Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will make them rulers in the earth as He made rulers those before them, and that He will establish for them their Deen which He has chosen for them, and that He will, after their fear, give them security in exchange; they shall serve Me, not associating aught with Me; and whoever is ungrateful after this, these it is who are the. transgressors. (TMQ 24:55)
The objective of the Prophet’s (saw) Da’wah in Makkah remains the topic of much speculation and confusion among some Muslims. Some think that the Prophet (saw) didn’t target the establishment of the state, rather it just happened. Therefore, they surmise that all we have to do is to give Da’wah and the Islamic State will come naturally without calling or working for it. As evidence, they refer to what Allah has said in the ayah above from Surat an-Noor.
Whereas it is absolutely true that the Khilafah will not be established until Allah, the all Powerful, the Most Supreme has ordained it, He does tell us what we need to do in order for Him to grant this great gift. A cursory glance at the above ayah tells us that Allah has ordained us to first have Iman and then to work amal-us-salih (righteous deeds). The question is; what is this amal-us-salih (righteous deeds) that Muslims must do after having Iman? Can we perform any amal-us-salih (righteous deeds) and then Allah will grant us the Khilafah? For example, performing Salah, eating from the halal and having marital relations in a halal manner are amongst the amal-us-salih (righteous deeds). Will performing these actions result in the establishment of the state? To understand the details of the actions required to establish the Islamic State, we must study the Seerah of the Prophet (saw) to understand the objective of his Da’wah and to see what actions he took to achieve his goal.
Objective of Da’wah:
Study of Ayahs revealed in Makkah from the early days of the Da’wah gives us a clear picture that the objective of the Prophet was to establish Islam. This is clear in many Ayahs such as the following:
“It is He who has sent His messenger with guidance and the Deen of truth that he make it prevail over all other deen, even though the pagans may detest (it).” TMQ 61:9
“But it is nothing less than a message to all the worlds.” (TMQ 68:52), “and for him is the command….”(TMQ 28:70), “the command is with Allah…” (TMQ 40:12), “the command rests with none but Allah…”TMQ 6:57
‘Hukm’ (command) here means sovereignty. The Hukm and Sovereignty is for Allah and for Allah alone. Allah is demanding that there cannot be any rule other than Islam in society because Allah has sent Islam to “make it prevail over all other deens”. Islam cannot be sovereign while the society is ruled by man-made rules? It is clearly evident that existing man-made system must be replaced by the hukm of Allah. These ayat directly challenged the rule and authority of the Quraish.
“Verily, His are the creation and the Amr (command). Blessed be Allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the world.” TMQ 7:54
The word ‘Amr’ in this ayah refers to sovereignty. Again, how would sovereignty be His without the authority that implements the laws set by the Sovereign?
Furthermore, it is very clear that the Prophet called for “La Illaha Illah Allah”. Arabs realized what this meant. “No one is worthy of worship except Him” means that the society cannot refer to anyone but Him as the source of any guidance or legislation. How could this happen if the society kept its system, values and laws based on a man-made system? A society cannot be subject to two different sovereignties.
The above ayat, among many others, make it clear that the Da’wah was not a theoretical Da’wah. It was not a Da’wah for mere spiritual conversion of individuals to Islam while living life as individuals and a community, based on laws taken from a sovereign other than Allah.
Studying the Seerah
It is Allah Who chose and directed the Prophet for His message. Allah directed the Prophet (saw) in each and every step of the Dawah according to His precise plan. Allah gave His Prophet a clear understanding of the objective of Da’wah.
Within 3 years of receiving the first revelations, Muhammad (saw) had built a very strong group of Sahaba (ra) to perform the arduous task in society. It was then that Allah (swt) ordered him to go out and challenge the ideas and the political elite which the people of Makkah held dear. Allah (swt) directed him:
“Proclaim openly what you have been told and turn away from the Mushrikeen!” TMQ 15:94
After this Ayah was revealed, the Muslims went out in two rows; one led by ‘Umar bin al Khattab (ra) and the other led by Hamza Asadullah (ra). They headed for the Ka’ba in broad daylight to challenge the beliefs and practices of the rulers of Makkah. The leaders of Quraish were shocked. For the first time they saw white and black, slave and leader, rich and poor, all united as brothers with a common purpose challenging the ‘Aqeeda and the political authority of the Quraish.
After this, many ayat of the Quran were revealed challenging the beliefs and systems of the Quraish, and Muhammad (saw) took every opportunity to highlight the falsehood of the way of life of Quraish. These ayat condemned the economic corruption, exposed the social problems and insulted the idols of Quraish. The Muslims would recite these ayat of Qur’an like “Woe to those who cheat in the market” [Al-Mutaffifin] and “Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he!…” [Surat - Al-Masad], in their prayers in private and openly in public places like the Ka’ba, as a direct challenge to the economic practices of the society.
The political party of Prophet Muhammad (saw) challenged the leaders of Quraish.
The Prophet (saw) kept working in Makkah for 10 years. He (saw) attacked idol worship, and this attack was not directed towards the stones but rather towards the entire system. He (saw) addressed the systems that ran the society and relationships in the society. For example, in the economic system, cheating using the scales was attacked, and in the social system, zina and lewdness was attacked, in order to show the people that Islam has solutions for all problems. The Quran attacked the masses’ blind following of their leaders and ignorant forefathers.
Seeking Power
When the Prophet’s (saw) efforts did not conclude in undermining the foundations upon which the Quraishi society was built, destroying the confidence in the system and weakening the existing rulers to replace the prevailing system, he (saw) was ordered to seek help from the powerful.
It is clear from the discussions that RasulAllah (saw) had with the tribes is that he was looking for more from them than just their acceptance of Islam. He was also seeking their power so that he could seize power and implement Allah’s (swt) Deen on this earth. For example, after discussions with the tribe of Banu Amr bin Sasa’ah they asked him “who will have the authority after you” to which Muhammad (saw) replied “Allah gives authority to whoever He wills”. This makes it clear that the Prophet (saw) had come to them seeking power to implement Islam and that is why they asked him about who would have authority after him? If they had misunderstood the Prophet’s (saw) intentions, then the Prophet would have corrected them. Instead he declined their offer which implies that he approved their understanding.
In total he (saw) visited over forty tribes with a view to them entering this Deen and assisting him in seizing power, so that Islam could be implemented as a complete way of life in the form of a State. Success finally came with the second Bayah of Aqabah, where the Messenger (saw) was given the pledge by the influential people in Medina to protect him while implementing Islam upon them.
It is very clear on what his objective was from the beginning. If we put all of this together, then the entire picture is clear. The Prophet followed specific steps which ultimately led to the establishment of the State. He first gave da’wah to individuals to become Muslims, educating them in the house of Al-Arqam. He then attacked the society’s beliefs, traditions, laws, and leadership. He even offered them “a word if you say it, you will dominate the Arabs and the non-Arabs will submit to you.” He then continued outside of Makkah seeking the power to establish Islam. He approached the leadership of other tribes, such as Banu Amer, Bani Sheeban, Kalb, among others, calling them to Islam and offering them his leadership.
The Prophet (saw) understood what he was doing, and he worked according to the mission Allah had given him:
“Allah knows best where to place His mission. Soon will the wicked be overtaken by humiliation before Allah, and severe chastisement, for all their plots.” TMQ 6:124
Through careful and extensive examination of the Da’wah before Hijrah, the evidences overwhelmingly point to the fact that the Prophet was working to establish Islam as a political entity that would possess the authority to govern and administer the relationships and the affairs of society according to Islam.
Allah revealed Islam to Muhammad (saw) not simply as a collection of rituals or a general ambiguous collection of principles that would patch a few wounds of the society, but as a dynamic idea that called for the replacement of all existing systems and ideas and the subsequent restructuring of the entire society based on the Aqeedah of La Illaha Illah Allah. When one accepts Islam, acknowledging Allah as the only Creator and Legislator, that person abandons all other ideas and affiliations and replaces them with those dictated by Allah. In a similar manner, Islam came to shape society, demanding that society abandons its systems and codes, and restructure itself upon the Islamic Aqeedah and the systems emanating from it.
The Messenger’s objective of Da’wah must now be ours.
Source: aljunnah.com
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