According to Maududi, in his lecture “Process of Islamic Revolution”, what is "divine sovereignty" and why is it superior to national sovereignty? Make sure to provide some quotations to back up your response.
The Process of Islamic Revolution By Abul A'la Maududi Contents 1. The Process of Islamic Revolution 2. The Method of Islamic Revolution 3. The Technique of Islamic Movement 1. The Process of Islamic Revolution 1a. Natural Evolution of the State System 1b. The Ideological State 1c. The Divine Caliphate Gentlemen! In this discourse I shall explain to you the process by which an Islamic State comes into being as a natural consequence of a particular set of circumstances. Now-a-days the phrase."Islamic State" has become a child's plaything; the idea has caught the imagination of certain people, and some of them even profess to have adopted it as a positive ideal. But such strange methods are being suggested for its attainment as would make it as impossible to reach the desired goal as reaching America in a motor car. This loose thinking is due to the fact that owing to certain political and historical causes, a desire has sprung up for a certain ideal which may be called the "Islamic State" ; but no attempt has been made either to define in a scientific manner the nature of this state or to study the process of its evolution. In these circumstances it becomes doubly necessary to investigate this problem in a scientific manner. Natural Evolution of the State SystemIn this gathering of educated people I need not spend much time in explaining that a state, whatever its nature, is not formed by artificial 2 / 27 means; it is not an article of manufacture to be prepared at a particular place and then transplanted elsewhere entirely at the sweet will of men. It is rather a natural product of the interplay of certain moral, psychological, cultural and historical factors pre-existing in a place. Certain pre-requisites must be fulfilled, certain social forces created and some natural requirements satisfied before it can come into being by the pressure of events. Just as in Logic, deduction always follows the arrangement of premises; in Chemistry a chemical compound is formed by the combination, in a particular way, of certain ingredients possessing chemical affinity; likewise it is an undeniable fact that in Sociology a state is merely the natural consequence of the circumstances which pre-exist in a particular society. Again, the nature of state is wholly determined by the nature of the circumstances which underlie its birth and formation. Just as it is not possible that premises may be of one type and their arrangement may bring about a different conclusion ; chemical components may be of a particular nature and by mixing them up a compound of a totally different kind may be obtained ; a lemon seed may be sown and a tree bearing mangoes may grow out of it ; similarly it is not possible that conditions may exist favoring the growth of a particular type of state and the manner of their mutual interaction may also suit the development of the same type of state but, after passing through various evolutionary stages, an altogether different state may emerge out of the process ; and the operation of the very forces which favored one form of state may result in a state being established which belongs to a different category altogether. Please do not imagine that I am bringing in the doctrine of Determinism here and denying the freedom of human will. There is no doubt that in determining the nature of a state the volition and actions of individuals and communities play a very great part. What I am driving at is that whatever the nature of the state system that is desired to be created, it is indispensable to adopt and choose such means as fit in with the nature and spirit of the desired system and then to hit upon the appropriate course of action leading towards it. It is essential that a particular type of movement should grow up permeated by the same spirit; the same sort of mass character should be molded; the same type of communal morality should be developed; the same kinds of workers should be trained, arid the same type of leadership should emerge; and such collective action taken as is inherent in the nature of the particular state system desired to be set 3 / 27 up. It is only when all these means have been successfully employed and all the necessary forces and appropriate factors have continued to operate for a sufficient period of time and when, as a result of their operation over a considerable period, they have created a social pattern strong enough to withstand all influences foreign to its spirit, then there comes into being, as a natural sequence of this train of events, that particular type of state for which these powerful forces have prepared the ground. This is exactly as a tree springs out of a seed and continues to grow with its own force, so that on reaching a particular stage of development it begins to bear the self-same fruit for which its natural structure was particularly suited. If you consider this fact, you will recognize that when a particular type of movement, leadership, mass-character and communal morality have emerged into a shape appropriate to a definite form of state system and yet the hope is entertained that, as a consequence thereof, a state system of an altogether different nature will be created, it would be little more than wishful thinking. The Ideological State We have now to consider what is the nature of the state which we call an Islamic state. In this connection I may point out that the distinguishing mark of the Islamic state is its complete freedom from all traces of nationalism and its influences, direct and indirect. It is a state built exclusively on principles. I should call it an ideological state. A state having its foundations in certain recognized moral principles and free from all idea of nationality or race is one which the world has known but once only and the advantages of which it does not appreciate even to this day. In ancient times men knew only of government by families or classes. Later on, they had experience of racial and national governments. But the idea of a state conducted on a definite set of principles and ruled by a group of persons compose of widely differing nationalities who have accepted those principles as the basis of their entire life, social, economic and political--such acceptance of principles being their sole title to have a voice in the affairs of the state, this has never struck root in the narrow mind of man. Christianity did embody a very dim perception of this truth but it could not develop a full system of ideas on the basis of which such a state could be formed. .In the French Revolution we discover a faint glimpse of the idea of a state founded on a set of principles, but it soon disappeared in the darkness of nationalism. Communism of 4 / 27 course preached this gospel with deep fervor and did even attempt to form a state on this basis, so that the world began to take interest in the great Russian experiment. But the evil spirit of nationalism soon possessed the Communist state and injected its poison down to its roots. From the dawn of history down to modern days, Islam is the only system in the world which seeks to organize the state on the basis of an ideology free from all traces of nationalism and invites mankind to form a non-national state by accepting its ideological basis. As this is something novel and the world around us is moving in a contrary direction not only the non-Muslims but even Muslims themselves are unable to realize its full implications. The idea completely eludes the grasp of those Muslims who, though born in Muslim families, have had their training and education on Western lines and whose views on life and history are borrowed from the European history and Western politics. The result has been that in, countries outside India, where Muslims preponderate and which are more or less independent, when people of this type assumed the reins of government, they could think of no other form of government or state system except a national government and national state. This was because they had no knowledge of Islam and its attitude towards the problems of life and no conception of a state formed on a definite set of moral and spiritual principles instead of the principle of race or nationality. In India too, people who have received the same kind of mental training are involved in the same fallacy. They talk of an Islamic state but, because of their peculiar mental training and their background of Western political history, they have before their mind no plan of life except. that derived from the life and history of a national state in Europe. Consciously or unconsciously, they fall a victim to nationalistic ideology; and whatever program they think of is fundamentally nationalistic. According to them, the nature of the problem that confronts us is no more than this: that Muslims are a separate national group like Hindus, Englishmen and Frenchmen and as such they have every right to a separate national existence under a state and government of their own. However much they may rack their brains, they cannot conceive of any other means of attaining this objective except that, as a nation, Muslims should follow the same methods and adopt the same strategy as have been followed and adopted by all other national groups in history. In other words, the elements of which this nationality is composed should first be welded 5 / 27 together in a strong unified whole ; a powerful national spirit should then be infused among them ; a central authority should emerge and direct them ; they should organize their own national guards ; they should have a national militia ; wherever they are in a majority they should form a national state based on the well-known democratic principle of majority rule ; and wherever they may be in a minority, their "rights" should be safeguarded and their individuality protected, just as in other countries of the word national minorities seek and claim such protection : in the services, educational institutions and elected bodies, they should have proportionate representation, their representatives should be elected by their own votes ; and they should be given their due share in ministries as