The Process of Islamic
Revolution
By Abul A'la Maududi
Contents 1. The Process of Islamic Revolution
2. The Method of Islamic Revolution
3. The Technique of Islamic Movement
1. The Process of Islamic Revolution
1a. Natural Evolution of the State System
1b. The Ideological State
1c. The Divine Caliphate
Gentlemen! In this discourse I shall explain to you the process by which an Islamic
State comes into being as a natural consequence of a particular set of
circumstances. Now-a-days the phrase."Islamic State" has become a
child's plaything; the idea has caught the imagination of certain
people, and some of them even profess to have adopted it as a
positive ideal. But such strange methods are being suggested for its
attainment as would make it as impossible to reach the desired goal as
eaching America in a motor car. This loose thinking is due to the fact
that owing to certain political and historical causes, a desire has
sprung up for a certain ideal which may be called the "Islamic State" ;
ut no attempt has been made either to define in a scientific manner
the nature of this state or to study the process of its evolution. In
these circumstances it becomes doubly necessary to investigate this
problem in a scientific manner. Natural Evolution of the State SystemIn this gathering of educated people I need not spend much time in
explaining that a state, whatever its nature, is not formed by artificial 2 / 27
means; it is not an article of manufacture to be prepared at a
particular place and then transplanted elsewhere entirely at the sweet
will of men. It is rather a natural product of the interplay of certain
moral, psychological, cultural and historical factors pre-existing in a
place. Certain pre-requisites must be fulfilled, certain social forces
created and some natural requirements satisfied before it can come
into being by the pressure of events. Just as in Logic, deduction always
follows the a
angement of premises; in Chemistry a chemical
compound is formed by the combination, in a particular way, of certain
ingredients possessing chemical affinity; likewise it is an undeniable
fact that in Sociology a state is merely the natural consequence of the
circumstances which pre-exist in a particular society. Again, the nature
of state is wholly determined by the nature of the circumstances which
underlie its birth and formation. Just as it is not possible that premises
may be of one type and their a
angement may
ing about a different
conclusion ; chemical components may be of a particular nature and
y mixing them up a compound of a totally different kind may be
obtained ; a lemon seed may be sown and a tree bearing mangoes
may grow out of it ; similarly it is not possible that conditions may
exist favoring the growth of a particular type of state and the manner
of their mutual interaction may also suit the development of the same
type of state but, after passing through various evolutionary stages,
an altogether different state may emerge out of the process ; and the
operation of the very forces which favored one form of state may
esult in a state being established which belongs to a different
category altogether. Please do not imagine that I am
inging in the doctrine of
Determinism here and denying the freedom of human will. There is no
doubt that in determining the nature of a state the volition and actions
of individuals and communities play a very great part. What I am
driving at is that whatever the nature of the state system that is
desired to be created, it is indispensable to adopt and choose such
means as fit in with the nature and spirit of the desired system and
then to hit upon the appropriate course of action leading towards it. It
is essential that a particular type of movement should grow up
permeated by the same spirit; the same sort of mass character should
e molded; the same type of communal morality should be developed;
the same kinds of workers should be trained, arid the same type of
leadership should emerge; and such collective action taken as is
inherent in the nature of the particular state system desired to be set 3 / 27
up. It is only when all these means have been successfully employed
and all the necessary forces and appropriate factors have continued to
operate for a sufficient period of time and when, as a result of their
operation over a considerable period, they have created a social
pattern strong enough to withstand all influences foreign to its spirit,
then there comes into being, as a natural sequence of this train of
events, that particular type of state for which these powerful forces
have prepared the ground. This is exactly as a tree springs out of a
seed and continues to grow with its own force, so that on reaching a
particular stage of development it begins to bear the self-same fruit for
which its natural structure was particularly suited. If you consider this
fact, you will recognize that when a particular type of movement,
leadership, mass-character and communal morality have emerged into
a shape appropriate to a definite form of state system and yet the
hope is entertained that, as a consequence thereof, a state system of
an altogether different nature will be created, it would be little more
than wishful thinking. The Ideological State We have now to consider what is the nature of the state which we call
an Islamic state. In this connection I may point out that the
distinguishing mark of the Islamic state is its complete freedom from
all traces of nationalism and its influences, direct and indirect. It is a
state built exclusively on principles. I should call it an ideological state.
A state having its foundations in certain recognized moral principles
and free from all idea of nationality or race is one which the world has
known but once only and the advantages of which it does not
appreciate even to this day. In ancient times men knew only of
government by families or classes. Later on, they had experience of
acial and national governments. But the idea of a state conducted on
a definite set of principles and ruled by a group of persons compose of
widely differing nationalities who have accepted those principles as the
asis of their entire life, social, economic and political--such
acceptance of principles being their sole title to have a voice in the
affairs of the state, this has never struck root in the na
ow mind of
man. Christianity did embody a very dim perception of this truth but it
could not develop a full system of ideas on the basis of which such a
state could be formed. .In the French Revolution we discover a faint
glimpse of the idea of a state founded on a set of principles, but it
soon disappeared in the darkness of nationalism. Communism of 4 / 27
course preached this gospel with deep fervor and did even attempt to
form a state on this basis, so that the world began to take interest in
the great Russian experiment. But the evil spirit of nationalism soon
possessed the Communist state and injected its poison down to its
oots. From the dawn of history down to modern days, Islam is the
only system in the world which seeks to organize the state on the
asis of an ideology free from all traces of nationalism and invites
mankind to form a non-national state by accepting its ideological
asis. As this is something novel and the world around us is moving in a
contrary direction not only the non-Muslims but even Muslims
themselves are unable to realize its full implications. The idea
completely eludes the grasp of those Muslims who, though born in
Muslim families, have had their training and education on Western
lines and whose views on life and history are bo
owed from the
European history and Western politics. The result has been that in,
countries outside India, where Muslims preponderate and which are
more or less independent, when people of this type assumed the reins
of government, they could think of no other form of government or
state system except a national government and national state. This
was because they had no knowledge of Islam and its attitude towards
the problems of life and no conception of a state formed on a definite
set of moral and spiritual principles instead of the principle of race or
nationality. In India too, people who have received the same kind of
mental training are involved in the same fallacy. They talk of an
Islamic state but, because of their peculiar mental training and their
ackground of Western political history, they have before their mind
no plan of life except. that derived from the life and history of a
national state in Europe. Consciously or unconsciously, they fall a
victim to nationalistic ideology; and whatever program they think of is
fundamentally nationalistic. According to them, the nature of the
problem that confronts us is no more than this: that Muslims are a
separate national group like Hindus, Englishmen and Frenchmen and
as such they have every right to a separate national existence under a
state and government of their own. However much they may rack their
ains, they cannot conceive of any other means of attaining this
objective except that, as a nation, Muslims should follow the same
methods and adopt the same strategy as have been followed and
adopted by all other national groups in history. In other words, the
elements of which this nationality is composed should first be welded 5 / 27
together in a strong unified whole ; a powerful national spirit should
then be infused among them ; a central authority should emerge and
direct them ; they should organize their own national guards ; they
should have a national militia ; wherever they are in a majority they
should form a national state based on the well-known democratic
principle of majority rule ; and wherever they may be in a minority,
their "rights" should be safeguarded and their individuality protected,
just as in other countries of the word national minorities seek and
claim such protection : in the services, educational institutions and
elected bodies, they should have proportionate representation, their
epresentatives should be elected by their own votes ; and they should
e given their due share in ministries as