Sometime it becomes obnoxious for me to see the extent of devotion of political party workers towards their party leaders especially in a country like Pakistan. Leaders mean more than a mere human being to them. They can protest for them, sacrifice family life for them, die for them and even kill for them. What benefit do they get from their Leaders in return? An Intact party membership? A handful of bucks? Or just a few social incentives? Is that it? It makes me wonder what magnetic qualities are being possessed by these leaders which make the masses of people follow them like a blinded sheep. Is it really of any worth to spend your entire life as a political worker? Let’s see the religious aspect of this scenario.
Seeking power for ruling has always been a cause of violence, unrest, and turmoil. The original Islamic way of ruling was Khilafat with a vague concept of Democracy. Democracy is a Westernized concept of making use of one’s free will to bring a person of your choice. Why Islamic perspective is not entirely in favor of Democracy? There is a simple and logical answer to this question. Had Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ordered full Democracy instead of Khilafat, majority population of the Arabian Peninsula which comprised of illiterate Bedouins, would have brought an incapable ruler from their own tribes. This scheme had chaos written all over it hence Islam rejected the idea of complete democracy but choice of the people still remained of vital importance. Khilafat system made sure that only a capable and pious leader would rule the people and was elected by a group of well-learned and righteous individuals who were representing the local population. When power to rule is snatched on the basis of wealth or popularity, there is a high chance of a wrong person to administrate.
In a country like Pakistan in which the literacy rate is just around 35% (including those who can only sign their names), along with a strong caste and regional influence, democracy is the worst option. A malik will only cast his vote to a malik without actually knowing about his capabilities, a chaudhry would do the same and so would others. This would elect a ruler on the basis of social impact rather than competency; ultimately giving rise to many social problems.
Political workers have discriminated themselves by following a particular alphabet (N,Q etc) and waving a distinct flag. Their Leader is like a Holy figure for them while the leader never even knows the names of majority of his workers. Why not turn towards Allah who considers all of his creatures to be equal? Why should one give a political figure a status higher than that of a religious figure? If such devotion and dedication by political workers is shown towards Almighty Allah rather than towards their Party Leaders, the story is going to be far better. The civil unrest would cease and there would be social and religious harmony.
The kind of unity and enthusiasm that is shown by party workers for their political party is needed for a much important agenda – restoration of Khilafat in Islamic Ummah. The hatred and aggression that is shown towards the rival political party is actually needed against the anti-Islamic agenda of the Zionists. The objective of rallies and protests in favor of or against a particular political party is useless; they would be more meaningful if they were for showing brotherhood with Palestinians or against the brutality of Israel. The kind of obedience that is shown by a party worker for his leader will be of much greater significance if it is for Almighty Allah, the kind of affection shown for a leader will much more meaningful if it is for Holy Prophet(PBUH).
If an un-Islamic ‘tribal’ democratic rule cannot be abolished at this stage, at least the political workers must only restrict politics as a source of bread and butter rather than taking it as a motive of their life. They must not turn against their fellow brothers to hurt them on the basis of a conflicted ideology or just to please their leader. The most important motive should be to please Almighty Allah, which can be done by following his pathway but not the pathway of a mortal and immoral Leader.
