I clearly feel that there are two Shariah. One is what we all know as Shariat-e-Muhammadi (hereinafter referred to as SeM) – the constitutional legalities and that what is individually permissible or impermissible. The second is the Shariah of Allah ( (hereinafter referred to as SoA) which is over and above the jurisprudence to be followed by Muslims in their religion. Both of them are Allah’s Shariah. The term ‘Shariah’ is being used here in its literal sense meaning ‘the way’.
SeM is, beyond doubt, known to us all, albeit some hermeneutical discrepancies. It’s the Islamic canonical law based on the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Rasoolullah (SAW), prescribing both religious and secular duties and sometimes retributive penalties for lawbreaking. It has generally been supplemented by legislation adapted to the conditions of the day, though the manner in which it should be applied in modern states is a subject of dispute between Muslim traditionalists and reformists- even as per its Google definition. SeM is about criminal law, family wealth distribution, rights, and responsibilities of each of us & much more.
When it comes to SoA, it can be further categorized into the laws which govern the universe and the system (Nizaam) established by God for the people’s lives. Again, the first category is known to all of us. We know about the laws of Physics- be those Newton’s or of Boyle’s or Charle’s and quite evident ones of sun rising from the East and setting in the West, rain and its relationship with vegetation dynamics and much more. What is actually interesting is the system (Nizaam) guiding people’s lives. This Nizaam applies to everyone irrespective of the religion s/he follows. For example, alcohol, gambling or even adult media is indubitably banned as per SeM. However, humans have a free-will, the usage of which is guided by SoA. Let’s put it more clearly. It’s His system that if hard work is done to achieve anything, you surely come close to it. If anyone toils to make his adult media business as a success, the SoA won’t disrupt him. If someone makes extreme efforts to murder anyone, the SoA won’t stop him. If one goes out on a Freeway to die, the chances are s/he will actually die. The SoA won’t stop this clearly wrong act of suicide. If you have an exam tomorrow, worshipping Allah whole night won’t fetch you anything, studying would. A good human full of empathy and altruistic intentions can lose badly in a competition with a vile human being if the latter practices the game harder than the former. The SoA does not differentiate between good and bad or Faith and Kufr. We see poor Syrians, Yemenis, Afghans, Kashmiris, Palestinians dying at the hands of inhuman policies of strong powers. It can’t be based on Good-Bad analogy; it’s the law of nature that the powerful get to call the shots.
On the similar lines, Muslims cannot go out to challenge their tormentors and oppressors and hope to defeat them simply because ‘Allah’s Nusrah’ will descend on them. This is not to deny Allah’s help. Please understand, Allah’s intervention in His own Nizaam is a miracle but that is an extreme rarity, hence a miracle. It’d be tomfoolery to base your strategy on miracles. Those people who are the super-powers today can’t be challenged without following the rules of SoA. There’s a system to get there, defeat them and then hold on to that position. This may be very unpopular to say but following Islam alone won’t get you there. May I ask which Islam did Russians follow to become such a great power? Which Islam did the United States follow to be where it is, today? And those who actually believe in Allah’s religion are eating dust and being killed everywhere. This is not to say following Islam won’t help in it, but what needs to be made amply clear that it is the discipline, determination, education, research and development, diplomacy, international relations skills and much more which are required to be at the top of this world, for any group of people. And Islam emphasizes that. My point, however, is that other doctrines also stress on these things. So whoever follows it- Muslims or not- will get to govern the world. If it’s still not conspicuous enough, let’s assume thousands of youth come out with guns in Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan etc with fervor and Taqwa to fight Western oppression, the American President could ask for the nuclear button or much less, button of any targeted missile, sitting in Washington DC and annihilate these excited youth without even going there, while these youth do not have any such technology. At the max, this may irritate Americans and they may back off but they will still be the super-power. Now, if you bring in the argument of God’s power being more than that of evil forces, and sophistication of weaponry not necessary, then may I ask why do all the Muslim armies in the world carry guns and not swords- sunnah of Rasoolullah (SAW)? That’s simply because Karamaat (miracles) occur rarely. We need to follow the rules of SoA-which is wrongly being perceived as anti-Islamic. It also is His system and we just need to use it for good.
Therefore, Muslims or any other distressed and oppressed people cannot just rely on help from skies, they will have to stand up and compete. That’s God’s law. For that, they don’t need bravery to begin with. They need to acquire at least the same weaponry that their adversary possesses. After that, the element of bravery will chip in. The fight is not necessarily military, it could be economic, diplomatic or political. To have appropriate arsenal handy is the only way out. To begin with, those amongst them who are in a position to do it, should build institutes of excellence, inculcate scientific temper, disseminate knowledge, devise strategies and have the courage to patiently follow it, as was done by the Muslims of the golden age. This may not necessarily apply to the military occupations where self-defense may be the only option, but I’m talking about the principles of rising and fall of empires in the world. Understand the laws of SoA while following SeM, you will have this world as well as the other.