We Want to be Ruled by This Presidential Mob?

In spite of all the evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah, it is still strange to find people who refuse to be convinced that Khilafah is a duty upon all Muslims. They have their reasons for being skeptical; but to us, we admit, it all just sounds like excuses.

Among the strangest given is this one: We should not seek the restoration of Khilafah, because most of the Khalifahs, after 'Ali bin 'Abi Talib (RAAH) anyway, were wine drinking, sex-mad tyrants who abused their power and oppressed the Muslims-and who wants more of that? Such charges may or may not be true; even so, they have nothing to do with knowing whether working for Khilafah's return is fard or not, here and now.

But even if the Umawi, Abbasi, and Uthmani khulafa' were all as bad as some people say, they would not look so bad compared with Presidents of the United States who have served over the last 225 years. Were the Umawi khalifahs Yazid bin Muawiyah and Al-Walid bin Yazid bin 'Abd ul-Malik alcoholics? Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of these United States (1869-1877, on the $50 bill) probably could drink both of them under the table. The same is true for Warren G. Harding (1921-1923), who hired his own bootlegger to supply the White House with gin and beer even though at the time, alcohol was prohibited according to the Constitution he had had sworn to preserve and protect. Of course, we will say as little as possible about Bill Clinton who didn't inhale, and George W. Bush who snorted cocaine until well into his thirties.

Did Al-Walid, as well as the Abbasi Harun ar-Rashid, like the ladies too much? Their deeds might well pale before those of the American Presidents, whose ranks included a number of notorious skirt-chasers. Thomas Jefferson, before he became the third President (1801-1809, on the nickel), kept an umm walad while flirting with another man's wife in Paris. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897) admitted to being the father of an illegitimate child ("Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" "Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!"). Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945, on the dime) died in the presence of his mistress, not his wife. The sexual appetites of both John F. Kennedy (1961-1963, on the half-dollar) and his successor Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) are legendary. Today, it would be interesting to speculate whether Bill Clinton would have escaped stoning for zina' under an Islamic government. (He did confess at least one liaison with Gennifer Flowers.)

And if many of the khalifahs stepped out of bounds and abused their authority, the Presidents of the United States did so too. John Adams (1797-1801) suppressed free speech and jailed people without trial with his Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837, on the $20 bill) stole the lands of the Cherokee tribe in spite of solemn treaties and death-marched them across the Mississippi. Abe Lincoln (1861-1865), twisted the constitution and threw potential enemies into prison without charging them with a crime.

The presidential candidates for the election of 2000 have not broken with tradition. It is fair to say that under an Islamic system, neither Bush nor Gore would even be allowed to testify before a qadi (judge), because of their past history of "stretching the facts." This should not be wondered at: our past Presidents acted the way they did precisely because of the kafir system that produced them.

However, what is really strange is seeing many of the very same people who tell us not to work for the return of Khilafah based on Prophethood, and not find ways to make Khilafah work, are also the very same ones who tell us to support a system whose Presidents have done more mischief in two centuries than all the Khulafa' since 'Ali (RAAH) might have done in thirteen!