of religion. Since the implementation of these laws has never
been possible without the possession of power, it is but natural
that the possession of power by force has become the overriding
goal of these movements. This religious form of politics, when
carried into effect, has caused great harm.
For the first time in the present day it has become possible
to perform
dawah
work on the basis of scientific arguments or
proofs. Through modern communications, the divine message
could have been communicated all over the world far more
effectively than has been done to date, but this great potential
has not been realized, simply because those who had to perform
dawah
work have become engaged in futile political activities.
Negative thinking among Muslims, violence, extremism, and an
unsympathetic attitude towards others are all the result of a
political interpretation of Islam. It is this political interpretation
which has given birth to the hate culture among the Muslims.
The fallacy of political interpretation
T
HIS
FALLACY HAS
resulted from deviation from the true path of
religion. Religion relates basically to the life of an individual
and as such it imparts the basic teachings regarding all aspects
of life. In other words, these teachings address one’s individual
life rather than the political system in the external world. One
method that was adopted to formulate a political interpretation
of religion was to take religious teachings that were meant to be
followed in one’s own life, at the individual level, and treat them
as something to be imposed on the external world. For instance,
according to Islam, man ought to act with total fairness in all
his dealings (57:25).This teaching, which deals with man’s
personal life, was changed by giving this verse a political
connotation, i.e. if man, had to establish justice everywhere in
the world, he was obliged to do so by force. Another Islamic
teaching was that man should observe God’s commands in his
life. This was misrepresented as meaning that a believer was
God’s vicegerent on earth and, as such, it was his duty—as His
deputy—to enforce God’s commands here on earth.
The fallacy of political interpretation
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