Ali Abdel Raziq - Islam and the Foundations of Governance - Essay Example

Al-Raziq was a firm believer that Islamic texts should be kept away from politics and must always be neutral in any kind of political debate. Al-Raziq's arguments were clear and simple, he stated that two major sources of sharia, the Quran and Sunnah did not demand or altogether reject the caliphate, secondly, there was no ijma done by the scholars upon the necessity of keeping the caliphate, thirdly, the caliphate had only brought disasters in the Muslim world and there were no logical arguments to re-establish it. The book also criticized rulers who used Islamic laws to form political guidelines and rules for the ruling authorities. Furthermore, the book stated that the role of Prophet Muhammad was sole as a religious spiritual teacher and nothing near a political leader. These statements called on for huge debates and unrest between different groups of the Islamic world.

Al-Raziq has been declared as the father of secularism of the state and not only the society, in Islamic governance. Secularism separates a state from all religious linkages and allows people from different religions to be treated equally by law regardless of religion by the ruling authority or the majority of the country’s population.
Al-Raziq never called keeping an Islamic government unlawful; he furthermore declared that Muslims altogether may agree to any form of government they want to keep as long it kept the common interest of the society they are ruling in their mind. This shows that altogether, al-Raziq had a very humanistic approach toward the formation of government and supported democracy.

Ruhollah Moosavi Khomeini was born in the early 1900s and is famous for founding the first-ever Islamic government called the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was a politician and a revolutionary, the brains behind the Iranian Revolution that took place in 1979. After the Shah of Iran was overthrown, Khomeini became the sole ruler of the country and created a constitution solely on the bases of Islam and its teachings.

Khomeini’s thoughts and opinions regarding the system he was trying to impose changed over the period; these changes were evident in his speeches and reforms. Ruhollah Moosavi Khomeini originally supported the monarch rule, keeping in mind that sharia was followed at all times, later he opposed the monarchy and said that an Islamic jurist as a leader would ensure that the shariah was followed by the masses properly. This jurist needed to be in line with the interest of the masses and had to be answerable to the government. It still is unclear whether or not Imam Khomeini intended the Islamic Republic of Iran to be democratic or not, Khomeini’s statements supported and opposed the democratic rule in the country over the period.

However, Khomeini never saw politics as a means to attain power, a trick to exploit and take advantage of the people. Khomeini believed that religion did not complete if the relationship between god and man was found. He believed that Islam had been misinterpreted and believed that Islam and politics went hand in hand. He found it absurd to have left the two entities alone and always implemented rules from the Islamic sharia on his people. Khomeini argued that the Quran itself contained more political and social issues as compared to ethical and ritual issues which made it all the more clear that Islam had a very close relationship with politics.

His second argument stated that leaders of a religion are considered role models and since neither the Prophet Muhammad nor his family kept aloof from politics, it was unreasonable to keep Islam away from politics. Thirdly, Khomeini wanted to have a practical implementation of Islam. He wanted the Islamic principle of zakat and khums to be followed. He wanted to bring social justice and believed only Islam could fix society. This however brought forward another debate regarding how Khomeini never touched the economic implementation of Islam, within his state. Read More