The "Caliphate and Imamate in Islamic Thought" Series
By the writer and thinker Thaer Salama – Abu Malek
Part Two: Is the Caliphate from the Principles or the Branches?
Many people in this era are asking about the caliphate. Some ask, is it one of the principles of religion? Is it from the creed? Or is it from the branches? Is it made by the Companions, or is it one of the legal rulings? Where can we find its news and the command to establish it in the Quran and Sunnah? Are the proofs of its obligation definitive or speculative? The questions go on, as if the caliphate was not the present of the Islamic nation, the protector of its essence, the implementer of the rulings of Islam in it, the carrier of its faith, and the disseminator of its call. As if it was not the entity that opened most of the known world at that time to the justice and mercy of Islam, and as if it was not the enclosure of Islam, the surrounding of its circle, the square of its subjects, and the pasture of its grazing animals!
As if the Messenger ﷺ and his honorable companions did not face woes and severe torment, and they were tried with the hardship of this matter, a torment that the steadfast mountains could not bear, until furrows were dug in their backs, as a result of being burned with iron heated by fire, and flogged with whips without mercy, and burned from prolonged torture on sand that was intensely hot in intensely hot summers, and those who were martyred were martyred, and those who emigrated, emigrated, alienated from their land and their families, leaving behind their homes and wealth as plunder for their enemies,
As if they did not stay up late, praying night and day, with unparalleled actions in order to establish its state! Among those actions was that the fools of Taif tempted their children with the Prophet of Mercy ﷺ, throwing stones at him and insulting him, and among them was that they threw the placenta of a slaughtered animal on his noble back while he was prostrating before his Lord! And among them was that Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, was trampled on with feet, and beaten severely, until Utbah bin Rabia began to beat Abu Bakr with two stitched sandals and turn them to his face until his nose was no longer recognized from his face, and he became between death and life!
As if the Messenger ﷺ did not link the establishment and existence of the community with the allegiance to the Sultan and the state in a firm manner in a number of hadiths, for leaving the Sultan is leaving the community, and leaving the state or the Sultan or obedience or the community or against it is removing the bond of Islam from the necks! And an announcer of killing, so the second caliph is killed if he is given allegiance, and the one who leaves the community1 (the state / Sultan) his death is ignorant!
For all these questioners, we answer that establishing it is a legal ruling revealed by revelation, and it is an obligation, but rather the most obligatory of obligations, and a duty, but rather one of the most important and most dangerous duties, and a fateful issue for the nation upon which its death and life, its existence and its demise depend2, and its renaissance and its regression, and its goodness and the removal of this goodness from it3! Therefore, life or death action should be taken regarding the issue of establishing it!
Professor Ahmed Al-Qasas said: "One of the most malicious methods of confusing Muslims: Is the caliphate from the creed? No, they say: Then it is non-binding and unimportant!! The obligation of the caliphate is one of the greatest rulings of Sharia, so is it required that the caliphate be from matters of creed in order for it to be obligatory and a legal duty, but rather one of the greatest duties of this religion?!! Are the hadd punishments from the creed? No. Is jihad from the creed? No. Is prayer, is fasting, is Hajj from the creed? No, but from the branches! So why adhere to them?! As if religion is the creed only! What is the value of the creed if it does not lead to adherence to the Sharia, elevating it, and making sovereignty for it on earth?! Separating the creed from the Sharia is the most dangerous conspiracy being promoted in this era! These who promote this approach are recruited against Islam, and in the service of its enemies, whether they know it or not, whether they intended it or not4."
We will arrange our answer to this question on the following five levels:
First: The level that the caliphate is one of the major purposes of Sharia
Second: The level of studying the caliphate system and deducing that it is the legal continuation of establishing a system of justice in the heavens and the earth.
Third: The level of the role of the caliphate in the life and existence of the nation, (the sword and the shield, applying and spreading the rulings)
Fourth: The level of the establishment and application of most of the glorious Sharia rulings (the command) depending on it, and (the guardian) undertaking that application
Fifth: The level of deduction, deducing its legal ruling in the Quran, Sunnah, and consensus, its definitive evidence, and the clues that the legislator surrounded it with to show that it is one of the most dangerous of obligations!
And they made it the most obligatory of obligations
Establishing the caliphate, that is, applying the Sharia in this era, and every era, is one of the most obligatory of obligations, how not, when the companions of the Messenger of God ﷺ made it so, and they compared it to burying the most beloved creation to God Almighty, and compared it to carrying out the expedition of Usama (jihad), and they did not find anything more important than initiating the establishment of the caliph, so they made it the most obligatory of obligations,
1- On the authority of Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with them, from the Prophet ﷺ, he said, "Whoever dislikes something from his ruler, let him be patient, for whoever leaves the Sultan by a span dies an ignorant death." Narrated by Bukhari under numbers 7053, 7054 and 7143 and Muslim 1849, "Whoever leaves the community by a span has removed the bond of Islam from his neck." A sahih hadith narrated by Abu Dawood under number 4758. Notice the words of the hadith that marry between leaving the community and leaving the Sultan, and they are one thing, for the Sultan in Islam is for the nation, it grants it with the contract of allegiance to the caliph to be the owner of the Sultan; that is, taking care of affairs according to the rulings of Islam, so it was natural for leaving the Sultan to be leaving the community, so the death is ignorant, and the bond of Islam is removed from the necks!
2- Review in this book the explanation of the hadith: "The nations are about to call upon you," and the hadith: "The Imam is only a shield, he is fought from behind and protected by him." The nation without the caliphate is without a protective shield, and it will be prey to every greedy person, so the nation needs a sword (jihad) and a shield (caliphate) to remain the mistress of nations and the carrier of the torch of goodness for humanity.
3- Review our book: Concepts on the path of resuming Islamic life, you will find a link between the goodness of the nation and its establishment in itself with the rulings of good and its prohibition of evil, then with its testimony to the nations, that is, carrying the call to all people, and thus the existence of the caliphate is sufficient to achieve this goodness.
4- Professor Ahmed Al-Qasas, his official page on Facebook.
