Presented below are the Urdu translations of two very competent scholars:
1 in the earth.” (Shah ‘Abd al-Qadir)
And when your Lord told the angels: “I will make a na’ib in the earth.” (Mahmud al-Hasan)
2. Verse 26 of Surah Su‘ad
O David! We have made you a na’ib in the country; so govern people with justice. (Shah ‘Abd al-Qadir)
O David! We have made you a na’ib in the country; so govern people with justice. (Mahmud al-Hasan)
3. Verse 55 of Surah Nur
God has promised that those among you who have accepted faith and have done righteous deeds, in fact He will in the coming times make them hakim2 in the country the way He made hakim those prior to them. (Shah ‘Abd al-Qadir)
God has promised those among you who have accepted faith and have done righteous deeds, in fact He will in the coming times make them hakim in the country the way He made rulers those prior to them. (Mahmud al-Hasan)
The words na’ib and hakim used in these verses are a translation of the Arabic words khalifah and istikhlaf, and it is quite evident that they do not have any religious connotation in them except if a person claims that every word used in the Qur’an becomes a religious term.
As for the view that according to Islam there should be only one global government in the world, it is evident to every person of learning that the Qur’an is absolutely devoid of any such directive. Two Ahadith are, however, cited in favour of this view. One of them is: God’s Messenger (sws) is reported to have said that prophets ruled the Israelites; so, when one of them passed away, another would take his place; but there is no prophet after me; however, there will be rulers and they will be plenty. It was asked: “What is your directive about them O Prophet?” He replied: “Fulfill your oath of allegiance with the first one and then with the one who is the first after him.”3 The second Hadith is: “When the oath of allegiance is pledged to two rulers, kill the second one.”4 Though this second narrative is not sound as far as its chain of narration is concerned, yet even if it is regarded to be correct, it is an incontestable reality that none of these Ahadith state in any sense what has been derived from them. What is said in these narratives is that if Muslims pledge their oath of allegiance to a ruler and then another person rebels against him and invites people to pledge allegiance to him, then each Muslim should adhere to his first oath of allegiance. Moreover, if the second person claims to be their ruler and some people even pledge their oath of allegiance to him, then he should be executed.
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Scholars of Islam must bear in mind that the precepts of God’s religion must remain pure and unaltered. No scholar, jurist or Hadith doctor has the authority to make people liable for a directive for which the Almighty has not made them liable. Hence I have written and would like to repeat that the establishment of United States of Islam based on the union of countries in which Muslims are in majority can be the desire of every person and we can also strive to fulfill this desire, but the view that such a union is a directive of the Islamic shari‘ah defying which Muslims are committing a sin has no basis.
(Translated by Dr Shehzad Saleem)
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1. The word na’ib means “deputy” or “vicegerent.”
2. The word hakim means “ruler(s).”
3. Bukhari, no. 3455; Muslim, no. 1842.
4. Muslim, no. 1853.
5. Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Sunan al-kubra, no. 16549, 16550.