It is of the utmost importance that all in the Ummah understand clearly the principles of ruling and its evidences in the same way in which we work to understand fully all other obligations (furood). However, a few guidelines need to be established before studying the principles of ruling in Islam. For instance, the absence of any single principle will make the system a non-Islamic system. Thus, all the principles have to exist in order for it to be considered an Islamic Ruling System, e.g. if the sovereignty does not belong to the Allah (swt) and the leader forces his own rule on the people, the State can no longer be considered an Islamic State. Simply put, there must be proper conditions laid down that qualify a state to become an Islamic State, otherwise any state could claim illegitimately to be so, as is currently the case with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan etc.
The First Principle: Sovereignty belongs to the Shari‘ah.
An individual does not run the affairs of the Ummah (nation) or those of another individual as he pleases; nor can the Ummah run her affairs as she pleases. The individual and the Ummah’s actions and initiations are subject to Allah’s (swt) commands and prohibitions. Thus, the sovereignty belongs to the Shari‘ah, i.e. the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Messenger (saw), and not to the Ummah. In other words, no human being has the right to legislate in Islam. Consequently, no law-making body exists in the Islamic ruling system. Evidence of this is abundant from the Qur’an, the Sunnah and Ijma‘ of the Sahabah (Consensus of the companions of the Messenger).
- Evidence from the Qur’an:
Allah (swt) has said,
“The rule is to none but Allah .” [TMQ 6: 57]
“If anyone rules by other than what Allah has revealed they are kafiroon (unbelievers).” [TMQ 5:44]
This clearly proves that the rule, judgement and supremacy are all to Allah (swt) alone.
- Evidence from the Sunnah:
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “No one among you becomes a believer until his feelings (emotions) are in harmony with what I have brought.”
The actions of Allah’s Messenger (saw) since the day he was sent, to his death, clearly demonstrate that the supremacy is to the Shari‘ah of Allah (swt).
- Evidence from Ijma‘ of the Sahabah:
The actions of the Khulafa‘a Rashidoon (the first four Khulafa‘a) have indicated that the supremacy is to the Shari‘ah and not the people. The Sahabah did not object to this and consented. Their consensus is proof that the supremacy is indeed to the Shari‘ah and nothing else.
Therefore the supremacy is to the Shari‘ah; for the Khaleefah is not given the pledge by the Ummah merely to be a hired man executing just what the Ummah decides - as is the case in the democratic system - he is given the pledge or allegiance by the Ummah to execute the rules of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Messenger (saw), i.e. to execute the Shari‘ah Laws and not just what people want; and if the people deviated and disobeyed the Shari‘ah he should fight them until they repented and returned to obedience.
The Second Principle: Authority belongs to the Ummah.
Evidence of this principle can be looked at from two sides:
Firstly: The Shari‘ah has given the right of appointing the Khaleefah to the Ummah; in other words it is the Ummah who chooses the Khaleefah and gives him the pledge of allegiance. This was accomplished by the pledge of allegiance given to him by the Muslims. This is backed by many ahadith from which we list the following:
Ubada ibn al-Samit reported, “We pledged ourselves in complete obedience to the Messenger of Allah in wealth and woe...”
Jarir ibn ‘Abdullah reported, “I pledge myself in complete obedience to the Messenger of Allah.”
Abu Hurayrah (ra) reported, “The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: Three types of people Allah will not talk to on the Day of Reckoning, nor would he forgive them; they would be severely punished: A man who has water to spare and would not give it to the traveller, a man who gives his pledge to an Imam but not for his deen - he would only obey him if he gave him what he wanted, otherwise he would not, and a man who would strike a deal with another man after ‘Asr, swearing by Allah that he was given so much for the goods and he was not given so.”
Secondly: The Shari‘ah allows the Khaleefah to take the authority from the Ummah once it gives him the pledge of allegiance then the Ummah is obliged to obey him for he is a Khaleefah with a bay‘ah (pledge). So the authority is given to the Khaleefah by the Ummah by giving the pledge of allegiance (bay‘ah al-ta‘aa) to obey him. This indicates that the authority is to the Ummah.
Evidence about the Khaleefah taking the authority by a pledge can be deduced from the following: ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘A’as reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying, “Whosoever pledges allegiance to an Imam giving him the clasp of his hand and the fruit of his heart shall obey him as long as he can, and if another comes to dispute with him strike the neck of that man.” (Muslim)
Nafi‘a reported that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar told him that he heard Allah’s Messenger (saw) saying, “Whosoever takes his hand from allegiance to Allah will meet him on the Day of Resurrection without any evidence supporting him and whosoever dies while there was no allegiance on his neck dies a death of the days of ignorance.” (Muslim)
The Third Principle: Appointing one Khaleefah is an Obligation
The Shari‘ah has made it an obligation on every Muslim to have a bay‘ah for a Khaleefah; the obligation is to fulfil the pledge. Every Muslim should have a bay‘ah on his/her neck. This can only be achieved if a Khaleefah is appointed. The evidences of this principle is derived from the Sunnah and Ijma‘ of the Sahabah.
- Evidences from the Sunnah
Many ahadith confirm that Muslims are forbidden from having more than one state and from having more than one ruler (Amir) in the whole world. Following are two ahadith related to this issue:
- a. Imam Muslim reported on the authority of Abu Said al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “When the bay‘ah has been given for two Khaleefahs kill the latter of them.” (Muslim)
- b. Imam Muslim reported on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘A’as that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Whosoever pledges allegiance to an Imam giving him the clasp of his hand and the fruit of his heart should obey him as long as he can and if another comes to dispute him you must strike the neck of that man.” (Muslim)
- 2. The Ijma‘ of the Sahabah
In the books of Al-Fasil-fi-al Milal by Ibn Hazim, Tarikh of al- Tabari, Al-‘Aqd al-Fareed of Al-Waqidi, Al-Seerah of Ibn Kathir, Al- Sunan al-Kubra‘a of Bayhaqi and Al-Seerah of Ibn Hisham it is reported that Al-Habbab ibn al-Mundhir said when the Sahabah met in the wake of the death of the Messenger of Allah (saw) at the saqifa (hall) of bani Sa‘ida, “One Amir from us and one Amir from you (meaning one from the Ansar and one from the Muhajireen).” Upon this Abu Bakr replied, “It is forbidden for Muslims to have two Amirs (rulers)...”
The Sahabah heard him and approved and consented; no one disputed the verdict, but submitted to it and accepted it as a law (indication of evidence from the Sunnah). The Ansar then conceded their claim to the Khilafah and al-Habbab ibn al-Mundhir was the first to give his pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr (ra).
The Ijma‘ of the Sahabah then took effect on the day of al-saqifa that it is an obligation for all Muslims to have one ruler only.
The Fourth Principle: The Khaleefah has the exclusive power to adopt the Divine Laws. He alone enacts the Constitution and various laws
This principle, derived from the Qur’an, the Sunnah and Ijma‘ of the Sahabah, can be extracted from two different angles:
- a. Obedience to the head of the Islamic State is an obligation on Muslims.
- b. Looking after the affairs of the Muslims is an obligation on the head of State.
The first point: Obeying the head of the Islamic State is an obligation on Muslims.
This has been clearly confirmed in many Qur’anic verses and ahadith to the point where the Shari‘ah considered the obedience to the ruler as part of the obedience to Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw). Therefore obeying the ruler entails a reward and disobedience entails punishment.
Following is an evidence from the Qur’an:
“O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and those of you who are in authority.” [TMQ 4:59]
Evidence from the Sunnah:
Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, al-Nisa‘i and Ibn Majah reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ra) that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “Whoever obeyed me he obeyed Allah; whoever disobeyed me he disobeyed Allah, whoever obeyed the Amir he obeyed me and whoever disobeyed him disobeyed me.”
Bukhari, Abu Daud, Ibn Majah and Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “The Muslim should hear and obey in whatever he liked or disliked as long as he is not ordered to commit a sin. If he were ordered to commit a sin he should neither hear or obey.”
Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported on Ubada ibn al- Samit’s authority that he said, “We pledged ourselves to the Messenger of Allah in complete obedience in wealth and woe, in ease and hardship and evil circumstances that we would not dispute with the people in authority unless a flagrant disbelief (kufr bu‘ah) for which we have clear evidence from the Shari‘ah is witnessed.”
These Qur’anic verses and ahadith from the Sunnah indicate clearly that obedience to the head of state is an obligation, whether his title were the Khaleefah, the Imam, the Amir of the believers or the person in authority. He must be obeyed for he is the one in authority over the Muslim Ummah.
If the Shari‘ah obliges Muslims to obey the people in authority with the Khaleefah as their supreme ruler his obedience would then be in matters he commands according to the Shari‘ah. He is not to be obeyed in matters that are sinful nor in the event of his changing of the divine laws in any way.
The second point: Looking after Muslims’ affairs is the duty of the head of the State
The head of the State is the guardian of the Ummah and the trustee of her affairs. He is, by Shari‘ah, entrusted with protecting and looking after the Ummah’s interests. That is why the Ummah gives him the authority to rule by what Allah (swt) has revealed so he works towards enforcing Islam in society and within the State as well as conveying the Islamic Message to the world.
Evidence from the Sunnah:
Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud and Tirmidhi reported on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Each one of you is a guardian and you are all responsible about your guardianship, the Imam is a guardian of the people and he is responsible for his guardianship of the people.”