It’s widely accepted in political philosophy that there are three branches of government: 1 Executive implements laws 2 Legislative makes laws 3 Judicial interprets laws and resolves disputes These three branches exist in every ruling system including the Islamic system but differ in their degree of separation. We can classify such a model under the concept of technical terminology (الاِصْطِلاحات istilahiyyat) which are used to teach and understand Islam. Muhammad Hussein Abdullah says, “It is possible for the people of any particular skill, art or expertise, and in any time period to set terminological conventions (istilahiyyat), utilising the worded expressions (أَلْفاظ alfazh) of the language and transfer them to specific meanings associated to their field.”[1] There are many technical terms that scholars and thinkers have used to describe the structure of an Islamic State. Al-Mawardi (d.1058) uses ruling spheres (وِلايات wiliyyat). Rashid Rida (d.1936) and Al-Sanhūrī (d.1971) use councils (مَجالِس majalis). Mohammad Barakatullah (d.1927) uses ministries (وِزارَة wizara), and Taqiuddin an-Nabhani (d.1977) uses institutions (أَجْهِزَة ajhizah). All of these are permissibile as part of the …

Introduction The foundations (‘usul أُصُول) of an Islamic State are ‘sovereignty is to the sharia’ (سيادة للشرع) and ‘authority is with the ummah’ (سلطان للأمة). We have already discussed sovereignty in an Islamic State, and now we will discuss the second ‘usul which is authority. Imam Ghazali said, “religion and authority are twins” (الدين والسلطان توأمان ad-deen was-sultan tawaman).[1] This is because you cannot have one without the other, as Ibn Taymiyyah says, “The Ummah is the safeguard for the shar’a.”[2] Ibn Taymiyyah also mentions that “If authority and wealth were intended to make one come nearer to Allah, and were virtually dispensed in His cause, then that would lead to the establishment of deen and to prosperity in worldly affairs. If, on the other hand, authority was divorced from deen or deen was divorced from authority, then the whole affairs of the people would be spoiled.”[3] While sovereignty and authority are twins, ultimately it’s the sharia (sovereignty) which underpins the nature and legal limits of authority within an Islamic state. Al-Mawardi says, “It is the Law however, …

Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali, is the founding CEO of IAIS (International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies) in Malaysia. He has featured for many years in The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World, and written numerous books on Islamic law and constitutionalism. This is an excerpt from one of his books ‘Citizenship and Accountability of Government: An Islamic Perspective’. The 12 Principles. (1) Political authority in the Islamic system of rule belongs to the community (ummah) as it is the community that elects the head of state and is ultimately entitled to depose him in the event of manifest abuse. (2) Consultation and the right of the people to be consulted in government affairs is one of the principal means by which the community participates in government, voices its concerns over government policy, and takes the government to account. (3) The Qur’anic principle of promotion of good and prevention of evil (amr bi’l-ma’ruf wa-nahy ‘an al-munkar) and its allied concept of giving sincere advice (nasihah) also render the government accountable to the people and encourage …

Who is Rashid Rida? Rashid Rida (d.1935) was a Syrian scholar who was the founder and editor-in-chief of Al-Manar magazine (1898-1940) based in Cairo. This was a monthly periodical and highly influential publication which had a following across the Muslim world. Following in the footsteps of Imam Al-Mawardi (d.1058) and his book Al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance) which was the defacto go-to-guide on Islamic ruling for nearly a millennium, Rashid Rida published his own book called ‘The Caliphate or Supreme Imamate’ (الخلافة أو الإمامة العظمى). This book had initially appeared as a series of articles in Rashid Rida’s Al-Manar Islamic magazine throughout the winter of 1922–23 during the tumultuous events of the abolition of Ottoman Sultanate[1] before being formally published as a separate book in 1923. In a similar way to Al-Mawardi’s Al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah, Rashid Rida’s momentous work first lays out the classical theory of the caliphate and siyasa sharia (Islamic politics), before mapping out practical steps on how to revive a rightly guided caliphate. This is a caliphate based on shura (consultation) …

The term khaleefah (خليفة) or caliph, literally means successor or deputy. Imam Al-Mawardi says, “Imamate[1] is prescribed to succeed prophethood as a means of protecting the deen and of managing the affairs of this world. There is a consensus of opinion that the person who discharges the responsibilities of this position must take on the contract of Imamate of the Ummah.”[2] Throughout Islamic history the caliphs were known by multiple titles. It’s important to note however, that you don’t need to be explicitly called a caliph to be a caliph. In fact, a leader today or in history may take a title used by the caliphs of the past, or even have the title ‘caliph’ but they are not caliphs. Can we use any title for the caliph? Abdul-Qadeem Zallum answers this question. According to his opinion he says, “With regards to his title, it could be the Khaleefah, or the Imam or the Amir of the believers…It is not obligatory to adhere to these three titles, rather it is allowed to give whoever takes …

Abdel-Hamid ibn Badis (d.1940) is the founder of the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulema, which was a national grouping of many Islamic scholars in Algeria from many different and sometimes opposing perspectives and viewpoints. The Association would have later a great influence on Algerian Muslim politics up to the Algerian War of Independence. In the same period, it set up many institutions where thousands of Algerian children of Muslim parents were educated. The Association also published a monthly journal, the Al-Chihab and Souheil Ben Badis contributed regularly to it between 1925 and his death in 1940. The journal informed its readers about the Association’s ideas and thoughts on religious reform and spoke on other religious and political issues. Here are his thirteen foundations (usul) of Islamic rule: 1- ‘No one has the right of wiliyah (trusteeship) of any matter among the matters of the ummah except by the conferral of trusteeship by the ummah. The ummah has the right and the authority to confer trusteeship and remove it…’ 2- And that ‘the one who is …

This is an excerpt from the letters of Imam Hassan al-Banna. Islamic government is based on a well-established principle, which forms the basic structure of the Islamic system of government. It is based on the responsibility of the ruler, the unity of the nation, and respect for its will. After this, different terminology and models are of no importance. Responsibility of the Ruler (Al-Hakim) The ruler is responsible before Allah and the people, he is their employee and worker. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, أَلاَ كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ، وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ “Each of you is a guardian and each of you is responsible for his charges.”[1] Abu Bakr (ra) said when he assumed power and ascended the pulpit: أيها الناس ، كنت أحترف لعيالي فأكتسب قوتهم ، فأنا الآن أحترف لكم ، فافرضوا لي من بيت مالكم “O people, I used to work as a professional for my family to earn their living, but now I work as a professional for you, so give me from your treasury.” With this, he explained the theory …

Sovereignty (siyadah سِيادَة or hakimiyyah حاكِمِيَّة) and Authority (sultah سُلْطَة) are the foundations (usul أُصُول) of the Islamic ruling system. In fact, these are the foundations of all ruling systems in existence whether Islamic, democratic, monarchical or dictatorial. Sovereignty and authority will ultimately define the principles (qawa’id قَواعِد) which branch off from these usul and which underpin all of the state’s institutions (ajhizah أَجْهِزَة). Therefore, we need to discuss these usul in order to understand the shape of the Islamic ruling system, and to give us a yardstick for assessing any ruling system or state – whether today or in history – to see if it conforms to Islam or not. Actions speak louder than words, and simply putting the shahada or other Islamic emblem on a flag, or calling oneself an “Islamic Republic” doesn’t make a government “Islamic”. What is sovereignty? Before we begin, it’s important to note that the sovereignty (siyadah) we are discussing here, is not Allah’s sovereignty (مُلْك) over man, life and the universe, which is a concept related to ‘aqeeda …