Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
4. The Concept of the State in Islam
~ 66 ~
and spiritual revolution called Iman (Faith) in the Quran, that is,
they should evince absolute trust in God, total submission to the
Prophet, full conviction on the existence of the angels, of the
Hereafter, of hell and heaven; in short, they should display a keen
desire to mould their lives in accordance with the spirit of the
Quran. When such qualities of faith are produced within a group,
the time will come for it to be considered by God for the grant of
political power. Good deeds necessarily entail full conformance to
the divine commands regarding worship, moral character and the
upholding of justice. In the words of the Quran, our lives should be
wholly dyed in God’s hue. When this quality of good character has
been developed in the majority of the people only then is political
power given to that group by God’s command.
Then there is another verse in this connection, which throws
further light on the subject. This is in the context of the granting of
political power to the Prophet Solomon. The words uttered by the
Prophet Solomon after receiving power was
‘Leblanc’
(This is
meant as a test). These words tell us that political power is given in
order to try us. The test contrives to separate the grateful from the
insolent servants of God (27:40).
Thus, according to the Quran, the nature of political power in
this world is exactly the same as that of other things. That is, when
an individual is given wealth, offspring or anything of a material or
worldly nature like success, all that is designed to test him. All
these blessings serve as test papers. Thus political power is also a
test paper.
