As for the first principle, that the sovereignty belongs to the Shar’a; it has a reality, which is the word sovereignty. It has evidence that indicates that it belongs to the Shar’a and not to the Ummah. Its reality is that this word is a Western term, which means the one who exercises and controls the will. So if an individual exercised and controlled his own will, he would be sovereign over himself, but if his will was controlled and exercised by other than himself he would be a slave. This applies to the Ummah as well, if her will i.e. the will of the majority of her individuals, was controlled by herself via some of her individuals, to whom she willingly and freely granted the right of controlling that will, she would be considered sovereign over her own self. Whereas if others cotrolled her will, against her wishes, she would be considered enslaved. That is why the democratic system states: the sovereignty belongs to the people i.e. the people exercise their own affairs and elect the delegates they wish and give them the right to control their will. This is the reality of the sovereignty that we want to apply the verdict on. The verdict regarding this sovereignty is that it belongs to the Shar’a and not to the Ummah. The will of the individual is not controlled by himself as he pleases but by the commands and prohibitions of Allah (swt). Similarly, the Ummah is not controlled by her own free will where she acts as she pleases but is rather subjected to the commands and prohibitions of Allah (swt). The evidence about this is reflected in Allah’s saying:

“And by thy Lord they will not believe until they make you judge between them.” [An-Nisa: 65]

And His (swt) speech:

“O you who believe, Obey Allah, Obey His Messenger and those in authority from amongst you and if you differ then refer it to Allah and His Messenger if you believe in Allah and the Last Day.” [An-Nisa: 59]

Referring it to Allah and the Messenger means to the rules of Shar’a. Therefore, that which controls the Ummah and the individual, and conducts the will of the Ummah and the individual is, in fact, what the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has brought. So the Ummah and the individuals submit to the Shar’a. Thus, the sovereignty is for the Shar’a. Therefore, the Ummah does not give the Bay’ah to the Khaleefah as if hired by her to execute what she wishes, as is the case in the democratic system. He is rather given the Bay’ah on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (pbuh), so as to execute the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger (pbuh) i.e. to implement the Shar’a and not what the people wish. Even if the people who gave him the Bay’ah deviated from the Shar’a he has to fight them until they revert back to the Shar’a.