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PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI IMPASSE - EXPLORING SOLUTIONS TO THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL CONFLICT
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful The Islamic state that implements Islam in life is not part of the experience of the current generation of Muslims. Therefore, it is of utmost difficulty for the Muslim scholar to bring closer the idea of Islamic governance to minds that are under the control of reality. These minds cannot imagine governance except against what can be perceived of the political regimes that have been imposed on the Islamic countries. These regimes include monarchies, republics and dictatorships that have been imposed on Muslims against their will. This is not the only difficulty. In fact, the most difficult issue is to change these minds that have been educated and influenced with un-Islamic cultures, and took these cultures as the base for their thinking. This resulted in separating religion from life and the state. Thus they accepted the emergence of a state on foundations other than Islam, and they accepted the establishment of many states in the Islamic lands. Islam has been pushed away from governance and the state, and the Islamic lands have been divided into multiple entities that are not related to Islam at all, even though some of them nominally call themselves Islamic. The Islamic state, despite the fact that it is non-existent today in its form, foundations, systems, identity and unique style, does not exist in imagination that yields dreams for it did fill history with its presence over thirteen centuries. It is a fact that has been implemented in practice. Yet, we cannot imagine the meaning and reality of the Islamic state, neither its shape and foundations, nor the Islamic position towards a bi-national state, except if we return to the Muslims' way of living and how the Islamic society and Islamic state were established during the time of the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him), in his capacity as a messenger and a governor. Therefore, by returning to the life of the Messenger and the early Muslims, and to the verbal and practical proofs within Islam Law (i.e. Shari `ah) that are related to this topic [i.e. the bi-national state], we find that Islam has a specific way in life that result from the totality of its concepts about life. We can summarize the Islamic way in three points:
This is the Islamic way in life, and this is the life that Muslims are familiar and comfortable with. They aim at it and they dwell on its path. In order for them to live this life it is imperative that they have a state of a specific style that implements Islam and fulfills its teachings within the state and outside it. Muslims began, from their first day in Medina , to live according to this specific style of life which is based on Islamic faith. Verses of the Qur'an began top be revealed, showing them God's dictum vis-à-vis every aspect of life including business affairs, penal code, ethics, food…etc. Thus, verse were revealed prohibiting wine and pork, and verses were revealed about the penal code, injuries, business transactions, prohibition of usury…etc. The commandments that dealt with problems of life continued to be revealed and the Messenger (peace be upon him) explained and clarified them. He functioned as a head of state, a judge and a commander of the army. He governed the Muslims, ruled in disputes, managed their affairs, concluded treaties, provided people with a covenant, sent regiments, led the army by himself in several battles, and assigned governors to governorates and rulers to the states. Whenever he used to assign the governors he would choose them from amongst those who were qualified for the job, and who would inculcate faith in the hearts of their citizens. In addition, he used to ask them about the path they will follow in their ruling. It has been narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Mu`adh Ibn Jabal Al-Khazraji, when he sent him [as a ruler] to Yemen : By what will you rule? [Mu`adh] said: By the Book of Allah. He said: What if you do not find [the case in the Qur'an]? [Mu`adh] said: [Then] by the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah. He said: What if you do not find [the case in the Sunnah]? [Mu`adh] said: I will exert my effort in formulating my opinion. He said: Praise be to Allah who directed the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to what Allah and His Messenger love. It has been also narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) appointed Aban Ibn Sa`id as a ruler for Bahrain , and told him: "Be good to [to the tribe of] `Abd Al-Qays, and respect their leaders." Furthermore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to appoint governors from amongst the best of those who convert to Islam, and he would ask them to teach Islam to those who become Muslims, to manage the alms and to collect money. He would command the ruler to bring to people good tidings, to teach them the Qur'an, to explain to them their religion, to be lenient to people when they are right, to be harsh on them when they are unjust, to prohibit them, if there is unrest amongst them, from [reinstating the pre-Islamic call for] tribalism and that their call should be to Allah without any associates, and to take a fifth of the monies and what have been prescribed upon the Muslims of alms giving. And that if someone from amongst the People of the Book, a Jew or a Christian, became a true Muslim on his own and accepted the religion of Islam, he becomes one of the believers, with the same rights and obligations, and that he who chooses to remain a Christian or a Jew, he has the freedom to do so and there should be no compulsion. In addition, the Prophet (peace be upon him) told Mu`adh in the said tradition: "You will go to a community from amongst the People of the Book, so let the first thing that you invite them be to worship Allah SWT, and once they know Him SWT, then tell them that He made the almsgiving imperative upon them." This is how life proceeded in Medina , according to a specific point of view reflecting the Islamic worldview. The Islamic society which is distinguished in everything; Islamic ideas and feelings prevail, and Islamic systems are implemented in the people's transactions and all of their relations. And before we get into our subject, which is the Islamic position regarding the bi-national state, we have to present some of the features that of the Islamic system of governance. This system describes the form of the state and its attributes, its foundations and pillars, the bases upon which it is established, the ideas, the concepts, the criteria according to which affairs are run, and the constitution and laws that it implements. The Definition of the Islamic State, and its Foundation: The Islamic state is a political and executive entity that implements all the concepts, standards and convictions for the implementation of Islamic rules. It is other than the Islamic lands, and it is the only practical way that Islam has established for the implementation of the Islamic systems and general rules in life and society. It is what supports Islamic existence in life as a system for life, and without which Islam is reduced to spiritual rituals and ethical attributes. The Islamic state is dependent on Islamic creed, which is its foundation, and it is prohibited from the Shari `ah point of view to separate both regardless of the circumstances. When the Messenger (peace be upon him) established the state (i.e. authority) in Medina and assumed office, he established governance on the basis of Islamic creed from the first day; he made the testimony that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the foundation for the life of Muslims, the relationships between people, struggle against injustice and ruling in disputes. It is the foundation for all life, and the foundation for governance and authority. Therefore, it is unlawful for any apparatus in the Islamic state to posses any thought, concept, rule or standard that did not stem from Islamic creed. It is not enough to nominally declare Islamic creed as the foundation of the state; this foundation must exist in everything that has to do with its existence, and in all of its affairs, big or small. It is unlawful for the state to have any concept about life or governance except if it is based on Islamic creed, and it should not allow a concept which is alien to it, not stemming from [Islamic creed], or a concept that contradicts the concepts that stem from it. Thus, there does not exist in any apparatus of the Islamic state, or in its rule, any concept such as Imperial, republican, monarchy, or any other shape because they do not stem from Islamic creed, for the latter contradicts them. Also, it is prohibited to allow [political] movements, alliances or parties to be established in the Islamic state on un-Islamic foundations. That it is imperative for Islamic creed to form the foundation of the state dictates that its constitution and all laws should be derived from the Qur'an, the Sunna, and what they have referred to; reasoning by analogy (Qiyas) and recognized consensus [of the scholars] (Ijma`). Allah SWT mad it imperative for the Sultan or the governor to rule according to what Allah has sent down to His Messenger:
The Form of Governance in Islam: The form of governance in Islam is distinguished from all other forms of governance in the whole world. The form of governance in Islam is not a monarchy and does not approve the monarchy system. It does not look like the monarchy system, for in a monarchy system authority is hereditary where children inherit it from parents the way they inherit their possessions. Compared to this position, there is no inheritance in an Islamic governance system. Rather, it is given to whoever the Muslim Ummah chooses freely and willfully. The monarchy system provides the king with special privileges and rights, elevating him above the law, while in the Islamic system does not provide the head of state with any special privileges or rights, and he is restricted in all of his behavior by the Shari`ah laws. In addition, there is no inheritance of the thrown in the Islamic system of governance. Furthermore, the form of governance in Islam is not republican. The republican system is based on a system where sovereignty belongs to the people. The people have the right to govern and to legislate, while the Islamic system of governance is founded on Islamic creed and Shari`ah laws; sovereignty belongs to the Shari `ah, not to the Muslim Ummah. The Islamic form of governance is not imperial. Verily, the imperial system is very far from Islam. The regions that Islam rules, even if they have different races and ethnicities, belong to one center where Islam does nor rule them with the imperial system, rather rules them with what negates the imperial system, because the imperial system does not equate between the various ethnicities within the empire in governance. The center of empire is privileged in governance, money and economy. The Islamic system of governance equates between the subjects in all the parts of the state and rejects loyalty to ethnicity, and gives the non-Muslims who have citizenship the rights of subjects and requires of them the same obligations; they are equal before the law like the Muslims. What's more is that it does not allow any individual subject, regardless of his faith or ethnicity, any extra rights even if he is a Muslim. This system does not make the minorities into colonies, and does not subject them to extortion, and does not create out of them sources that feed the general center, rather creates of all the regions one unit no matter how great is the distance between them, or diverse the ethnicities of their inhabitants. Every region is part of the body of the state, and its inhabitants have the same rights like those who live in the center, or any other region. The authority, the system and the Shari `ah are all one unit in all regions. And the Islamic form of governance is not a federation where the different states are autonomous while they unit in general in one polity. The Islamic system is a unity that considers Morocco in the West and Khurasan in the East [on equal footing] and where the finances of all regions belong to one financial unit where there is one budget to spent for the interests of all subjects regardless of the region. The Islamic system is a system of total unity and not a federation. Therefore, the Islamic system of governance is unique and distinguished from other known systems in terms of its foundations, even if there are some similarities. Above all, it has one central authority that does not permit independence for any of its parts so that the state may not disintegrate. The Unity of the State: All Muslims belong to one state, and they should have only one Caliph (Khalifah), and it is prohibited for Muslims, from the Shari `ah point of view, to have more than one state, or more than one Caliph or head of state. In addition, the system of governance in the State of Caliphate should be a system of unity, and it is prohibited to be a federation system. This is based on Muslim's narration that `Abdullah Ibn `Amr Ibn Al-`As said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying: "Who pledges allegiance to an Imam (i.e. a political leader) and shook his hand and it was from his heart, should obey him if he can. And if another person came to compete with [the existing Caliph], hit the neck of the latter." And also for Muslim's narration that `Arfaja said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying: "If some one comes to you while you have one leader, intending to divide you or split your community, kill him." And also for Muslim's narration that Abu Sa`id Al-Khudariyy said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If pledges of allegiance are given to two Caliphs, then kill the latter one." The Conditions for the Caliph (the Head of Sate): There are seven conditions that should be fulfilled in a man to be fit for the Caliphate, otherwise it would be invalid. The first condition is of importance for us here; it states that the governing Caliph should be a Muslim. The Caliphate, or any position of governance, cannot be assumed by a non-Muslim who should not be obeyed. This is because Allah SWT says:
Moreover, governance is the strongest tool that rulers use in dealing with the governed. The expression "never" (Arabic= lan ) indicates an everlasting condition, a proof that it is absolutely prohibited for the Unbelievers to assume positions of authority, whether on the level of the Caliphate, or below that such as an assistant [to the Caliph] or a governor or ruler. In addition, Allah SWT made it a condition that those in position of authority be Muslims:
The phrase "those charged with authority" was never mentioned in the Qur'an except in a context that makes it clear that they are Muslims, which indicates that it is a condition for someone in authority to be a Muslim. Leadership in Islam is Individualistic and not Collective: Islam makes it imperative that the commander, the president, or the leader to be one, and does not allow it to be more than one. Islam does not recognize group leadership, and does not recognize presidency of a group, for leadership in Islam is individualistic. The proof for this comes from the traditions of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and his actions. Ahmad narrated from the report of `Abdullah Ibn `Umar that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "It is not permitted for three persons to be in the wilderness except that they choose one of them as a leader." In addition, Abu Dawud narrated that Sa`id said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "If three of you go on a journey, they should pick one of them as a leader." These traditions dictate that the leader should be one, and the word "one" indicates the number one, no more. This is understood logically in numbers. An example of this is the verse "Say: He is Allah the One and Only" Qur'an, 112:1 [One here] means that He does not have a second. This position is supported by the actions of the Messenger (peace be upon him); in all the events where he appointed a leader it was one only, and he absolutely never appointed two leaders in one place. What we see today of the spread of collective leadership in Islamic countries such as in a council, a committee or a board which had been given presidential authority contradicts the rule of Shari `ah because the leadership has been given to a group. This position is prohibited according to the text of the [abovementioned] traditions. Yet, if the council, committee or board was established to bare the burden or to provide consultation (Shura) this is permitted, and it is part of Islam, because it is one way to praise Muslims that their affairs are matters of Shura amongst themselves. The Internal Policy of the Islamic State: The internal policy of the Islamic state is to execute the rulings of Islam inside the state. This includes the organization of transactions, implementing the penal code and punishments, protecting morals, and guaranteeing the establishment of rituals and worshipping. Islam clarified the practical way in which its rulings are applied to all people under its jurisdiction, those who believe in it and those who do not. The conclusion is the state, in its internal policy, implements the Islamic Shari`ah and applies it to all its subjects, Muslims or non-Muslims. For all the citizens are the subjects of the state and it is imperative to take care of them on equal terms without discrimination between Muslims and non-Muslims. The Foreign Policy of the Islamic State: The foreign policy is the relationship of the state with other countries, peoples and nations. And this relationship is taking care of the affairs of the Ummah outside [the state]. The foreign policy of the Islamic state is its relationship with other countries, peoples and nations, and this policy is based on a fixed idea that does not change. This idea is spreading Islam in the world, in every nation and people, and this is the base of the foreign policy of the Islamic state, and this foundation does not change. What makes spreading Islam as the foundation of foreign policy is that the Message of Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent to all people:
The Position of the Islamic State from the Bi-National State : So far, we have entertained several topics that are related to the Islamic state, its foundation and form, in order to define the Islamic position vis-à-vis the bi-national state. Upon examining this issue, it is possible to say that there are two scenarios for this reality. The First Scenario of this Reality: This scenario presupposes the existence of nationalities or more in one Islamic state that really implements Islam. This state, in this image, is lawful from the Shari `ah point of view. This is because this particular scenario reflects the reality of the Islamic state at the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and those who came after him. The whole Arabian Peninsula , in all of its prisms, entered Islam, and also many other regions with different nationalities, language, religion, customs, habits, laws and culture. It is obvious that they had different mentalities and psyches, and the process of melting them to form one united Ummah with one religion, language, culture and laws was very difficult and hard work. Success in such a task is considered rare and it was only achieved by the Islamic state. After living under the banner of Islam and being governed by the Islamic state, these nations and nationalities converted into Islam and became one Ummah, which is the Islamic Ummah. This was possible under the influence of being ruled by Islam and under the influence of believing in its creed without compulsion. Islam gave people the right to choose; if they willed, they could convert to Islam, or if they willed they could retain their religion. Islam accepted from them their submission to the laws that govern people's relations and the penal code. This aims at creating coherence in the affairs of people by having one set of laws to deal with their problems and to organize their work. Non-Muslims would feel like the Muslims in implementing the system, enjoy tranquility, and live in the shade of the banner of Islam. The Islamic worldview dictates that the humanity of the subjects should be recognized; there is no room for racial, ethnic, sectarian or religious discrimination. Therefore, the laws are applied equally to Muslims and non-Muslims; they are equals before the judicial system:
The Second Scenario of this Reality: This is scenario that has been promoted politically lately. An example of this is the suggestion to establish a bi-national state between the Jews and the Palestinians. This picture for the state is prohibited from the Shari`ah perspectives and it has no validity whatsoever for the following Shari `ah reasons:
For all that has been mentioned, it becomes clear to us that this form of state is unlawful from the Shari `ah perspective. Any of the previous points is sufficient to deny the legality of such state from Islamic perspectives. In addition, the bi-national state, in its second scenario format, is not concerned with Islam. Rather it is an alien thesis and it poses danger in the future to Islam and Muslims, especially the people of Palestine . We ask Allah SWT to establish our religion and state; He is All-Hearing and Responsive. Ahmad Abu Lafi
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