Islamic Shari‘ah and the Question of Minorities
(Remaining Part)
(III)
Today, the population of Muslims living in a non-Muslim environment is growing. Of the approximately 1,400 million Muslims in the world, 35-40 percent live outside the Muslim world. This is not a new phenomenon. There have been Muslim minorities living in different non-Muslim countries from the very beginning. One of the earliest examples is that of Ethiopia. As is known to students of sīra (life of Prophet Muhammad pbuh) during the early years of Islam, when the Muslims of Makka were being severely persecuted, the Prophet (PBUH) advised those of his followers who were worst afflicted to migrate to Ethiopia. He told them that the country was ruled by a pious ruler in whose realm they would not be wronged because nobody was wronged there. Upon this advice, a number of companions migrated to and settled in Ethiopia.
The Prophet (PBUH) had also advised these followers to eschew any hostilities with the Ethiopians (or "habashis"). His instruction, reported by several compilers of the Hadith, was: "Leave alone Ethiopians as long as they leave you alone." This meant they were to adopt a neutral policy towards the Ethiopians, never interfere in their matters, never attack them, and never enter into any hostile relationship with them.
These migrants lived peacefully in Ethiopia and their descendants are found there today, even though Ethiopia has never been a part of the Muslim world or of any Islamic state, and is not an Islamic state.
The advice of the Prophet (PBUH) was honored not only by the immigrants but by Muslim rulers in the region, and continues to be honored even today. We do not find any example in the entire Muslim history where any ruler from Egypt, Sudan or from other adjoining countries has entered into any kind of hostility with the rulers of Ethiopia, despite several instances where Muslims have been bitterly persecuted there, such as in the days of Helaslasi.
The Muslim minorities can be divided into three categories:
(i) Muslim minorities that represent earlier Muslim kingdoms and free regions which were later either occupied or annexed by neighboring non-Muslim powers. The Muslims in South Philippines (Mindanao) once had their own kingdom. They were later annexed by a neighboring non-Muslim power. The Muslims in India and in some regions of Eastern Europe are similar examples of Muslim populations that were subjected to various non-Muslim rules during the course of history. Such Muslim minorities are numerically the largest.
This is the first category of Muslim minorities. This is perhaps the most problematic category of Muslim minorities. The main problem faced by these Muslims is the preservation of their Islamic identity. They see themselves not as minorities but as distinct nations, and feel that their ultimate destiny should be decided on the basis of this fact. The ultimate solution to the problem remains to be seen.
(ii) The second category of Muslims minorities includes immigrants who went to non-Muslim countries, mostly in Europe and North America, for economic attractions or other reasons and stayed behind. A large number of such immigrants were once students pursuing higher studies in these countries who did not return to their respective countries. They now constitute a large proportion of Muslim minorities and number in millions.
This category of Muslim minorities is mostly docile, submissive and peaceful. By and large, these Muslims have not created any difficulty or problem for their host countries.
(iii) The third category is that of new Muslim converts who have accepted Islam in different parts of the world. Their main problem is the acquisition and preservation of an Islamic identity. Educating and raising their children in accordance with Islamic norms and traditions poses the most formidable challenge to them. In many cases, the Islamic identity has been denied to them. In some cases, this identity is not formally denied to them, but the environment makes it difficult for them to achieve and maintain it.
An important issue confronting Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries is the misunderstanding that they are bound to implement the shari‘a in exactly the same way in their lives as Muslims living in Muslim countries. This misunderstanding, which imposes an unnecessary conflict between the shari‘a and the norms and laws of the host country, is created by some less educated or overenthusiastic Islamic activists as well as some non-Muslims observers who are not fully aware of the demands of Islam from various categories of its followers.
In fact, the demand of Islam from an individual living in a Muslim society is different from that of an individual living in a non-Muslim environment. Likewise, the extent to which Muslims have political freedom and independence in their own government also determines the precise obligations posed on them by Islam.
Clearly, if the demands of different contexts and situations were mixed up and everybody had to follow precisely the same code, confusion and difficulty would ensue. The idea that Islamic demands can change with altered conditions does not represent a compromise but is rooted in certain principles evident from the Qur'an itself. There are certain instructions given in the Qur'an that require Muslims to do things under certain preconditions: if the preconditions are present, the requirement is valid; if the pre-conditions are not present, the requirement does not apply. For example, if a person maintains a certain amount of saving for a full year, he is under obligation to pay the zakat - an obligatory tax - on it at 2.5 percent. Now, zakat is one of the key pillars of Islam, and is to be recognized as such by every Muslim. However, it is to be practiced only by those who meet the precondition outlined above. Thus, if a Muslim is poor and has not maintained savings free of all needs and encumbrances for a year, the obligation of zakat is not applicable to him. This exemption does not mean that the requirement of Islam has changed or an Islamic principle has been compromised. Simply, since the precondition is not present, the individual is not liable to meet the obligation.
In the same manner, the Almighty has directed that Muslims perform certain duties "if We give the believers authority in the land." Thus, having governing authority is a precondition for these duties. A Muslim minority would not be required to implement some of the Islamic instructions being applied in Madina. In Madina, the penal code of Islam was applied. But implementing this code was never required of the Ethiopian Muslim minority during the days of the Prophet (PBUH), or the tiny Indian Muslim minority during the days of the second Caliph, or the Spanish Muslim Community during the days of the third Caliph. This clearly shows that the requirements posed by Islam vary with the situation and context, and that in some respects different rules apply to Muslims living in non-Muslim countries from Muslims in Muslim lands.
Moreover, there are rules in Islamic law and principles of Islamic jurisprudence to be implemented only by the imam or the Muslim state and Muslim government. These rules and principles constitute an important part of the Shari'ah and are not required to be implemented by the individual. This distinction has to be made known to young Muslim men and women living in non-Muslim environments. It needs to be emphasized that individuals are under an obligation to perform only those duties and functions that are required to be implemented by the individual. This point also has to be taught to the uneducated as well as to those non-Muslim well-wishers and observers who are not fully aware of the requirements of Islam.
It is a matter of concern in Europe and the United States today that Muslims living there might start implementing the hudood laws; what would be the solution then? The answer is simply that the Qur'an does not require of Muslims in the United States, or for that matter in any other non-Muslim environment, to implement the hudood because individuals are not required to implement the penal code of Islam. This is a requirement of the Muslim state. Only men in authority have the obligation to implement such laws. Indeed, Hudood laws and other penal requirements are never to be implemented by individuals, whether they live in a Muslim country or in a non-Muslim environment.`
Thus, many of the difficulties faced by Muslim minorities and their non-Muslim hosts are due to confusion and misunderstanding regarding which Islamic requirements apply to the Muslim individuals living in a non-Muslim environment. Understanding that many of the Islamic requirements depend on the context and situation of the individual can help alleviate such issues.
(IV)
Non-Muslims in Pakistan have been living peacefully without facing any difficulty or problem at the social or political level. They have been given rights and guarantees that are protected in the Constitution of Pakistan. The founder of the country, the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, repeatedly assured the non-Muslims in Pakistan, and is on record to have said, that they would have equal rights and privileges as their Muslim co-citizens as granted to them by the shari‘a. This assurance was in conformity with the above-cited Islamic principle expressed by the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Both before the creation of Pakistan and immediately afterwards, the Quaid assured non-Muslims that they would have full freedom of worship and could continue to practice their religions as before. They were to be as independent and equal as the rest of the citizens of Pakistan. In his address to the first Constitutional Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947, he said: "You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques, you are free to go to any place of worship. There will be no discrimination on the basis of religion. In Pakistan all citizens will be alike and there will be no differentiation on the basis of religion as far as citizenship is concerned and their rights and privileges as Pakistanis are concerned."
A few days after making this statement, the Quaid called a press conference in which he further clarified this commitment because this part of his statement before the Assembly had been misquoted several times; in fact, it has since then often been quoted out of context. The Quaid had himself realized and anticipated that this part of his statement might be misunderstood. Therefore, he explained his statement by reiterating that non-Muslims of Pakistan would have those rights that had been given to them by Islam. They would be equally treated and their rights and privileges will be fully guaranteed.
Soon after the Quaid's demise, the founding fathers of this country, the members of the First Constituent Assembly, adopted a resolution known as the "Objectives Resolution." The Objectives Resolution is one of the most important documents in Muslim constitutional history in the twentieth century. It combines, for the first time, the dictates of Islam and the principles of Islamic constitutional theory, the basic elements of Islamic political philosophy, and the dictates and requirements of the modern democratic representative system. All of these have been equitably integrated and beautifully interwoven into each other. This important document has been adopted in all constitutional drafts in Pakistan and now constitutes an operative part of the Constitution of Pakistan through Article 2-A. About minorities, it says that they shall have full freedom to practice their religion, to promote their culture, to promote their languages and to exercise all such rights as are available to other citizens.
This was the first constitutional guarantee given to the minorities in Pakistan. Further guarantees are provided in the constitution, which deals with fundamental rights, clearly says that these rights will be guaranteed to each and every citizen, irrespective of cast, creed and culture.
Then, Part 12 of the constitution, where Islamic provisions have been made, and where it has been said that all laws shall be brought into conformity with the Qur'an and Sunnah and no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to the Qur'an and Sunnah, it has been said that this provision will not have effect on the status and privileges of the non-Muslims and their personal status as citizens of Pakistan. This provision has been added even to Article 227 of the constitution where the constitutional commitment to enforce Islamic laws has been made.
Therefore, the minorities in Pakistan, among whom the Christians constitute the largest, followed by the Hindus, have always enjoyed freedom, respect and privilege in the country. A Christian jurist rose to the highest judicial office in the country, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, and remains a most widely respected figure in the history of the country's superior courts.
Likewise, one of the justices of the present Supreme Court is a Hindu, who is one of the most widely respected and honored judges in the history of the Supreme Court.
There have been many other non-Muslim judges in Pakistan as well who have enjoyed the highest respect because of their competence and also because of their upright and principled stance on different issues.