Why is the appointment of a prophet a political matter?

People should be free to be able to choose religion.


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Many who are familiar with religion say there is politics in religion too. But they do not pay attention to the fact that this is its essence. We can say that all the conflicts were over issues related to politics and power. We need to think carefully about why there were disputes over politics and how this came about. Why is the appointment of a prophet a political matter? When a prophet is appointed, his mission is to guide people. This guiding is not by force. “There is no compulsion in religion.” [Qur’an 2:256] Whoever wants to can come. This guiding should be in a free environment. The Holy Prophet (s) brought the message to the people for whoever likes to come, but first the people should be free. They shouldn’t be oppressed by the ruling powers. The prophet must say, “Let them be free! They may want to choose religion.” So he is forced to fight with the oppressors. He has to prepare a free environment.
A prophet may be able to attract four people in a society ruled by oppressors, but he cannot attract forty people in that society. Oppressed people like Ammar Yasir and his parents believed in the Prophet (s). His parents were killed very cruelly and only Ammar Yasir remained. What do people like Ammar Yasir do? They gather an army to confront the oppressors. Preparing an environment where people can be guided requires fighting, struggling for power and entering politics. Because if you do not enter the field of power and politics, you cannot guide people at all!
“We did not send a Messenger except that he should be obeyed, by the permission of Allah.” [Qur’an 4:64] We did not send a Messenger except to be a commander. [One may ask,] “Why to be a commander? Why don’t you say a prophet? He can tell us his message and go. Then it depends on us whether we want to accept or not.” God replies, “Power relations exist in human societies. And I have instructed the prophets to definitely deliver the message.” They’re preachers and not just news reporters! The Guardian sent by God is the one who makes you free [Rumi’s poem].
He doesn’t want to take people to Heaven by force or to make people Muslims by force! Rather, he wants to make people free so they can choose to be believers. Some people who are infatuated with the western culture foolishly think that the slogan of freedom has come from the west. Freedom is a precondition to religion! People must be free first. Maybe they will want to choose this religion. This was the first point, now the second.
When the Prophet (s) formed a “value system,” this value system disrupted the power structure of the society. If you had a high status in that society, you couldn’t be sure of your position after the formation of the new value system. In that society, this was hard for people like Abu Jahl who were in power. They thought the Prophet would become in charge of the society and they wouldn’t have a share anymore. Because they didn’t have the values that he preached. They became upset. So they formed an army to kill the Prophet (s) in the Battle of Badr.
As soon as the Prophet said he was a prophet, since they were familiar with religion, they understood he would take power. They wouldn’t be in power anymore. They were smart in understanding this. So they started fighting with him immediately. The Bani Rabi’a tribe told the Prophet (s), “O Prophet of God, we’ll help you. Then can we help choose your successor?” He said, “No.” They said, “So we won’t help you.”
So when religion came, it established a value system that some people could not tolerate. The Prophet had been sent to free people and to disrupt power relations. These are two factors that create conflicts. Apart from these two, something else was happening too. He himself wanted to be in charge of the society. Because no one besides the Messenger of God was capable of being the leader and observing people’s freedom at the same time. No one else can do this. Only the pious and the Guardians can. No one can manage the society except people who are extremely pious, because other people will either make mistakes or betray society. Or the people around them will make mistakes or betray society.