Since the late Seventies, Muslims want more and more to get back to the teachings of Islam. Many among us say, "Bro, we need to practice the Qur'an and Sunnah," without realizing what that exactly means They think that if Muslims were to pray on time and avoid the haram, all the troubles the Muslim Ummah faces would disappear; and they assume that we can return to the "right" path by doing good as individuals alone. It is true that Muslims must take care of their salah and their actions, but the point remains that Islam cannot be fully practiced without the presence of the Islamic State.

There are parts of Islam that can be practiced without a Khilafah, such as Salah, Sawm and Hajj (though in the case of the last two, it has become more and more difficult to decide which days to do them without a central authority). Other parts of Islam require an Islamic State. This includes Jihad in the Path of Allah and a legal system that carries out the "hudud punishments," including cutting the hand of the thief or whipping a person having sex before marriage.

Maybe you think to yourself, "There are countries that carry out that part of Islam!" Ah, but you forget that these so-called "Islamic States" might implement a few laws that make them look Islamic, but they neglect equally vital parts of Islam. For example, in Saudi Arabia, they have two court systems, a "Shar'ii" court and a "civil" (Secular) court. Recently, they passed a law there that commands you to appear before the Secular court to pay mal al haram (riba) if a bank charges you interest on a loan (yes, they have banks that deal with interest there). The Shar'ii court won't help you if you go there to claim a false transaction.

Many more "Islamic States" implement a few parts of the Shari'ah to put on an Islamic aroma, but neglect the rest. They fail to implement Islam as a whole; instead, they base their political and economic systems on nationalism and liberalism, concepts far from Islam. Allah (SWT) says regarding this issue:

Do you believe in part of the book and reject the other part? The punishment for whoever does so from amongst you is a great humiliation in this world and in the next world they will be given the worst penalty. (TMQ 2:85)

Even though you probably agree with all this, you might ask, "What about the rules of Allah that don't require Khilafah? They are not being followed all that well either. Shouldn't we work on this first before we even talk about penal codes or economic systems?" In answer we say that the steady increases in family destruction, zina, disease, and violence within the Ummah are directly related to the pushing of kufr systems and ideas in the Muslim world. For example, when Muslims are taught in their schools that ideas are only valuable when they result in the most pleasure for the most people, or that Islam has no place in public life, should it be a surprise that they take more drugs and do more adultery?

In the Khilafah, the functioning of the entire economic and social system will be based upon Islam and only Islam. This would not result in utopia (We know what happened when the Soviets tried to destroy "evil" completely), but in a situation where the haram becomes difficult to do, and the halal easy to do, which is the complete reverse of what is happening today.

(Editor's Postscript: In America, the middle classes fear that drug-crazed zombies will kill them in their beds. To soothe the voters, politicians build more prisons and fill them up with poor people so they can brag that they are "tough on crime." Their puppets in Muslim countries are no different. They see that the people want Islam so they slice off a weak person's hand here, a head there in public to prove that they are real "Islamists." Of course, these very same politicians, many under the direction of their IMF experts, do little to address the conditions of poverty that lead to crime in the first place. The hudud punishments only make sense within a 100% Islamic system where the basic needs of the citizens are met, and they are reserved only for the incorrigible predators of society. Partial application of Islamic laws, as we have seen again and again, result only in disaster!)