REFLECTIONS: Khilafah - A Historical Experiment or an Obligation?

With the growing support and unprecedented demand by Muslims across the globe for Islam and the re-establishment of the Khilafah state, the imperial powers have been flaring up their attacks on Islam in general, and the concept of Khilafah in particular, at an intellectual level, by attacking the Khilafah as a concept. Specifically, they have been attempting to portray the Khilafah as a model that was developed and maintained by Muslims within a specific context in history, after Rasool Allah (saw) passed away, and therefore it was only a “historical experiment.” We as Muslims today are being advised that we “can develop and try other models as long as these models maintain the general Islamic principles.”

How They Want Us to View the Khilafah

Among the attempts to distort the concept of the Khilafah is an old approach that has surfaced once again recently, due to the fact that the call to re-establish the Khilafah has become the only legitimate and viable political demand made by Muslims around the globe. This approach claims that Islam neither defined a ruling system nor obliged us to follow a specific system of governance; instead, Islam only laid out general principles (Maqaasid) that we should pay attention to when we choose what the ruling system should look like. Furthermore, the Khilafah “model” is claimed to be a mere historical model or “experiment” that the Sahaba and later Muslims developed and maintained until the collapse of the Uthmani (Ottoman) Islamic State about ninety years ago. Therefore, according to this view, we can choose any other form of governance, such as parliamentary and democratic, or a monarchy, or a constitutional monarchy, and so on – as long as the justice and mercy of Islam are observed. It is even claimed that the Khilafah and Khaleefah terms were invented terms that appeared after Rasool Allah (saw) passed away.

The Basics

To start, and to be clear, we are not talking about the distorted and false Khilafah that is being claimed by some militant groups today – militant groups who neither represent Islam nor Muslims, and who instead prioritize coercing and killing Muslims above facing the enemies of Islam. Rather, we are talking about the Khilafah that represents all Muslims, and whose Khaleefah is elected by the people to rule them by Islam – a rightly guided Khilafah on the Path of Prophethood that was promised by Rasool Allah (saw) in the Hadeeth narrated by Imam Ahmed in

his Musnad: “Then there will be a Khilafah on the path of Prophethood..”

Defining the Khilafah

The Khilafah is a general leadership over all Muslims. It is a leadership to implement Islam within the State, and to carry the Da’wa of Islam to the world. The Khilafah, therefore, is a public leadership and not a private one. The Khaleefah is the elected leader of Muslims who is obligated to implement the rules of Islam over society, and take care of the citizens of the State. Muslims must obey him as long as he fulfills his obligations.

Islam is Comprehensive

Allah (swt) revealed Islam as a comprehensive way of life. All aspects of our life must be governed by Islamic Shari’ah, which includes the ruling structure, the economic system, the social system, the foreign policy, and all other areas of life, both private and public. The scholars have defined the laws of the Shari’ah as: the commands of Allah (swt) related to the actions of mankind. Allah (swt) says:

“This day, I have completed your Deen for you, perfected My Favor upon you, and am pleased with Islam as your Deen.” [TMQ 5:3]

And He (swt) says:

“And We have sent down to you the Book (the Qur'an) as a clarification of everything, and a guidance, a mercy, and glad tidings for those who have submitted themselves (to Allah as Muslims).” [TQM 16:89]

No scholar throughout the Islamic history disputed that Islam is comprehensive and governs all our actions, whether these actions are related to worship, such as prayer, or related to ruling, such as the relationship between the ruler and the ruled.

Rasool Allah (saw) ruled over the Islamic State in Madinah, and his Sunnah is one of the sources of Islamic legislation, which includes his actions related to how he ruled. The Sahaba followed his Sunnah, and their consensus (Ijmaa’) is also a source of Islamic legislation, which includes their actions related to how they ruled. Therefore, when the Sahaba implemented the rules and regulations of the Khilafah as the system of governance over all the lands ruled by Islam, it was not a “historical experiment” that could have been right or wrong, but rather it was an implementation of the ruling system of Islam, which was revealed by Allah (swt) through the actions of Rasool Allah (saw) in Madinah.

Imam al-Juzayri, a scholar of the 14^th century and an authority of comparative Fiqh, mentions in his book The Jurisprudence of the Four Madhaahib: “The Imams (of the four Madhaahib: Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi’iee, Ahmad), may Allah have mercy on them, all agreed that the Imamah (Khilafah) is an obligation, and that the Muslims must appoint an Imam (Khaleefah) who implements the rites of the Deen and gives the oppressed justice against the oppressors; and they agreed that it is not permitted for there be over the Muslims at any one time two imams, whether they were in agreement or otherwise.”

Leading classical authorities from all schools of thought saw the issue of Khilafah as absolutely critical, referring to it as “from the necessities of the Shari’ah that simply cannot be left” (al-Ghazali), and “from the greatest interests of the Muslims and greatest pillars of the Deen” (Al-Amidi), and “a pillar from the pillars of the Deen” (Al-Qurtubi), and “one of the greatest obligations of the Deen” (Ibn Taymiyyah), and “the most important of obligations” (Al-Haskafi).

Imamah or Khilafah?

The words Imamah and Khilafah, as well as the words Imam and Khaleefah, are all terms that are narrated in many Ahadith and are used interchangeably to refer to the same thing: the single legitimate ruler of all Muslims. Rasool Allah (saw) said, “The prophets used to rule over the children of Israel; Whenever a prophet died another succeeded him, but there will be no prophet after me; rather, there will be Khulafaa’ (plural of Khaleefah) and they will number many. They (the Sahaba) asked, “What then do you order us?” He said, “Fulfil the Bay’ah (pledge of allegiance) to them one after the other, and give them their due right, for Allah will ask them about what He entrusted them with.” [Muslim]. He (saw) also said, “Then there will be a Khilafah according to the path of Prophethood” [Ahmed]. He (saw) also said “If the Bay’ah (pledge of allegiance) is given to two Khulafaa, kill the later of the two.” [Muslim]

Regarding the word “Imam,” Rasool Allah (saw) said “Truly, the Imam is a shield; you fight from behind him and you seek protection with him.” [Muslim] He (saw) also said “Whoever gives the Bay’ah (pledge) to an Imam, giving him the clasp of his hand and sincerity of his heart, he should obey him as much as he can.” [Muslim]

The fact these Ahadith use the words Khilafah and Khaleefah conclusively proves that the Khilafah is a core part of Islam, revealed to us by Allah (swt) and the claim that they are merely invented terms, created after Rasool Allah (saw) passed away, is a false and deceptive claim that must be rejected.

Why Are These Claims Being Made?

If these claims are completely non-Islamic, why are they being made and promoted?

When these claims are made by secularists and non-Muslims, we can quickly understand their motivations, which is their hostility to Islam and their opposition to the return of the full implementation of Islam in the Muslim lands. The real danger, however, is when these claims are made by Muslims, especially well-known and respected public figures. The media will rush to portray those who make such claims as “progressive Islamic thinkers” and “experts on Islam,” while they are merely individuals who have unfortunately adopted the Western way of thinking and are aiding the call for secularism and the secularization of Islam and the Muslim Ummah.

The concept of the Khilafah radically challenges the global status quo and its oppressive Capitalist structures; it seeks political unity of the Muslim Ummah and the return of Islam as a global leadership. When Muslims claim that Islam has no political system, they do precisely the opposite of what Islam aims to achieve: they seek to maintain the status quo by attempting to give the unIslamic concepts and systems an Islamic legitimacy via misinterpretations of Maqaasid Al-Shar’iah (higher goals of the Shari’ah) and Al-Masaalih Al-Mursala (benefits undefined by Islamic texts), rather than uproot those oppressive concepts and replace them with the correct Islamic ones. The Islamic texts are read through the lens of secular liberalism, and Islam is only made to fit into the current status quo, rather than replace it with the correct Islamic solutions. This is what the Imperial powers seek: to keep the minds of Muslims distant from their Islamic political system – the Khilafah – while remaining divided under subservient, fractured, colonized states.

“They want to extinguish Allah's Light with their mouths, but Allah will not allow except that His Light should be perfected even though the disbelievers hate it” [TMQ 9:32]