Scholars have differed about how to determine whether a land is a land of Kufr or a land of Islam. The two basic positions are that a land is a land of Islam when the political power is in the hands of the Muslims and the laws of Islam are enacted and manifest in the society; or alternatively, that it is a land of Islam as long as the Muslims are present in it, and are safe to practice their religion therein in peace and security.
The majority view, and the stronger view, is that the determination is made on the basis of the enactment and manifestation of the laws of Islam. However, to what extent these laws are implemented, and how many of these laws are enacted, in order for a land to be regarded as a land of Islam, is a different discussion. Despite what many laymen may think, not all the laws are of equal importance in determining the nature of the government and society, whether they are Islamic or otherwise.
The implementation and manifestation of ALL of the laws of Islam did not exist in our history except for a period of about 40 years (the time of Rasulullah ï·º and the Khulafah Rashideen); after that we had 1,400 years of partial implementation of varying degrees. And frankly, that is what we have now. The majority view of the scholars is that the most important law that determines the nature of a government or society is the establishment of the Salah. If all other aspects of the Shari’ah are present, but the Salah is prohibited, of course, the government is Kafir. Similarly, if the Salah is established, but other aspects of the laws are not present, the government does not lose the categorization as Islamic, though it is oppressive and sinful (unless the absence of those laws occurs because the government explicitly declares their disbelief in them, or declares other laws to be superior).
Now, in most of our countries, this is what we have. Some laws of Islam are present, and some un-Islamic laws are present; and this has been the case throughout almost our entire history. And, yes, I believe this will continue to be the case until the arrival of the Mahdi. I do not subscribe to the idea that we can establish a Utopian Islamic state of absolute justice. What we can do, what we must do, and what the pious Muslims have always done, is to struggle to make things better. There will be periods of greater justice and righteousness, and periods of greater oppression and wrongdoing; there will be advances and reversals; and that is just real life.
It is essential, in my opinion, that we dispense with the delusion that we can establish a perfect state of Islamic piety and goodness, because, frankly, our pursuit of that is more likely to result in disasters and tremendous suffering. We will destroy our home based on a dream of building a palace upon the ruins, but what will actually happen is that we will just live in ruins. What we have to do is struggle with what we have, try in every way possible to improve our governments, pursue Islamic policy reforms, and so on. Yes, in most of our countries, the path of reform is blocked, but this just means that we have to be more creative, more resourceful, and yes, more patient, in our pursuit of better, more Islamic governments.