All posts filed under: Ruling

How many people are needed to contract the bay’ah?

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The bay’ah is a ruling contract which governs the relationship between Muslims and the Islamic state. For those Muslims living under the authority of the Khilafah the bay’ah is their citizenship contract with the state. Unlike most Islamic contracts which are one-to-one such as buying, selling, and marriage, the bay’ah is one-to-millions i.e. between the Khaleefah and the Muslim ummah. This poses a challenge on how you get the free choice and consent of millions of people which is a condition in Islamic contracts.

The Best of Martyrs

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Among the teeming and terrified crowd of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in January 2011, a young man and an older man crouched huddled next to each other as bullets from the security services whizzed overhead. In the din, the two spoke of how the Prophet Muhammad had once declared that whoever dies speaking truth to a tyrant will die a martyr.[1] They spoke of the great martyrs of the Prophet’s day, who awaited those latter-day believers who would one day join them in Paradise. Seized by inspiration, the young man cried, “I will greet them for you,” stood up and was shot in the head. “I touched his blood with my hands,” the elder man, a famous Muslim preacher, it turns out, recounted later in a TV interview, “It smelled like perfumed musk.”[2]     Notes [1] Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “The master of the martyrs is Hamza ibn Abdul Mattalib, and a man who stands (in front of) an oppressive ruler and enjoins the good and forbids the evil and so is killed …

What is the official flag of the Caliphate?

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Introduction There is no official flag for an Islamic State specified directly in the Qur’an and Sunnah. What we find are flags and banners used by the army of the Prophet ﷺ in Medina. Using qiyas (analogy) some contemporary scholars have extended the use of these flags and banners to a modern state and its citizens, and not just confined them to the armed forces. The use of flags to denote states is a modern phenomenon. Historically, flags were mainly used in warfare to identify the different armies on the battlefield. Ibn Khaldun says, “Flags have been the insignia of war since the creation of the world. The nations have always displayed them on battlefields and during raids. This was also the case in the time of the Prophet and that of the caliphs who succeeded him.”[1] In modern times flags are used to identify different countries and are used as a symbol to unite the nation. In America, there is a specific pledge for the flag and most public schools are required to schedule regular …

Misapplication of the Bay’a (pledge of allegiance) in Islamic History

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The second principle of the Islamic ruling system is that ‘Authority belongs to the Muslim Ummah.’ The Khaleefah is not a king or dictator who imposes his authority on the people through coercion and force. The Khaleefah’s authority to rule MUST be given willingly by the Muslims through the Islamic ruling contract known as bay’a. Without this bay’a the Khaleefah cannot rule.

3. CALIPHATE CONTENTIONS: There is nothing in the Sunna to suggest that establishing a Khilafah is an obligation upon the Muslims.

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BY DR. REZA PANKHURST This article has been reproduced from Dr. Reza Pankhurst’s facebook page. Contention 3: There is nothing in the Sunna to suggest that establishing a Khilafah is an obligation upon the Muslims. There are several narrations in the Sunna which indicate the obligation of both establishing an Imam, and of obeying an Imam Any narration which talks about the necessity to obey the Imam of the Muslims is also a proof of the necessity to establish such an Imam if it is absent These narrations link the obligation to the phrase “death of jahiliyya” – which is also an indication that not having an Imam would be a sin upon that person Any claim otherwise highlights an ignorance of the meaning of the texts found in the Sunna, and the understanding of normative Islam and the ulama throughout the ages

2. CALIPHATE CONTENTIONS: The obligation to establish a Khilafa is not mentioned in the Quran, and therefore not an obligation.

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BY DR. REZA PANKHURST This article has been reproduced from Dr. Reza Pankhurst’s facebook page. Contention 2: The obligation to establish a Khilafa is not mentioned in the Quran, and therefore not an obligation. The obligation can be derived from the Quran directly Every verse that mentions a law that must be implemented is an evidence for the obligation to establish an authority to implement that law Ali Abdul Raziq was the first contemporary scholar to make the claim there was no evidence in the quran for the obligation of the khilafa – and his views were deconstructed as completely inaccurate and incorrect]

1. CALIPHATE CONTENTIONS: There was no consensus among the companions that appointing a Khalifa is obligatory upon the Muslims.

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BY DR. REZA PANKHURST This article has been reproduced from Dr. Reza Pankhurst’s facebook page. Contention 1: There was no consensus among the companions that appointing a Khalifa is obligatory upon the Muslims. There is a clear consensus of companions upon the necessity to appoint an Imam 2. Their consensus also shows that they considered appointing the Khalifa to be an utmost priority, which was prioritised over both the burial of the Prophet ﷺ and the sanctity of life. 3. The companions differed over who should be the Khalifa – a point which does not detract from its obligation and rather shows that the appointment of Khalifa is by choice and that it is necessity 4. The ijma of sahaba upon the obligation of appointing an Imam is considered a Qat`i – or definitive – proof