The Holy Qur'an and Politics

As a God-centric Text, the Qur'an has a profound ethical vision that appeals to our individual and collective conscience to be good and do good in all phases of life. Indeed, historically speaking, the Qur'an brought about transformational change in the fortunes of a people by virtue of the strength of its moral and philosophical framework. Despite all the provocations and problems that the early Muslim community faced in standing up for freedom of conscience, and of religion within a pagan social framework; the Qur'an does not lapse into any strategies of coercion or intimidation in service of its religious outlook. In his Friday Sermon of 12 February 2021~29 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1442 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius explains the fatal mistakes made by the Mawdudians in seeking to deploy the Holy Text as a weapon of choice in the pursuit of capturing elusive State power. 

Elaborating on Qur'anic verses and Prophetic practice, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) points out that in the complex backdrop of a repressive society, Islam stood up for freedom of conscience in matters of religion- investing in the power of persuasion, not of force or compulsion. The nascent Muslim State's attempts at sovereign regulations on various matters cannot be confused with, and needs to be seen in isolation from the spiritual domain of Islam as a religious order. Any attempt at reading Qur'an as a mere  instrument of power politics- to be deployed in the campaign for seizing power at all costs- will corrode the very spirit and substance of the spiritual framework of Islam, notes Hazrat Saheb (aba) in the discourse.  The Friday sermon also shares recent Divine revelations received by Hazrat Saheb (aba).

Read the Friday Sermon Below: 

 

According to a Hadith, Allah can make things happen through politics that cannot be accomplished by the Holy Quran alone. This prompts some Muslims to argue that the first goal of the Ummah must be secular seizure of power. [According to them] It is only then that the teachings of the Holy Quran can be applied.

It is the Mawdudis who support this point of view. It has absolutely nothing to do with the practice of the Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Indeed, contrary to what is advanced, by the authority of Allah he (pbuh) had established the Holy Quran first; long before he came to political power. The teachings were observed [implemented / practiced] even though the political powers of the time opposed them [ie, against the Quranic teachings].

 

In light of what I have just said, the Hadith in question is in contradiction with the established practice of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). It is, on the other hand, with the verse of the Holy Quran which states - No compulsion in religion. Faith cannot be established by using coercive force; to force someone to believe [to have faith]. Several verses of the Holy Quran are clear on this.

Elections 2019: Whither Mauritius?

On the Forthcoming General Elections

As you know, Sunday, 06 October 2019, the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced as a Breaking News the dissolution of the parliament and fixed the date of the general elections on 07 November 2019. He made this announcement after he made the launch of the Metro Express on Thursday, 03 October 2019 which was funded by the Government of India, and after a live speech from India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is right after the launch that Pravind Jugnauth - according to the instructions from his Gurus and counsellors - without thinking, on Sunday the 06 October 2019 in the afternoon made this announcement. By doing so, he applied his authority with such arrogance and announced the political registration for 3 days: Wednesday, 09 October to Friday, 11 October, and the Nomination Day on 22 October, and he fixed the date of the general elections on Thursday, 07 November 2019. He had plenty of time to announce the general election until March or April of next year.

He ignored dates such as 01 and 02 November which are public holidays, as well as the 03 November that falls on a Sunday, but instead, he chooses another day [in the middle of the week]. A panic and great fear took hold of him, lest he loses in the upcoming election, thus losing this power, especially with so many scandals in his government. So, on 06 October he announced the elections for the 7^th day of November. He only gave a delay of one month to hold the general elections. He does not give the other political parties time to prepare themselves properly. It is true that after five years (2014-2019) the National Assembly must be dissolved by the end of December 2019. I do not want to go into details on this subject, but what is deplorable is that the date chosen for the elections falls on a Thursday where there are exams that will take place on that day for the School Certificate (SC) and Higher School Certificate (HSC) students. So, on 06 October, the day of the announcement, the Election Commission officials had to find alternative places so as not to disturb the conduct of these examinations.

So, out of 9,41,719 voters, 104,903 voters will have to vote on 07 November in a different place from where they are used to. These are tactics that he [the current Prime Minister] is using so that young students of the SC and HSC do not have time to think about which political party they are going to vote for because they have to focus on their final exams which are very important.

Students who have exams scheduled will be very worried on election day where there will be a lot of traffic jams and so they may be late in their exam rooms. The vagueness persists a lot on this case. Young students of voting age show their disagreement and anger and say that the government has not thought about all this and then everyone will not have the chance to vote and that’s a shame.

In addition, traffic jams will certainly affect the candidates [students]. All of this will have a negative effect on their schedule. Other candidates say that it is a bad choice to hold the elections the same day as the exams, because the votes of the young people are very important.

For me (the Khalifatullah) the right to vote is to have the future of Mauritius in hand so that it does not fall into wrong hands. So all voters must make good choices, without the slightest trace of communalism. They have to go to the polls, they have to fulfill their civic right to elect people who are honest, and who are not corrupt and who are respectable, so as to have a better future, a better Mauritius, a clean Mauritius for our future generations.

Faith, Freedom and Public Order

"ISLAMIC STATE" spreads Terror

In the context of the besiegement by the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) of some Muslim states by proclaiming a caliphate which has not been mandated neither by Allah, nor the truly pious people, both the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds now see themselves facing a real danger. 

After Al-Qaeda and other terrorist cells, the ISIS is doing havoc in Iraq and Syria and is trying by force and terror to make people succumb to their command. According to them, the first objective of the Ummah must be the seizure of secular power so as to be able to reign in supremacy. And so, without referring themselves specifically to the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), these people spread terror in both Muslim and non-Muslim camps. 

The world is facing a real crisis. That is why in this century, the Caliph of Allah, the Reviver of Faith of this century has been raised by Allah to thwart the purpose of any other false caliphate which is just like a flame blazing and burning further the fragile state of Islam.

We are in a state of emergency. 

Muslims must refer themselves first of all to the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of our beloved prophet (pbuh). What these so-called Muslims and defenders of the Ummah are doing has nothing to do with the practice of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). The latter (pbuh) had established the Quran first; long before he even gained political power. The teachings (of the Quran) were observed/ put into practice even if the political powers of the time opposed them. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) remains verily our only source of light. His ascension to political supremacy was primarily free of all injustice and coercion.

Elections and Political Faultlines in Mauritius

First of all I thank Allah (swt) who has given me the opportunity to continue the subject of the sermon which I addressed you last Friday. Like you all know, there remain only a few days for the General Elections in Mauritius, Rodrigues and Agalega – Wednesday 10 December 2014.

For all people of Mauritius, this General Election to be held on 10 December 2014 is a prospect to make Mauritius a second republic and whereby the ex-leader of the opposition shall become the Prime Minister of the island for 5 years, Insha-Allah, after having struggle really hard for the goodwill of all Mauritians. He is verily a man who deserves that position, with the intelligence, competence, and capacity as state leader. He is a honest man with great visions for the country. He spent 47 years in politics, struggling for all Mauritians, and he even escaped death (when there was an attempt to kill him when he was a young man) and ever since his young days, he plunged into politics and struggled for the rights of workers so that they may get their dignity and he protected them from being crushed by their employers. He gave a lot of himself for the people of Mauritius, but the Mauritians did not (or refuse to) recognise his value, competence and capacity. Very often the politicians and people from different religions who do not have any real competence, along with the socio-cultural groups have crushed this able man, honest, whereby nobody can say that he is power-thirst or that he stole something, or even was involved in fraud and corruption. He did not also protect male and female allies. That honest man is Paul Raymond Berenger, the historical leader. It is the fanatics who have all the time tried to create all sorts of communal problems to bar him from becoming Prime Minister. This shows to you that the sincere, honest and devoted people have all the time great enemies and adversaries who try to create all sorts of problems and spread communal talks for them. Such is the case also for Paul Raymond Berenger who had to face all these people who do not want him to become the Prime Minister of Mauritius.

General Elections in Mauritius: Prospects for Change

Like you all know here in Mauritius, as well as in Rodrigues and Agalega, we entered the phase of general elections which will be held on Wednesday 10 December 2014. Some 74 political parties have registered for the general elections 2014.

For a small country like Mauritius with a population of about 1,200,000, there are the two major political blocs who are engaging in polemics everyday with their congresses in the several circumscriptions, meetings, house-to-house visits etc. There is firstly the PTR/MMM Alliance, with the two leaders Navin Ramgoolam and Paul Berenger and there is also the other political bloc, MSM-PMSD-ML which call themselves “People’s Alliance” (Alliance Lepep). The motto of the PTR/MMM Alliance is a united people, a modern country and their aim is to make Mauritius a second republic, while the legislative elections stand along the presidential one (a proposal forwarded in the wake of a possible victory at the elections with at least three-quarters of seats). Therefore, Paul Berenger shall be then the Prime Minister for 5 years and Navin Ramgoolam shall be the president for 7 years. 

On the other hand, the People’s Alliance is completely against making Mauritius a second republic. According to their analysis, these two heads of the PTR-MMM Alliance (Navin and Paul) are power-thirst and are primarily seeking their personal interest instead of that of the people of Mauritius. They claim that this new plan (the second republic) shall pave the way for more dictatorship and they claim their own People’s Alliance is not at all like the adversary alliance, saying that they have formed an alliance for the people and (are) with the people. They further claim that they are not seeking power and that they are here to care for the people.

Therefore the Mauritians – an intelligent people – should bear in mind that Mauritius neither belongs to any political bloc nor to the majority, in terms of religious communities. On Wednesday 10 December 2014, each Mauritian shall have the opportunity to do a good clean up and remove all those who are power-thirst, fraudsters, incompetent and those who are sucking the blood of this nation in cups and thus reducing the Mauritians to a life of misery. Verily, everything is becoming quite expensive. The cost of living is high; price of all commodities have risen and there is no law and order as it should have, and consequently, there are lots of crimes, thefts, rapes, unemployment etc. There are a lot of graduates and professionals – doctors, lawyers, are other professionals – who are jobless. Their families sacrificed a lot to send them for further studies while others are amusing themselves with state money.

Islam and World Affairs

Contemporary Politics of Global Dominance

In light of the persecution against Muslims around the world, the ambition for world domination was largely the cause of the present evils. It divided the world into two major blocks with their satellites, satellites which change camps according to their advantage. There is a race for armaments. Science has evilly leagued itself in the manufacture of new weapons, more and more lethal. The world is now in a constant fear of a third world war, a war which, if broke, will certainly destroy the beautiful land of Allah with the super civilization that its inhabitants have produced over the centuries of hard work.


The adoption of a global system of Islamic government alone can relieve this high voltage. With such a system, all states have an equal opportunity to move freely and independently, each according to its own traditions, customs and temperament. No state or group of states no extension cannot feed and maintain, according to this system, aggressive designs against another state or group of states. A unified world government can be created if all states/countries are grouped in a Commonwealth and works.

Peace and the Collective Security of Nations

Of course this is an ideal condition, an end (for one and all) to ardently wish for. Islam envisages a more united organization where one can submit disputes between states/countries or state groups. The Refractory member who refuses to submit to the decision of the organization must be led by military intervention to comply with the discipline practiced by other member states. And if two parties of believers fall prey to fighting, then just as the Quran teaches us: “make peace between them. If one of them rebels against the other, fight the one that transgresses until it complies with the command of Allah. If it complies, then make peace between them with justice and be fair: for Allah loves the just.” (49: 10)