The Maqasidic Tafsir – Volume III
In the middle of the second decade of the 20th century AD, the Turkish military commander Mustafa Kemal—later nicknamed Kemal Ataturk—carried out the first military coup—in the modern sense—in the Islamic world and then implemented a European decision to abolish the Ottoman Caliphate, which was gathering under its umbrella most of the Islamic countries.
In this context, the subject of “Restoring the usurped Caliphate” has become the primary cause of the rise of most present-day Islamic trends and one of the most preoccupied issues of contemporary Islamic directions in response to its abolition or to revive it or correct the path that ended with its downfall.
However, the correct analysis is that the Muslim community has lost track of the proper understanding of the Qur’an and Sunnah following the interpretation and application of our righteous predecessors. It led them to slacken in faith and religiosity and adopt the approach of devious sects that could be well intended; It is not an issue of Caliphate or governance and politics.
The problem of our Muslim Community (Ummah) is undoubtedly a problem of Faith (Iman) and Certainty (Yaqeen). The solution lies in reaching a medicine that treats this problem and is suitable for all Muslim community members. What other than the Qur’an possesses all these ingredients? Hence, we affirm that the return of blessings to our Muslim community is linked to the correct and proper understanding of the Qur’anic scripture.
It is noteworthy that when the Prophet spoke about the stages that the Muslim community would pass through.
Hudyifah Ibn Al-Yaman narrated that the Prophet said, “The Prophethood will last among you for as long as Allah wills, then Allah would take it away. Then it will be (followed by) a rightly guided rule (Khilafah Rashidah) according to the ways of the Prophethood. It will remain for as long as Allah wills, then Allah will take it away. Afterward, there will be biting ancestral governance, which will remain for as long as Allah wills, and then He will lift it if He wishes. Afterward, there will be biting oppression, lasting for as long as Allah wishes. Then He will lift it if He wishes. Then there will be a Khilafah Rashidah according to the ways of the Prophethood.” Then he kept silent.
We could see from the words of Allah’s Messenger that the stages the Muslim community has gone through are the same as foretold by Allah’s Messenger, except for the last phase in the Hadith, “…then there will be a caliphate on the method of prophecy.” There is no doubt that Allah’s command will fulfill it, but did you not notice that the Prophet has paired the return of the rightly guided Caliphate with the methodology of Prophethood? What other platform and constitution of the prophethood` methodology?! Isn’t it the Qur’an and Sunnah?
The seven lengthy chapters (Suwar) equal the Torah (Old Testament) of Prophet Musa (Moses).
Al-Baqarah, Al-Imran, An-Nisa, Al-Maidah, Al-An’am, Al-A’raf, Al-Anfal, and At-Tawbah. They comprise the evolution of the first abode for Islam (Dar Al-Islam), which the Prophet and his companions (Sahabah) established. Therefore, to persevere in the re-building of a similar entity like the one which started in Madinah, we must become very familiar with the mother module they formed for Muslims to follow until the Day of Judgment (Yawm Al-Qiyamah). The Seven Lengthy chapters comprise a manuscript on how to contribute to restoring the Khilafah in light of the first third of the Qur’an.
