Power of masses
A FEW days ago, US President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem the official capital of Israel.
Two weeks ago, the Sunni priesthood in Cape Town declared the Shia mosque in Ottery a heretical intrusion. A few months ago, in the Cape High Court, women married by Muslim rites were fighting for their customary marriages to be recognised by our secular law. All three conflicts are predicated on and fuelled by the same cultural innovation in Islam – the authority of the king and the priesthood.
Why should the Muslim world only resort to protesting, marches, throwing stones, suicide bombing, terrorism and trying to damage the West? There is a feasible, peaceful and logical solution – democratic reforms and the empowering of the masses. Unity of the 50 Muslim states is a pre-condition for a greater balance of power with the West. Once reforms have been implemented, unity will be achieved and power will lie with the masses, not the king and the priesthood.
What is required is not a jihad against the West, but against our own mentalities. We should remove the kings and priests running our societies and replace them with the power of the people. Are the people not the vicegerents of God on Earth? Will the people not be accountable and judged on Judgement Day? God says He will only assist a people if they reform their mentalities. But what needs to be reformed?
The principles based on the democratic, pluralistic and egalitarian verses and traditions of the sharia will and must reduce conflict, mayhem and bloodshed. “Consult in their affairs” (Qur’an).
Consultation is not just pretending to consult, it means real consultation – implementation of the majority decision of the community. And there must be repercussions – the peaceful removal of elected officials and parties who refuse to consult or who are involved in corrupt activities. The conjugate of this verse is the tradition (hadith) on election – that leaders must be elected. Thus, the verse on consultation and the tradition on election of leadership implies democracy. Without democracy, there’s no unity and no real consultation, just lip service and endless conflict.
This letter is a challenge to the departments of Islamic studies and philosophy at UCT and our priesthood that I am speaking the truth.