from the Seerah of Muhammad

ideological leadership, the Muslims have started listening and obeying based upon who the person
is and not what he says. This is in stark contrast to an old bedouin woman who at the time of
Khalifah Umar (ra) questioned and corrected him (ra) when ‘Umar (ra) proposed to put a cap on the
dowry. The old bedouin woman had this sharp quality of judging what was being said based upon
Islam and not upon who was speaking.
As defined earlier, the statesman looks after the affairs of the people. In doing that, the statesman
may face the public opinion which is contrary to the ideas or thoughts he adopts. The Prophet
(saaw) faced such a challenge many times. After the trip of ‘Isra’ and Mir’aj, the Prophet (saaw)
found himself face to face with a public opinion discrediting his journey, questioning his (saaw)
mental health, and in general denying the incident altogether.
Prior to ‘Isra’ and Mir’aj, Islam was being accepted at a rapid pace. Ibn Ishaq in his commentary of
the Seerah notes that Islam spread in Mecca among Quraysh and other tribes. Ibn Ishaq says, when
the news of the miraculous journey reached many of those who accepted Islam, they committed
apostasy. On hearing the news, Umm Hani bint Abi Talib requested the Prophet (saaw) to keep a
low profile and to keep the news secret for a while to avoid the turning away of Muslims from
Islam. With. out any hesitation with full Confidence, and with the strong attitude of a statesman, the
Messenger of Allah (saaw) declared: By Allah, I shall Speak Out!
Thus, the statesman does not get distracted and diverted by the public opinion. Au contraire, he
manages to challenge and create a public opinion of his own. Today, those who claim to be
statesmen ride the public opinion. They take their guidance from their constituency Many were
Scared at times to declare a word of truth against the revolution in Iran because the revolution was
Supported by a strong public Opinion. More recently, during the surrender of Palestine to Israel,
many were scared to take a stand against what was happening such as Hassan Turabj who justified
the PLO - Israel accord as “something of necessity’ (Independent - 12/3/93)
Again, the statesman cannot afford to wait for the public Opinion to cool down before Presenting
his ideas and thoughts to the people. The statesman has to lead the public Opinion and not be led by
it. Thus, the statesman must remain in touch with the people regardless of how rejectionist they
might be.
History has Witnessed many statesmen who could be highly evaluated. It has always been the case
that when a great statesman dies, a vacuum is created However, when Muhammad (saaw) died, he
(saaw) left behind an army of statesmen The environment in which the Sahabah (raa) lived was ripe
for a statesman to blossom. They were highly involved in both the Political struggle to establish the
State and in the political life of the Islamic State. The political environment continued to exist and
remained strong for a long time. The Ummah continued to produce people at the level of the
Statesman, whether in the Position of ruling like Salahudin Ayubi and Sultan Abdul Hameed II or
outside government affairs like Ibn Taymiah and Ahmed bin Hanbal In short, the islamic
momentum Continued to be Strengthened by the existence of statesmen who Continued to be
produced as a result of the Islamic culture and way of life.
The lack of Muslim statesman whose ideology is based on Islam is not by coincidence. The
ideological and missionary campaigns against Islam and the Muslims by the European nations were
aimed on achieving such results. Their goal was to have Muslims alienate Islam from life, to have
Muslims start viewing Islam as a religion like Christianity or Judaism which are confined to the
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