KARACHI, Sept 4: Analysts dealing with the Muslim Ummah, on Saturday stressed the need for recognising the new awakening about the revival of political Islam at the grass-roots level
, and take appropriate steps for restructuring of the OIC and setting up a collective mechanism to counter the onslaught against the Muslims.
Some participants also stressed that shoora, or consultation, was the cardinal principle of Islamic society in which there was no room for having a leader through nomination, usurpation, referendum and electoral college.
These views were expressed on the second day of the 'International Conference on Muslim Ummah: challenges and opportunities', organized by the Hamdard Foundation Pakistan.
In his paper on whether democracy was necessary for Islamic polity, former federal minister Senator S.M. Zafar lamented over the plight of over 1.5 billion Muslims across the world, and said it was because in the rush of history, while consolidating acquisition of territories, they had committed a political sin of not complying with the Qur'aanic mandate to decide their affairs by mutual consultation.
He also referred to public discontentment and demonstrations in the Muslim countries, which were likely to become more frequent and violent. Mr Zafar stressed the need for taking a "quantum jump towards mutual consultation at every stage of the governance."
"Political Islam, which may appeared to have failed due to the elite, is now asserting at the grass roots level and revivalism is taking place across the length and breadth of the entire Muslim population. We have to pay heed to this new awakening," said Mr Zafar.
Former deputy chairman of the planning commission, Mr Ahsan Iqbal was of the view that the biggest challenge Muslims faced today was embracing the knowledge revolution.
He claimed that the Muslim civilization had failed to take advantage of the industrial revolution 300 years ago, and gave up Qur'aanic principles of learning based on quest, inquiry and reflection.
"Our failure to shape public discourse on new development paradigms kept us in the darkness. Today we need to restructure our education system to prepare for the new age competitiveness, quality and productivity in a global context."
He proposed that a summit of Muslim activists and civil society on social and human development should be organized on the pattern of the World Social Forum.
Former ambassador Mahdi Masud was of the view that never in recent history had an act, attributed to a Muslim militant group, led to such disastrous consequences for the Islamic world as the 9/11 did.
Regrettably, he said, the perceived divergence of interests in the security, political or economic fields between the regimes (not the states) controlling the Islamic world, had resulted in the dependence of most Islamic states on the West. This had precluded a unified stand, even at this most dangerous juncture when Islamic states were being targeted one after the other.
He was of the view that the OIC should consider adopting a credible policy decision to enable the OIC to maintain this unified opposition.
The declarations adopted by the OIC in the past were mostly expression of consensus of the Ummah on issues of interest, he said.
A collective mechanism and close coordination should be devised amongst Islamic states in media-related matters to counteract the worldwide disinformation portraying freedom movements of Muslim peoples (such as the Palestinian and Kashmiri struggles) as terrorist outfits, and Islam as a faith of hatred and violence.
It was time that the Islamic states in general and the affluent Islamic states in particular, shed their reservations towards greater financial contribution in strengthening OIC institutions. To meet the challenges of the new-century, the practice of Ijtehad should be revived, he said.
Justice Javed Iqbal claimed that his father, Allama Iqbal, only approvedof the mode of election.
"He did not approve of nomination, electoral college, referendum and usurpation," he said.
He claimed that if the mechanism of shoora practised in the early days of Islam was allowed to fully develop, it would have resembled the modern parliament.
Justice Javed Iqbal claimed that the kind of Islam that had been imposed on this country had nothing to do with what Allama had advocated for.
Former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral (r) Iftekhar Ahmad Sirohey discussed the challenges facing the Ummah, and suggested modes of challenging the challenges.
Dr Dietrich Reetz of German spoke on efforts towards an effective dialogue between Islam and the West and the role and the Muslim community in Germany.
