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political islam 451It follows from this that, as Muslim-Believers, we will never allowanyone to challenge Allah’s rule ( al-ȧkimiyya) by claiming attributesthat are only His. Many states in this world adhere to this and are,in this respect, following Allah’s rule even though most of them aregoverned by non-Muslim-Believers, that is, by those who are notfollowers of MuÈammad’s (ß) message. In these countries we observethat the state’s main interest lies in the provision of service and goodgovernment in this life. It does not see its main task as administeringpeople’s affairs in preparation for the Next World. It seems foolishto them to try to save people from Hell by obliging them to a lifethat promises Paradise. Instead, the state guarantees a good healthservice, proper education, traffic control, material prosperity, nationalsecurity, defence of the state’s borders, and the like, all of which needproper planning and support from research institutions. Success andfailure of these things are based on the amount of knowledge andcompetence that went into the planning of these things; success doesnot depend on how often and vociferous we call for ‘God’s rule onearth’.The emergence of political Islam and the spread of armed militantgroups in the Arab-Muslim world have been the cause of muchconcern. We believe that, historically, the existence of militancy andviolence is the result of too much political interference from politicalrulers in matters of religious doctrine and practice. As a result, politicshas suffered from too much interference from religious scholarsin matters of policy and legal administration. This unholy alliancebetween religion and politics created a political culture in which ourhonourable scholars generally became too closely involved in theday-to-day running of the state, in particular during al-MutawwakÊl’sinquisition. The calamitous consequence of this involvement is thatour scholars have seemed to have turned a blind eye to politicalinjustice if they were faced with tyranny, despotism, and autocraticrule. They never seemed to have the courage or intelligence todevelop a theology of freedom, justice, and equality. For them, tobe free, in purely technical terms of the law, meant not to be a slave.The lack of any moral concept of liberty meant that such importantvalues as freedom of speech, the preservation of human dignity, individualautonomy, and freedom of religion have been entirely absentfrom the collective consciousness of Arab people. The Islamists’ cravingfor political power adequately reflects the lack of a mature and