The series "The Caliphate and Imamate in Islamic Thought"
By the writer and thinker Thaer Salameh - Abu Malik
Sixteenth episode: The Caliphate's apparatus in government and administration
In order to carry out all these rulings assigned to the state and regulate its performance, the apparatus of the Islamic state was based on thirteen agencies:
1- The Caliph, 2- The Assistants (Ministers of Authorization), 3- The Ministers of Implementation, 4- The Governors, 5- The Prince of Jihad (Army), 6- Internal Security, 7- Foreign Affairs, 8- Industry, 9- Judiciary, 10- People's Interests, 11- The Treasury, 12- Media, 13- The National Assembly (Shura and Accountability)1.
Therefore, the share of legal rulings related to individuals from the total legal rulings that God has obligated Muslims to implement barely reaches ten percent of the total rulings of Islam. Therefore, establishing the Islamic state is establishing Islam, and losing the state is losing Islam.
This is confirmed by the sayings of the scholars, including:
Al-Jurjani says: (Installing the Imam is one of the most complete interests of the Muslims and the greatest goals of religion).
Ibn Taymiyyah says in the book Al-Siyasah Al-Shar'iyyah, and Majmu' Al-Fatawa: It must be known that the rulers of people are among the greatest obligations of religion, and indeed religion cannot be established without them; For the interests of the children of Adam cannot be fulfilled except by meeting because of their need for each other, and when they meet, they must have a leader, until the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: «It is not permissible for three to be in a wilderness of the earth except that they appoint one of them as their leader» Narrated by Ahmad from the hadith of Abdullah bin Omar.
Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, said in his sermon when the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, died and he took over the caliphate after him: Muhammad has died, and this religion must have someone to carry it out.
Al-Darimi said in his Sunan: Yazid bin Harun told us, Baqiyah told us, Safwan bin Rustum told me, from Abd al-Rahman bin Maysarah, from Tamim al-Dari, who said: People built high buildings in the time of Umar, so Umar said: O community of Arabs, the land, the land, for there is no Islam except with a community, and there is no community except with leadership, and there is no leadership except with obedience. Whoever is appointed leader by his people based on jurisprudence will be life for him and for them, and whoever is appointed leader by his people based on something other than jurisprudence will be destruction for him and for them. It was narrated by Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Qurtubi in Jami’ Bayan al-'Ilm wa Fadlihi.
Sheikh Al-Taher bin Ashour said in (The Fundamentals of the Social System in Islam): “Establishing a public and private government for Muslims is a principle of Islamic legislation. This has been proven by many pieces of evidence from the Book and the Sunnah that have reached the level of moral consensus. This prompted the Companions after the death of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, to rush to gather and negotiate to establish a successor for the Messenger in taking care of the Islamic nation. The Muhajireen and Ansar agreed on the day of Al-Saqifa to establish Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq as a successor to the Messenger of God for the Muslims. The Muslims did not disagree after that on the obligation to establish a caliph except for some rare exceptions from some Kharijites and some Mu'tazilites who violated the consensus, so no one paid attention to them and no one listened to them. Because of the status of the caliphate in the principles of Sharia, scholars of the principles of religion attached it to its issues, so the Imamate was one of its chapters. Imam al-Haramayn [Abu al-Ma’ali al-Juwayni] said in Al-Irshad: (Speaking about the Imamate is not one of the principles of belief, and the danger to those who err in it is greater than the danger to those who are ignorant of a principle of religion).” End quote from Ibn Ashour,
The meaning of Al-Juwayni’s words is that the Imamiyyah, when they made the Imamate one of the principles of belief, it is not one of them, but the error in erring in it is close to the danger in erring in the principles of religion because of its importance.
Al-Haythami says in Al-Sawa’iq Al-Muhriqa: “Also know that the Companions, may God be pleased with them, all agreed that appointing an Imam after the end of the era of Prophethood is obligatory, but they made it the most important of obligations, as they were preoccupied with it from burying the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.”
Abu Bakr al-Ansari said in Ghayat al-Wusul fi Sharh Lubb al-Usul: (It is obligatory for people to appoint an imam) who carries out their interests, such as fortifying borders, equipping armies, and subduing the conquerors and thieves, due to the consensus of the Companions after the death of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, on appointing him, until they made it the most important of obligations, and they gave it precedence over burying him, may God bless him and grant him peace, and people have always been doing that in every era.
Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hashem al-Mahalli al-Masry al-Shafi’i Jalal al-Din al-Mufassir al-Faqih al-Mutakallim al-Usuli al-Nahwi said in his book Sharh al-Mahalli ala Jama' al-Jawami': It is obligatory for people to appoint an imam who carries out their interests, such as fortifying borders, equipping armies, subduing the conquerors, thieves, highwaymen, and others, due to the consensus of the Companions after the death of the Prophet on appointing him, until they made it the most important of obligations and gave it precedence over burying him, and people have always been doing that in every era.
In the book “Ghayat al-Bayan Sharh Zubd Ibn Ruslan” by the Shafi’i jurist Shams al-Din Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Ramli al-Ansari, nicknamed al-Shafi’i al-Saghir (who is one of the scholars of the ninth century AH), the following is stated: (It is obligatory for people to appoint an imam who carries out their interests, such as implementing their rulings, establishing their boundaries, fortifying their borders, equipping their armies, taking their charity if they pay it, subduing the conquerors, thieves, highwaymen, resolving disputes occurring between opponents, dividing spoils, and other things, due to the consensus of the Companions after his death, may God bless him and grant him peace, on appointing him, until they made it the most important of obligations, and they gave it precedence over burying him, may God bless him and grant him peace, and people have always been doing that in every era).
His saying, may God Almighty have mercy on him: ﴿And when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority"﴾, Al-Qurtubi Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Abi Bakr bin Farh al-Ansari al-Khazraji al-Andalusi, Abu Abdullah, al-Qurtubi said: One of the great commentators, righteous and devout. From the people of Cordoba. He traveled to the East and settled in Minyat Ibn Khasib (in northern Asyut, in Egypt) and died there. He said in his interpretation: This verse is a basis for appointing an imam and a caliph who is listened to and obeyed; so that the word may be united, and the rulings of the caliph may be implemented through him. There is no disagreement among the nation or among the imams on the obligation of that, except for what was narrated about al-Asamm, as he was deaf to the Sharia, and so is everyone who said what he said and followed him in his opinion and doctrine2, he said: It is not obligatory in religion, but it is permissible, and that the nation, whenever they establish their pilgrimage and jihad, treat each other fairly, give what is right from themselves, and divide the spoils, booty, and charity to its people, and establish the hadd punishments on those who deserve it, that is sufficient for them, and it is not obligatory for them to appoint an imam who undertakes that. End quote. Al-Imam Al-Qurtubi believes that whoever says it is permissible to leave the position of caliph vacant is deaf to the Sharia, and that it is not possible to replace the caliphate by people treating each other fairly and establishing the hadd punishments among themselves. How can that be, since that matter is for the caliph or whomever the caliph appoints, whether a judge or a governor, as will be mentioned later, and no individual of the subjects has the right to do any of that, as they have no authority to authorize them to do so3.
Ibn Hazm said (in Al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa’ wa al-Nihal): “All the people of the Sunnah, all the Shiites, and all the Kharijites (except for the Najdat among them) agreed on the obligation of the Imamate.”
Al-Mawardi says in Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyya p. 3: (Contracting the Imamate for those who carry it out in the nation is obligatory by consensus) He also says in the same book (It is obligatory to establish an imam who is the sultan of the time and the leader of the nation so that the religion is protected by his authority and proceeds according to the customs of the religion and its rulings).
Al-Kasani said in Bada’i’ al-Sanai’: Appointing a judge is an obligation because he is appointed to establish a prescribed matter, which is judgment. God Almighty said: ﴿O David, indeed We have made you a successor upon the earth, so judge between the people in truth﴾, and He, blessed and exalted, said to our honorable Prophet, may the best prayers and peace be upon him: ﴿So judge between them by what God has revealed﴾.
Judgment is: Judging between people with the truth and judging by what God Almighty has revealed, so appointing a judge was to establish the obligation, so it was necessarily an obligation, because appointing the Supreme Imam is an obligation without disagreement among the people of truth, and no attention is paid to the disagreement of some Qadariyyah due to the consensus of the Companions, may God be pleased with them, on that and due to the pressing need for it to restrict the rulings, give justice to the oppressed against the oppressor, and cut off the disputes that are the material of corruption, and other interests that cannot be achieved except with an imam, as is known in the principles of speech. It is known that he cannot do what he was appointed to do by himself, so he needs a deputy to take his place in that, who is the judge, and for this reason, the Messenger of God: «SENT judges TO THE HORIZONS, so he sent our master Muadh, may God be pleased with him, to Yemen, and he sent Attab bin Asid to Mecca» so appointing a judge was one of the necessities of appointing the Imam, so it was an obligation, and Muhammad called it a binding obligation because it does not allow abrogation because it is one of the rulings whose obligation is known by reason, and rational judgment does not allow abrogation, and God Almighty knows best.
The correct view is that this obligation is known from the requirements of auditory evidence, and it is not inferred from the requirements of reason:
Imam al-Haramayn Abu al-Ma’ali said: “Appointing an Imam is not inferred from the requirements of reason, but it is proven by the consensus of Muslims and the evidence of hearing on the obligation to appoint an Imam in every era to whom one resorts in calamities and to whom one delegates public interests (and enjoining good).”
Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Muhammad, Ibn Khaldun Abu Zaid, said in his introduction: "Then appointing the Imam is obligatory, and its obligation has been known in the Sharia by the consensus of the Companions and the successors, because the companions of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, upon his death, rushed to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, and to hand over the consideration to him in their affairs, and so in every era after that, and people were not left in chaos in any era, and that was established as a consensus indicating the obligation of appointing the Imam."
Dr. Diaa al-Din al-Rayes said in his book: Islam and the Caliphate, p. 348: “Consensus, as they have decided, is a great principle of the principles of Islamic Sharia, and the strongest consensus or the highest in rank is the consensus of the Companions, may God be pleased with them, because they are the first row and the first generation of Muslims, and they are the ones who accompanied the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and participated with him in his jihad and his works and heard his words. They are the ones who know the rulings and secrets of Islam, and their number was limited and their consensus was famous. They agreed after the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, joined the highest companion that there must be someone who succeeds him and they gathered to choose his successor and none of them ever said that Muslims do not need an Imam or a caliph. This proves their consensus on the obligation of the existence of the caliphate and this is the origin of the consensus on which the caliphate is based.”
Dr. Diaa al-Din al-Rayes also said in his book Islam and the Caliphate, p. 99: “The caliphate is the most important religious position and concerns all Muslims. Islamic Sharia has stipulated that establishing the caliphate is a basic duty of religious duties, but it is the greatest duty because the implementation of all other duties depends on it.”
He also said on p. 341: "The scholars of Islam have agreed, as we have known in the past, that the caliphate or the Imamate is a basic duty of the duties of religion, but it is the first or most important duty because the implementation of all other duties and the achievement of the public interests of Muslims depend on it, which is why they called this position the «Great Imamate» in contrast to the Imamate of Prayer, which was called the «Minor Imamate». This is the opinion of the people of the Sunnah and the Jama’ah, who are the great majority of Muslims, and it is therefore the opinion of the great mujtahids: the four Imams and scholars such as al-Mawardi, al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, al-Razi, al-Taftazani, Ibn Khaldun, and others, who are the imams from whom Muslims take their religion, and we have known the evidence and proofs that they have used to prove the obligation of the caliphate."
Then he quoted Al-Shahrastani as saying: "What was in his heart (meaning Al-Siddiq) or in the heart of anyone that it is permissible for the earth to be without an Imam, and all of that indicates that the Companions, who were the first generation, were all in agreement that there must be an obligation of the Imamate."
Sheikh Ali Belhadj said in his booklet "Re-establishing the caliphate is one of the greatest obligations of religion": "The caliphate is on the path of prophethood" How can it not be, as the scholars and luminaries of Islam have decided that the caliphate is a basic duty of the duties of this great religion, but it is the "greatest duty" on which the implementation of all other duties depends, and that abstaining from establishing this duty is one of the "major sins", and the loss, confusion, disagreements, and disputes that arise between Muslims as individuals and between Islamic peoples as countries are only due to Muslims' negligence in establishing this great duty."
1- The apparatus of the Caliphate state in government and administration, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and there is, for example, a detail of the state's apparatus in the book Ahkam al-Qur’an by Judge Ibn al-Arabi, which he mentioned in the interpretation of Surat Sad, and in which he نقل فيها آراء some jurists, and there is no need to mention the details of the books of al-Mawardi and others in al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyyah.
2- ( ) That is, whoever agrees with al-Asamm that the caliphate is not obligatory, then he is like him deaf to the Sharia!
3- The philosopher Bossuet says: "Where everyone has the power to do what they want, no one has the power to do what they want, and where there is no master, everyone is a master, and where everyone is a master, everyone is a slave." End quote. Therefore, society needed a state and a system that governs the relationships between people and imposes security in society. Al-Qurtubi said in interpreting the verse ﴿The believing men and believing women are allies of one another﴾: God Almighty made enjoining good and forbidding evil a difference between believers and hypocrites; which indicates that the most specific characteristics of the believer are enjoining good and forbidding evil, and the head of it is calling to Islam and fighting for it. Then, enjoining good is not appropriate for everyone, but rather the sultan does it, since establishing the hadd punishments is his responsibility, and reprimanding is his opinion, and imprisonment and release are his responsibility, and exile and banishment; so he appoints in every country a righteous, strong, knowledgeable, and trustworthy man and orders him to do so, and he carries out the hadd punishments in the correct manner without increase. Ibn Kathir said in his interpretation: Al-Qurtubi and others have used this verse as evidence of the obligation to appoint a caliph to settle matters between people in which they disagree, to end their disputes, to give victory to the oppressed over the oppressor, to establish the hadd punishments, to deter from committing immoralities, and other important matters that cannot be established except by the Imam, and what cannot be done except by the obligatory is also obligatory.
