As far as the status and the duties of Muslims living in a country are concerned, there are two models that we find in the lengthy annals of Islamic history and the vast archive of Islamic jurisprudence. The first model is where Muslims are the rulers and the country is under the authority of an Islamic government. This was the case when, after the end of the "Caliphate of the Just," Byzantine and Iranian territories came under Muslim rule and Muslims spread out from Arabia to Morocco. They conquered the entire north-western strip of Africa, and going beyond it they crossed the sea and took over Spain in Europe. For this status [that of being "the rulers"], there are the clear commandments, indications and instructions in the Qur'an, the behaviour of the close associates of the Prophet, and the conclusions of the rational mind as to what the status and role of the Muslims should be: what their responsibilities are and how they should live their lives; how their religious scholars ['ulama] should lead the "millat"; what the duties of their proselytisers and reformers are; how their scholars, jurists and lawyers should solve problems; and in what manner their writers and intellectuals should think. All this has been clearly laid out, and the entire historical record is available to us for our guidance.

The other situation is where Muslims constitute a small and limited minority; where they are in no position to influence the conditions in the country; where they play no part in the governing of the country; where, in other words, they live entirely as subjects. The books of Islamic jurisprudence contain commandments for this situation too.

A millat, not a minority

But our situation presently in India is different from both the above-mentioned models; and it demands great intelligence, innovative thinking [ijtihad], realism, and hard struggle. It places upon us huge responsibilities. Yes, we are here in a minority, but this minority is so large that it is second in size only to the majority community. It is not correct even to call it a minority; instead, it should be called a "millat" [a nation]. Our population here is at least 150 million. Even in most of the purely Muslim countries the number is much less: from less than a million to at most fifty million. Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims, but even there it comes to only 130 million, whereas in India we are 150 million, perhaps more.

Secondly, this is a democratic country. We have a share in this country's politics, in its law-making. We have ample opportunity to not just influence its administration but to give the latter a new shape and make it more effective. In many instances we can play a decisive role, while in others we can provide the necessary ballast. No legislature can survive in this country by ignoring us. If Muslims make use of their civic rights with courage and independence, the Parliament, the Executive, and the ruling party cannot afford to ignore us; and if Muslims wish so they can wield revolutionary influence on them and even bring about structural changes.

Then there is also the fact that in this country we alone are that "millat" which possesses the clear message of God, the last "heavenly preserved" book. This "millat" has as its own the treasure of the Prophet's guiding life. It has the great heritage of the blessings of the Prophet and the lives of his associates and of other ideal human beings. This "millat" can give a practical demonstration of that ideal way of life and fulfill the obligation of showing the straight path to a humanity gone astray. This is the "millat" which has possessed in every age the message that can save any sinking society, any dying flame, and any deteriorating country.

A Gift of Life

In the first and second centuries of the Hijra (the seventh and eighth centuries AD), this "millat" gave the Byzantine and Iranian societies as well as to the Turkish society of Central Asia which had lost their ability to lead -- and whose surface glitter and solidity was merely a facade to a sickly body -- a new purpose in life, a new religion, a new belief, a spiritual culture, a variety of new branches of learning, and a highly developed civilization with a complete socio-cultural and legal system. It did the same again in the seventh and eighth centuries of Hijra (the thirteenth century AD) for the bloodthirsty, semi-barbaric Tatars, and made one of the latter's sub-groups -- the Ottoman Turks, who accepted Islam in the thirteenth century and were immediately quickened into boldness and ambition -- the founder of a might state in Asia Minor and Europe. The latter soon after took up the burden of the caliphate and, by becoming the protectors of the twin holy sites of Mecca and Madina and other sacred places, came to be seen as the emblem of Islamic glory.

Selfless Service

This is the "millat" that can guide a sinking ship to the shore and lift up a society fast sinking in some quicksand, even a society that is bent upon destroying itself. It can do so because it has the Divine Book, it has the Prophet's Tradition, it has the Faith that stops it from becoming a materialist or an exclusive votary of wealth, power, and rank and status. This "millat" alone is one that believes in another life after this life on earth. No matter how neglectful and ignorant it becomes, no matter how severe an amnesia overwhelms it, its peoples' hearts remain conscious of the fact that they must one day face God and His Prophet and give an account of their lives. [They know] that in that world neither wealth nor rank, neither power nor status, neither knowledge nor intelligence would be of any use. If anything would count there it would be Faith and good deeds, a fear of God, a deep sense of duty, genuine obedience, and selfless service to humanity.

A Unique Example

In my limited study of this millat's life and its long progress and experience, this is a unique example where we find ourselves living in such a country. We are the largest minority -- a minority so large that if it takes advantage of its distinctive capabilities, works harder than the majority community, and give full display to its efficiency and effectiveness and sincerity, it can attain the leadership role too, or at least change the direction of the country and force the ruling group to acknowledge its importance and usefulness. Further, this millat still contains a little shred of that real life -- and I will call it only "a shred" -- which most millats of the world have already lost. From the spiritual point of view and from the perspective of critical introspection, these millats no longer possess that final moral awareness and conscientousness which may be termed "a shred of life." Our millat, notwithstanding all its weaknesses, still retains and guards that shred of life. Under these circumstances, the responsibility of this millat's ulamas, religious experts, perspicacious intellectuals and mature leaders is so great and so delicate and complex that no one could have even thought of it in another country and another time.

One hundred and fifty million Muslims live in this country which is confronted with terrible sufferings and mind-boggling problems, a country where the sources to produce moral values -- essential for the development of a human being -- and to generate moral and spiritual power to fight the seductions of money and the sorcery of materialism, dried up long ago. Whatever the reasons for this situation, the fact remains that the Indian society is undergoing a moral crisis whose effects are evident in every aspect of our national life. 

Under these circumstances, here lives a millat which is said to be one hundred and fifty million strong, which possesses Allah's Book and the Prophet's Traditions, correctly organised and preserved, as well as the vast treasure-trove of Islamic jurisprudence which contains rules for each and every aspect of human life and which no other millat in the world can match. There is a link between human actions and the belief in a final reward or punishment, just as there is a relationship between human deeds and the concepts of what is allowed and what is prohibited. The hard work carried out in Islamic history to elucidate this link and this relationship is unique in the annals of human life. I do not find any parallel work anywhere.

But the most important thing is that we are the last "ummah" ["a community of believers"], we possess the Qur'an, we invite mankind to Allah, we are the inquisitors of the cosmos. The poet Iqbal stated this fact through a speech by Satan [in a poem entitled "The Consultative Committee of Satan"]. In the poem, Satan's advisors tell him about different nations and how some of them threaten his own plans for the world. One points to Socialism as the greatest threat, another to Imperialism, and a third to Democracy. . . . But Satan gives no importance to any of these; instead, he says: "I fear only the awakening of that ummah whose reality lies in being the inquisitor of the cosmos." Then he adds: "If there is any danger to me it is from that ummah whose ashes still contain a spark to burst forth, for I still see here and there in that community individuals who weep in submission to God in dawn's twilight."

The Opportunity in Democracy

This distinguished status of the Muslim nation ["qaum"], the democratic order in this country, and such a large Muslim population, all these factors provide us an opportunity to influence the administration of India and take part in forging its laws. Since India is a democracy, we can even attain the status of being the leaders here. If we prove ourselves morally and spiritually superior, both in thought and practice, we would not need to seek leadership -- it would itself seek us. The sun would be made a lamp to find way to us; each particle of this country's dust, each leaf on its trees, would cry out: "Where are the saviours of this country? Come, and save India."

Your high status does not warrant that you should seek certain facilities and jobs. You are the saviours of this country; you are its last hope. We must deliver the message of justice to the inhabitants of India, the message of quiet reason, the message that we must fear God and be kind to human beings. And we must make sure that this message is linked to our Islamic faith and fervour, so that those whom Allah has bestowed with a special sense of smell (which works in the realm of the invisible as well as in that of the physical) find in our general humanitarian message the smell and flavour of our religious faith, and feel that this message is not motivated by selfishness, greed, or political or economic interest, but that this is a message generated and strengthened by these people's faith in Allah and the teachings of Islam, and that the main motivating source of this message is these people's relationship with God, who is God of all the worlds, and with His last Prophet, who was sent here as a Blessing to all the worlds.

N O T E S

/*/ In Qaumi Avaz (Lucknow), 18 August 1988.