Fall Of Capitalism and Rise of Islam by Mohammad Malkawi

The mission of Islam which began in Mecca and flourished in Medina had all what it takes to grow into a global one. The Quran explicitly stated that Mohammad was a messenger not only for the Arabs but for all mankind.28 It also stated that one of the objectives of this mission is to take over other religions and systems. In essence it laid down the foundation for the spread of Islam and the expansion of its state. Indeed, the moment the Prophet (PBUH) departed this world, the armies of the Islamic state were on the borders of both the Roman and the Persian empires.

Less than one hundred years after the creation of the Islamic state in Medina, Islam had spread from Spain (Andalusia) to Sumatra. The Muslim ships dominated the Mediterranean Sea and the India Ocean. During its expansion, very little resistance came from either the Roman Byzantine or the Persian troops. Both empires have suffered from internal chaos, corruption, and decline of morale. Islam provided to the newly conquered nations a religion with rational and simple creed as well as a system characterized with justice and fairness. Many people favored monotheism and found the Byzantine trinity and Persian dualism distasteful. Islam was more to their liking, and they not only converted to Islam, but helped to spread it further.

Islam removed much of the financial burden and taxation which was imposed upon the people of the conqured lands. It removed the boundaries between nations and treated all nations and peoples by the same standard. There was no national or ethnic supremacy. The Muslims practiced to the fullest extent the principle declared by the Quran: “Honor is measured by piety rather than by national identity.”29 Lynn Nylson in Medieval History,30 says that “Muslims practiced religious toleration, and the social and economic doctrines of Islam were far more humane than those of the other peoples of the time.” She concludes that the Quran gave the peoples of the Roman and Persian empires a common set of laws and values.

Together with the spread of Islam and the expansion of its state, a new civilization emerged. This civilization translated the theoretical model which was constructed over an extended period of time into a practical one. It was able to transform nomad warrior Arabs into a civilized group of people capable of looking after the affairs of others in return only for the pleasure of the Almighty Allah. The civilization created a new imagery of the rulers of the land: never above the law or above the people. It is reported that when an envoy of the Persian king came to Medina looking for the caliph Omar Bin Al-Khattab, he was astonished to find him lying asleep under a tree. He did not find a palace like that of his own king or guards like those he was used to. His comments elegantly characterized the traits of the leaders of the new civilization: “Rule with justice and rest with a sense of security.”31

The rapid and smooth expansion of Islam was documented in the book World Civilization: The Global Experience, 32 in which the authors state,

In the seventh century C.E. the Arab followers of Muhammad surged from the Arabian Peninsula to create the first global civilization.

They quickly conquered an empire incorporating elements of the classical civilizations of Greece, Egypt, and Persia. Islamic merchants, mystics,

and warriors continued its expansion in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The process provided links for exchange among civilized centers and forged a truly global civilization.

Being a technologist myself, I found most intriguing the comments of former CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP) in a speech delivered to a conference held under the theme “Technology, Business and Our Way of Life: What Is Next.”33 She noted that the Islamic civilization which dominated the world for more than eight hundred years was one driven by invention. The Islamic military allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that “had never been known.” In recognition of the Islamic civilization contribution, she notes that today’s technology “would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians.” On the philosophical front, Muslim philosophers like Rumi “challenged our notions of self and truth.” In the domain of tolerance and civic code, leaders like Suleiman “contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership.” What makes Fiorina’s observations distinct and unique is that they came two weeks after the 9/11 acts of terrorism which rendered Islam unjustly scrutinized for notions of terrorism and savage behavior.

On the economic side, the Islamic civilization was characterized by prosperity at the societal level and poverty elimination at the individual level. Ira Marvin Lapidus notes in her book The History of Islamic Society that the civilization in North Africa and Spain was fostered by “extraordinary economic prosperity.”34 Historians like Ibn Katheer and Al-Tabari report that within the first sixty years of its rise, Islam managed to remove poverty at all levels. The main charity institution in Islam, Zakah, experienced a positive overflow of money when recipients of this form of charity virtually disappeared due to prosperity and financial stability.

Historians, politicians, writers, and critiques agree that Islam spread and expanded at a breathtaking speed. They describe different aspects of the civilization and some have provided some sort of explanation for that phenomenon. Noah Feldman in his book The Fall and the Rise of Islamic State attributed the rise and spread of the first Islamic state to the implementation of the Shari’ah (the Islamic legal code) coupled with a check-and-balance mechanism maintained by self-proclaimed scholars. French historian Lamartine attributed the phenomenon to a momentum 35

generated by the extraordinary character of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Similar observations were made by Sir Bernard Shaw.

It is true that the personality and character of Mohammad had a great impact on the rise and spread of Islam. But for that impact to last many centuries ahead requires more elaborate discussion. Similarly, the implementation of the rules of Islam in the form of Shari’ah was instrumental to the sustainability of the Islamic state and civilization. But for that Shari’ah to remain relevant for such a long period of time requires more analysis.

The leadership and methodology provided by Prophet Mohammad remained relevant and influential for one simple reason. Mohammad was perceived by Muslims as one who receives revelation from Allah. The belief in Mohammad as a messenger from Allah was tantamount to the belief in Allah as a god. So when the Muslims set out to document Mohammad’s life, they knew that they were compiling another source for the revelation in addition to the Quran. It is not a coincidence that early Muslims formulated a whole new methodology for compiling the statements, the actions, and behavior of the Prophet (PBUH).

Muslim scholars invented what amounts to a profiling knowledge database in which they collected all possible details about each and every one who has been in direct or indirect contact with the Prophet. This was deemed necessary to authenticate any piece that was attributed to the Prophet. In the process, the Muslim scholars like Bukhari, Muslim, Nisa’i, Tirmidhi, and Abu Dawoud managed to filter out thousands of references falsely attributed to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). To the Muslims, the life and products of Prophet Mohammad were part of the creed. The Quran confirmed this fact in several places. In one location, it made a direct link between loving Allah and following Mohammad.36 In another place, the Quran asked the Muslims to take and accept everything that the Messenger of Allah provided to them.37

In pursuing the prevalence of his mission, Prophet Mohammad assumed strategies, tactics, and plans which are both tangible and practical. He never relied on superstitious or supernatural forces in sketching or implementing the plans. At the time when he preached that victory is ultimately provided by god, he insisted that all preparations and precautions need to be carried out by the people. In other words, he made it clear that the success or failure of the mission depends on the degree of commitment, devotion, and sacrifice of the people who carry the mission. The fact that the ideas, concepts, rules, regulations, and values are just, fair, and supreme do not suffice for the message of Islam to rise and prosper. The existence of a group of people who believe in the ideas and its systems is as essential as the correctness of the ideas themselves.

The Quran carefully drew the line between the personality of the Prophet and the divine revelation. The emphasis was on the divine revelation. In numerous locations, the Quran warned the Prophet himself to keep a strict observation of the revealed code.38 In Surah Al-Maidah (chapter 5, verse 49), the Quran makes the following restriction “And so judge ( O Muhammad) among them by what Allah has revealed and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they turn you far away from some of that which Allah has sent down to you.” The point is that the Islamic creed left no doubt that the Prophet was but a man who receives revelation from Allah, and that the Muslims will only be worshiping god when they follow the Messenger. Then as long as the creed remains alive in the minds and hearts of the believers, the impact of Prophet Mohammad remains alive and active.

By the same token, when the Quran revealed code of conduct, it did so in conjunction with the creed itself. The Quran did not simply ask the believers to do a good deed or to refrain from doing an evil deed. Rather it emphasized the link between the action and the divine source that stands behind the command of the action. For example, when the Quran revealed a rule regarding the prohibition of alcoholic drink, it wrapped the rule within a set of other supreme values. In Surah Al-Maidah (chapter 5, verse 90) it says, “O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al-Ansâb, and Al-Azlâm (forms of lottery) are an abomination of Shaitân’s (Satan) handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful.” Note how the verse begins with an address “O you who believe!” reminding the audience of their belief, which is important for their compliance with the command. Then it links the prohibited acts, e.g., alcoholic drinks, to the acts of the devil (Shaitan). When this verse was revealed, the Muslims dumped all the wine they had previously stored to the extent that the streets of Medina were flooded with wine.

When the Quran requested of the believers to give money to those who are in need, it did so in a style conducive to generosity and munificence. In Surah Al-Baqara (chapter 2, verse 245), the Quran motivates the believers to lend their money to their fellow men saying that this act is equivalent to giving Allah a loan.39 In other places it repeats the fact that Allah requests the believers to expend the wealth that has been provided to them by Allah. This notion is most clear in Surah Al-Hadeed (chapter 29, verse 7), which states, “Believe in Allah and His Messenger and spend of that whereof He has made you trustees. And such of you as believe and spend (in Allah’s Way), theirs will be a great reward.” This style is consistent throughout the Quran, whether the rules are related to wealth, trade, food habits, marriage, divorce, war, peace, family relations, morals, ethics, or any other issue.

The point is that Islam was very keen about maintaining the ultimate sovereignty to Allah the creator rather than to the laws and regulations that come from him. The adherence to the laws and code of conduct is eventually a proof for the sincerity of one’s belief in the creed of Islam. In Surah Al-Nisa’a (chapter 4, verse 65), the Quran confirms this conclusion: “But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad) rule in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.” This brings back into play the fact that Prophet Mohammad spent more than 65% of his life span as a prophet building and strengthening the creed as a foundation of faith and the ideology.

The spread of Islam, the expansion of the Islamic state, and the dominance of its civilization were a natural consequence of the adherence and devotion of the Muslim community at large (the Muslim Ummah) to the intellectual foundations of the faith. What Noah Feldman observed through his research and analysis is the manifestation of this observance to the creed through the implementation of the Shari’ah. The role of the scholars was merely to sustain the links between the code of Shari’ah itself and the source of the code, i.e., Allah the supreme. When people requested an Islamic opinion on any issue, the scholars (ulama) did not simply provide an abstract Islamic opinion on the particular issue (e.g., allowed, obligated, recommended, banned, or discouraged). Rather, they would derive the rule from given texts in the Quran or the Sunnah (Prophet’s statements and acts). They would pass on the rule together with the evidences used to derive that rule. This way, they kept the audience connected to the divine revelation which gives power to the rule and provides the audience with the reason to adhere to the rule.

This practice was thoroughly documented in the literature of the prominent scholars around whom the main schools of thought were organized. The famous books of the major scholars Abu Hanifah, Ja’afar, Al-Shafi’i, Ahmad Bin Hanbal, and Malik Bin Anas provide an outstanding proof to this effect. Within each school hundreds of books were composed. Each and every one of these books provides a collection of rules with all relevant texts from the Quran and Sunnah and the logic used to derive the rules from these texts.

The state of khilafah established by Prophet Mohammad in the year 623 came to a complete halt on March 3, 1924. After thirteen hundred years of growth, expansion, and dominance, Islam lost the instrument responsible for its realization in the economic, political, and social lives of people. The decision to abolish the state of khilafah was taken by the National Assembly in Istanbul under the direction of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The termination of the state was not the beginning of the decline; in fact it was a result of a long process of decline which began at a much earlier stage in history.

Noah Feldman, in his book The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, attributes the decline to the diminishing role of the scholars in maintaining a check against the rulers’ obligations to implement the Shari’ah of Islam. This process began more than one hundred years before the final collapse took place. There is no doubt that the role of the scholars is instrumental to the sustainability of the Shari’ah. Their role, however, is to continuously rejuvenate the energy of the creed in the minds and hearts of the people and the rulers alike. When the rules of the state were compiled and coded in a book called the Majillah, they were given as abstract rules stripped off the divine source that gave them power in the first place. The rules were correctly derived from Islamic sources. No one could argue against their legitimacy from an Islamic perspective. Due to the separation between the rules of the Shari’ah and the divine code behind these rules, the public almost lost the connection of their creed to their daily life affairs, except maybe for the daily rituals. When the decision to abort the khilafah came in 1924, the general public did not feel that the base of their Islam and the foundation of their faith were being uprooted.

Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, the founder of Hizb ut-Tahrir, makes a 3

compelling argument regarding the decline of the Islamic ideology in his book Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir.40 He argues that the main cause for the decline of the Islamic Ummah is the “weakening of the Muslim minds which rendered them unable to clearly understand Islam.” This weakening was manifested in the people’s inability to understand the link between the laws implemented by the state and the origin of belief, i.e., the creed. In other words, he attributes the physical decline of the state and the ideology to an intellectual and mental decline. The cause of the mental decline as argued by Nabhani dates back to the second century of Islam when the Muslims began to translate and incorporate the philosophies of Greece, Egypt, India, and Persia. While it was all right to read and translate the philosophies according to Nabhani, it was dangerous and of grave consequences to subject Islam and the Islamic ideas to the norms and standards of those philosophies. Such practice diminished the significance of the divine nature of the Islamic ideas which was the main power that gave the legitimacy, the energy, and the reason of being.

Another reason for the weakened understanding of Islam provided by Nabhani was the reduced role of the Arabic language at the start of the seventh century (Islamic calendar). The Arabic language is vital for Ijtihad, defined as the process of deriving the rules from the texts of the Quran and the Sunnah, which are documented in Arabic. The weakening of Ijtihad eventually leads to the reuse of previously derived rules and their application to newly encountered cases, without the need for repeating the process of derivation. As a result, the citation of the divine revelation which supports the correctness of the rules will no longer be necessary. While the confidence in the correctness of the rules remained in tact, the spiritual power which stands behind the rules starts to fade.

Being a political leader and a founder of a political party, Nabhani did not ignore the role of Western expeditions into the heart of the Muslim lands in the nineteenth century in diluting the minds of Muslims and creating an atmosphere of vagueness and doubts around the principles of Islam. The expeditions helped instigate the feelings of nationalism and tribalism within the Muslim Ummah. The rise of the notions of nationalism as a major cause of the decline was cited by Abdul Qadeem Zallum in his book How the Khilafah Wa s Destroyed.41 Zallum noted that the rise of Arab, Turkish, and Balkan forms of nationalism were responsible for the eventual collapse of the Islamic state. How could Mustafa Kemal of Turkey abolish the state of khilafah by a draw of a pen? Zallum answers this question saying that the Muslim Ummah had already reached a stage where Muslims could no longer clearly see the need to sacrifice their lives in order to preserve the existence of the state of Islam.

Whether it is the rise of nationalism, the impact of Western expedition and colonialism, the fading of Ijtihad, or the diminished role of scholars, the end result is the same. A growing distance began to emerge between the Muslims’ minds and the divine source of revelation. By the time the distance between the minds and the divine revelation reached a dividing threshold in the Islamic society, the creed has lost its driving force within the minds and hearts of the Muslims. At this stage, neither the scholars nor the rulers could have moved the masses to preserve what Prophet Mohammad has created thirteen hundreds years earlier. The concept of Allah being the only god was degenerated to the ritual practices only, while the gods of the market, trade, economy, politics, peace, and war returned numerous as was the case in Mecca before the start of Islam. The adherence to the rules of Islam became more of a mechanical process rather than an act of worship and obedience to god.

The point here is that the collapse of the Islamic state in 1924 culminated a long process of decline. The removal of the state was a declaration of an end of a civilization that lasted for more than thirteen centuries. The collapse of the Islamic state, the removal of its ideology, and the end of its civilization had devastating impact on the world of Islam and the world at large. The majority of the Islamic lands fell under the colonial occupation of European powers. Within these states, chaos has replaced order, ignorance and backwardness replaced knowledge and progress, corruption and greed replaced the Islamic morals and ethics. Despite the tremendous wealth of oil and natural resources in the lands of Islam, the number of poor people within the Muslim world exceeds 50% of the total number of poor in the world. Internal and external wars since the decline of Islam have devastated the land, killed millions, forced millions into exile, and caused millions to be considered refugees within the land that once before was their land as well.

At the world level, the removal of the Islamic state and its civilization left the world to be dominated by two materialistic ideologies: socialism and capitalism. For the first time in history dating back to the rise of Christ (PBUH) and later Mohammad (PBUH), the world has been vacated of godly-based systems. Socialism thrived for seventy years and dominated a large part of the world while totally rejecting the notion of a god behind this world. The impact of socialism on the lives of the people had been more than devastating, atrocious, and grievous. Now that is history, and historians continue to document the era of socialism. As I stated earlier, socialism will not be thoroughly investigated in this book.

On the other side of the fence, capitalism ruled and thrived under the notion that god has to stay out of the domain of money, politics, and social lives of the people. The record of capitalism has been notoriously disdained in the domains of poverty, child mortality, education, health, and security. Immoral values of greed, selfishness, egoism, arrogance, mockery, and derision have become the norms of both political and economic domains under capitalism. Part 1 of this book has argued the decline of capitalism and its imminent collapse.

It should be immediately stated that the decline of Islam and the removal of its state and civilization from the world was not due to internal faults and defects in the foundation of Islam as was the case with socialism and capitalism. On the contrary, it was the departure from the foundation of Islam which led to the decline rather than the compliance with its principles. The close observance of the divine revelation and the strict compliance of its ordinance and rules caused and facilitated the first rise, expansion, and spread of Islam, its state and civilization. It is the same cause and reason that is driving the second rise today.

It can be argued the rise of Islam today is caused by necessity as well as ordinance and obligation. Since the collapse of the Islamic state and the removal of the Shari’ah, the Muslims in Muslim-majority countries have experienced some of the worst conditions ever. The geopolitical distribution of the Muslim lands shows a great disparity and irregularity. This is evident in the composition of small states with less than a half million population but with extremely large wealth and very large states with more than one hundred million extremely poor people. Kuwait, for example, has less than one million Kuwaiti nationals with more than $140 billion GDP. Egypt, on the other hand, has a population of more than eighty-four millions and a GDP of $165 billion. This huge disparity in wealth created unbearable conditions which have promoted serious calls for the integration of Muslim lands and the unification of Muslims under one state. Initially, the unification calls were prompted by Arab pan nationalism.42 After several setbacks experienced by Arab nationalists, the call for the integration of Arab lands and states was carried forward by Islamic advocates.43

The industrial revolution which was a distinctive feature of the twentieth century seemed to have missed the majority of the lands of Islam and Muslims. The Ottoman Islamic state before its collapse was shouldering Europe in manufacturing capabilities and industrial infrastructure. After its collapse in 1924, the wheel of inventions, industrial growth, and manufacturing came to a terminal halt. Not far a way from where I live close to the point where the river Yarmouk and river Jordan meet, there is an astonishing sign of the freeze experienced after the collapse of the Islamic Ottoman state. A railroad bridge which was built at the end of the nineteenth century by the Ottomans and then destroyed by the British during World War I has never been repaired; it stands as a witness on how the industrial infrastructure froze for the past one hundred years. Aside from light transformational and oil-gas production industries, the majority of Muslim countries are almost vacant of any significant heavy industry.

After centuries of rule of law and high ethical standards for government, the Muslim states became among the most corrupt states worldwide. Figure 29 shows the corruption ranking of Arab and Muslim states.

The corruption perception index (CPI) measures the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain.”44 Except for four states, the Arab and Muslim states scored less than 5 on a scale from 1 to 10, indicating a high level of corruption. The 37.5% of the states worldwide which had score less than or equal to 3 are either Arab or Muslim states. Corruption conditions have impacted all aspects of life in these countries and have become a driving force for regime and system changes.

Before the decline, Islamic schools and universities in Andalusia, Baghdad, and Cairo ranked top in the world and were the source of knowledge and enlightenment. British historian Sir John Davenport reports on a letter sent by King George II of Britain to the caliph in Andalusia asking him to enroll a delegation from England into Islamic universities.45 Since the decline of the Islamic civilizations, the universities in the Islamic world have fallen behind. Figure 30 shows the ranking of universities around the world. There is only one Arab university within the top 200 universities in the world, two among the 500 top universities, and only four among the top 1,000 universities. Based on a calculated higher education scoreboard, all Muslim and Arab countries lag behind in their higher education score with Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich country leading the score with 38%! In the wider scope of the Muslim world, Turkey has one university among the top 500 and Iran has one in the top 1,000 schools in the world. Given these devastating and demoralizing figures in higher education, it is only natural to expect a parallel decline in the industrial sector as discussed earlier.

Perhaps the most shocking outcome of the decline at the political level was the occupation of Palestine by Israeli Jewish people following thirty years of colonial rule by the British. In 1948, armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon were unable to take control of Palestine after the withdrawal of British soldiers.

This was a result of total collapse of the geopolitical system of the Muslim world after the removal of the Islamic state and its systems. Less than twenty years later (in 1967), the same countries suffered another defeat by the Israeli forces and lost more land in the war. Whether it is in the diplomatic, political, or military fronts, the Arab and Muslim countries could not achieve any reasonable success in resolving the conflict in Palestine. Other geopolitical problems surged in Kashmir, Eritrea, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Azerbaijan.

Internal wars between Muslim countries, despite the strong prohibition of fight among Muslims, have consumed millions of lives. Among the most overwhelming and shocking was the war between Iran and Iraq, which lasted for almost ten years (1980-1989) and consumed more than one million casualties on both sides. Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt fought a bloody civil war in the early 1960s. Pakistan and Bangladesh fought several wars before Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan. Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, and the consequences of the war ensued until Iraq itself became a victim of occupation by the USA. Along the boarders of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, a war has been going on for decades between Muslim Kurds and Muslims from Turkey and Iraq. The toll of the decline on the unity, integrity, and security of Muslims has been more than shocking.

Political corruption, wide disparity of wealth distribution, lack of industrial infrastructure, education backwardness, steep poverty, occupation, and low health standards created a deep polarization between the general public and the political leadership. Almost without exception, the political leadership in the Muslim world maintains a grip on power and authority using brutal police force supported by foreign intelligence and backup. The relationship between the general population and the authorities had been remarkably hostile. This can be seen from the annual human rights reports, which reveal horrible stories about torture, imprisonment, sanctions, detention without charges, and in some cases mass murder of political prisoners.46

Repulsive and repugnant conditions which prevailed in the Muslim world at the start of the twentieth century created an atmosphere conducive for revolutions and change. Two parallel movements began to formulate almost simultaneously in many of the Muslim states. One movement was characterized by nationalism, while the other one was more geared towards Islam. But since Islam has just been evicted out of the political scene in a most humiliating manner, the Islamically characterized movement was too soft and reluctant in voicing its objectives and ambitions. The nationalist movements were more vocal, violent, and forceful. Nationalist movements were able to organize the national liberation movements which led to an official liberation of the majority of the countries from the rule of colonialists. To a large extent, the nationalist movements were also able to draw the support of the Islamic movements which existed at the time. In the Indian subcontinent, the nationalist movement of Muhammad Ali Jinnah was able to recruit the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami (the Islamic Group) led by Syed Abul A’ala Maududi. In Egypt, the nationalist movement led by Gamal Abdel Nasser was also able to enlist the support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

By the middle of the twentieth century most of the Muslim and Arab countries had gained their “official” independence from British and French colonial powers. Nationalist movements of Nasser and the Bath parties in the Arab world, Ali Junah of India and Pakistan, and the Kemalists in Turkey have enjoyed triumph and support. On the other hand, Islamically oriented movements were overshadowed by sentiments of nationalism and patriotism.

The role of Islam in challenging the new conditions which emerged after the collapse of the Islamic state was minimal during the first half of the twentieth century. The general theme which clouded the Muslim world during that period was that Islam as an ideology was to blame for the decline and backwardness. In plain words, the general public of Muslims lost confidence in the ability of Islam to lead them out of the deep decline they plunged in. Consequently, scholars like Muhammad Abduh, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Rashid Ridha focused their writings and scholarly work to convince the general Muslim public of the validity of Islam as a religion with a rational creed.47, 48 Their main concern was to create a positive image of Islam in the minds of people.

The first two major Islamic movements were created almost at the same time in both Egypt and the Indian subcontinent. The Muslim Brotherhood was created by Imam Hassan al-Banna of Egypt in 1928, five years after the khilafah was abolished. The movement’s main concern at the time was to restore the image of Islam and to restore confidence in Islam as a way of life. It was not until the 1950s when one of the prominent thinkers and leaders of the group, Sayyid Qutb explicitly wrote about the necessity to resume the life under the dominance of Islam.49, 50 Sayyid Qutb was executed by Egyptian government in 1966.

Maududi established Jamaat-e-Islami movement in India in 1941, which paralleled the brotherhood in Egypt.51 The Islamic group in India contributed to the separation of Pakistan from India and the creation of Pakistan. Maududi proposed an Islamic constitution for the newly created country. Despite the involvement of the group in the creation and stability of Pakistan, the country ended up to be one more secular state in the land of Muslims.

In 1953, another movement (Hizb ut-Tahrir) was created in Jerusalem (Al-Quds) by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani. This time, Nabhani focused on the necessity to reestablish the state of khilafah which was demolished in 1924. He realized, though, that the collapse of the Khilafah was a result of the Islamic decline and not the cause of it. Therefore, he incorporated in his movement ideas, thoughts, and procedures deemed necessary for a revival of the Muslim mind-set before the state can be reinstated.

The governments in the Muslim world took very strong steps to prevent any of the Islamic movements from realizing their objectives. Members and supporters of the movements faced persecution, imprisonment, exile, denial of rights for passports or work, and execution in some Muslim countries.52 The earlier Islamic movements led a nonviolent approach in pursuit of their goals. Nabhani maintained that the first rise of the Islamic state was accomplished by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) using only political and ideological methodology and that militancy was prohibited at the stage of building the state. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Jamaat-e-Islami also supported this approach and moved to make use of the democratic processes, whenever they were made available to them.

Throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, the major Islamic movements led a strong but nonviolent struggle and managed to confirm Islam as a main ideology seeking to shape the life of the people and to run their economic, political, and social affair. While the focus of attention was on countries in the Middle East and Pakistan, another movement was shaping up and ready to produce fruits in Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini had already started his own movement and was preparing his followers for a revolution in one of the fiercest police states in the area. In 1979, Khomeini succeeded in his revolution and was able to topple the regime of the shah of Iran using nonviolent means of revolution. The Islamic revolution in Iran proved to the masses of Muslims across the entire Muslim world that Islam has the capacity to challenge existing governments and deploy some form of Islamic rule. The revolution in Iran boosted the efforts of other movements which were making very slow progress at that time. In the meantime, the regimes in other Muslim countries increased their pressure against the movements and forced some of them to become more violent and aggressive.

The pressure and oppression practiced by various governments and their police and intelligence services created an atmosphere of violence and counter violence in the Muslim world at large. This had led to the creation of a new phenomenon within the Islamic movement, which promoted militancy as a means for retaliation against oppression as well as a means to take over the state by force. Within these conditions, the movement of Al-Jihad emerged in Egypt; the majority of its members have been previously imprisoned and tortured in Egyptian prisons. At the same time, a jihad war broke out in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation. This war drew fighters from all over the Muslim world; it also drew and enjoyed the support of the United States and Western Europe. Muslims who were looking for the Islamic triumph, as well as those who have been demoralized and persecuted in their own countries, found the proper place for them along the borders of Afghanistan.

By the time the war ended in Afghanistan and the Soviets were forced to pull out, an army of trained militant Muslims was in tact. Having received extraordinary training in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda emerged with strong emotions of victory and strong convictions to replicate their experience in other parts of the Muslim world.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe delivered to the Muslim world new states, which previously were not considered part of the Islamic world due to the dominance of socialism. The newly created states were soon engulfed by the dynamics of the Islamic movements.

By the end of the twentieth century, the status of Islam and the Muslim world can be summarized as follows. The Muslim populations worldwide continued to exhibit several signs of the decline which characterized their lives almost one hundred years earlier. Political oppression was still in effect. Occupied lands have not been liberated. Poverty was still on the rise. Human rights continued to be violated by regimes and governments supported by western powers, officially condemning human rights violations, but practically endorsing the violators. Globalization had deepened the local economic problems. Politically, nationalism had failed to change any of the conditions of the people. Political leaders linked to the Western powers proved to be among the most corrupt worldwide. Furthermore, world ideologies are not measuring up to their slogans and promises. Socialism had failed its own people and had collapsed altogether. Capitalism had failed the majority of the people in the world and had left more poor than rich, more oppressed than free. All pointers and indexes point into the direction of Islam as a potential and viable solution and savior.

The dynamics of the local, regional and international conditions singled the Islamic movements as the most influential and most capable of shaping the future. The public opinion has shifted almost entirely towards the Islamic rise and the reestablishment of its state and civilization. In the eyes of many observers, the rise of Islam to the driver seat of the political leadership is no longer a debatable issue. It has become a matter of time, which is becoming nearer by the day. Towards the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the Islamic movements which have been facilitating the next phase of the rise of Islam fall into one of three categories.53

First: The militant groups, which emerged after the Afghan jihad war as well as the result of excessive persecution practiced by governments against Islamic activists. The militant groups usually confuse the concepts of jihad in Islam with the methodology for Islamic revival. Example of these groups are the former jihad group of Egypt, the Front of the Islamic Salvation (FIS) of Algeria, the Islamic courts of Somalia, Taliban of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Al-Qaeda. Quite often, we see all of these movements referred to as Al-Qaeda, which is not necessarily true.

Second: The evolutionary groups. These groups existed throughout the twentieth century; they believe that the resumption of the Islamic way of life will be accomplished gradually and over an extended period of time. These groups use the local elections and political processes to gain power and influence. Through elections, the groups hope to influence the laws and regulations and tilt them towards Islam. They also hope to gain access to the common public opinion platforms and official media. Examples of these groups include the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait; the Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan and Bangladesh; the Islamic Justice and Development Party of Turkey; and others.

Third: The revolutionary groups. These groups believe that Islam as an ideology should be installed as one installment in the same manner Prophet Mohammad created the state when he arrived at Medina. They do not believe in militant approach for massing a revolutionary change. Rather, they rely on the support of the public opinion as well as the support of the stronghold elements in the society. Examples of this group include the Khomeini movement, Hizb ut-Tahrir (global organization), and Tanzeem e Islami of Pakistan.

All the Islamic movements, irrespective of their philosophies and methods, insist that the revival of Islam and the reestablishment of its state are both a necessity and an obligation. It is a necessity because of the conditions which engulf the Muslim world as well as the rest of the world. It is an obligation because Prophet Mohammad established a state which became responsible for the implementation of Islam and was continued after the death of the Prophet by his companions. These two factors (the necessity and the obligation) have significantly contributed to the recent trend of the rising Islam.

The grounds for this trend were cultivated by a lengthy ideological struggle between the ideas of Islam and those of nationalism, socialism, capitalism, democracy, fascism, and all ideas which do not incorporate god at the root of their systems. Similar to the thirteen years period of Prophet Mohammad’s mission, the struggle of the Islamic movements was faced with serious repression within their local societies and states. The oppression was as cruel as the one launched by the society of Mecca against Prophet Mohammad and his companions. The difference is that this one was more sophisticated and equipped with technology and more repressive means.

There is a wide sense of agreement worldwide that the triumph of the Islamic movement is imminent and inevitable. The time and conditions are more suitable than ever to reinstall Islam as a comprehensive ideology which will resume its role in the local, regional, and world orders. Besides the work of the Islamic scholars, activists, and movements, several historic events contributed to the phenomenon, where Islam is ready to assume a position on the stage of world ideologies. These events and conditions are summarized below.

First: nationalism, being the strongest opponent of Islam especially in the Arab world, had suffered serious defeat. The Arab Israeli wars revealed serious failure and inability of nationalistic movements to resolve a long standing occupation of Palestine. The last stronghold of Arab nationalism was defeated in Iraq when the Ba’ath party failed to prevent a humiliating fall of Baghdad. In Palestine itself, the nationalistic Palestinian movement could not stand in the face of the rising Islamic militant groups. The election polls uncovered this phenomenon in the majority of the Muslim lands. Wherever elections were allowed to be conducted in a rather open and transparent manner, members of the Islamic movements easily surpassed members of the nationalist movements. This was evident in the Algerian elections in 1992, when members of the Islamic Salvation Front won most of the parliament seats leaving behind the Nationalist Liberation Front. The first free parliament election in Jordan in 1991 revealed a majority for members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Even in Iraq where elections took place for the first time after the removal of Saddam and the Ba’ath party, members of the Islamic movements from both Sunni and Shi’a sects won the majority of the seats. The same was repeated in Turkey, and to a lesser extent in Pakistan.

Second: The collapse of socialism and the Soviet Union. Socialism as an ideology was the main instrument used by nationalist parties in the Muslim world to claim justice and promote wealth distribution. This tactic was used mainly to quell and suppress the Islamic movement by depriving them of an appealing platform through which they can influence the masses. The impact of socialism and the Soviet Union began to slow after the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets in 1979. When the Soviet Union was ultimately dismantled in 1991 and socialism was demolished, Islam and its uprising movement enjoyed a tremendous success. Muslim republics who came out of the Soviet Union added extra power to the already-powerful Islamic uprising.

Third: The Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and the subsequent war. The war launched by the US and UN coalition forces to evict Iraq from Kuwait dramatically changed the dynamics in the whole region. For the first time in many decades, a voice of serious opposition rose from Saudi Arabia. Until 1991, the Saudi monarchy maintained a close grip on its population and operated with almost zero internal opposition. After the end of the war, the Jordanian intelligence released thousands of activists from prisons and reinstated parliamentary elections which brought members of the Muslim brotherhood to the parliament. Egypt relaxed its harsh treatment of the Muslim brotherhood and allowed their members to run for elections.

Four: The Islamic revolution in Iran. As stated earlier, the revolution proved to the Muslim masses that Islam has the capacity of staging a revolution, building a state and society, and challenging most repressive regimes like that of the shah of Iran. Besides, Iran began to provide direct and indirect aid to various Islamic groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Jihad.

When Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) migrated to Medina in the year 632, he built an Islamic state and an Islamic society, with a structure, foundation, and pillars derived from the pure divine revelation. He was warned time and again in the Quran to keep a straight path as ordered by his Lord. In Surah Al-Shura (chapter 42, verse 15), the Quran directs this call to Mohammad, “So unto this religion of Islam invite people; and stand firm on all that is ordained by Allah as you are commanded; and follow not their desires but say: I believe in whatsoever Book Allah has sent down, and I am commanded to do justice among you.” With this type of order, the Prophet could not have built a state with nationalistic or cannibalistic flavor. He could not have built a society with specific favors to Arabs, or rich men, or special elites. The only characteristic of the sate and the society he built was Islamic. The only sovereignty that existed in his state was that of Islam. This character gave that initial state enough power and energy to survive for nanny centuries. Even when the seeds of decline hit the state, it took hundreds of years before it collapsed.

It is interesting to note that in one of the prophecies of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) he described the stages of the Islamic reign. He 54

described the first stage to be the stage of prophethood and mercy, which historians agree that it was the period during which the Prophet was the ruler and then followed by the four guided caliphs. Then he describes a stage of dynasties reigning over the Islamic state. The third stage is the state of dictatorship, where the rules of Islam are abrogated by force and the rulers gain their positions by force as well. Then the Prophet described a final stage where Islam rises again and he describes this stage as “Khilafah following the model of prophethood.” Having said that, it is not difficult to see that the Islamic models which have emerged in the last few decades are but semi-models compared to what the Prophet had described. The first of these models was the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although the Iranians succeeded in staging a massive revolution, they ended up building an Islamic state with sectarian Shi’a and nationalist Iranian characteristics. The local rules and laws are mostly Islamic, but the overall character of the society and the state remains particular to Iran and to the Shi’a school of thought.

In the Sudan, the government experimented with another model in the 1980s. They converted some of the laws in the country into Islamic laws. Not all laws were converted into Islamic ones. The laws of the economy, foreign affairs, and political structure continued to be secular. The Islamization of the laws in Sudan was finally terminated.

The Taliban in Afghanistan was another mode of a semi-Islamic model. Unlike the revolutionary approach of Iran, the Taliban gained power as a result of a civil war they launched against the regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban model of the Islamic state, although short-lived, did not match to the model implemented and promoted by Prophet Mohammad. On one side, it was a state for Afghanistan and the Afghan people; on the other side it applied a certain vision of Islam adopted by the ruling faction. More importantly, the Taliban model did not deploy the Islamic systems of economy, financial affairs, and foreign policy.

The Saudi model is yet another semi-model of the Islamic state. The local laws and regulations and the court system in Saudi Arabia are mostly Islamic. But the economic system, the financial system, the foreign affairs, the government structure are not modeled according to Islam.

The limited success in implementing semi-models of Islam shows how far the Muslims have drifted away from a true model of Islam. After centuries on the path of decline and almost hundred years after the collapse of the Islamic state, it is not surprising that the Muslims have lost a clear vision of the comprehensive Islamic model. The political system of Islam is quite often mixed with the democratic ones due to similarities in some practices, like election and accountability. The economic system for a long time was confused with socialism, and lately it had been mixed with some forms of capitalism. This is due to the weak understanding of Islam, which resulted in the decline in the first place.

For Islam to resume its ability to disseminate justice and gain the appreciation of Muslims and non-Muslims alike, the complete set of coherent systems of Islam should be recreated. Today, Muslims and non-Muslims alike see only one or few aspects of Islam whenever Islam is discussed. The image of the Islamic state has been linked more to the image of Taliban in Afghanistan than to the state that Prophet Mohammad created and was carried out by caliphs Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali. The image of Islamic economy is more linked to the Islamic banking in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia than to a more comprehensive one like the one which prevailed for many centuries. The image of Islamic politics is more associated with the politics of Iran than those advanced by Prophet Mohammad and his successors.

Today, more than any time in the past, there is an urgent need to sketch a more practical and comprehensive image of the Islamic model of governance and finance. This is necessary for Muslims who have been marching a long marathon towards the reestablishment of Islam. It is essential for them to know precisely what is it that they are trying to build, lest they build another system and label it with Islam. It is also necessary for people in the world at large, so they may know what kind of ideology will rival the ideology of capitalism.

A thorough description of the ideology of Islam in terms of its foundation, pillars, and structures is long due. There are numerous publications which describe one or more aspects of Islam. However, very few have addressed in great details the ideology in terms of its intellectual foundation, systems, and methodology. This description is beyond the scope of this book. It will be the subject of another publication. The focus of this book will be on the economic part of the ideology since this is the most relevant part to the current global economic crisis. Furthermore, the economic system in Islam is probably the least understood part of the Islamic systems by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. A particular emphasis will be given to the derivation of the economic principles from the divine sources of Islam. The economic system in Islam will be the subject of the next section.