The term حُكْم (hukm) and its derivatives appear more than 250 times[1] in the Qur’an. Allah (Most High) says, إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تُؤَدُّوا۟ ٱلْأَمَـٰنَـٰتِ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُم بَيْنَ ٱلنَّاسِ أَن تَحْكُمُوا۟ بِٱلْعَدْلِ Allah commands you to return to their owners the things you hold on trust and, when you judge between people, to judge with justice.[2] يَـٰدَاوُۥدُ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَـٰكَ خَلِيفَةًۭ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱحْكُم بَيْنَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ ٱلْهَوَىٰ فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ Oh Dawud! We have made you a khaleefah on the earth, so judge between people with truth and do not follow your own desires, letting them misguide you from the Way of Allah.[3] وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ “Those who do not judge by what Allah has sent down, such people are disbelievers (kafirun).”[4] In most English translations as you can see, hukm is translated as judgement because the Arabic dictionary definition of hukm includes القَضاء (al-qadaa’) which means to issue a decree or judge. In Lisan al-Arab (1290CE):  والحُكْمُ: العِلْمُ وَالْفِقْهُ وَالْقَضَاءُ بِالْعَدْلِ، وَهُوَ مَصْدَرُ …

The Khilafah (Caliphate) is an ideological Islamic State where the Islamic ‘aqeeda (belief) is the basis of the state, its institutions, systems and societal relationships. There is no separation between religion and politics in Islam as we find in the west. The Khilafah’s strength depends directly on the strength of the ideology within the state. This means those in ruling positions must be people who will work to protect, implement and propagate the deen of Islam, so the state becomes a beacon of high values, and a leading nation in the world. Only someone who believes in the ideology of the state i.e. Islam could do this, which means those in ruling positions must be Muslim. The Islamic State is no different to any ideological state within the world today. America or Western Europe for example would never accept a Muslim or Communist as President or Prime Minister. The fact that former US President Barack Obama had to repeatedly deny he is a secret Muslim is clear evidence of this. Muhammad Asad says, “One cannot …

The bay’ah is a contract, and so has pillars (arkaan) and conditions (shuroot) like any other Islamic contract. The bay’ah can be described as either saheeh (valid), baatil (invalid) or faasid (defective). Pillars and conditions of the bay’ah contract A summary of the pillars and conditions of the bay’ah contract is below. Section   Pillar (rukn) Condition (shart) Contracting Party – Khaleefah Muslim Free (hurr)Sane (‘aqil)Mature (baligh) Male Just (‘adl)Capable (kifayah) Contracting Party – Muslim Ummah Muslim Mature (baligh)   Offer by Muslim Ummah   Consent (muradah) Choice (ikhtiyar) Acceptance by Khaleefah   Consent (muradah)   Subject Matter Ruling by IslamOne KhaleefahAuthoritySecurityObedience Executive Powers (salaahiyat) Contracting Party – Khaleefah Starting with the Khaleefah, while there is consensus (‘ijma) among the scholars on the pillars (arkan) that someone must possess to take up the post of Khaleefah, there are differences of opinion (ikhtilaaf), on some of the other conditions (shuroot) such as being from Quraysh, a mujtahid (able to perform ijtihad) and brave. The contractual conditions of the Khaleefah must have a shar’a daleel (divine evidence) …