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Concept
Political quietism in Islam
Summary
In the political aspects of Islam, political quietism in Islam is the religiously-motivated withdrawal from political affairs or skepticism that mere mortals can establish a true Islamic government. It is the opposite of political Islam, which holds that the Islamic religion and politics are inseparable. It has also been used to describe Muslims who believe that Muslims should support Islamic government, but that it is "forbidden to rebel against a ruler"; and Muslims who support Islamic government at the right time in the future, when a consensus of Islamic scholars or twelfth imam call for it. The Sunnis of Saudi Arabia and Salafis are sometimes described as having "quietist" and "radical" wings.
Some analysts have argued that "Islamic political culture promotes political quietism", especially when faced with forms of absolute leadership, such as autocracy, monarchy, or caliphate, and cite a "famous Islamic admonition:
Better one hundred years of the Sultan's tyranny than one year of people's tyranny over each other." Other sacred scriptures providing grounding for political quietism in Islam include the ayat Obey God, obey his Prophet and obey those among you who hold authority(Q4:59) and the hadith: Obey him who holds authority over you, even if he be a mutilated Ethiopian slave
Other "commonly cited" but not scriptural sayings among Sunni jurists and theologians that encourage acceptance over resistance include "whose power prevails must be obeyed" and "the world can live with tyranny but not with anarchy".
Saud al-Sarhan in his treatise Political Quietism in Islam: Sunni and Shi’i Practice and Thought states that , genre of Nasihat and advice literature started thriving. According to al-Sarhan goal of advice literature then in those times was to help preserve political authority as part of pragmatic quiet activity. al-Sarhan further states that 12th century Persian authorship while epitomizing political activism on one hand, very much gave into the divinely sanctioned absolutism of the caliphs on the other.Official source
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