Taghut: The Evil Instigators

 TAGHUT: THE EVIL INSTIGATORS

Author: Sajid Mahmood Ansari

Taghut is the one of major themes of the Holy Qur’an, unfortunately, that has been misinterpreted by many clerics. While, the Qur’an has given a clear definition of Taghut. Allah Almighty says:

So whoever refuses to follow  Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is the All-Hearing and All-Knowing.

Allah is the friend of those who believe. He brings them out from shrouds of darkness into the light. And those who disbelieve - their friends are Taghut. They take them out of the light into depths of darkness. Those are the people of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein.[2:256-257]

It is evident from this Qur’anic narrative that Taghut is a person or an institution which brings the people out of the light into the depths of darkness. Light is a metaphor for the True faith and good practices while the darkness stands for the false faith and evil practices. So the person or institution which instigates people to follow a false faith and perform the evil practices must be Taghut. For being a true believer, one is required to refuse or follow to all sorts of Taghut. Yes, devil /satan is among the top of different types of Taghut, being most powerful of all types of Taghut. Even in a case, one’s own desires may become Taghut for him/her.

It is notable that Taghut is generally a person or institution that is loved and followed by the people. That is why the Qur’an mentions the friendship between Taghut and their followers. Refusing to follow Taghut is an obligatory condition for the Faith. Allah Almighty never accepts people’s faith unless they refuse to follow Taghut. Unfortunately, the situation is worse than mere following, but we love Taghut. The celebrities we follow today, instigate us to follow their life style. Devil, the Super Taghut, has designed a big game now to motivate people for following and loving Taghut. We think we do not love Devil, but reality is the opposite. We love some celebrities and follow their lifestyle intentionally or unintentionally. They take us away from our Merciful God, so they are Taghut, in fact. We satisfy ourselves, by arguing that only devil or idols are Taghut, hence we ruin ourselves. The atheistic movements have launched a number of philosophies to take the people away from the light and throwing them in the depths of darkness. Their methodology is very simple. Pose a question and create grey areas initially. Then take them away from the Truth, wherever they want.

Likewise, they want to lead us to chaos and permanent frustration. So they facilitate the propaganda that Muslim rulers are Taghut, so that the Muslim youth forget to defend the Ummah and involve in public militancy. Criticizing the policy of a Muslim ruler is one thing, while being a part of militancy against him is quite different one.

Remember that Taghut are the Evil Instigators, whether, they are in the shape of media, celebrities, our own desires or false clerics. We are obliged to refuse the life style of these people and do not follow our own desires. This is the utmost requirement for entering the fold of Islam.