced in the case of the Jewish nation. And today we stand in the accused’s dock. Allah Ta‘ala had no personal hostility toward the Jews that He would punish only them for their crimes. Nor do we have any special relationship with Him by which we can escape His punishment while remaining immersed in sin. In fact, to the extent that we have been deficient in testifying to the truth and have shown eagerness in testifying to falsehood, to that same extent we are descending toward ruin. Within the last century alone, one country after another from Morocco to the East Indian archipelago—Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore, and others—has slipped from our hands. Muslim nations have one after another been defeated and subjugated. The name Muslim has remained not as a symbol of glory and honor, but as a symbol of disgrace, poverty, and decline. Nothing remains for us in the world in the way of respect and honor. In some places we were slaughtered wholesale; in others we were expelled from our homes; and elsewhere we were kept alive only to be used for employment and service. Even where Muslims had their own governments, they continued to suffer defeat. Their condition today is that they remain constantly frightened and terrified of foreign powers, whereas if they had given verbal and practical testimony to Islam, the bearers and champions of unbelief themselves would have trembled in fear of them.
You need not go very far to understand this. Just take a close look at our own situation in this subcontinent. It was because of the shortcomings in your bearing witness to the truth, and the testimony you gave against the truth through your words and deeds, that one kingdom after another slipped from your hands. First, you were humiliated at the hands of the Marathas and Sikhs. Then servitude to the British became your lot. And now an even more grievous defeat than those of the past is approaching you. Today, the question of being a majority or a minority has emerged as the greatest issue before you. Having fallen under the rule of the Hindu majority, you are constantly trembling in fear of facing the fate once suffered by the Namasudras. But, for God’s sake, tell me: if you had been true witnesses to Islam, could any majority community here have been a cause of fear for you? And even today, if you are true witnesses to Islam through your words and deeds, would not the question of your minority status be settled within a few years? A hostile and utterly tyrannical majority community had resolved to wipe out from the world a minority that numbered only one in every hundred thousand in Arabia. But the witnesses to the truth of Islam transformed that minority into a hundred-percent majority within only ten years. Then, when this nation that bore witness to Islam emerged from Arabia, one nation after another, from Turkestan to Morocco, began to believe in the testimony it bore within only twenty-five years. In areas where one hundred percent of the inhabitants had been fire-worshippers and Christians, one hundred percent of the inhabitants came to be Muslims. No kind of obstinacy, ethnic hatred, or religious narrow-mindedness proved strong enough to stand firm before this real and living testimony to the truth. Therefore, if you have today become subjugated to other nations and are alarmed at the prospect of being subjugated even more grievously, what else can this be but the inevitable punishment for concealing the truth and bearing false witness?
Punishment in the Hereafter
This, then, is a sample of the punishment deserved in this worldly life for that offense. In the Hereafter, there is the fear of an even harsher punishment. So long as you do not fulfill your responsibilities and duties as witnesses to the truth, you will by no means be able to escape responsibility for whatever misguidance spreads throughout the world, whatever oppression, persecution, sedition, corruption, and disobedience occur, and whatever immorality and depravity become prevalent. For even if you are not responsible for creating all those evils, you are certainly responsible for allowing the causes that produce them to persist and for giving them the opportunity to grow.
The Problems of the Muslims and Their Solution
Gentlemen! From all that I have said so far, you have learned what our duty was as Muslims, what we are doing, and what suffering we are enduring because of our own deeds. If you consider the real situation from this perspective, it will naturally become clear to you that the issues which Muslims today, in India and other countries of the world, have taken to be the fundamental problems of their national life—and for whose solution they are exerting all their strength through methods that are partly planned and mostly borrowed from others—are in fact not problems at all. Spending time, energy, labor, and money to solve them is nothing but futile toil.
How a minority nation can protect its interests, existence, and rights between a minority nation and a majority nation; how a minority nation can obtain rights within its own boundaries equal to those of the majority; how a subject nation can free itself from the domination of a powerful nation; how a weak nation can protect itself from the injustice and oppression of a strong nation; and how an underdeveloped nation can attain progress, prosperity, and strength equal to those of a powerful nation—such problems may be regarded as especially important and primary problems for non-Muslims, and all their efforts, endeavors, and attention may be concentrated on them. But for us Muslims, these are neither distinct nor permanent problems; rather, they are the inevitable consequences of turning away from our real task. If we had properly carried out that task, such a heap of complex and disturbing problems could not have accumulated today. Even now, if instead of cleaning up that rubbish we devote all our attention, strength, and resources to fulfilling that fundamental duty, then before long the rubbish of troubling problems—not only for us but for the entire world—will naturally be cleared away. For the responsibility of keeping the world clean and purified had been entrusted to us. It is because of our negligence in fulfilling that responsibility that the world has now become filled with the rubbish of problems. And the most deplorable condition in the world has fallen to our lot.
It is a matter of regret that the religious and political leaders of the Muslims are making no effort at all to understand this matter. Muslims everywhere are being told today that the question of the majority, independence of the homeland, protection of national interests, material progress, and so on are your real problems. Moreover, these gentlemen are presenting to Muslims the methods they have learned from non-Muslims for solving those problems. But I can say with exactly as much firmness as I believe in the existence of Allah that you are thereby being led astray. By following this path, you will never reach a beneficial goal.
The Real Problem
Therefore, unless I state frankly and clearly what your real problem in life is, I will prove to be your greatest ill-wisher. As far as I know, your present and future are inextricably linked to one particular question. It is this: how are you treating the guidance that Allah sent to you through His Messenger—the guidance by virtue of which you are called Muslims and in relation to which, willingly or unwillingly, you have been appointed representatives of Islam in the world? If you truly obey Islam, bear witness to its truth through your words and deeds, and fully reflect Islam in your national identity, you will attain prosperity and advancement in this world, and success and well-being in the Hereafter. The cloud of fear, humiliation, defeat, and subjugation that hangs over you will clear within only a few years. Your call to the truth and the beauty of your virtuous character will influence people’s minds. Your influence and authority will be established throughout the world; people will look to you for justice and fair judgment. They will place their trust in your honesty and faithfulness. The words issuing from your mouths will be recognized as authoritative in every circle. You will yourselves become the source of every good. No influence or authority of the unbelieving leadership opposing you will remain. Through your honesty and justice, all their philosophies and political and economic doctrines will be proved false. The forces now gathered in their camp will break apart and come over to the camp of Islam.
In this way, a day will come when Communism, even in Moscow, will become desperately preoccupied with self-preservation. Capitalism-backed democracy will tremble at the thought of self-preservation in Washington and New York. In the universities of London and Paris, it will become difficult even to find a place for materialism and atheism. Ancestor worship and nationalism will find no devotees even among the Brahmins and the Germans themselves. And the present age will occupy a place in history as an instructive tale: that even the bearers of a world-conquering force like Islam had once become such fools that, while holding the staff of Moses (peace be upon him) tucked under their arms, they trembled in fear of snakes when they saw sticks and ropes.
Indeed, our future can become this bright only if we are devoted followers of Islam and true witnesses to it. But, conversely, if you sit firmly upon the guidance sent by Allah, benefiting neither yourselves from it nor allowing others to benefit from it; if you claim to be Muslims and pose as representatives of Islam while, through your words and deeds, bearing witness for the most part to shirk, ignorance, world-worship, and moral license; if you leave the Book of Allah on the shelf and hasten toward the standard-bearers of unbelief and the sources of misguidance for guidance; if, while claiming to worship Allah, you serve the truly satanic and rebellious forces; if you make friendship and enmity solely for the sake of the desires of your passions, and in both cases push Islam aside; if in this way you keep your own lives distant from the blessings of Islam and, instead of attracting the people of the world to Islam, drive them even farther away—then under such circumstances neither your worldly life nor your Hereafter can be prosperous. Rather, all that you see today is the consequence of such a policy, in accordance with Allah’s established practice. And it would be no wonder if, in the near future, you faced an even worse outcome.
If you removed Islam’s label and openly embraced unbelief, perhaps your worldly life could become as dazzling as that of the Persians, Americans, and British; but living like non-Muslims while being Muslims, and committing the grave offense of falsely representing Allah’s religion and thereby closing the door of guidance to the people of the world, will not even allow your worldly life to prosper. The punishment for this offense recorded in the Qur’an, of which the Jewish nation currently stands before you as a living example, cannot in any way be altered. Whether you accept the lesser danger of a single nationاهون البليتينor, in the name of Muslim nationality, secure recognition of your separate national identity and obtain every available benefit, you can never escape this. For the only way to be spared this punishment is to refrain from that offense.
Our Objective
I shall now briefly explain to you the purpose for which we have organized ourselves. We call upon those who acknowledge Islam as their religion to make this religion their genuine way of life. They should establish it in practice, individually in their own lives and collectively in their homes, families, society, educational institutions, literature and journalism, business and commerce, economic affairs, associations and national institutions, and generally in the formulation of national policy. And through their words and deeds they should bear true witness to it before the world. We further tell them that, as Muslims, establishing the religion of Islam and bearing witness to the truth are the chief purposes of your lives. Therefore, all your efforts, endeavors, and activities should be carried out with this purpose at their center. You must completely refrain from every word and deed that may oppose Islam or result in its being misrepresented. Measure each of your words and deeds by the standards of Islam. Devote all your efforts and endeavors to establishing the religion of Islam, bearing true witness to its truth, and calling the people of the world to Islam so that, ultimately, the truth may be established.
Our Method of Work
This is the sole purpose of establishing the Jamaat-e-Islami. To achieve this purpose, we have chosen the following path: first, we remind Muslims of their responsibilities and duties. We clearly explain to them what Islam is, what it demands and requires, what it means to be a Muslim, and what responsibilities are assigned to them because they are Muslims. To those who understand this, we explain that it is not possible to fulfill all the demands of Islam through individual effort. Collective and united effort is necessary. Only a very small part of the religion is connected with individual life. Even if you establish that part, the complete religion will not thereby be established, nor will its truth have been adequately witnessed. Rather, so long as the unbelieving system dominates social life, it will not be possible to establish Islam in most areas of an individual’s life either. The influence of the unbelieving social system will continue day by day to restrict and constrict Islam in individual life. Therefore, in order to establish the religion completely and bear true witness to its truth, all responsible Muslims must unite to establish the religion of Islam in practice, call the people of the world to it, and at the same time remove every obstacle and impediment from the path of establishing and propagating the religion.
Establishing the Organization
For this reason, the Jamaat has been made indispensable in the religion of Islam, and for establishing the religion and propagating its call, this method of work has been prescribed: first, a well-organized group must be formed, and only then should efforts and endeavors be undertaken in the way of Allah. For this reason, a life without the Jamaat has been described as a life of ignorance and as tantamount to separating oneself from the Jamaat.
Concerning this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the following hadith:انا امركم بخمس الله امرنى بهن الجماعة والسمع والطاعة والهجرة والجهاد فى سبيل الله فانه من خرج من الجماعة قدر شبر فقد خلع ربقة الاسلام من عنقه الا ان يراجع ومن دعا بدعوى الجاهلية فهو من جثى جهنم، قالوا يا رسول الله وان صام وصلى؟ قال وان صام وصلى وزعم انه مسلم . (أحمد وحاكم)
“Allah has commanded me five things, and I command you to do the same: the Jamaat, listening to and obeying the leader’s commands, migration, and striving in the way of Allah. Whoever abandons the Islamic Jamaat and separates from it even by a span has removed the bond of Islam from his neck—unless he returns to the Jamaat. And whoever calls to the call of ignorance—that is, to disunity and disorder—will be among the people of Hell.” The Companions asked, “O Messenger of Allah, even if he fasts and prays?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “Yes, even if he fasts and prays and claims to be a Muslim, he will still be among the people of Hell.” —Ahmad and Hakim
The following three points are established by this hadith:
First: The correct method for religious work is that, above all, a well-organized and disciplined Jamaat must be formed, and an organization must be established for it through which everyone follows one leader in obedience. Thereafter, according to circumstances, they will migrate and strive in the way of Allah.
Second: Remaining detached from the Jamaat is almost tantamount to remaining detached from Islam. For it means that people are returning once again to the age of ignorance of Arabia, when no one paid heed to anyone else.
Third: Most of Islam’s demands and its true purpose can be fulfilled only through the Jamaat and collective effort. That is why the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) described as having abandoned Islam a person who abandons the Jamaat, despite observing the prayers and fasting and claiming to be a Muslim. The following saying of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) likewise echoes this very point:لا اسلام الا بجماعة . (جامع بيان العلم لابن عبد البر)
“There is no Islam without the Jamaat.”
Three Paths of Action
To those who are able to abide by the Jamaat’s rules and discipline, we say: only three paths are now open before you, and you have complete freedom to choose any one of them.
First, if your conscience testifies that our call, creed and beliefs, fundamental objective, Jamaat rules and discipline, policy of action, and everything else are wholly in accordance with Islam, and that, in the light of the Qur’an and Hadith, we are doing precisely what is the duty of the Muslim nation, then join us in this work.
Second, if for any reason you cannot be satisfied with our work, but see another group working for an Islamic purpose in a genuinely Islamic manner, then join that group. For we have no desire to build a mosque with only one and a half bricks.
Third, if you have no confidence in us or in any other group, then come forward yourselves and, in a genuinely Islamic manner, establish a well-organized Jamaat, with the aim of fulfilling your Islamic responsibility—that is, establishing the religion of Islam in its entirety—and bearing witness to its truth through your words and deeds.
If you choose any one of these three paths, God willing, you will be regarded as people of the middle path. We have never claimed that only our Jamaat follows the truth and that everyone outside our Jamaat follows falsehood, nor will we ever make such a claim as long as we remain of sound mind. We have never called people to our Jamaat. Rather, our call is to the responsibility that rests equally upon all of us and upon you as Muslims. If you fulfill that responsibility, whether together with us or by some other means, your work will be work in the cause of truth. But for you neither to come forward yourselves for this work nor to assist anyone else, while merely evading through excuses the responsibility of establishing Islam and bearing witness to its truth before the world—or wasting your strength and ability in establishing some other system instead of Allah’s religion, while your words and deeds bear witness to things opposed to Islam—can in no way be right. If the matter concerned the people of this world, one might perhaps accomplish something by making excuses. But here the matter concerns such a Great Lord, who knows even the innermost secrets of hearts. Therefore, it is impossible to deceive Him by any trickery.
Various Religious Organizations
There is no doubt that the formation of different groups to pursue the same objective and perform the same work may appear, at first sight, to be wrong, and there is a danger that it may lead to division and disorder. But since the Islamic way of life is currently shattered, and the question now is not merely one of managing an Islamic way of life but of establishing it anew, it is not possible in such circumstances to form al-Jamaat—the one single group—for the entire ummah, joining which would not merely be obligatory for everyone, but from which remaining apart or becoming detached could be regarded as equivalent to ignorance or abandoning Islam. Therefore, at the initial stage, there is no alternative but for different groups to work in different places for this purpose. If these groups remain free from self-worship and excess, and sincerely continue working for an Islamic objective in an Islamic manner, they will ultimately unite. For those who travel the path of truth cannot remain separated for long; truth itself binds them together. The very nature of truth is to inspire unity, solidarity, and a sense of oneness. Disunity and division can arise only when some falsehood becomes mixed with the truth, or when falsehood is at work within despite an outward display of truth.
Our Demand
I shall now briefly present what our demand is of those who voluntarily and wholeheartedly join our Jamaat, and what program of work we have for them. In reality, our demand from the members of the Jamaat is no more than what Islam demands of a Muslim. We neither wish to add an atom’s weight to Islam’s fundamental demands nor to subtract the slightest thing from them. We present the whole of Islam to every person, without cutting or altering anything, and call upon them to accept this religion of Islam consciously and with understanding, to fulfill its demands properly after reflecting upon them, to remove from their thoughts, ideas, words, and deeds everything opposed to its directives and spirit, and to bear witness to the truth of Islam through their entire lives. This is the admission fee for joining our Jamaat and the way to become a member. Our constitution, the Jamaat’s rules and discipline, and the fundamental objective of our call are all clear. Anyone may examine them and see that we have made no reduction or addition whatsoever to true Islam—to Islam based on the Qur’an and Sunnah. Rather, if anyone can prove that any of our statements contain something additional to the Qur’an and Sunnah, we are always prepared to discard it without hesitation; and if anyone points out something that exists in the Qur’an and Sunnah but is absent from our teachings, we are always ready to accept it wholeheartedly. We have organized ourselves precisely to establish the whole of Islam without any alteration and to bear witness to its truth. If we are proved hypocrites in this matter, what greater injustice could there be?
Thus, it is the duty of those who join our Jamaat to bear witness to the truth of Islam through their words and deeds, and to devote themselves to collective effort and endeavor with the aim of establishing a fully Islamic way of life, so that this testimony may be fulfilled before all humanity. With regard to verbal testimony, we are training our members in such a way that, according to their respective abilities, they may prepare themselves to bear witness to the truth of Islam more convincingly through speech and writing. In addition, we are collectively striving to establish an institution capable of clearly presenting Islamic teachings and their significance concerning all the problems of human life in the various branches of knowledge, science, arts, and literature, and of helping through every possible means of publicity and propagation for this purpose. As for practical testimony, our effort is that each individual should first become a living witness to Islam; then, from them collectively, a disciplined society should arise, capable of effectively pursuing its objective in a genuinely Islamic spirit. Finally, this society itself, through its own efforts and endeavors, will abolish the false way of life and establish the true way of life, representing the whole of Islam before the world.
Objections and Their Answers
Esteemed gentlemen! This is our objective and program of action. We could not even imagine that any Muslim might object to such work. Yet from the very day we set foot upon this path, an irresistible flood of questions and objections has been pouring forth. Of course, not every objection deserves attention, nor is it possible to answer everything in a single gathering. However, I wish to say something here about those objections that are being circulated in your city with the aim of creating misunderstanding.
A New Sect
It is said that our Jamaat has laid the foundation of a new sect among Muslims. Those who spread such statements probably do not know the basic causes behind the formation of sects. The causes that lead to the formation of sects or subsects among Muslims may broadly be divided into four categories.
First: Including in the original religion something unrelated to religion, and then adopting that very thing as the criterion of unbelief and faith, or of guidance and misguidance.
Second: Giving some particular issue of religion greater importance than the Qur’an and Sunnah, and making that issue the basis for forming a subsect.
Third: Going to excess in matters of ijtihad, branding those who hold differing views as sinful or unbelieving, or at least adopting distinct customs and practices in relation to them.
Fourthly: after the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him), to entertain excessive notions about any particular person and claim for him such a status that people’s faith or disbelief might depend on accepting or rejecting it; or to advance the claim that merely joining a particular group makes one a follower of the truth, while Muslims outside it are followers of falsehood.
Now I would like to ask: which of the four errors mentioned above have we committed? If any gentleman can clearly show, with proofs and evidence, that we have committed such-and-such an error, we shall immediately repent, and we shall not hesitate in the least to correct ourselves. For we have united only for the purpose of establishing Allah’s Dīn, not for creating factionalism. But if no such error is proved by our actions, how can there be any fear that we are creating a sect?
We stand only for genuine Islam—for the whole of Islam, without any trimming or reduction—and our sole appeal to the Muslims is this: let us all come together, establish it in practice, and bear witness before the world to its truth.
Indeed, we have made the complete Dīn of Islam—not one or several of its aspects—the foundation of our organization and unity.
Our View on Matters of Ijtihād
Regarding matters of Ijtihād, we acknowledge as true all the schools of law and opinions that may legitimately be followed within the principles of the Sharīʿah. We recognize everyone’s right to act, according to personal choice and inclination, upon any of the established schools and opinions, and we consider it inappropriate to create a sect on the basis of any particular Ijtihādī opinion.
Avoiding Sectarianism
We have not displayed any kind of sectarian bigotry even toward our own Jamāʿat, nor have we ever claimed that the truth is confined to our Jamāʿat alone. We have risen to undertake this work with a full awareness of our responsibility, and we are reminding you also of your responsibility. Whether you will rise with us, discharge your responsibility independently, or work together with others who are fulfilling their responsibility is for you to decide.
Nor have we indulged in any exaggeration regarding the status of the Amīr. Our movement has not been built around any particular individual; no special status has been claimed for anyone; there has been no flood of announcements about anyone’s miracles, inspirations, or holiness; the Jamāʿat has not been founded upon anyone’s personal creed or beliefs; nor have the masses been called toward anyone’s personality. Rather, our movement is wholly free and pure of the propagation of bizarre claims, dreams, spiritual unveilings, miracles, and stories of the holiness of particular individuals.
An Ideological Movement
No particular individuals are called toward here. Our call is toward that which, in the light of the Holy Qur’an, is the life-objective of every Muslim—the sum of the principles known as Islam. Those who are prepared to join us in working on the basis of this objective and these principles become members of our Jamāʿat, without distinction.
Election of the Amīr
Thereafter, these members elect one person from among themselves as Amīr. No one’s personal entitlement to the office of Amīr is recognized; rather, because a Jamāʿat must have a leader in order to work collectively, one person is elected as Amīr. The elected Amīr may be removed from office and another member of the Jamāʿat may be elected in his place. Furthermore, only those belonging to this Jamāʿat are required to obey him. We have never held the view that those who do not swear allegiance to him will die a jāhilī death.
Now, for Allah’s sake, tell me: despite working in this manner, how can our movement result in the creation of a new sect among the Muslim nation? The remarkable thing is that those who themselves are involved in sectarianism and factional conflicts, who constantly engage in dreams, spiritual unveilings, and miracles, and whose entire activities are conducted on the basis of the personal creed and beliefs of some ‘Hazrat’—those who claim special status for particular individuals, engage in quarrels, disputes, and debates over minor matters, and enter into factional struggles and contests of strength on the basis of Ijtihādī opinions—are the ones seen to be most active in spreading slanders about us. Therefore, without caring whether anyone is offended, I wish to say plainly that the things these gentlemen publicize about us, and the reason for their aversion to us, do not reflect our actual ideology. Rather, we are calling people toward the true work of the Dīn of Islam that they find displeasing. The method of work we have adopted for this purpose has made the errors in their own method of action exceedingly clear. That is why they are averse to us.
The Need to Form a Separate Group
We are asked: if this work was your objective, why did you not simply do it, instead of forming a permanent Jamāʿat under a separate name? This is creating division and disorder among the Muslim nation. In fact, this is a novel question. I am astonished to think that if various associations and parties, under distinct names, are formed among Muslims according to Western democracy or fascist methods for irreligious and anti-religious politics, un-Islamic education, creating sectarian conflict, or achieving purely worldly objectives, they are tolerated without hesitation. But if a Jamāʿat is formed on purely Islamic principles for the true work of the Dīn of Islam, suddenly there is fear that disorder will arise among the Muslim nation, and even a single Jamāʿat becomes intolerable to them. This suggests that the questioners are not actually opposed to forming a Jamāʿat or party; rather, their objection is to forming a group for the true work of the Dīn. In any case, my submission to them is that we did not commit the alleged crime of forming a group eagerly, but only because we were compelled to do so.
Everyone knows that during the period leading up to the formation of this Jamāʿat, I spent several consecutive years appealing alone to the Muslims, saying: “What path is this on which you are investing your strength, abilities, efforts, and striving? This is your real task. It is your duty to concentrate all your efforts and striving upon it.” If all the Muslims had then accepted this call, there would have been nothing more to say. Instead of different Jamāʿats being formed among the Muslims, all the Muslims would then have become one Jamāʿat. And at least in Pakistan and India, no Jamāʿat other than that ‘single Jamāʿat’ would have been formed, since forming another Jamāʿat alongside the sole Jamāʿat is prohibited according to the Islamic Sharīʿah.
Conversely, if any particular group of Muslims had accepted that call of ours, we would still have joined it gladly. But when, despite becoming exhausted from repeatedly issuing the call, no one paid heed to it, those who believed this work to be a true and essential duty were compelled to come together and decide to continue their efforts in an organized manner. The question now is: if we had not done even this, what else could we have done? If you refuse to accept this work as obligatory, then produce evidence in support of your claim. Or tell us: are our associations and parties and sub-parties actually carrying out this responsibility? If not, then I will say that your condition has reached the point where you are trying to declare guilty those who have consciously stepped forward to discharge their responsibility.
Amīr versus Leader
We are asked: why did you choose the word ‘Amīr’ for the leader of your Jamāʿat? An Amīr or Imām, they say, can only be a person possessing independent authority and sovereign power. In support of this, they present certain Hadiths and argue that Imāmate can only mean the Imāmate of Islam, the Imāmate of prayer, or the Imāmate of war and battle; there is no other kind of Imāmate. Those who raise such questions know only about the jurisprudence and Hadith relating to establishing an Imāmate possessing sovereign authority within Islam’s political system. But they know nothing at all about what arrangement is to be adopted when the Muslims’ Jamāʿat loses its leadership, is deprived of independent and sovereign power, and Islam’s communal rules and discipline fall apart. I wish to ask them: in such circumstances, should the Muslims remain dispersed and pray to Allah to send an Imām possessing sovereign authority? Or must they make an organized effort to establish such an Imām themselves? If they admit that a collective effort is necessary for this, then let them kindly explain how such an effort can be made without forming a Jamāʿat. If they acknowledge the necessity of forming a Jamāʿat, then tell us: can any Jamāʿat function without a leader, chief, or commander? If they acknowledge its necessity, then let them tell us what Islamic term Islam has prescribed for the leader of the Islamic Jamāʿat formed for Islamic work. Whatever term they propose, if it is Islamic, we shall adopt it. If they cannot even do this, then let them state plainly that Islam contains many guidelines for the period after power is attained, but provides no guidance about how to attain it while powerless. Those who undertake this work must do so by un-Islamic methods and according to un-Islamic terminology. If that is not their intention, then it is difficult to explain why those who have no objection to using terms such as president, leader, commander, or qā’id become agitated on hearing the term ‘Amīr’.
Generally, people find this matter somewhat difficult to understand. The reason is that when the terms ‘Amīr’ or ‘Imām’ were used in the time of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him), the Islamic state had already been established. And until the Islamic state was established, the Messenger of Allah himself, as the Messenger, led the movement to establish the Dīn of Islam. Therefore, at that time there was no occasion to use the terms ‘Amīr’ or ‘Imām’.
The Nature of Islam
But when one examines the entire system of Islam, it becomes clear that this Dīn of Islam requires rules and discipline for every collective activity of the Muslims. The method of this discipline is that work must be undertaken in a Jamāʿat, with one person serving as its ‘Amīr’. Similarly, when offering prayer, one person must be appointed as Imām and the prayer performed in congregation. When performing Hajj, one person must be appointed Amīr of Hajj and the pilgrimage must be conducted in an orderly manner. Even if three people set out on a journey, they must elect an Amīr from among themselves and travel in an orderly manner.لايحل لثلاثة يكونوا بفلاة من الارض الا امروا عليهم احدهم .
Meaning: “It is not permissible for three people, even if they are in a wilderness, to remain without appointing one of themselves as Amīr.” This proves that Muslims must live in an orderly manner not only while traveling, but in every circumstance, and that no collective activity of theirs should be carried out without a ‘Jamāʿat’ and ‘Imārat’.اذا خرج ثلاثة فى سفر فليؤمروا عليهم احدهم .
This fundamental spirit of the Islamic Sharīʿah is expressed in the following saying of Hazrat ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him):لااسلام الا بجماعة ولاجماعة الا مارة ولاامارة الا بطاعة . (جامع بيان العلم لابن عبد البر)
“There is no Islam without a Jamāʿat, no Jamāʿat without Imārat, and no Imārat without obedience.” From this we may conclude that using the word ‘Amīr’ or ‘Imām’ for the leader of the Jamāʿat formed for the establishment of the Dīn of Islam or for striving to bear witness to the truth is entirely justified. However, since the word Imām has acquired a particular meaning, we have set it aside and adopted the word ‘Amīr’ in order to avoid various complications.
The Right to Collect Zakāt
Here I encountered another novel question: the person elected as the leader of such a Jamāʿat has no right to collect Zakāt, because only the Amīr of an Islamic state may collect Zakāt. The questioners are probably not at all familiar with our method of collecting Zakāt. In reality, we have never demanded that ordinary Muslims deposit their Zakāt in the Jamāʿat’s Bayt al-Māl. Nor have we ever said that the Zakāt of those who do not deposit it in our fund will not be considered paid. We demand the payment of Zakāt into our Bayt al-Māl only from the members of the Jamāʿat. Our main objective in this is to accustom Muslims to giving and spending Zakāt collectively, in accordance with the perspective of the Sharīʿah. The question is: what wrong, according to the Sharīʿah, has resulted from this work of ours? If people may be urged to pray in congregation rather than separately at home, why should they not be urged to pay Zakāt collectively rather than individually? Accepting donations or admission and membership fees is permissible, but calling people to discharge the obligatory duty prescribed by Allah and the Messenger (peace be upon him) is impermissible—what kind of astonishing claim is that?
Bayt al-Māl
Here we heard an even more novel question: why have you created a ‘Bayt al-Māl’? In fact, hearing such questions gives the impression that the questioners retain a certain hostility toward Islamic terminology itself. It is clear that every party or organization has a financial fund to facilitate spending on collective work. We call ours a Bayt al-Māl, because that is the only Islamic term for it. If we had called it a financial treasury, they would have had no objection. Or perhaps they would have been satisfied if we had called it a treasury in English. But they cannot tolerate it precisely because we have used an Islamic term.
In reality, most of the questions are so pointless that I had no desire to waste the listeners’ time answering them. Nevertheless, I answered a few by way of example, so that people may see what kinds of excuses, devious questions, and dubious issues those who neither wish to discharge their own responsibility nor allow others to do so keep searching out—and how, just as they themselves turn people away from Allah’s path, they try to prevent others from following it as well.
Indeed, engaging in pointless quarrels and disputes and debates is not our method of work. If anyone wishes to understand our position simply and plainly, we are always ready to explain it to him. And if anyone wishes to point out our errors through arguments and evidence, we are also ready to accept that. But if anyone creates a dispute and wants to involve us in it, we are not at all willing to confront him in that manner. Our opponents may continue this game for as long as they wish.
— The End —