In recent times, sensing the growing desire for the return of the Khilafah in the Islamic world, Western governments have sought to depict the Khilafah (caliphate) as a totalitarian, backward, medieval state that could never bring accountability and good governance. Indeed, in a recent speech, the US President, George Bush, said, "-is caliphate would be a totalitarian Islamic empire encompassing all current and former Muslim lands, stretching from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia." Former British Prime Minister. Tony Blair, described the Khilafah model as a "pre-feudal" concept of governance, while former British Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, went as far as to say that there could be "no negotiation about the re-creation of the Caliphate". The struggle of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan to liberate themselves from foreign occupation is also frequently presented as a struggle between Western inspired "accountable government" and "terrorists" who seek a violent, unaccountable dictatorship. It is almost as if we are to believe that the West has a monopoly on accountable, transparent and representative governance. Is this really the case?
Accountability in the West
Beneath the thin veneer of "accountability", in reality Western political systems are deeply flawed, controlled by large corporations and largely indifferent to the needs of ordinary citizens. This is why voter turnouts in the West are at an all time low and people are obliged, as we saw at the time of the Iraq war, to go out to the streets in their hundreds of thousands to express their frustrations. Though people currently have some 'freedom' to criticise and change their politicians in the West, the reality is that whichever politicians come in, they are of the economic elite and they rule on behalf of the economic elite - an incestuous system indeed.
The record of Western governments in the Islamic world shows that they pay more attention to their own interests han to any notion of accountable governance. That is why, for example, elections in Algeria were annulled by the Western backed regime, when the results indicated that Islam won the votes of the electorate. They are happy for countries to swing like a pendulum from "democrats" like Nawaz Sharif and Bhutto to military dictators like Musharraf - as long as their interests are maintained they have no qualms in propping up totalitarian, brutal and oppressive regimes that have no mandate from their people. The UK Government ended the Serious Fraud Office corruption inquiry into a £43bn Saudi arms deal, claiming that it was against "British interests", as well as "a threat to the War on Terror". This corruption enquiry not only threatened to expose the relationship between BAE, and the British government, but also the relationship between the British government and the Saudi dictatorship.
While the USA never misses an opportunity to accuse other nations of vote rigging and fraudulent elections, President Bush, despite the election rigging in Florida, is considered legally and constitutionally the legitimate political leader of the United States of America. Even though Al Gore won the popular vote by over half a million votes, Bush took the White House. Indeed, the American "democratic elections" are merely an opportunity for corporations and multinationals to ensure that their interests are represented in the White House. After the 2000 US elections, over 40 per cent of the major fundraisers for George Bush were given jobs and positions including appointments as Ambassadors and members of the Cabinet. In the US Senate elections, 85 per cent of the candidates who spent the most money were successful at the polls. In the 2008 US Primaries, both contenders have already spent in excess of $100m on campaigning, and whoever reaches the White House in January 2009 will have to return these favours. In the UK, just in recent years we have witnessed "cash for questions", "cash for peerages" and the exploitation of parliamentary expenses - scandals which reached the heart of the political establishment. -e relationship between big business and Government is also well documented.
Accountability under the Khilafah
In the Khilafah, people choose their rulers through real elections and not the corporate dominated shams seen in the West. In Islam, the authority lies with the Ummah, not the corporations, and the Khalifah is obliged to look after the lives of citizens, rather than the balance sheets of multinationals or party donors.
Furthermore, in Islam the laws are fixed as they are the implementation of the Shariah rules and can not be manipulated. Everyone knows the rules; whereas in the West the "rules of the game" change constantly to protect the interests of the wealthy.
Accountability is very important in the Shariah - ruling is regarded as a form of guardianship (riayah) and a trust (amanah), and the causing of oppression (dhulm) by the head of state a grave crime. Accountability is ensured by the right of every citizen to take the state to task, the existence of institutions that guarantee accountability and the work of political parties. The Khilafah has a special court - the 'Court of Unjust Acts' (Makhamat al-Madhalim) - which has the power to remove any state official regardless of their role or rank, including, most importantly, the head of state, if he persists in pursuing a path that lies outside of the terms of the contract of ruling (bayah). The Majlis al-Ummah (people's assembly) is a representative body directly elected by the citizens of the Khilafah, with the power to scrutinise government policies. There is no concept of a "ruling party" and Islamic political parties, which will be encouraged, will act to "enjoin the good and forbid the evil". In addition to all of this, is the Islamic injunction on all Muslims to hold the ruler to account - the Messenger (saw) said, "The best Jihad is the word of truth spoken against an oppressive ruler".
No one is above the law and no one has immunity from prosecution. Under the Khilafah the "ends do not justify the means" and the "rules of the game" do not change. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "What destroyed the nations preceding you, was that if a noble amongst them stole, they would forgive him, and if a poor person amongst them stole, they would inflict Allah's Legal punishment on him. By Allah, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut off her hand."
Since the destruction of the Khilafah the Islamic world has tried all types of governing systems. All have failed and none have provided good, accountable governance that is a beacon of light not just for the Muslims but the entire world.
The principles of accountability, transparency and propriety enshrined in the Islamic system created rulers like Umar bin al-Khattab, Umar bin Abdul Aziz and Haroon ar-Rashid (may Allah be pleased with them). Umar bin al-Khattab, even worried that he would be held to account about livestock that was injured on a mountain road in Iraq and would say, "Take account of yourselves before you are brought to account."
Now is the time for Muslims to return back to the Khilafah so they can bring the Islamic world out of its darkness and in to the light of Islam under the shade of the Khilafah.
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