Politics and the Quran

It has been reported that during the final phase of their meeting, Asif Ali Zardari promised to restore judges within 24 hours of the impeachment or resignation of the self-appointed president, the retired General, now a virtual prisoner of his own deeds, and offered to take an oath on the Holy Quran to show his honesty. At that crucial moment, Nawaz Sharif is reported to have said: “Leave the Quran out of politics.”Had Nawaz Sharif let him take an oath on the Quran for a promise he never intended to keep, Asif Ali Zardari will now be under double obligation: his conscience and the Quran. Both carry huge spiritual, emotional, and psychological consequences. But more than the wishy washy personality of Asif Ali Zardari, who is reported to be suffering from serious psychological illnesses, the episode is more a reflection of the personality of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his views, convictions, and beliefs. Sharif’s comment reflects the great chasm that has spread like a plague in Muslim psyche: supposedly there are things of this world (politics included) in which the Quran has nothing to do and there are things of the next world in which the Quran has something to do. This split is a product of the secularisation of the Muslim mind through education, social and cultural norms, and through a blind following of Islam without ever understanding its true essence.Most Muslims believe Islam is a complete religion, but in actual life, they suffer from a deep psychological split that construes Islam as a religion which has something to do with the next world only. This confusion manifests at numerous planes of existence. In public life, this confusion splits Muslim politicians into leftist and rightist groups, into those who are Islamists and those who are not. Whereas in their personal beliefs, they continue to claim that Islam is a complete religion, in their public life they act as if it has nothing to do with their views, beliefs, and practices.Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has built a public career that has been marred by incompetence and during his last stint as prime minister the “heavy mandate” he received at polls went to his head, but he is known to be a man of good moral character and a believer who believes in Islam as a religion. Thus, his response to Zardari (leave the Quran out of politics) is rather alarming, because if one leaves the Quran, nothing is left in life whether public or private. At least, that is how believers conceive the Quran. For them, it is the source of guidance, a key to the life of this world and the next. Sharif’s remark is, furthermore, disturbing because, unlike Zardari, he is seen as a long-term political public personality in Pakistan. Unlike Zardari, he has a solid base of public support built over a long period of time. His political career is entrenched in Pakistani soil and he is not perceived as a puppet. Coming into politics on the shoulders of a military dictator who played with Islam more than he implemented it, Sharif has carried the stigma of a dictator’s protégé for a long time, but this is in the past. He has matured in many respects over the last decade, especially during his most recent exile. But he still clinches on to a deceitful pragmatism that robs him of all moral strength.One cannot be a principled person while trampling basic principles of moral behaviour at the same time. His moral victory over Zardari is obvious, but this politics of principles, rather than that of exigency, needs to be an all-encompassing motif; it cannot be beneficial if it is piecemeal. What is needed at this stage is a clear-sighted view of the future of Pakistan. In the short run, it seems that Asif Ali Zardari has it all – from the presidency to the prime minister and from the judiciary to the foreign office. But for any person of keen insight, all of this is built on flimsy base; there is no solid foundation for this power grab; it is merely a product of deceit, deals, and duplicity and nothing built on such flimsy base can endure.For all practical purposes, Zardari’s is a one time fluke appearance granted by the sudden death of his wife, the deal she had made with the general courtesy a few influential persons in the state department, and the feudalism that runs through Pakistan’s political culture. In addition to this chance of history, he has come to the forefront of Pakistan’s political scene through dishonesty and lack of integrity. Such a person cannot stay at the top for long; this is a given. Nawaz Sharif should very clearly understand this and if he does, he should look upon his political setup as the only true political force in the country. As such, he needs to reconsider his entire political strategy.Leaving the Quran out of politics leaves only the humanly conceived values as the basis of politics. These values are terribly flawed, because they suggest to the mind short-term gains, self-interest, and egotistic behaviour. True guidance, both in private and public life, comes from the ever-lasting message and from the conduct and sayings of Allah’s chosen Messenger, upon whom be peace. This is not merely a creedal statement; it is a conviction borne of experience of generations of men and women over centuries.
by Dr Muzaffar Iqbal