The Prophet of Islam has said: “Perform your prayer as you see me performing it.” The same he said about Hajj. He said: “Learn the method of Hajj from my practice.” It means that there is an example in the Prophetic life for prayer and Hajj. So, Muslims must emulate this Prophetic example forever. But it is significant that the Prophet of Islam never gave any advice about politics. Although he was the head of the Medina state, he never said that make your political system by seeing my political practices.
This difference between ibadah (worship) and politics is very important. It means that as far as the ibadah is concerned there is a set example. And people are required to be guided by this example forever. But with regards to the political system, there is no such set pattern of politics in Islam.
The political system in Islam is based on the social condition of the time.
From this difference we can draw a very important principle, which is in contrast to the form of ibadah. The political system is based on the social condition of a given time. In every society, depending on the real social situation, the Islamic politic has to be adopted accordingly. From this difference it is very clear that Islamic ibadah has a set pattern forever but Islamic politics has no such eternal norms. Islamic politics can be termed as a kind of situational politics that is based on social realities.
This is the practical concept of politics. The Prophet of Islam has said: “As you will be so will be your rulers.” It means that Islamic politics is subject to people than to some fixed norms. In other words the Islamic government is a people’s government rather than any kind of theocratic government.
By seeing the Prophet’s life, one can say that there are three forms of an Islamic government: the first form can be said to be a secular government. The second form as a mixed government. And the third form can be called an Islamic government. Examples of all these three forms of political systems can be found in the life of the Prophet.
The Prophet’s Mecca’n period was the example of the first type of government. At that time Muslims were a tiny minority in Makkah and the majority of the citizens were non-Muslims. The Prophet accepted their rule which was established under their tribal parliament known as Dar al-Nadwa. The Prophet was even offered the position of the ruler of Makkah, but he refused because the society of Makkah was not prepared to accept a Muslim rule.
Follow your own religion in personal life and accept the status quo, in social or political life.
So, in this first period the Prophet accepted what may be called a secular government. In 622 A.D, the Prophet migrated from Makkah to Medina and settled there for ten years. This period is divided into two phases. In the first phase, Muslims and non-Muslims in Medina were almost equal in number so it was a mixed society. He accepted a mixed type of politics.
At that time there were two centres of power. One was the Prophet himself, the second was a Jewish leader, Kab bin Ashraf. So, it was a bi-polar state. The Prophet accepted it as it is without trying to bring a change in the political status quo of Medina. Then, in the second phase of the Medina period the whole city had accepted Islam. Medina became completely a Muslim society. At that time the Prophet of Islam implemented Islamic Shariah in Medina.
The Islamic political system is a peoples government rather than any kind of theocratic government.
Due to this nature of politics in Islam, there is no political structure in the Islamic system. For example in the early period there were six heads of the Islamic political system — the Prophet himself, Abu Bakr, Omar bin Khatab, Uthman bin Affan, Ali bin Abi Talib, and Umar bin Abdul Aziz. All six were heads of the state in the early period of Islamic history, but every one of them was appointed political head in a different manner. The most fundamental component of a political system is the appointment of the head of state and without a common method of their appointment there could have been no single political structure of Islam.
This kind of political concept is a great contribution of Islam towards mankind. Political history shows that people always have some fixed political ideas and they want to establish and implement these ideas. Such an ideology is bound to create conflict leading to violence. Islam gives a very practical formula in this regard. The formula is based on two points:
One, is to follow your own religion in personal life and the second is to accept the status quo, in social or political life.
In other words, it is to establish a democratic government based on free and fair election. It is this formula that can save people from all kinds of political confrontation and wars. Only such a political ideology can ensure the establishment of peace in every situation.
