After an Islamic government is formed, the responsibility of this Islamic government is to establish an Islamic society. What does "Islamic society" mean? an Islamic society is a society which tries to achieve the goals and ideals that Islam has delineated for humanity: a society in which there is justice, a society in which there is freedom, a society in which the people play a role in running their country and determining their destiny, a society that enjoys national dignity and wealth, a society that enjoys welfare, a society whose members do not suffer from poverty and hunger, a society with comprehensive advances in scientific, economic and political areas, a society that does not suffer from stagnation, a society that makes constant progress. This is the kind of society that we are after. Of course, such a society has not been established yet, but our efforts are in that direction. Therefore, this is our main medium-term goal.
Why do I describe this goal as a medium-term goal? Because when such a society is established, the most important responsibility of this society is to enable human beings achieve spiritual and divine perfection in the shade of the government and atmosphere it has created. "And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me." [The Holy Quran, 51: 56] The goal of such a society is to help human beings worship God. The word "worship" in this ayah has been interpreted as having the same meaning as the word "know". However, this is not to say that worship means knowledge. Rather, this interpretation suggests that worship is meaningless without knowledge: it is impossible. Worship without knowledge is not worship. Therefore, a society that worships God achieves perfect divine knowledge and acquires divine characteristics. This is ultimate perfection for human beings. Therefore, this is the ultimate goal and establishing an Islamic society is a requirement for achieving this goal, but establishing an Islamic society is in itself a very great goal. When such a society is established, the ground will be prepared for establishing an Islamic Ummah by expanding this society, but this is a different issue.
What I described as the ultimate goal is an extremely important issue. But I would like to make a different point before I explain this issue. The concepts that I mentioned - the concept of justice, the concept of freedom, the concept of honoring human beings - should be interpreted in an Islamic way, not in a western way. Freedom has a specific meaning in Islamic thought, which is different from the western conception of the word. Honoring human beings and human dignity in an Islamic sense is different from western interpretations and conceptions.
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