The "Caliphate and Imamate in Islamic Thought" Series
By the Writer and Thinker Thaer Salama - Abu Malik
Episode Fourteen: Three Basic Joints Define the Concept of the Caliphate
If we wanted to encompass the concept of the Caliphate from the angles that reveal it, we would find that its basic joints are three joints,
The first of which: is the joint of the right to legislate for God alone, (which prevents humans from enacting laws, and prevents resorting to man-made laws, and prevents the establishment of any forms of government other than the Caliphate), and we have clarified in the chapter: The theoretical force inherent behind the consensus, which gives it the characteristic of certainty, the following six limits of this joint, which restrict the right of legislation to God and prevent humans from enacting laws:
1- ﴿The decision is only for Allah﴾
2- Warning by revelation, and ordering to follow the revelation exclusively, and preventing the following of desires in legislation.
3- Establishing the argument by warning
4- The completion of the religion and the perfection of the blessing, and the acceptance of Islam as a religion
5- He did not leave people without guidance in any matter
6- People will be held accountable for an atom's weight of their deeds,
And the second: is the joint of the rulings that were revealed in the Book to achieve specific purposes when applied, (review them in the chapter: Establishing the Caliphate is one of the major objectives of Sharia), those for which the legislation was revealed, (so Muslims do not apply anything in their lives except Islam, and they reject every other law),
And the third: is the joint of the method of applying these rulings, in three types:
1- Rulings related to the individual that regulate his relationship with himself and with his Creator, which he applies in the presence or absence of the state, such as beliefs, worship, morals, food and clothing, abstaining from the forbidden, and changing the reprehensible (which is different from enjoining good and forbidding evil), working in political parties for change, and enjoining good and forbidding evil. These rulings are obligatory (taking into account the individual and collective sufficiency in the obligation) in the presence or absence of the Caliphate, although the existence of the Caliphate makes it easier to apply them, in addition to their connection to the Caliphate in terms of obligating what was obligatory from them.
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And his relationship with others and with society, such as resolving disputes before the judiciary, and financial transactions according to the rulings of Islam are regulated by the state, such as defensive jihad, and repelling aggression 1 (both in the presence and absence of the Caliphate as well), and most of these relationships with others only exist with the existence of the state, and the impact of the absence of the state is clear in all relationships, (for example: note that commercial relations in the absence of the state will pass through the circle of the non-Islamic economic system, so transfers and balances pass through usurious banks, and they have a customs tariff, and merchants sometimes borrow from banks, and disputes are resolved according to the man-made judicial system, and so on, and accordingly, measure all people's transactions, in which the falsehood of man-made rulings enters, even if it is between two people!).
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And his relationship with the state does not exist in reality except with the existence of the state, such as holding rulers accountable, allegiance, hearing and obedience to the guardian of affairs, ordering the ruler to do good and forbidding him from evil, mobilization, and granting security to the seeker of protection. These rulings are carried out by individuals and groups with their conditions if there is a state, and what was obligatory of them falls under the rule (what is indispensable for the completion of an obligation is also obligatory).
3- And rulings related to the Caliph, i.e. to the state, which do not exist except with the existence of the state, and it is most of Islam, such as jihad to carry the call to the world 2, establishing the prescribed punishments, fighting the rebellious, fighting the apostates, concluding treaties, obligating adoption outwardly and inwardly, forcibly imposing the rulings of Sharia on people, establishing the economic system, penalties, internal and external policy, the judiciary...etc., and the connection of individuals and groups to these rulings is the obligation to create the Caliph who applies them according to the rule: (what is indispensable for the completion of an obligation is also obligatory) and the evidence for this is abundant.
As we will explain, God willing, most of these rulings depend on the existence of the state, and therefore the sum of all this constitutes the concept of the Caliphate!
1- History books narrate that the period that followed the killing of Al-Amin bin Harun Al-Rashid, Muharram 198 AH, and the installation of Al-Ma'mun, who remained in Khorasan managing the state remotely from its center until the year 204 AH, then came to Baghdad after that, during that long period the country was swept by sedition, and the defiant attacked the people, so widespread corruption at the hands of the immoral soldiers and thugs, and they showed immorality and cut off the road and took women and boys openly and took to impose tolls by force, and the revolution of Al-Hasan Al-Hirsh took place, and raided the merchants and looted the villages, and Ibn Tabataba revolted in Kufa, and Abu Al-Saraya completed the revolution, and Abdus bin Muhammad marched with four thousand fighters and Abu Al-Saraya defeated them, and the Talibites rioted in Kufa, so they looted and burned the houses of the Abbasids in Kufa, and people performed Hajj without an Imam in that year, and in the year 200 Harthama bin A'yun went to Abu Al-Saraya and triumphed over him, and Zaid Al-Nar burned the houses of the Abbasids in Basra, but he was defeated, and Ibrahim bin Musa bin Jaafar came out in Yemen, and the volunteers came out in Baghdad under the leadership of Khalid Al-Dariush against the immoral and thugs, and the Kharijites moved under the command of Mahdi bin Alwan, and so the earth was swept by sedition in the absence of Al-Ma'mun in Khorasan, so this is an example of the absence of the state and its impact on the stability of society and the preservation of blood, money, honor and religion! That state that was until recently very powerful in the era of Al-Rashid! See the book Islamic History by Mahmoud Shaker, part five, p. 185 and after.
2- While defensive jihad is not linked to the Caliph, it is an obligation whether the Caliph exists or not
