Quranocracy ROT DIIMOCBACY ROB AUTOCBACY ROB TBlJOCBACY '7ben ~ made you heirs in the land after them to see bow you tJX)U/d behave." (AI-Quran 10: 14) Dr. SaY.)'id Abdul Wadud ' August 1990 Published by: Khalid Publishers 50-USMAN BLOCK, NEW GARDEN 10W7V IAHORE-54600 TEL:864394 Printed by; Kbalid AI. Naseem at: ANNOOR PR1NIT:.RS & PUBLlSI1F.RS 312 FAISEL NAGAR, MULTAN ROAD, IAHORE-25 TEL: 275826 ", :'/', ' ~: 1 FOREWORD Democracy has been a terrible experience in Pakistan, since its inception. The events. that took place before the year 1958 I.e .. before the first Martial Law in the country and those that took place after the year 1988 i.e. the end of the last Martial Law. have been so tragic and so disgraceful that sometimes it appears as if no government exists in the country. The failure of Western democracy is due to the fact that Pakistan came into existence as the outcome of Two Nation theory and the very survival of the country depends on the introduction. here. of an Islamic Social Order. On the other hand. the basic principles of an IslamiC Social Order are incompatible with the baSic principles of Democracy. The remedy for this ailment is to make a fresh start from the very beginning. by giving the Constitution of the state a new fonn consistent with the Qurantc fundamental prinCiples. That is the only way to make the state of Pakistan. happy. prosperous and progressive. We must realise that the government of an IslamiC State is neither Aristocracy in which the supremacy is that of privileged persons; nor Autocracy in which the supremacy is that of a dictator or an absolute ruler. nor Bureaucracy in which the offiCials reign supreme; nor Theocracy in which the priestly class is the dominant authority: nor Democracy in which the sovereignty lies in the people; but it is a "Quranocracy' in which the sovereignty lies in the injunctions. laws and permanent values given by the Quran which is the only final. complete and un-adulterated revealed Book. now present on the fact of the earth. The contents of this book shall serve as a gUide in order to put into practice an IslamiC Social order in the country. free from exploitation of all kinds. In the first chapter of this book we have described the defects of a regime based on Western democracy and the incompatibilities of Western democracy with the Islamic Social Order. Further our own experience of democracy in Pakistan has also been described in some detail. In the second chapter of this book. it has been stated that after centuries of unsuccessful experiments based on man-made laws. modem man is still in search of the kind of laws which are eternal and unchangable. applicable to all. at all times. These laws are available inside the Quran only. which is the last revealed book of Allah. A fairly detailed description of pennanent values has been provided in this chapter. In the third chapter. it has been stated that the emergence of Nation 2 States in the world. has produced a dtsasterous effect on humanity. and that all the political. economic. moral and social problems of the world are the result of the concept of Nationalism. Nationalism has split up humanity into offensive groups. each gtOUp being the fOrmidable foe of the oUler. It has been described further that intematiGnalism is not the remedy for eliminating the effects of nationalism. The remedy lies in universalism which is the political goal ,prescrtt>ed by the guran for humanity. In the fourth chapter of the· book. have been described the basic principles of the guranic. Constitution for an Islamic state. which is the ultimate objective of writing this book and which shall serve as a guide to the making of a fresh constitution. in case we are determined to make Pakistan a real Islamic State. 'Ibis Constitution based on the fundamental principles of the guran, shall provide a way out of the present difllculties in which we are deeply entangled. The survlval of the State of Pakistan depends on adopting the way of life prescribed by the guran. The fifth chapter of this book deals with the position of AHADIS and FlAg laws in the Constitution of an Islamic State. In the sixth chapter. of this book. it has been said that the guran . does not prescribe the form of Government for an Islamic State. It has been left for the Muslim Ummah to make its own dedsion in this respect according to the demands of the tlnie. However, the forms of government prevalent in the modern world have been described in this chapter for the interest of the readers. and finally the views of the writer in th1s regard. I earnestly, request the inteWgentla of Pakistan especially our learned lawyerS to ponder over this work and give their comments: because it is only' after a combined effort that we can reach the goal of establishing an Islamic Social Order in Pakistan. 3 CBAPTlCR 1 DEMOCRACY .The Evolution qf Gouemmental Organisation The history of mankind Is a story of unsuccessful experiments. trials and tribulations. Man produces a concept. gtves It a tr1al and after centuries of dreadful. conflicts. bloodshed and wars. comes to the conclusion that the concept he had produced was wrong. Then he brtngs forwards a fresh concept which Is generally opposite to the previous one and thus begins fresh experiments on it. nmt also proves unsuccessful. after passing through the same unfortunate events. The Ufe of man. political. social and economic. has reached the present stage after passing through a series of such vldous cycles. However. in the following lines we shall deal only with its political aspect - Man Is a $OC1al animal. He cannot live· without a sodety. In a society struggle between ind1v1duals or groups of ind1v1duals. for seUlsh motives. Is a must. On the other hand the resolution of conOicts needs a third person to put things in order. To begin with. the head of a famlly took this position which further evolved into tribal organisations. the head of a tribe assuming a supreme personality whose dectslons became incumbent on the individuals of the tribe; and thus a primitive form of government ortglnated. Later on, in the prim1ttve sodeties the priests became the dominant power (and this condition sttll continues in some societies). 1be priests came to be considered as representatives of deities. with super-human powers. 1bey became awe-inspirtng and nobody could think of disobeying them. 'IbIs gave origin to theocracy or sovereign power of priests. At other places. some powea.rful persons began" to suppress the weaker ones by their brutal force and thus gave origin to Autocracy or DiCtatorship and Kingship. Later on. the autocrats rea1tsed that it was rather d1fIlcult to keep people sub1ugated to their brutal force which they thought must be associated with an aspect of sense of respect by the people. for them. On the other rumd the priests realised that for them in order to maintain a respectful position Is getting difBcult without a force. Thus the kings and the priests.. by mutual understanding. d1v1ded the 4 supremacy of power into two parts. The priests accepted the Kings as the "Shadow of God" and the Kings declared that they have assumed the supreme power. by means of the' intermediary of the priests. Thus in practical life the priests became the supreme power in matters related to religion and the Kings a supreme power in worldly affairs. th~ It is apparent for what has been described above that in this·change in the form of Governments. the concept which remained common to all. throughout. was the concept of the I"\1le of one individual or one group of individuals over another group of individuals. The history of the rule and exploitation by kings and priests makes a tragic reading in which the humanity became.crushed by their brutal force in one way or the other. Origin of Democracy When the beastly" practice of Autocratic and Theocratic rulers reached its zenith. some Western thinkers Originated the idea that in order to eliminate the misery of mankind. the system of government should be based on the mutual contract of the people. Thus the theory of was "SOC:;,ial Contract" introduced by Hobbes and Locke. But Rousseau (1712-1778) gave It the practical shape. He said that every man wants freedom but that is an Impossibility. Thus let every individual person allow p.is to get absorbed into the will of the sOciety. tri other words. .~. to make the general will of the society the ultimate source of authOrity. Th.eoretically it appeared to be a good idea but the difficulty arose in putting the general will of the people. into practice. It was not possible to detCrmine the will of every inqiv1dualin a society. Thus it was decidea to base the form· of Government o,n tJIe representativ~s of the· people; and if opinions differ. the decision of the majority be accepted. Thus Democracy came to be based on the following suppositions- . (1) In a democratic Gove~ent. there remains no distinction between a ruler and the ruled and the people form their own Government. . (2) The will of the people C$Il be determined through their representatives. I (3) In order to find out. whether a certain dec1~ion .is right or . wrong. the standard laid down is the opinion of the majority of representatives. \ . (4) The minority is bound to acc;ept the dec1sion of the majority and the people as a whole arei bound to obey them. 5 Thus Democracy came to be considered as the Government of the people. by. the people and for the people. It developed chiefly In the West but the people of Asia and Africa who had suffered tremendously on account of their being exploited by the Autocrats and the Theocrats with the resultant mlsery and degradation. followed them and took democracy to be a gift from heavens and a panacea for their ailments. The basic concept. In which democracy rests. namely that no body has a right to rule the other. is ideal but the point is whether it has achieved or is capable of achieving the aim it has laid down before itself'? West has been the cradle of democracy. Let us see what the thinkers of the West have got to say about it. Professor Alfred Cubban of London Unlversity says In his book 'The Crisis of CMllsation"; "Considering politics In terms of actual facts and not of abstract theories. it must be aclmowledged that the identification of ruler and the ruled. assumed In the theory of the sovereignty of people. is a practical ImpoSSib1l1ty. The government is one set of people and the governed another. Once society has developed beyond the smallest and the most pr1m1tlve communities. they never have been and never can be the same. The pretence that they are, can only lead to the worst excesses of power In the state (P-68J. Another thinker Rene Guenon says In his book - 'The crisis of the modem world":- ''If the word democracy is defined as the government of the people by themselves. it expresses an absolute Impossib1l1ty and cannot even have a de-facto existence In our time any more than In any other. It is contradictory to say that the same persons can be. at the same time, rulers and ruled. because to use the ArIstotelian phraseology the same being cannot be "In act' and "In potency' at the same time and In the same circle of relations. The relationship of the ruler and the ruled necessitates the JOint presence of two tenns: there could be no ruled if there were not also rulers, if though those may be 1l1egtttmate and have no other title to power than their own pretentions: but the great ab1l1ty of those who are In control In the modem world lies In making the people believe that they are governing themselves. and the people are the more inclined to believe this as they are flattered by it and as they are In any case, Incapable of suffiCient reflection to see its impossibility. It was to create this 1l1usion that "Universal suffrage' was Invented. The law is supposed to be made by the opinion of the majority but what is overlooked is that this opinion is something that can very easily be guided or modtfled: it is always possible by means of suitable 6 suggestions to arouse In it currents moving In this or that direction as desired" Arnold J. Toynbee writes in his book. 'nle Present Day Experiment in Western civllisation 1962" -- Democratic parliamentary government Is a less efficient and therefore a most wasteful regtme than oligarchic parliamentary government and even a parliamentary oligarchy Is inefficient and more extravagant by comparison with a well managed authoritarian regtme". p. 35. Dqfects qfD em.ocracy in practice- IdealS of democracy are d1fB.cult to be realised in practical Hfe. Democracy demands from the people. a high degree of clvic capacity which involves intelligence, self control and devotion to a common cause, and capacity to subordinate to It private interests and desires. It relies on the splrit of gtve and take. It also demands time to share in common activities. to study the Issues involved. The common man Is indolent in politics. He is neither politically intelligent. nor sufilclently educated. He does not posses the capadty to understand political problems and Is incapable of intelligent action. Democracy is suited to a state in which the people who want to e:x:erdse power, are capable of sJnk1ng differences and cooperating for the general good. and have acquired knowledge and Judgment enough to elect suitable representatives and to Judge as to the propriety of general lines of policy. . I Leeky. accordingly characterised democracy as the government of the poorest. the most ignorant. the most incapable who are necessarily the most The average citizen has not the time. incUnation and numerous~ ab1l1ty to inform h1mse1C on the afl'alrs of the state. Lord Bryce, a fervent exponent of democracy points to the following defects. based on his personal observations of the major democracies in the world- (1) The power of money to pervert administration or legtslation. (2) Tendency to make ·politics a gainful profession. (3) Extravagance in administration. (4) The abuse of the doctrine of equality and faJ1ure toappreclate the value of adminlstrative skill. (5) The undue power of party organisation. (6) The tendency of legislature and political omclals to play for 7 votes in the passing of laws and in tolerating breeches of order. OUr own eqerience qfD emocrG.CJI in Pakistan The conclusion one draws. from the writings of the above said thinkers and others. Is that democratic parliamentary government Is a deception and a most wasteful reg1me in which the achievement of a small group of people Is to make fools of a larger group of people In a society; because opln1on Is something that can eastly be guided or modtfled.We. In Pakistan. can easny verify this fact from our own experience in this country. The experlment of a demO(:I'atic parliamentary form of government in Pakistan Is a dreadful experience. since this country came Into being. Its fallure is due to two different causes - (1) The deception and wastefulness lies in the very nature of this reg1me. as said by the thinkers in the West. (2) The incompatlblllty of the democratic parliamentary form of government with an Islam1c government. Every election in Pakistan brings forward a good number of imbeclles. moat of them having poor academic background. Their opln1on can easny be purchased. by anybody who possesses 8umclent money. They get elected because of their wealth with which they. buy votes and after being elected they get this wealth spent by. them. multipUed manifold. by unfair means. They can even be bribed to change parties and nelther the buyers nor the bought feel ashamed of it. The term Horse-trading is prevalent for this disgraceful act of these people. They are so much absorbed !it" greed and selftshness that they have neither time, nor capacity. to perform the function of law-making · ·~1J.LI.Jl-"';;-..J.J')"'>;' 'A human idea can not arise from the brains of two hundred donkeys'. Majority of them have no political background and some of them are mere oratorical prostitutes who sUr human sentiments not by display of body contours but by display of rosy words. Oratory is a precious human virtue but it becomes a stnful act when used for selfish ends. In a country like Pakistan politics 18 an easlly accessible vocatlQn. Every vocation needs some sort of training. Businessman. mason,' carpenter. black-smith or even a barber needs training before he starts his carrier; but politicians In Pakistan are an exception. A shrewd politician manoeuvres to hold a firm grip on the mental outlook of the products of his oratory. Following are the pre-requisites of his success:- He 18 capable of constantly arousing the passions of his followers. without allowing them to use their own intellect. He can create a strong 8 impression amongst them that his thinking is mature and far superior to anybody else's. He can act as diplomat rather than a man of principles. He Is well versed in the art of agitation and law breaking. He knows how to bring abasement to his opponents. no matter how many lies he has got to invent. He can feign strong resistance without acceptlng even the truth offered by his opponents. He is capable of deplctlng the darkest picture of the present regime and a brightest picture of the future which he assures to bring about. He Is competent to kindle the light of impossible hopes in the minds of his followers. and in order to keep this trick going. he never states anything definite but presents his programmes In the guise of attractive reforms. At every step he can tb:lnly assure his followers that they are on the threshold of success. He can keep his followers fully confident that it is only their party which is on the right path. all others are vague and unsound. He can keep them constantly on the move. never giving them respite to pause and think. These leaders try to keep their followers away from the divine fundamental principles. As a matter of fact they theinselves are not aware of them. They themselves assume the role of a ftnal authority in making deCisions. Some of them succeed in creatlng such an awe amongst their followers that they are always spell-bound and consider all that is said by their leader as In:mutable. But the hold of political leaders on the imagination of their followers is often not as firm and lastlng as that of religious leaders. This is another category which has api>eared on the scene of Western democracy in Pakistan. As a matter of ffi.ct they are either Idiots; or hypOCrites. If they are not able to visualise the clear Quranlc guidance that the sovereignty in an Islamic State is that of the Book of Allah. they are Idlots;on the other hand if insplte of their belief in the guidance of the Quran. they still sUck to a form of government in which sovereignty is that of the people. they are hypOCrites. The b1llionaires use their ftnances and the Mullas use their glib tongue: and the poor masses follow these exploiters like a herd of sheeps. being impressed by their false proclamations and petty monetary gains during the election campaigns. only to lead a life of misery and degradation later on. Inspite of all the drawbacks of a democratic parliamentary form of government. the Western people stick to it because they have got no other alternative. Those people are scepticle of divine truths. But in a country like Pakistan whose origin and stay Is welded with the belief in the divine truths. Western democracy Is and shall always remain a source of disorder.