Islam Rediscovered
12. Islamic Fundamentalism
~ 205 ~
in the name of Islam is sheer exploitation of Islam.
Verse ninety-nine of the 16th chapter is quite
specific about this. It says: “God enjoins justice,
kindness and charity… and forbids indecency,
wickedness
and
oppression.”
Even
more
specifically the Quran says that God loves the
charitable (2:195). And indeed idealism and
perfection are highly desirable virtues in Islam, but
the direct target of Islamic idealism is not society,
and not the state, but the individual. The perennial
objective of the Islamic movement is to strive to
make each single individual an ideal human being.
Each individual has to be urged to become an
example of the ‘sublime character’ as projected by
the Prophet Muhammad, and described in the
Quran (68:4). So far as the ideal society or the ideal
state is concerned, it is in no way a direct goal of
Islam.
Society and the State are not in themselves
independent entities, each being dependent on the
mettle of the individuals of which they are
constituted. According to a tradition, the Prophet
observed: “As you will be, so will be your rulers”
(
Mishkat al-Masabih,
11/1097).
