Question
Are you [I guess the addressees here are all Pakistanis] Muslims?
I think that you are not Muslims. Because the system of your country is not Islamic and I think that if your Islamic country has no Islam then how can you claim that you are Muslims.
Answer
It is indeed a great misfortune that most of the Muslim countries in the world, at the moment, are not paying heed to the directives of the Qur’an, especially those directives of the Qur’an that relate to their collective lives. It is because of this reason that their collective lives remain devoid of blessings from the Lord of the world.
Nevertheless, this misfortune, however grave it is, does not mean that the individuals living in these societies have become non-Muslims because of it. It must be kept in mind that common Muslims in their individual capacities are not responsible for the promulgation of any laws. This is the responsibility of the collectivity, which is fulfilled through the representatives of that collectivity. If these representatives avoid the promulgation of Islamic laws and the cultivation of Islamic values among the collectivity, they shall face the consequences of this avoidance on the Day they are taken to face their Lord.
Thus, because the Qur’an does not put the responsibility of the correction of the collectivity on the common man living in that collectivity, therefore we cannot say that if the collectivity is devoid of Islamic values, the individuals living in that collectivity cease to be Muslims.
15th December 1999