Assalamu Alaikum, April 1, 2020 Sha'baan 8, 1441 Dear Leadership and Membership of the Community: May Allah keep you and your families all safe and well in these troubled times and beyond. And shower upon...
1. In Islam, power comes through elections. Elections that are free, transparent, informed.
2. We elect the person we think to be the best for the job. Not our relatives; not our friends; not our party people; not those whose color, race, nationality or gender we share; not those who pay us to vote for them; but people we sincerely and objectively, and before God, think are absolutely the most suited people for the job.
3. Once elected, obedience to that leadership is no less important than obedience to God.
4. But when the leadership asks us to do things that are clearly Haram -- contrary to the clear directives of Islam itself -- we say no to that leadership and we disobey.
5. Pretty much the same goes for prioritizing the Law of the Land -- in the lands in which we may be living, regardless of whether those lands and countries and societies are Islamic or non-Islamic, and whether or not their populations are mostly Muslim or non-Muslim -- over the wishes and directives and commands of the leadership. That means, should our leadership ever ask us to do things that violate the Law of the Land, that are clearly illegal, we do not obey the leadership. We decisively say "No!" to the leadership.
6. Thus, when a directive issued by leadership is neither Haram, nor illegal, obeying that directive from the leadership is Fard or Wajib or compulsory, or whatever it is that Muslims call these things.
Meaning, you simply got to do it. For, your very Islam hangs in the balance with your attitude to that directive coming from your leadership.
END
How Islamic Discipline Works in Everyday Life Dr. Pasha (Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time! Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It -- And which One Does...
Leadership in Islam is part of prophethood.
As a result, leadership in Islam is somewhat different from leadership elsewhere.
In Islam, leadership is not sought or pursued. It is given or conferred freely by the People.
Key considerations are a person’s character, education, ability and skills, and not money, connections or power.
Qualified individuals are carefully sought out and then asked to accept the responsibility of leadership.
To make this work, Islam first builds an upright and honest society consisting of upright, honorable and intrepid citizens, who are driven more by a sense of duty and right and wrong and not by overarching personal ambition or greed.
Such sincere, honest and committed citizens then select the best individuals among them and offer them the role of leader. These selected individuals are then elected by the People in free, fair and transparent elections.
Once elected, these leaders are not beholden to party powerbrokers or to individuals and institutions with money and influence. They act freely, independently and fearlessly to do the right thing and to implement the will of the People in society and the world.
In this, they are heirs to God’s own chosen prophets, even though, unlike the prophets, they are chosen by the People in popular elections, and not directly appointed by God.
The four successors of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, were among such leaders. So was Umar bin Abdul Aziz, three decades or so later.
Such leaders walk in the path of the prophets. They often suffer greatly and make enormous personal sacrifices to serve the People, society and the entire human race, and, above all, God Almighty.
Islam came into the world to show humanity the path to this kind of noble, honest, incorruptible and selfless leadership.
(Dr. Pasha)
Some of those blessed among us with the ability and opportunity to provide some level and kind of leadership to Muslims sometimes complain of “Leadership Fatigue.” Knowing the treatment Muslims at times – maybe I...
"It is not enough for good people to do good things by and for themselves.
It is also important for them to keep each other motivated and fired up. " (Dr. Pasha)
"There is a saying – and some say it could be a Hadith – that could be interpreted as meaning: Leadership is generally a reflection of the people, place, time and culture it purports to lead. Want to hear the original words? Here they are to the best of my recollection: Kaifamaa takoonoo yuwallaa 'alaikum." (Dr. Pasha)
“When it comes to Muslims, I have often wondered which leadership is worse: leadership that is corrupt, tyrannical, authoritarian and unprincipled or leadership that is naïve and foolish and uninformed.” (Dr. Pasha)
It is not that anything is wrong with Muslims. It is just that much of their leadership sold out and the poor sops don’t even know it.
“When Anwar Sadat was military dictator of Egypt, he banned wearing of long robes for men on university campuses. It has taken Nicolas Sarkozy, a democratically elected civilian president of France, well over three decades to catch up with a military dictator from the Muslim Middle East and ban the wearing of Niqab – the controversial full-face covering – for women.
This, as they say, proves several things. First, it goes to show how slow and snail-paced civilian democracy could be compared to military dictatorship, especially of the Muslim and Middle Eastern variety, when it comes to introducing social reform in society.
Second, it shows how Muslim societies are still fixated on men and won’t pay enough attention to women.
And also, it may or may not show something else: Why authoritarian societies in the so-called Middle East, as well as their patrons, protectors and Guardian Angels overseas, especially in the Western world, may think brutal dictatorship and not benign democracy is the best form of government for that part of the world.” (Dr. Pasha)
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