The Arab world has witnessed a tremendous change that has wiped the political grime of dictatorial rule in the region. A wind of change blew in Tunisia, introduced new outlook and vision among the populace and provided them with potentiality to remodel the socio-political structure of the country. It gradually spread to Yemen through Egypt, Libya, Syria and Bahrain. People with every shade of opinion including men and women, young and old went to the streets to show their intolerance of barbaric rule of persecution, and determination to change. This became the voice of every man and the agitation turned into a mass movement.
The wave of change in the region astonished the world how, all of a sudden, the people became so politically conscious and forceful that they had thrown the powerful ruling elite away. This is the reason why political analysts have identified the change as a spring, uprising, awakening, revolution and revolt to the dictatorial regime. Some of them consider it the outburst of people’s reaction against repression, subjection and tyranny. Whatever the name one wants to give to this change, the glaring fact is that this is the manifestation of ‘political will’ and ‘political power’ of the populace who had been living under subjugation and suppression, facing exploitation and oppression by the hands of conscienceless and reprobate heads of states for quite a long time.
In some quarters, it is considered a great tiding towards democratisation where people will be governed by themselves, taking care of their needs, interests and aspirations. Thus, according to them, this is the new dawn raised in the region after a long, sombre and murky night and brought hope, expectation and aspiration of bright future.
It is too early to predict the result it will produce at the end of the day, whether it will change the fate of the people, provide them with comfort and ease or repeat the same story where the ruling elites dance at the tune of their masters for a few personal petty gains. However, we have to look at whether democratisation will take place in the true sense and bring about peace and prosperity, and lead to the well-being of the masses.
The period from December 2010 to summer 2011 was turbulent and tempestuous in Tunisia due to the strong public protest and agitation. The trouble began when a young street vendor set himself alight in protest of his maltreatment and confiscation of wares. People agitated not only against this incident but against all depressing and distressing socio-economic and political conditions. They were not ready to accept any compromise except to change the political leadership. The mass movement became so strong that Zine El Abidine had to yield to the demands of the public, leave the throne and flee to Saudi Arabia. After a month, on February 27, 2011, a new government took the office and lighted the lamp of new hopes and aspirations.
The success of people’s struggle for a better future gave strength and inspiration to other parts of the region where public protest gained momentum and intensity. We witnessed it in Egypt when on January 25, 2011, people rallied at Liberation Square (Midan al-Tahrir) and demanded the removal of President Hosni Mubarak. After massive protest, agitation and rallies, the President had to vacate the office on February 11, 2011 and the path for fresh election became clear. Later on, an election was held on new mandate and the Islamic party took lead, headed the parliament and came in power though it was denied the right to work. Still later, the election for the President was also held and again the same story was repeated and Mohamed Morsi, a candidate of Muslim Brotherhood, won the election and was sworn in as the new President of the country.
The result was welcomed by every quarter and the people had shown great enthusiasm, happiness and joy and promised full support to him. He has to take the long road as he faces hurdle after hurdle but he is determined to bring about change and fulfil the aspirations of the people because he is among them and stands shoulder to shoulder in their struggle for freedom.
MASS MOVEMENT
The mass movement flared up to other places, demanding better social and economic conditions, democratisation and abolition of corruption, injustice and nepotism. In Algeria the struggle goes on while in Morocco the protest compelled the government to initiate reform in the political system. The same thing has happened in Jordan where the King dismissed the Prime Minister and promised social reform to avoid protests. Libya faced the worst conflict where the rebellions, with the help of the West and NATO, fought a fierce battle to remove Gaddafi who was mercilessly killed in the encounter. After that, an interim government was formed and an election was held; it seems the liberal party is heading the political scene.
The wave of people’s awakening also reached Bahrain resulting in a massive protest against the establishment. Yemen also faced turmoil when people protested against the prevailing condition and two persons set themselves on fire to add fuel to the flames. In Syria the agitation started on January 26, 2011, gradually gained momentum and became a mass movement. Now with the help and support of the West the movement has turned into civil war and fierce fighting continues. The agitators are impressing Bashar al-Assad that he will meet the same fate as Gaddafi.
The expression of political will in the form of public protest and mass movement for social metamorphosis in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is described as awakening against authoritarian rule and modernisation of religious ethos as people appreciated democracy, the modern political system based on modern values of freedom, justice, human right and good governance. These should be considered in the light of two misunderstandings. One, Western intellectuals always equate Muslim heads of states with Islam. They consider Muslim rulers the representatives of Islam and, as such, their ways of governance as well as their shortcomings are attributed to Islam. Similarly, the government headed by Muslims are considered Islamic. The history after the caliphate era is full of instances where Muslim rulers had not at all exhibited Islamic norms of behaviour, not followed the Islamic way of life and not adopted the Islamic system of governance; rather they suppressed the popular voice, persons and organisations that struggled for the implementation of Islamic social and political systems.
Muslim Brotherhood is a glaring example whose members and supporters were imprisoned and tortured by Gamal Abdel Nasser who had come to power with the support of the Islamic group. Recently, the government of Bangladesh headed by Muslims is repressing the Islamic party and torturing persons affiliated to it in order to weaken the opposition and remain in power.
Two, intellectuals always undermine the role of an Islamic party and persons devoted to Islam in creating conducive conditions for change. They strongly plead for the implementation of Islamic principles in private and social life and struggle for the establishment of an Islamic state. They created great resistance against exploitation, corruption, nepotism, unethical behaviour and despotic governance. They suffer a lot and have paid a heavy price of all these acts but they continue with their struggle for meaningful change.
They are labelled as ‘fundamentalists’, ‘obscurantist’, ‘orthodox’, ‘undeveloped’ and even ‘terrorists’ but they never hesitate to strive for good and righteousness and resist against evil and iniquities. They change the minds of the people and impress upon them that the only remedy to all of their ailments was to implement the Islamic way of life.
In the present series of changes, they have played a significant role in initiating and supporting the movement and directing it towards the desired goals. This is the reason they received vehement support in Tunisia and Egypt. In other places, due to the external influence, they could not produce the desired result. The autocratic rulers with the help of the West suppressed their voices, crushed them and made all efforts to wipe them out.
THE ROLE OF THE WEST
The irony is that the west collaborated with autocratic Muslim rulers in their undemocratic and inhuman acts. It always supported dictators and autocrats in the Muslim world and closed its eyes on their tyrannical, oppressive and repressive acts to crush popular voice and triumph out the opposition. The reasons were that the Muslim rulers were acting on the dictates of the west, serving its interests and crushing Islamic forces considered opposing to western interest and worldview. The west was also not comfortable with Islamic forces opposed to its interest and considered a hindrance in its domination of the region.
Muslim rulers also gave this impression to their western masters that Islamic forces would be against its interest and could not carry its agenda forward. The west only kept mum, showed its neutrality and withdrew its support when it found public protest strong, drastic, and difficult to continue the dictatorial rule further. The west left these rulers alone at their time of peril. At the most, it rewarded their loyalty by helping them to settle in other countries. It happened in Iran, Tunisia, Egypt and other places.
In the present struggle of change, the west has shown its neutrality for those countries where Islamic forces were strong and expected to take control. It supported with military might the opposition in countries where it has to settle the score with the heads of states who had hesitated to completely surrender to its will. Had the west supported the Islamic forces that were struggling for righteous, moral, humanitarian and welfare society and good governance, the condition of the Muslim world would have been different.
As far as the modification of religious ethos is concerned, one should bear in mind that the revolt against the present political setup and in favour of democratisation is neither against Islam nor amounts to its modification; rather it is a step to the revival of Islam.
At the outset, Islam is against dictatorial and autocratic rule in a country. The political system of Islam is based on the shura system where decisions are taken with mutual discussion and consideration of facts in the interest of humanity and in the implementation of the sovereignty and suzerainty of God; not on arbitrary will of a person. The status of the head of state is of a servant and representative of God and not of a master.
In this capacity, the foremost duty of the head of state is to establish Divine rule, implement Divine system and act on Divine guidance. If he fails to do so or acts against the principles of Islam, he is liable to be ousted from the office as the first caliph had declared at the time of holding the office. Moreover, the modern values of freedom, justice, human rights and good governance which the so-called democracy cherishes are not new to Muslims and Islam.
Islam is the only system that implements these values in the true sense and to the extent they are beneficial and helpful in leading meaningful, moral and happy life. Islam places great importance on human dignity and right to exist. In Islamic perspective, if anyone saves a life, he/she saves the whole humanity. In modern socio-political setup the implementation of these values is subject to interpretation and group affiliation. The affluent and dominant groups can enjoy all rights and take advantage of all good principles while the weak and downtrodden are deprived of those rights. We witness it in Palestine and other places as well as in the political scenario of the world.
DEMOCRATISATION
Some people think that the establishment of democratic governments in the region will bring about solace and solve the problems of Muslim societies. Democracy, in fact, is not the remedy to all problems. First, it requires a distinct atmosphere where people will be free to exercise their rights according to their will and preferences. They should not be compelled and forced to act on others’ will. They should have no apprehension that their decision and participation in the political system will bring misfortune and difficulty. It is, thus, necessary that people must have economic freedom and they should not depend upon others for their livelihood. In the absence of this condition, democracy is meaningless and it cannot deliver good; rather it will create chaos and disruption. We witness it in Pakistan where the “vadera” system exists and the bulk of the population work in the estates of landlords who give them meagre amounts of money as emolument and try to retain this condition so that the people depend on them and act on their will.
Similarly, the establishment of democracy and holding of election in the presence of heavy alien armed forces is a great hoax as we find in Iraq and Afghanistan. Apart from this, democracy also requires a distinct bent of mind and an attitude by which people understand the importance of their political rights and their impact on the political system which we call ‘political efficacy’. In view of that, people should exercise their political right in the best interest of society and nation and they should not be influenced by the temptation shown by the ruling elites in the form of certain privileges and flaring up of ethnic and primordial sentiments.
The ground reality is that democracy is not successful in Muslim countries whether it is Pakistan, Bangladesh or Indonesia. It creates infighting, disruption and corruption. The ruling elites employ different tactics and manoeuvre the election process to get the favour of the people and come in power. After that they concentrate in extracting privileges from the state and neglect the welfare of the public and development of the country. It creates a gulf between ruling the elites and the masses which gradually turns into tension and turmoil. Much of the time of the ruling elites is spent in alleviating the tension.
The democratisation process initiated by the recent changes in the Arab world has to prove its credentials. We have to wait and see. We hope that public representatives would be given free hand to work in order to create a healthy, peaceful and welfare society.
WELL-BEING OF MUSLIM NATION
Muslims are an ideological community. They have a sublime purpose and a system of life according to which they have to live in peace, harmony and cooperation with fellow beings. The ideology they carry is based on certain cardinal principles and enables them to lead a moral and virtuous life in this world. Their superiority is that they cherish, manifest and enjoin what is right, appropriate and virtuous, and forbid, reject and discard what is wrong, evil and undesirable. The system they follow and try to establish in this world is based on the sovereignty and ascendency of God and complete surrender to His will.
Muslims are, thus, supposed to manifest the suzerainty of God by their thought and action, follow His guidance and commandment in the true sense and establish His authority on earth. If they follow these principles, they can make their lives successful and meaningful and establish a God-conscious society. Otherwise, they will face disaster and destruction. The Divine system is in the best interest of human beings. It enables humans to adopt the right path, meet the requirements of existence in a dignified and desirable way, explore the bounties of God, enjoy and share them with other fellow beings. It develops human potentialities and equips them with qualities necessary to act as representatives of God, seek His pleasure and carry His mission to every nook and cranny. It creates a welfare and altruistic society where people take care of each other and join hands together to achieve the goals of life. It is a just and equitable society where people are free and adopt fair means to achieve the privileges of society, share the grief and joy of each other and strive together to develop and achieve prosperity.
The political system of Islam is based on three cardinal principles: suzerainty of Allah, man’s vicegerency, and supremacy of Allah’s laws as contained in the Qur’ān and the Prophetic traditions. Suzerainty of Allah indicates that He is the most Superior Being, Creator and Master of the world and, as such, deserves complete obedience from human beings in all aspects of their lives. He provides guidance to humankind to lead a virtuous, meaningful, happy and contended life. It must be followed and given preference by humans as it is perfect, above and superior to all man-made preferences either individual, family, class race or ethnic group.
Vicegerency denotes that humans are the representatives of Allah; they have to act on His commandments, perform their duties with utmost sincerity, treat His creatures in a just and equitable way and establish His order on earth. Humans are not the masters and owners of the bounties of Allah; they can use them according to their interest and desire but they are the trustees and must use His privileges and bounties according to His order and commandments.
Humans have no right to dominate and thrust their will on others and make them subjugate. Allah’s laws (Shari’ah) are supreme, given for the betterment of humankind and thus must be the basis of human acts and their relations with objects animate and inanimate, the foundation of all social institutions and bedrock of the governance of the state. These are the criteria of a good way of life, superb governance and true well-being of Muslims who are characterised by the Qur’ān as:
(They are) those who, if we establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong: with Allah rests the end (and decision) of (all) affairs (22:41).
If they follow these criteria, they can get triumph in this world and in the hereafter, can prove their credential as the best community and establish a precedent to the world how one has to live in this world with dignity and decency and make this earth worth living.
The changes in the Muslim world should be analysed and evaluated in light of the above principles. Will democratisation bring peace and prosperity or disaster and destruction? Will the new governments meet the needs and aspirations of the people or betray their trust? Will they establish Divine authority based on righteousness and virtues or human domination on humans based on their desire and egos? In a nutshell, will it bring spring or fall? Let us see it in the times to come.