The ruling system is built upon four principles which are:

a. Sovereignty is for the Shar’ rather than fort the people.

b. The authority is for the Ummah.

c. To appoint a single Khalifah is an obligation upon the Muslims.

d. The Khalifah alone has the right to adopt Shari’ah rules, so he is the one who enacts the constitution and the rest of the laws.

This article explains the basis of the rule, which cannot exist without this basis. If anything from this basis goes then the rule goes. The intention is the Islamic ruling; in other words, the authority of Islam, not any rule. And this basis has been derived after scrutiny of the Shari’ah evidences.

The first principle that the sovereignty belongs to the Shari’ah has a reality, and that is the word sovereignty, and this word has its indication, and its indication is that it is for the Shari’ah and not for the people. As for its reality, that is that this word is a Western definition and what is meant by it is the execution of the wishes and its direction. If the individual was the one who applied his wishes and executed them then the sovereignty would be for him, and if his wishes were executed and controlled by other than him then he would be a slave. If the wishes of the Ummah or in other words, if the collective will of its individuals was directed on its behalf by individuals from amongst themselves who were consensually given the right to direct them, then it would be its own master, and if the Ummah's will was controlled by others forcefully then it would be enslaved. For this reason the democratic system says: the sovereignty is for the people or in other words, they are the ones who execute their will and establish upon it whomsoever they want and give them the right of directing their will. This is the reality of sovereignty which is intended to apply to the ruling.

As for the rule regarding this sovereignty, it is for the Shari’ah and not for the people, since the one who directs the wishes of the individuals according to the Shari’ah is not the individual as they themselves wish, but rather the will of the individual is directed by the orders and prohibitions of Allah (swt). And the proof for that are His (swt) words.

“But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves.” (TMQ 4:65), and the words of the Prophet (phuh).

. » لاَ ي ؤُْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يَكُونَ هَوَاهُ تَ بَعاً لِمَ ا جِئْتُ بِهِ « .

“None of you [truely] believe until his desires are subservient to that which I have brought.” (reported by Ibn Abi ‘Asim in Al-Sunna). Al-Nawawi said after reporting the narration from ‘Abd Allah b. Amr b. Al-‘As in Al-Arba’in that it is a Sahih Hasan narration. So what reigns in the Ummah and the individual and directs the will of the Ummah and the individual, is what the Messenger (pbuh) came with. So the Ummah and the individual submit to the Shari’ah and accordingly the sovereignty is for the Shari’ah. Due to this the Khalifah is not contracted by the Ummah as a servant of theirs to implement what they want, as is the case in the democratic system, but rather the Khalifah is contracted by the Ummah upon the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger , to implement the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah; in other words, to implement the Shari’ah and not whatever the people may want, to the point that if the people who contracted him go against the Shari’ah they are fought against until they desist. Consequently, the evidence was derived for the principle that the sovereignty is for the Shari’ah not the people.

As for the second principle - the authority is for the people - it is taken from the fact that the Shari’ah made the appointment of the Khalifah by the Ummah and the Khalifah takes his authority from this contract. As for the fact that the Shari’ah made the appointment of the Khalifah to be by the Ummah – this is clear from the narrations regarding the pledge of allegiance. It is narrated from ‘Ubadah b. Samit who said.

. » عَلَى السَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ فِي الْمَنْشَطِ وَالْمَكْرَه بَايَ عْنَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ « .

“We gave the pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that we listen and obey in whatever was pleasing and hateful to us” (agreed upon), and from Jarir Bin ‘Abd Allah who said.

. » عَلَى السَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ بَايَ عْتُ النَّبِيَّ « .

“We gave the pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to listen and obey” (agreed upon), and from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

. ثَلاثَةٌ لا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهُ ي وَْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلا ي زَُكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ: رَجُلٌ عَلَى « فَضْلِ مَاءٍ بِالطَّرِيقِ يَمْنَعُ مِنْهُ ابْنَ السَّبِيلِ، وَرَجُلٌ بَايَعَ إِمَامًا لا ي بَُايِعُهُ إِلاَّ لِدُنْ يَاهُ إِنْ أَعْطَاهُ مَا يُرِيدُ وَفَى لَهُ وَإِلاَّ لَمْ يَفِ لَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ ي بَُايِعُ رَجُلاً بِسِلْعَةٍ بَ عْدَ الْعَصْرِ فَحَلَفَ بِاللَّهِ لَقَدْ » أُعْطِيَ بِهَا كَذَا وَكَذَا فَصَدَّقَهُ فَأَخَذَهَا وَلَمْ ي عُْطَ بِهَا .

“There are three persons whom Allah will neither talk to nor look at, nor purify from (the sins), and they will have a painful punishment. (They are): (1) A man possessed superfluous water on a way and he withheld it from the travelers. (2) a man who gives a pledge of allegiance to a Muslim ruler and gives it only for worldly gains. If the ruler gives him what he wants, he remains obedient to It, otherwise he does not abide by it, and (3) a man bargains with another man after the `Asr prayer and the latter takes a false oath in the Name of Allah claiming that he has been offered so much for the thing, and the former (believes him and) buys it.” (agreed upon). Accordingly, the pledge is from the side of the Muslims to the Khalifah and not from the Khalifah to the Muslims, and so they are the ones who give him the pledge or establish him as a ruler upon them, and what occurred with the rightly guided Khulafaa’ is that they only took the pledge of the allegiance from the Ummah and they did not become Khulafaa’ except by the pledge of the Ummah with them.

As for the effect that the Khalifah takes the authority from this pledge, then this is clear from the narrations of obedience and in the narrations about the unity of the Khalifah. ‘Abd Allah Bin Amr b. Al-‘As said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say,

. وَمَنْ بَايَعَ إِمَامًا فَأَعْطَاهُ صَفْ قَةَ يَدِهِ وَثَمَرَةَ قَ لْبِهِ فَ لْيُطِعْهُ إِنِ اسْتَطَاعَ ، فَإِنْ جَاءَ « » آخَرُ ي نَُازِعُهُ، فَاضْرِبُوا عُنُقَ الآخَرِ .

“He who swears allegiance to a Caliph should give him the grasp of his hand and the sincerity of his heart (i. e. submit to him both outwardly as well as inwardly). He should obey him to the best of his capacity. If another man comes forward (as a claimant to Caliphate), disputing his authority, they (the Muslims) should behead the latter.” (reported by Muslim, and from Nafi’),

. مَنْ خَ لَعَ يَدًا مِنْ طَاعَةٍ لَقِيَ اللَّهَ يَ وْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ لا حُجَّةَ لَهُ، وَمَنْ مَاتَ وَلَيْسَ فِي « » عُنُقِهِ بَ يْ عَةٌ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّة .

“One who withdraws his hand from obedience (to the Amir) will find no argument (in his defense) when he stands before Allah on the Day of Resurrection; and one who dies without having sworn allegiance will die the death of one belonging to the Days of Ignorance (Jahilliyah)” (reported by Muslim), and from Ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

. مَنْ كَ رِهَ مِنْ أَمِيرِهِ شَيْئًا فَ لْيَصْبِرْ عَلَيْهِ، فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ خَرَجَ مِنْ « » السُّلْطَانِ شِبْ رًا فَمَاتَ عَلَيْهِ إِلاَّ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّة .

“One who found in his Amir something which he disliked should hold his patience, for one who separated from the main body of the Muslims even to the extent of a handspan and then he died would die the death of one belonging to the days of Jahiliyya” (agreed upon). Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (phuh) said,

. كَانَتْ بَ نُو إِسْرَائِيلَ تَسُوسُهُمُ الأَنْبِيَاءُ، كُلَّمَا هَلَكَ نَبِ ي خَلَفَهُ نَبِ ي، وَإِنَّهُ لا نَبِيَّ « بَ عْدِي، وَسَيَكُونُ خُلَفَاءُ فَ يَكْثُ رُونَ، قَالُوا: فَمَا تَأْمُرُنَا؟ قَالَ: فُوا بِبَ يْ عَةِ الأَوَّلِ فَالأَوَّلِ، » أَعْطُوهُمْ حَقَّهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سَا ئِلُهُمْ عَمَّا اسْتَ رْعَاهُمْ .

“Banu Isra'il were ruled over by the Prophet (phuh)s. When one Prophet (phuh) died, another succeeded him; but after me there is no Prophet (phuh) and there will be caliphs and they will be quite large in number. His Companions said: What do you order us to do (in case we come to have more than one Caliph)? He said: The one to whom allegiance is sworn first has a supremacy over the others. Concede to them their due rights (i. e. obey them). Allah will question them about the subjects whom He had entrusted to them.” (agreed upon).

These narrations indicate that the Khalifah only gets his authority via this pledge, since Allah (swt) ordered obedience to him by this pledge – “Whoever has sworn the oath of allegiance to an Imam , must obey him” – so he took the Khilafah through the pledge and obedience to him is obligated because he is the Khalifah who has been contracted. So it means that he took the authority from the Ummah and the obligation of the Ummah obeying whomsoever it contracted, in other words, the one who has the pledge of allegiance upon their necks, by this pledge given to him, and this indicates that the authority is for the Ummah. On top of that, the Messenger (pbuh) , even though he was a Messenger, took the pledge of allegiance from the people. This was a pledge upon the rule and authority and not a pledge upon the Prophethood, and he took it from the women and the men and not from youngsters who had not yet reached the age of distinction. So the fact that the Muslims are the ones who establish the Khalifah and contract him upon the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger , and the fact that the Khalifah only takes his authority through this pledge, is clear evidence that the authority is for the Ummah to give to whomsoever they please.

As for the third principle, that to appoint a single Khalifah is obligatory upon the Muslims, the obligation of appointing the Khalifah is fixed in the noble narration, on the authority of Nafi’ who said that ‘Abd Allah b. Umar said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say,

. مَنْ خَلَعَ يَدًا مِنْ طَاعَةٍ لَقِيَ اللَّهَ يَ وْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ لا حُجَّةَ لَهُ، وَمَنْ مَاتَ وَلَيْسَ فِي « » عُنُقِهِ بَ يْ عَةٌ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّة .

“One who withdraws his hand from obedience (to the Amir) will find no argument (in his defense) when he stands before Allah on the Day of Resurrection; and one who dies without having sworn allegiance will die the death of one belonging to the Days of Ignorance (jahilliyah)” (reported by Muslim through ‘Abd Allah b. Umar). The angle of deduction from this narration is that the Messenger (pbuh) made it obligatory upon every Muslim to have the pledge of allegiance to the Khalifah upon their neck, and did not make it necessary that every Muslim has to give that pledge to the Khalifah. So the obligation is the presence of the pledge upon the neck of every Muslim, in other words, the presence of a Khalifah due to whom there is a pledge present upon the neck of every Muslim. Accordingly, it is the presence of the Khalifah that makes the pledge present upon the neck of every Muslim irrespective of whether they had given him the pledge personally or not.

As for the issue of the Khalifah being one, it is due to the narration of Abu Said Al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

. » إِذَا بُويِعَ لِخَلِيفَتَ يْنِ فَاقْ تُ لُوا الآخَرَ مِنْ هُمَا « .

“When oath of allegiance has been taken for two caliphs, kill the one for whom the oath was taken later.” (reported by Muslim), and this is an unambiguous prohibition of allowing more than one Khalifah for the Muslims.

With respect to the fourth principle, which is that the leader of the State alone has the right to adopt the laws, this has been established by the Ijma’ of the companions that the Khalifah alone has the right to adopt the laws, and from this Ijma’ the famous Shari’ah principles:“The order of the Imam resolves the difference”, “The order of the Imam is executed” and “The ruler can issue as many judgements as there are problems that appear” are all derived.