A United States of Islam?
By Asif Salahuddin

The revolution was effected before the war commenced. The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments and affections of the people, was the real American revolution,” said John Adams, USA’s first Vice President and its second President, when looking back at the American revolution against British colonial subjugation.

At a time when the Muslim world is up in flames with cries of anguish echoing across the Islamic lands, from Syria to Burma and from Palestine to Kashmir, such a statement uttered 200 years ago resonates louder today than it did to the newly-created land of opportunity.
For the Muslim Ummah today has entered a new political era following the revolutionary Arab Spring. Decades old dictators, having kept power firmly in their own hands, have been shaken off and tossed aside, bringing in new faces to represent the Muslims in much of the Middle East. But the winds sweeping in this political transformation have not subsided and rather continue unabated, with each week bringing new paradigms to the equation. Despite monumental upheavals in key strategic Middle Eastern countries, such as Egypt and Libya, the desire for a reform reflective of their wants and aspirations remains unfulfilled.
Replacing of dictators with democrats, that supposedly now represent the people’s views, has in effect produced no change whatsoever in the actual political framework of these countries. The reality is that the establishment, mainly made up of the country’s military figures and representatives of foreign powers, are still very much firmly in control. Therefore, the same pseudo-colonial policies, which serve only the interests of these classes at the expense of the masses, remain in force.
Against this backdrop, the political earthquake to hit this geostrategic nucleus of the world has now shifted its epicentre to Syria, a land from which change has traditionally gathered momentum and eventually engulfed its surroundings. It is here that the Muslims have collectively seen through the false victories presented by nationalistic based democratic groupings, like the current Syrian National Coalition (SNC).
A decisive opportunity now exists for the Muslims to put forward a political platform that will finally deliver on a system, which is reflective of Islamic rules and legislation from across the fields of economics, judiciary, social norms, ruling and education. Indeed, the Muslims of Syria now remain committed in their stance to elect and account a leadership that will govern observing the sovereignty of the Almighty, as has been the case in this land and beyond for hundreds of years, albeit the contemporary period of direct and indirect colonial rule.
Under a non-nationalistic based Islamic ruling system, the land and people of Syria will suddenly find themselves in a very unique and powerful position. With the Arab Spring producing a domino effect throughout the region on the back of a common emotion, the emergence after nine decades or so of an Islamic political entity will have an even rapid and greater effect in transforming the political landscape throughout the Wider Middle East and eventually to as far afield as Indonesia to the East, the Maghreb to the West, much of Africa to the south and into Europe itself in the form of Turkey.
Such a seismic potential for change exists since the thoughts and emotions across the Muslim world are unified in their outlook and share a common origin that is Islam. Moreover, all other nationalistic based unity models, both interstate and intrastate, have failed to produce strong and cohesive political blocks that can go the distance. The brief Arab unions and republics formed in the sixties in the Middle East are testament to this, as are local provincial insurgencies like the Balochistan separatist movement of Pakistan.
A political union drawing upon the Islamic heritage of the region will not just be an artificial entity based upon temporary strategic benefit. Rather it will actually revert these countries back to their default position of existence, since traditionally these lands have always been unified under one political bloc for centuries, right up to the early part of the 20th century.
Given the Muslims across the various Islamic countries today all have the same aspirations for themselves and their children - to develop into obedient and practicing Muslims, to turn to one Qibla, to travel to one destination performing the same rituals at least once in their lives and in doing so, worshiping the one God and in the manner prescribed by the Holy Prophet (pbuh), which they all believe in and follow in letter and in spirit - for them, then to look beyond their artificial boundaries by dissolving their borders and amalgamate once again into one strong unified community will not be an alienating concept at all.
Therefore, such a political unification across the Islamic world would not be something so revolutionary as it may appear on the surface, since unifying states across various forms of economic, judicial and political fronts is, in fact, a common practice amongst many contemporary global powers; the Soviet Union, European Union, United Kingdom and the United States of America - all have the term ‘Union’ or ‘United’ in them and they have all achieved this despite a lengthy and bloody history of internal strife. So if these powers have achieved unity, then the Muslim world too can do so, and do so far more easily and efficiently since the Muslims already have an illustrious historical precedence of brotherhood and political unity.
Only an Islamically based political unification, between the various countries of the Muslim world, would offer an excellent option of collating individual strengths into a superior collective strength. Such a strong central Islamic government would then have at its disposal the unified armies from across the Islamic world, and would control enough strategic geographical points and assets, such as waterways, ports, natural resources and industrial complexes, to withstand any foreign aggressor.
Indeed the shape, this unification of the Islamic states would have to take, would be where the idea of individual nationhood is done away with and instead where each state or group of neighbouring states would then function as an administrative province within this greater Islamic political authority.

The writer has done his B.Eng from Kings College London and currently COO in a multinational company.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...tates-of-islam