Sharh At-Takattul Al-Hizbi (Explanation of Party Structuring).
This is a translation from the explanation of the unique book by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani.
The moral associations and organisations:
Alongside the cultural and charitable associations, moral associations were also established that worked to revive the Ummah upon the basis of morals (Akhlaaq) by utilising exhortation (Wa’zh), guidance (Irshaad), lectures and publications with the consideration that morals represented the basis of revival. They expended effort and wealth into these associations (Jam’iyaat) but they did not produce significant results whilst exhausting the emotion of the Ummah with these boring and repetitive discussions. These associations were established upon an incorrect understanding of the speech of Allah (swt) to his Messenger (saw):
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
And verily you are upon a great moral character (Al-Qalam 4).
In addition to the words of the Messenger (saw):
إنما بعثت لأتمم مكارم الأخلاق
Indeed I have only been sent to complete the noble qualities of the Akhlaaq (morals).
And they used (or misused) the statement of the poet:
<Nations are only the morals as long as they remain..So if they (the morals) go then they (Nations) will cease to exist>.
Their understanding of Akhlaaq taken from the above makes it necessary for us enquire about the meaning of Akhlaaq that they mean. Do they mean by Akhlaaq every act that the human undertakes or do they mean the Akhlaaq (morals) that an individual is described with when he engages in an action or when he speaks?
If they say that the intended meaning of Akhlaaq is: ‘Every action that the human undertakes’. Then this is an incorrect statement and it gives a meaning to the word that is other than the meaning that has been placed down for it. So trade, agriculture, writing contracts and AL-Jihaad amongst other actions are not described as being morals. Rather they are actions performed by the human and are described with specific descriptions when they are undertaken. So when he discusses a matter like when he transfers a reality, a piece of news or gives testimony, then this is an action stands by itself and its judgement is the judgement that the Shar’a has come with. However there is another type of judgement that is attached to the individual when he engages in this action as he could be described as truthful in his speech or dishonest. The Shar’a has made it obligatory upon the individual to be honest when he speaks and has made it permissible for him to lie in certain circumstances or conceal the truth at other times and has made it Haraam to speak the truth in other situations. Therefore Sidq (truthfulness) is a moral characteristic that the individual is described with that the Shar’a has made obligatory whilst the ‘Ahd (covenant) is a contract between two parties and the two contracting parties are described by a specific characteristic that one party could abide to and not the other. This is because the Shar’a has obliged Al-Wafaa’ (trustworthiness) upon the contracting parties (to fulfil their contract) despite some of them could employ deception and trickery. So these are the characteristics that the two contracting parties are described with and so on. Therefore the Akhlaaq are a description of the individual that he is characterized with when he is undertaking the actions and speech in which they (the moral characteristics) are required to be undertaken.
We summarize by stating: ‘The Akhlaaq are part from amongst the components that the individual is made up from and these are the Aqueedah, ‘Ibaadah, Akhlaaq and Mu’aamalaat and the uprightness (Salaah) of the individual occurs by the uprightness (or soundness) of these four components and his corruption occurs as a result of these four or some of them’.
Whatever the high level of the Akhlaaq of the individual and however much he is characterised by the praiseworthy characteristics, they will hold absolutely no value or worth if his Aqueedah (belief) is Faasid (corrupted), so it is not said that the Kaafir has morals. Therefore there are disbelievers and atheists who are described with moral characteristics for example. So he does not lie, he does not betray or let down and yet he is not considered as an upright (Saalih) individual because the basis in his makeup and components is that they are built upon his Aqueedah. With this understanding of the Akhlaaq we return back to understanding the texts that they attempted to use as evidence for their argument. The process of Istidlaal (using and deducing) with a text from amongst the texts necessitates understanding the reality and gaining knowledge about it and this exactly like the necessity to understand the text itself and what it indicates in terms of wordings and compositions.
The first text was the speech of Allah (swt):
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
And verily you are upon a great moral character (Al-Qalam 4).
This is a speech of Al-Baari’ Allah (swt) to the Messenger of Allah (saw) and Allah had made him upon the great moral character. So he embodied within him the praiseworthy characteristics in all of his actions. In addition this address is a description of the person of the Messenger (SAW) and not a description of the society whilst the purpose of our study relates to how we should revive a society? This is because the issue is the issue of revival.
As for the second text which is the Hadeeth of the Messenger (saw) and has two worded versions:
إنما بعثت لأتمم مكارم الأخلاق
Indeed I have only been sent to complete the noble qualities of the Akhlaaq (morals).
And:
إن الله بعثني لتمام مكارم الأخلاق
Verily Allah has sent me to complete the noble qualities of the Akhlaaq.
The intended meaning here is all of the actions of the human and that he (saw) has been sent to explain all of the Shar’iyah rulings that are obligatory upon the human to adhere to. The issue here therefore is not the issue of the morals or characteristics but rather the issue relates to the formation of the Islamic personality completely in terms of the Aqueedah, ‘Ibaadah, Akhlaaq and Mu’aamalaat. The subject still remains confines and related to the individual or his components and makeup.
As for the statement of the poet, then there is no room for a deduction to be made from it as the Istidlaal is only done with the Kitaab and the Sunnah. This is in addition to the mistake that the poet has made as the nations are made by their Aqueedah and the thoughts that they carry, the systems that they implement and the political entity that safeguards the Ummah and its unity and establishes a standing for it.
As such the error in understanding has only arisen from an erroneous understanding of the society and the view that it is made up of individuals. Therefore it is essential to understand the composition of the society to know its components and to then evaluate it upon them.
And by examining the components of the society it is seen that it is made up of a collection of people, thoughts, sentiments and the System. These are the components of any society and the soundness or corruption of the society rests upon the soundness of the thoughts, sentiments and system. This is where the people are the people who are carrying these thoughts and with their soundness and uprightness they are rectified and by their corruption they are corrupted. As for the elements of the individual then they are as we have explained previously made up of the Aqueedah, ‘Ibaadah, Akhlaaq and Mu’aamalaat (societal transactions). And the uprightness of the individual only occurs by the uprightness and soundness of his elements and his corruption occurs likewise by their corruption. As for imagining or viewing that the society is comprised of individuals (i.e. the society is defined as individuals only) then this is an erroneous view and proceeding to rectify the individual to rectify the society is incorrect and the result of rectifying the society is absolutely not possible to achieve in this way. They are two different paths that will never lead to the same result. The issue here is not in terms of a quicker or longer path but rather the issue is that they are two different paths that do not lead to the same result. (i.e. changing the individual requires one matter whilst changing the society is a different matter).
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