Question:
It was stated in the book Al-Manhaj: "It is by the grace of Allah upon us and upon the people that a public opinion has emerged for Islam, and it has become the hope of the Ummah for salvation. The Khilafah is now on every tongue after it was absent, and its establishment and the restoration of ruling by what Allah has revealed has become the wish of all Muslims." (Al-Manhaj, page 50).
Here, public opinion was mentioned, but public awareness was not. Is there a reason for this? In any case, when discussing the second stage of the tariqah (method), it says: "The collective culture of the masses of the Ummah with the ideas and rules of Islam adopted by the party... to create public awareness within the Ummah and interact with her..." (Al-Manhaj, page 43). This means it stipulated public awareness and did not say public opinion...?! Why this difference?
Furthermore, what is the meaning of "public awareness"? And how is public awareness regarding the Khilafah achieved, for example?
Answer:
We have mentioned in more than one place "public opinion emanating from public awareness." If we sometimes mention "public opinion" alone, or "public awareness" alone, it is correct because the required public opinion is the one that emanates from public awareness. They are part of a single sequence, and mentioning one part of the sequence without the other is correct.
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ إِذَا أَنْتُمْ بَشَرٌ تَنْتَشِرُونَ
"And of His signs is that He created you from dust; then, suddenly you are human beings dispersing [throughout the earth]." (Surah Ar-Rum [30]: 20)
And He (swt) says:
الَّذِي أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ الْإِنْسَانِ مِنْ طِينٍ
"Who perfected everything which He created and began the creation of man from clay." (Surah As-Sajdah [32]: 7)
And He (swt) says:
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانِ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ
"And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud." (Surah Al-Hijr [15]: 26)
And He (swt) says:
خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ
"He created man from clay like [that of] pottery." (Surah Ar-Rahman [55]: 14)
You see that the noble verses sometimes mentioned dust (turab), other times mud (tin), thirdly sounding clay from altered mud (salsal min hama’ masnun), and fourthly sounding clay like pottery (salsal kal-fakhkhar). Salsal is dry clay that makes a sound and is unbaked; if it is baked, it is fakhkhar (pottery).
This is because they are all part of one sequence: dust, then mud, then clay that dries without being baked, then baked clay... mentioning any part of the sequence is correct.
The same applies to the saying "public opinion emanating from public awareness." It is a sequence; it is correct to say them together as "public opinion emanating from public awareness," or to suffice by saying "public opinion," or to say "public awareness." All of it is correct and there is no contradiction, especially since the context is clear.
As for the meaning of public awareness:
- Awareness (Al-Wa'i) comes from wa'iya. Linguistically, as stated in Lisan al-Arab: (Wa'i: Al-wa’yu is the heart’s preservation of something. He wa’a the thing or the speech, meaning he preserved it, understood it, and accepted it. He is wa’in (aware). So-and-so is more aw'a than another, meaning more preserving and understanding. It is mentioned in the Hadith:
نَضَّر اللَّهُ امْرَأً سَمِعَ مَقالَتي فوَعاها، فَرُبَّ مُبَلِّغٍ أَوْعَى مِنْ سَامِعٍ
"May Allah brighten a man who hears my words and grasps them (wa’aha), for perhaps the one to whom it is conveyed is more understanding (aw’a) than the one who heard it.")
- Public (Al-Amm) means that this comprehension encompasses the most prominent aspects of the matter.
As for how public awareness regarding the Khilafah is achieved, it is not just a partial knowledge of the word "Khilafah." Rather, it also includes some of its prominent rules: that it is an obligation (fard), that there is only one Khalifah, that the pledge of allegiance (bay'ah) is by consent and choice... and knowing some of the prominent powers of the Khalifah, such as managing internal and external affairs. We say "some" because public awareness does not mean knowing every single detail; rather, a general understanding (ijmal) is sufficient for a person to be aware of the Khilafah with public awareness... and the same applies to other matters.