Imam Mahdi and The Return Of The Islamic Caliphate
Shaykh Imran Hosein
Will Muslim society be secularized, and constitutional democracy finally established in the Muslim world? Or, will destiny witness the restoration of the Islamic model of a State (Khilafat)? Before we attempt to answer that absolutely fascinating question which will eventually emerge at the very heart of political discourse in contemporary international affairs, let us briefly describe the Khilafat or the (Sunni) Islamic model of polity and State. It would surely surprise some of our readers to learn that Islam has never claimed to be a new religion. Rather it has consistently proclaimed that it is the original religion of Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all). It was therefore natural that Prophet Muhammad (s) should have preserved in the Islamic State of Madina the essential model of a polity and State that was established by the Prophet-Kings, David (s) and Solomon (s) in the Holy State of Israel. What was that model? Firstly, political culture in Holy Israel tolerated no secular separation of politics from religion. In both David (s) and Solomon (s), the religious/spiritual head of the community (i.e., the Prophet), was also, himself, King or Head of State. Secondly, the polity and State recognized God as Sovereign (al-Malik), and to Him belonged the Kingdom (al-Mulk), and hence Israel was the Kingdom of God on earth. Thirdly, Godâs authority and law were both supreme in this model of a State. In the secular European model, on the other hand, sovereignty was taken away from God and vested in the polity and State. That was blasphemy (Shirk). God was further stripped of supreme authority and law and these, also, were vested in the people and the State, and were institutionalized in secular government (administration, judiciary and legislature). That, also, was blasphemy (Shirk). The people not only assumed supreme authority and installed their own man-made law as supreme law, they even went on, and recklessly so, to make legally permissible that which God had Himself prohibited. Such was the case, for example, with the Divine prohibition of âlending money on interestâ, gambling and lottery, etc. The Qurâan has described all these efforts to âplay Godâ as blasphemy (Shirk), which is the one sin that Allah Most High has warned that He would never forgive. I guess that someone would respond by accusing God of being fundamentalist. When a people turn away from God, as they most certainly do in political secularism and the secular State, the Qurâan has warned that they would eventually forget Him and would pay the price of forgetting themselves (i.e., their human status). Their conduct would eventually become worse than that of wild beasts. Prophet Muhammad prophesied that they would eventually engage in sexual intercourse in public like donkeys. Carnival confirms, year after year, that mainstream society in this âprogressiveâ country is heading down that road and is already approaching the fulfillment of the prophecy of roadside sex. Echoes of King Austinâs âPrice of Progressâ? The Islamic Khilafat differs in no way whatsoever from the model of the Holy State of Israel except that Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet/Head of State, was recognized as Servant of Allah rather than King! Prophet Muhammad (s) has prophesied that the Islamic Khilafat would be restored at that time when Jesus (s) returns. We may not have to wait for more than another 50 years to witness the return of Jesus (s) and the restoration of the Islamic model of a State (Khilafat). My book, âJerusalem in the Qurâanâ has explained the subject.