All posts filed under: Caliphate

Conditions of the Caliph: Why only a Muslim Caliph?

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 …

Conditions of the Caliph

There is consensus (ijma) among the scholars on the pillars (arkan) that someone must possess to take up the post of Khaleefah. However, 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 must have a shar’a daleel (divine evidence) from the divine text (Qur’an and Sunnah). Imam Ghazali (1058-1111) says, “Conditions for the Imamate must be proved, and proof is either a text from the Trustee of the Law, or a reasoning about the benefit (maslaha) for which the Imamate is sought. The only text is that about descent from Quraysh. The other conditions are from necessity and needed for the purpose of the Imamate.”[1] Before discussing the opinions of the classical scholars concerning the contractual conditions of a Khaleefah, we need to understand the time period they lived in. Only then can we begin to appreciate why they emphasised certain conditions over others, and why they legitimised certain abnormal situations, such as the Khaleefah …

Is the bay’ah a “social contract”?

A “social contract, in political philosophy, is an actual or hypothetical compact, or agreement, between the ruled or between the ruled and their rulers, defining the rights and duties of each.”[1] While on the surface, this seems to apply to the bay’ah contract, as Ulrika Martensson has mentioned[2], the “social contract” is not in line with Islamic thought because the premise in the “social contract” is that man is sovereign (Rouseau), whereas in Islam the sharia is sovereign.[3] Shahrough Akhavi elaborates on this point: “Although social-contract theorists differ on a number of points, they concur that human beings choose to form associations to promote their interests. An important corollary is that tension exists between the individual’s inherent independence and freedom and the authority to which she or he must submit to achieve compliance with the goals of the contract. Occasionally, a theorist discusses God in the overall scheme of things, but the conception is deistic, so that the God who created the world does not intervene in its operation. For the rest, contractarian theories privilege …

Contracts in Islam

Wael b. Hallaq says, “In fiqh, contracts do not stand as a separate category, in the manner, say, American or French law articulates them in textbooks and treatises. Rather, Islamic conceptions of contract are implicit in juristic discussions pertaining to pecuniary and commercial transactions, among others. They are constituted by three essential elements (arkān; sing. rukn), namely: (a) the parties; (b) the form (ṣīgha) of offer and acceptance; and (c) the object, or subject-matter. (a) The contracting parties: A person qualified to enter into a contract on behalf of oneself or another must be of major age (bāligh) and have attained rushd, namely, the capacity to behave in a responsible and constructive manner (muṣliḥan), and without this capacity being subject to interdiction (ḥajr). Minors and the insane cannot enter into a contract without a guardian acting in their interest, except for discerning minors (mumayyiz) who can, inter alia, receive gifts and be the beneficiaries of a waqf. (b) Offer and acceptance (ījāb and qabūl): The majority of jurists associate offer with the owner (mālik) of the object, and acceptance with the party to whom ownership or …

What is the Bay’ah?

The bay’ah or pledge of allegiance, is a ruling contract which governs the relationship between Muslims and the Islamic state. For those Muslims living under the authority of the state, the bay’ah is their citizenship contract with its ruler – the Khaleefah. The bay’ah is the method of appointing the Khaleefah and legitimising his rule. It must be given with the consent of the ummah, who are free to choose whomever they wish to rule them, within the boundaries of the sharia rules. If the bay’ah and its conditions are absent, then the Khaleefah has no authority to rule and will be considered a usurper. From the time of Abu Bakr to the last Khaleefah Abdul-Majed II, the bay’ah was always present and legally convened, albeit misapplied for much of Islamic history. If we look back to Islamic history, most of the major political problems and fitan (tribulations) that occurred, can be traced back in some way or the other to the misapplication of the bay’ah. It’s the misapplication of the bay’ah that distinguishes a …

Pakistan: A Solution to an Ailing Economy

This article has been reproduced from Prophetic Economics Regarding the Current Economic Situation in Pakistan, it is vital to appreciate that the Global Economy is going through a challenging time; this is not specific to Pakistan. However, Pakistan indeed has systemic issues with its Economy, and that is linked to the inherited Colonial Capitalist Economic System that it follows. The GDP in Pakistan is 347.75 Billion USD; however, Countries with similar populations like Brazil and Indonesia have done significantly better in terms of Economic Development compared to Pakistan. In Pakistan’s case, the problem of interest-based debt traps that Pakistan is stuck in and combined with inefficient Economic policies have led to an Economic Failure. The root for all these problems lies in reliance on Capitalist Economic Policies instead of the Islamic Economic Policies based on Divine Guidance – Quran and Sunnah. A Radical shift in the Economic Policies with a key reset of the system can help free Pakistan from the clutches of the global loan sharks and their interest-based debts and help it develop its …

The Fiqh of Transitioning to the Gold & Silver Standard

This article has been reproduced from Prophetic Economics The following are answers to several questions related to the future Dar Ul Islam state and the transition of the current currency to the Gold and Silver Standard. Question: Is it permissible in Islam for the Dar Ul Islam to partially back its currency during a transitional period on the justification (if it is so) that it does not have the capacity (in reserves) to maintain 100% convertibility. In terms of the US, this would mean that it could partially back (at around 20%) all of its currency at the current rate, without having to change that parity or endure the negative effects associated with this. This would grant it the stability it would need to expand its reserves (through various means) so that it can gradually move towards a 100% backed rate. Answer:  For the state to issue a gold and silver based currency it will have to depend on the availability of these metals in its treasuries. In addition to this the state will also have …

Industry is a new revenue for the Bait ul-Mal

This is based on an article from Al-Waie Magazine, Issue 407, 4 Aug 2020 by Youseff Al-Sarisi. As the Muslim ummah heads towards revival and victory, practical research is required in relation to the financial structure of the Bait Al-Mal (State Treasury) and additional revenues that will supplement the traditional funds from fai’, kharaj, jizya, ‘ushur, khums and zakat. This is with the aim of avoiding the possibility of financial bankruptcy, if its resources do not meet the rising expenditure required in modern states especially with regards to military weapons, heavy industries and infrastructure projects. This is why serious thinking is required on how to provide additional resources for the state, so that it does not fall into the sea of ​​poverty and destitution, and therefore cannot fulfill its mission, nor play its role as a state that carries a message of guidance to other nations. Is there a new Shariah resource that we can find for the Bait Al-Mal which was not mentioned previously among the Shariah rulings related to the Bait Al Mal …

Bay’ah in Islamic History – The Umayyad Khilafah

Disputes broke out many times throughout the Khilafah’s 1300-year history over who should govern the state. One thing remained constant however and that was the bay’a. No Khaleefah ever came to power without the bay’a, and this method of appointing the ruler continued until 1924. 1.    Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (41H/661CE – 60H/680CE) The Civil War between Mu’awiyah and Ali During the civil war between Mu’awiya and Ali, Mu’awiya never claimed the Khilafah for himself or took the bay’a for himself. Rather he made his bay’a conditional on Ali handing over Uthman’s assassins which Ali was unable to fulfil at that time. Abu Muslim Al-Khawlani and a group of people said to Mu’awiyah: “Do you disagree with Ali or are you like him?” So Mu’awiyah said: “No, By Allah! I know that Ali is better than me, and he has more right to the leadership than me. However, do you not know that Uthman was killed wrongfully!? I am his cousin (‘Uthman’s cousin), and I am asking for his blood, so go to Ali and …

Is the bay’ah on belief or action?

The 9th year of the Hijrah is known as the ‘Year of the Delegations’ (سنة الوفود), in which each Arab tribe sent a group of representatives to meet with the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah. Apart from the Christians of Najran who chose to remain on their religion and pay the jizya, the rest of the Arab tribes accepted Islam and gave their bay’ah to the Prophet ﷺ. Since the bay’ah for many of these tribes and individuals was given at the same time as accepting Islam, this may lead someone to the conclusion that the bay’ah is related to belief, and withdrawing bay’ah is apostasy. In response to this, bay’ah is related to ruling which is an action, and those who give bay’ah are already Muslim. The evidences for this are as follows. 1- Bay’ah is always taken from a believer Allah (Most High) says: يا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذا جاءَكَ المُؤمِناتُ يُبايِعنَكَ “O Prophet! When women who have iman come to you pledging allegiance to you…”[1] لقد رضي الله عن المؤمنين إذ يبايعونك تحت الشجرة …