All posts filed under: Ruling

The Beginning of Hereditary Rule in the Caliphate

Hereditary Rule started from the time of Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (41H/661CE – 60H/680CE) when he was Khaleefah, so we will discuss some key events concerning his rule in order to fully understand why he embarked on this course of action. This is an extract from the article Part 2: Bay’a in Islamic History – The Umayyad Khilafah The Civil War between Mu’awiyah and Ali 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. 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: …

Was Yazid a Legitimate Caliph?

This is an extract from the article Part 2: Bay’a in Islamic History – The Umayyad Khilafah There is ikhtilaaf (difference of opinion) among the ulema on Yazid’s legitimacy. Many scholars accept he was a legitimate Khaleefah such as Al-Dhahabi, but that he was sinful and blameworthy for the oppression and persecution he committed against the sahaba, and the murder of al-Hussain and his family. Others such as ibn al-Jawzi reject his legitimacy and call him a usurper, because he never had a legally convened bay’a that was given through free choice and consent by the majority of the Ahlul hali wal-aqd (political representatives of the ummah). Al-Dhahabi says, “(Yazid) he was the commander of that army during the campaign against Constantinople, among which were people such as Abu Ayyoob al-Ansaari. Yazid was appointed by his father as his heir, so he took power after his father died in Rajab 60 AH at the age of thirty-three, but his reign lasted for less than four years. Yazid is one of those whom we neither curse …

The First Attempt at Entering the Interaction Stage in Makkah

DR MUHAMMAD KHAIR HAIKAL This is an extract from his PhD thesis ‘Al-Jihad wa’l Qital fi as-Siyasa ash-Shar’iyya’ It appears that this stage, the stage of manifestation and open declaration, in accordance to the understanding that we have explained, did not take place in one go, even if this gradual transition came to its climax when ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab declared, after having been in the trench of the Kuffaar, with a certain heart and mind, that he had moved into another trench of the battle, transforming what he had carried in respect to this Da’wah in terms of a storm of hatred and violent vigour, transforming that all to the opposing side, to become the strongest of believers in backbone and firmness and most challenging in the face of the disbelievers.

What was the objective of the First Pledge of Al-Aqaba?

DR MUHAMMAD KHAIR HAIKAL This is an extract from his PhD thesis ‘Al-Jihad wa’l Qital fi as-Siyasa ash-Shar’iyya’ We are already aware that the meeting of the Messenger ﷺ with the Aws and the Khazraj only took place within the context of the search for the Nusrah (support) that he had been seeking from the leaders of the Arab tribes and those of a position of honour, nobility and leadership amongst them.

Law-making in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab

When Umar ibn Al-Khattab was Caliph he wanted to adopt a law which would limit the Mahr for women.[1] So one day Umar delivered a khutbah[2] and said: “Do not give more than forty uqiyahs[3] in dowries to women, even if she is the daughter of Dhu al-Qissah – i.e., Yazeed ibn al-Husayn[4]. Whoever gives more than that, I will seize the extra amount and put it in the Bayt ul-mal[5].”

4. CALIPHATE CONTENTIONS: It is permitted to have multiple Caliphs or rulers and multiple Islamic states

BY DR. REZA PANKHURST This article has been reproduced from Prophetic Politics. Generally speaking, the contemporary argument that it is permitted to have more than one ruler for Muslims is not textually based but derived from the thinking that the paradigm of the nation-state is the only pragmatic way to do politics today. The inability to imagine another form of state, or to envision a unified Muslim state, may then lead to the sincere individual seeking justification from Islam for submission to the current geo-political status quo, hence the relevance of this contention.

“All pious Muslims well-read in the Hadith firmly believe in the need to establish an Islamic State headed by a Muslim Caliph.” Sami Moubayed

“All pious Muslims well-read in the Hadith (the compiled sayings of the Prophet) firmly believe in the need to establish an Islamic State headed by a Muslim Caliph. This is mentioned twice in the Holy Quran and it’s central to the Islamic faith. No Muslim scholar would debate an Islamic state and the caliphate. Muslim Sunnis claim that the caliph should hail from Meccan notability. Shiite Muslims add that he must be from Ahl al-Bayt; a member of the prophet’s family.” (Sami Moubayed, Daily Telegraph, 23 Sep 2015)