Comments on Egypt: The Islamic objective of politics is "common good" by Jasser Auda
I was asked to
translate the note I made in Arabic about the Egyptian situation. Here it is. The situation in Egypt is quite complex and I
thought it was a wise choice not to comment on the many details. However, reading and watching many other
comments and even fatwas, made me decide to state -for the record- my own
stance on the Islamic issues and concepts related to these events. I will do
that in quick points and avoid details and names, etc.
- Politics in the Islamic paradigm is by and large not subject to fixed rules from the shariah. Political decisions are made on the basis of achieving public interest/good (maslahah). In this current situation, it is imperative to be open minded and flexible in assessing what is public good and what is harmful to the public, as well as what is possible and what is impossible. What is possible today is for the Islamist groups to continue to be part of the Egyptian political scene, and what is impossible logically is to return to their status before June 30, which is now simply history.
- We are dealing with a "nation state",
which is a different concept from the "Islamic state" that we knew in
history. It is not a correct analogy -from a juridical
point of view- to deal with a president as a "Caliph", elections as a
"bay'a" (pledge), or even with a military coup as an act of
"disobedience to the ruler". The former concepts are simply new concepts that have to be dealt with
in a new way for today.
- Leading a big, important, and strategic country like Egypt requires a lot of skill and expertise in making complex and integrative policies in all areas. Perhaps it is good for all to accumulate more experiences on how to effectively manage a country like this before running for the next round of elections.
- Political power is not an objective in its own right. It is, again, means to achieve common good. Thus, the ends cannot be sacrificed for the attempts to achieve the means! It is not a legitimate form of "jihad" to fight for the means and ignore the ends in this context.
- Based on the natural law of cycles, it is a wise decision to let the public anger against the Ikhwan and the whole "storm" pass and prepare for the next round, not to commit political suicide!
- Participating in uncontrolled street fighting that will certainly lead to blood shed of innocent people is a major sin in Islam. The sanctity of innocent people's lives cannot be compared with the sanctity of the rules of the political process.
- In a "democracy", the ballot box is a measure of people's choices, but it is certainly not the only measure. People could change their opinions and impeach a leader if they are convinced that he cannot continue to lead them, whether they are "right" or "wrong", and whether he agrees or not, and whether he was judged fairly or not. People decide, and it is too clear to deny that a major proportion of the Egyptian population showed a lack of confidence in the previous system.
- Conspiracies that changed the Egyptian people's minds could very well be true. However, even if the public opinion had changed based on lies and conspiracies, it is the ruler's responsibility to manage the crisis properly and seize opportunities to resolve it, which didn't happen.
- Facing a large national army with amateurs carrying some light weapons is suicide, not just for the attackers, but also for their ideas, groups, and political projects. Wisdom is needed in dealing with this situation before we end up with another Egyptian cycle of brutal crackdown on Islamists, God forbid.
- The Islamic proposal for good governance and ethical policy making is bigger than individuals, groups, and political parties. It is a valuable proposal that is much needed in today's world for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Let's keep it alive!
May Allah bless all for the occasion of the great month of Ramadan.
Jasser Auda
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