Tafseer of Surah At-Tauba Verse 109

"Which of them is the best? He that lays his foundation on piety to Allah and His good pleasure? Or he that lays his foundation on an undermined sand-cliff ready to crumble to pieces? And it does crumble into pieces with him, into the fire of hell. And Allah guides not the people that do wrong (oppressors)."

Tafseer:

"Which of them is the best?" This is a question, which indicates a confirmation i.e. it is the one who lays his foundation on piety to Allah and His good pleasure.

"Or he that lays his foundation…ready to crumble…" This refers comparing the one mentioned above (built his foundation on piety and Allah’s pleasure) to the one who chooses to build his foundation on the edge of a sand-cliff , which can be swept away by floods and/or ready to crumble.

"And it does crumble…fire of hell", The building will crumble into the Hellfire and the person too will be in the fire.

"Allah does not guide…" Allah will not give success to those who are oppressors and will not facilitate guidance to them.

The noble verse is putting an analogy to the believers who choose to base their actions according to Taqwa and Iman i.e. like the one who wants to build a house and choose very strong foundations (Iman and Taqwa). The person (house) will stand firm and the person will have success and peace.

Bu the one who does not choose Iman as his foundation is like the one who builds his house on a very weak foundation e.g. sand-cliff, which can crumble any minute and be swept away. Therefore, the person will not be successful and have peace. Rather he will be harmed and in the Akhira will fall into the Hellfire.

Comments

Alhumdolillah, the Muslim seeks actively to put Islam as a basis for his life. This manifests clearly and vividly, particularly on a Friday and during the month of Ramadhan. Many who find Muslims that were not praying during the year, now find the same Muslims competing for the front row of the tarawih prayer.

More than this, the Muslims refused to put a foundation other than Islam when it comes to the issue of the ibadah.

But what about the public life? Surely Islam has provided a foundation and a solution for this.

If our foundation is not Islam these matters then what is it. Clearly one of the words that has confused many Muslims is the term POLITICS and its relationship to Islam.


‘Understanding Politics’

1. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "He, who wakes up in the morning and his interest is anything other than Allah, then he does not belong to Allah, and he who wakes up in the morning and does not care about the Muslims, then he is not amongst them."

He (saw) also said, "Banu Israel used to be looked after by the Prophets; when one Prophet died, another one would succeed him, and there will be no more Prophets after me. However, there will be Khalifs and they will number many." This means that the Khalifs will take care of the Muslims. He also said, "There will be amirs; you will acknowledge some of their actions as good, and you will deny some of their actions. He who knows the reality of their actions, he is innocent of them and he who rejects their actions is safe, except for the one who accepts their actions and followed them." The Sahabah (ra) asked, "Should we fight them, O Messenger of Allah (saw)?" He (saw) replied, "No, as long as they establish the Salat(i.e.implement Islam)."


A sahabi, Ubadah ibn Samith, said, "The Messenger of Allah (saw) invited us to give bayah. Thus we gave him (saw) our pledge that we will listen and obey at all times, during ease and hardships, in issues we like or dislike, and we will not dispute the wali ul amar, (the one who is conducting our affairs), unless we see an open kufr, and we have clear evidence for it."

These Ahadith constitute evidences obliging Muslims to involve themselves in politics. Linguistically speaking, the Arabic word, Siyasa, is translated into English as politics, which means, "to look after the affairs of the people." This definition was mentioned by Al Feroz Abadi, in his dictionary, Al Khamoos al Muheet. He also mentions the word, Sasa as the root word of siyasa. In addition, he indicates that it can be translated to, "I perform 'sasa' to the citizens," meaning that "I order the citizens to do this and to abstain from this," or "I conduct their affairs."

To take care of the Muslims means to take care of their affairs, which in turn means to conduct their affairs. To know what the ruler is doing to the people and object to the wrong actions he performs is considered politics because it involves taking care of the Muslims and looking after their affairs. Fighting the rulers for failing to do their job also constitutes taking care of the Muslims. Involvement in politics is mandatory upon the Muslims because all these Ahadith are decisive orders for Muslims to take care of themselves by involving themselves in politics.

2. Involvement in politics and looking after the affairs of the Muslims necessitates removing any harm which either the rulers or the enemy could inflict. The first hadith, which talks about, "He who does not care about Muslims...", came in a genera(aam) form, because the word Yahama (to take care), was linguistically related to the word, "Muslims", which in turn came in a general form. Taking care of the affairs of the Muslims includes removing the harm inflicted by the ruler or by the enemy. In the hadith in which, Jareer ibn Abdullah said, "I came to the Prophet (saw) and told him, 'I pledge on Islam,' the Prophet (saw) added, "to advise every Muslim." In this hadith, the word "advise" came in a general form that includes advising Muslims by removing any harm imposed by the ruler or by the enemy. Based upon these ahadith, Muslims must involve themselves in the internal politics of the State as well as the international politics. All of this is done in order to question the ruler's actions and to monitor the conspiracies and plots of the Kafir nations.

3. The Shariah rule states, "Anything that is needed to perform a Wajib is in itself becomes a Wajib."

Questioning the rulers necessitates knowing their actions and policies and monitoring the actions the State carries out in order to conduct its external and internal affairs. So, questioning the State cannot occur without the awareness of its actions and policies, and Muslims cannot fulfill their obligation of involving themselves in politics without this awareness. Because the obligation of political involvement cannot materialize in the absence of political awareness, then this awareness in an obligation upon the Muslims. So, if the State opens up a hospital in a big area and declares its opening without staffing it with enough doctors, the Muslims should not simply walk away contented. The political awareness would determine whether the State made this declaration for propaganda purposes, or whether the State actually wanted to provide patients with medical treatment and announced that the hospital needs more doctors to fulfil this task. Also, if the state signs a trade, cultural or educational treaty, with another state, and announces that it signed this treaty in order to exchange merchandise or to secure some needs, the Muslims would have to study the text and content of the treaty to determine whether it was based on Islam and whether the treaty would serve the interest of the Muslim or the interest of their enemy. Having an overall knowledge without understanding the nature of the action is not enough. Political awareness implies understanding the actions and policies of the State and the rulers, not just in a general context but in the details as well.

4. Observing the world situation, knowing the motives of the various nations and people, and taking note of the relationships existing between and among these nations, is mandatory on all Muslims because of the Shariah rule previously mentioned. Muslims are ordered to carry the Da'wah to the world through Jihad. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "I have been ordered to fight mankind until they proclaim that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammed is the Messenger of Allah." Muslims are also ordered to protect and maintain the security of the Islamic State from its enemies. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "Every Muslim stands on the borders of Islam, so let him not be infiltrated from that spot." When the Quraish attacked Medina in the Battle of Uhud, the Prophet (saw) went outside Medina. In the Battle of the Ditch, the Prophet (saaw) dug a trench surrounding Medina to fight the invading disbelievers. Carrying the Dawah to the world and defending the Muslim lands by repelling the enemies in those days could not have happened except by thoroughly understanding the international situation. Since, carrying the Daw'ah of Islam to the world and defending the Muslim lands is an obligation upon the Muslims, then knowledge and understanding of the international situation, as well as the relationships and currents among and between nations, is an obligation.

5. Today many organizations, such as the United Nations, NATO, OIC, and the League of Arab Nations, exist in order to influence and dictate the world order. In addition, the political vocabulary, which includes such terms as 'World Peace,' 'Arms Control,' 'Human Rights,' and 'Anti-terrorism' is used to influence the international public opinion. In order to comprehend the reality of the international situation, Muslims must understand the nature behind these organizations and terms.
 

Further Reading

New Section - Fiqh

The Unique Aqeedah of Islam

Islamic Aqeeda is both Spiritual and Political

Iman calls for action

Perfecting oneself through changing society