My dear brothers and sisters, Asslamu Alikum,
This is my humble attempt to emphasize the importance of understanding the concept of Khilafah in Islam. I also kindly request any one who would like to reply, to please read this in full from start to finish and present objective replies only.
Statement: Establishing the Khilafah is Fard Al-Kifaya upon Muslims.
Meaning of Fard Kifayah: Collective duty. A duty on all the community; but if it is fulfilled by a part of that community then the rest are not obliged to fulfill it.
Meaning of some related words:
Khalifa Derives from the word Khilafah,
Yakhlufu = come after.
Khulafa = the ones who succeed others, in the sense of standing in as a representative for someone else.
Thus Khalifa = vicegerent, the representative of Allah. Khalifa has two main meanings:
- General: It refers to mankind, particularly the believers. See Holy Qur’an, Al-Baqara (2):30. Every Muslim is a Khalifa and should carry the banner of Islam high and strive to establish the Deen of Islam until Allah’s Word is uppermost on the earth.)
- Specific: A Muslim ruler. There were four Al-Khulafaa ar-Rashideen, “the rightly-guided Khulafaa”:
Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA)
Hazrat Umar (RA)
Hazrat Uthman (RA)
Hazrat Ali (RA)
Essence of Khilafah:
Originaly by Dr. Israr Ahmad, Reference used: Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi ( normally known as Maulana Maududi), translated by Dr. Ahmed Afzaal, further edited and then compiled for this post at PAK.ORG by me (Muhammad Sadiq Salahuddin)
The entire concept of Khilafah is based on the rejection or negation of human sovereignty. The Holy Qur’an repeatedly proclaims that absolute sovereignty belongs to Almighty Allah (SWT) alone. Since human beings cannot claim to be sovereigns, all they are left with, therefore, is vicegerency (Khalifa). Man is not sovereign in his own right, but he is the khalifah of Allah — the vicegerent of God. In Surah Al-Baqarah Allah (SWT) says:
Note that occasion, When your Rabb said to the angels: I am going to place a vicegerent on earth. They said: “Will You place there one who will make mischief and shed blood while we sing Your praises and glorify Your name?” Allah said: I know what you know not [30] He taught Adam the names of all things; then he presented the things to the angels and said: “Tell Me the names of these if what you say is true?” (Allah did this to show Adam’s special qualities of learning and memory). [31] “Glory to You,” they replied, “we have no knowledge except what You have taught us: in fact You are the One who is perfect in knowledge and wisdom.” [32] Allah said: “O Adam! Tell them the names.” When Adam told them the names, Allah said: “Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and earth and I know what you revel and what you conceal ?” [33]
First we notice here is that man is the Khalifa “on earth.” What should be examined secondly is the reason of being a “Khalifah.” Which properties have given the man the quality of “being a Khalifa?” as the answer to this question is “He taught Adam the names of all things.” The Man (Insan) has been brought to being along with a capacity and an aptitude to unfold and carry out as much of ALLAH’s countless names as ALLAH wished. The endowment of such a capacity and aptitude to man is what “teaching him all the names” refer to.
Before the institution of prophethood was concluded, the prophets of Allah (SWT) were His vicegerents in their individual capacities, because they used to receive direct revelation from Almighty Allah (SWT), all prophets were His representatives (Khalifa) on earth; they had responsibility for implementing His Orders and executing His Will. This implies that Khilafah, before the conclusion of prophethood, was strictly individual and personal, as it used to be the prerogative of a single person, i.e., the prophet, to implement and execute the orders of the Real Sovereign. Thus, Allah (SWT) has addressed Prophet Daud (AS) in these words: “O Daud! Verily, We have made you a vicegerent in the earth….” (Saad 38:26). Those who know the Arabic language will appreciate that the address here is in second person singular: Allah (SWT) is addressing only Prophet Daud (AS). Thus, Prophet Daud (AS) was a vicegerent of Allah (SWT) in his personal capacity.
Allah (SWT) ended the institution of prophethood after Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Therefore Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was the last person who was a Khlifah of Almighty Allah (SWT) in his personal and individual capacity. The institution of Khilafah can no longer continue as an individual and personal affair after the termination of prophethood, as no one can claim that he is receiving direct revelation from God. Thus, after the demise of the Holy Prophet (SAW), the institution of Khilafah must become the collective affair of the entire Muslim Ummah rather than the individual affair of the prophet. Concerning this, what I had mention in my earlier post at PAK.ORG under How to get Khilafah back, was actually based on what Allah (SWT) says in the Qur’an:
24:55: “Allah has promised those amongst you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that HE will CERTAINLY GRANT them SUCCESSION to the PRESENT RULERS on the EARTH, as HE granted it to those before them; that HE will ESTABLISH in authority their religion – the one which HE has chosen for them; and that HE will change their state, after the fear in which they lived, to one of security and peace: They worship ME alone and not associate ought with Me. IF any do reject Faith after this, they are Rebellious and Wicked.”
Note that the address here is in the third personal plural, which indicates that Khilafah is now for the collectivity of Muslims rather than for any single individual.
There is a very significant point in this which requires our attention. We have just seen how, with the social and intellectual evolution of mankind, Khilafah or vicegerency had to be transformed from an individual responsibility to a collective one. Parallel with this development, the concept and form of human sovereignty has also undergone a crucial transformation. Before the advent of democracy, human sovereignty used to be an individual matter, i.e., a king or monarch would rule the masses according to his personal wishes; now, however, this too has become a collective affair. With the development of the concept of democracy, we now have popular sovereignty instead of individual sovereignty. But note that popular sovereignty is as hateful an evil as individual sovereignty, as both represent a state of rebellion against the Creator. We have ourselves given kingship the garb of people’s rule (Democracy), when we saw man becoming self-conscious and independent. The point to be noted here is that there is no essential difference between individual sovereignty or monarchy on the one hand and collective sovereignty or democracy on the other. Both are different manifestations of political shirk, both are Satanic in origin, both represent rebellion against God. It was the impact of the liberating teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the form of the Just Social Order of Islam that caused common people to realize their rights, and raised their level of self-consciousness and self-respect. Realizing that man is becoming conscious of his status and capabilities and becoming more and more free from all kinds of bondage, Satan saw that it would no longer be possible to lure human beings into submitting before monarchs and autocrats. He, therefore, turned the “king’s right to rule” into the “rule of the masses,” hiding the filth of human sovereignty behind the attractive veneer of democracy. Despite their differences, therefore, both democracy and monarchy are based on the assumption that human beings have the absolute right to rule —individually in the first case, collectively in the latter — and this is clearly un-Islamic!
Short Summery:
In summary, Khilafah is the political system in Islam. It is responsible for implementing the Islamic system (be it social, economic, educational, foreign policy,…) and maintaining its implementation. It is also responsible for spreading the message of Islam to the world. Khilafah is the Islamic state which the Prophet (pbuh) sought to create and worked for in Mecca, for a period of thirteen years, until he (pbuh) established it Medina. Ibn Hisham, the famous narrator of the Sirah of the Prophet (pbuh) says regarding the establishment of the Islamic State in Madine: “When the Prophet (pbuh) was assured and satisfied in Madina and when his brothers from Muhajireen (migrators) were gathered with him in Madina along with his brothers from the Ansar (helpers), Islam was firmly established so the prayer was established, the Zakah and Sawm (fasting) were obligated, the hudud (punishment) were established, halal and haram was obligated and Islam was in power among them.”
My second reply was in conjunction with my earlier post: which talked about NATION STATES and the disunity and it also talked about creation of over 56 different NATION STATES.
As I had clearly written QUOTE “Why Disunity & Nationalism is Forbidden
(Below are some verses from Quran, about Islamic Unity)” UNQUOTE
Arguments presented by our honorable brother:
- QUOTE “The verses referred to substantiate the prohibition of disunity and nationalism among Muslims are all, in fact, related to the prohibition of religious disunity (as in forming sects) and not the forming of independent geographical states (as is quite obvious from the words of most of these verses). It should be kept in mind that the formation of independent geographical states does not necessarily imply disunity among these states. The thing to strive for, in the light of these verses, is to remove the sectarian spirit that has taken hold of the Muslims and to remove all forms of religious disunity among them.” UNQUOTE
Reply: Our honorable friend has said it right, couple of things that I like to point out here is that I did not meant ISLAM to be a religion, ISLAM is not a RELIGION. ISLAM is a DEEN. It is commonly perceived that DEEN can be translated as RELIGION, while it is translated as RELIGION, but it is our duty to understand it in the context of DEEN when we read this word ONLY as a RELIGION it will mean “the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship.” As such ISLAM cannot be fully understand in the context of RELIGION, because ISLAM (submission to the will of ALLAH) is DEEN (life-transaction or a complete way of life) divinely reveled by ALLAH (SWT) .
“LA ILAHA ILL-ALLAH” constitute the basis of our DEEN.
LA means “there is no” ILAH means “God”, that is “a being to be worshipped.” Then, ILL-ALLAH follows as an explanation: ILLA meaning “only,” “ALLAH” It does not even say “there is ALLAH”; it simply says “only ALLAH” So “There is no God, Only ALLAH” and ALLAH revealed a DEEN called ISLAM. DEEN in fact meaning ‘life-transaction’, the transaction being between Allah (SWT) and each of his created beings. The DEEN of Allah (SWT) is universal. It is the way of Islam (submission of will to Allah (SWT).
So while the verses relate to dividing the DEEN (life transaction or a complete way of life) in religious (DEEN) sects (A group of people forming a distinct unit within a larger group by virtue of certain refinements or distinctions of belief or practice) is very much consistent with dividing the UMMAH into SOVEREIGN NATION STATES, which was the real theme of that post and not “independent geographical states”. Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and so on more then 56 Muslims countries claim sovereignty, through their constitutions (under UN charter), but yet we know that sovereignty belongs to ONLY ALLAH, Man at best can only claim vicegerency. So, how is it that dividing the Ummah into over 56 SOVEREIGN NATION STATES does not constitute as mere sects (A group of people forming a distinct unit within a larger group by virtue of certain refinements or distinctions of belief or practice) in DEEN (life transaction or a complete way of life). If it is un-Islamic then it is a divide in the religion (DEEN). Is this the way this Ummah claim to be the vicegerent (Khalifah) of Allah (SWT) on this planet?
- QUOTE “The aspect which is condemned in the narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) under the title, “Hadeeth on Nationalism”, is “`asbiyyah”. When ascription and faithfulness toward one’s country becomes more important than faithfulness toward the directives of God and submission to the truth, it then becomes a refutation of the very basis of the message of Islam. In other words, a Muslim can never be of the view: “My country, right or wrong”.” UNQUOTE
Reply: I totally agree with our honorable brother, as we see that Sovereignty of Allah is been put aside by forming mere sects in DEEN by creating SOVEREIGN NATION STATES. So in a way our more then 56, SOVEREIGN NATION STATES are considered legitimate, but where is the Sovereignty of ALLAH? So by rejecting the Sovereignty of Allah (SWT) all these so called SOVEREIGN NATION STATES are un-Islamic. Then again is this how this Ummah is claiming to be the vicegerent (Khalifah) of Allah (SWT) on this planet?
- QUOTE “The verse cited under the title: “How to get the Khilaafah back”, is not even closely related to the subject. Keeping the context and the words of the verse in perspective, it is clear that it addresses the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and the promise entailed in the verse is, in fact, related to their special position as the direct addressees of a messenger of God. The promise entailed in the verse does not extend to all Muslims other than the companions of the Prophet (pbuh)” UNQUOTE
Reply: The answer and interpretation to this can be found in the above text; “Essence of Khilaafa [Originaly by Dr. Israr Ahmad based on a lecture by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, translated by Dr. Ahmed Afzaal, further compiled and edited for this post at PAK.ORG by Me (Muhammad Sadiq Salahuddin)] Please refer to specific section of the text that discusses the said verse.
- QUOTE “The final citation, under the title “Hadeeth Regarding Future of Khilaafah” has been interpreted even by some of its narrators to be referring to the rule of Umar ibn Abd al-Azeez. However, if this interpretation is not accepted to be correct, even then the most that can derived from this narrative is that the Prophet (pbuh) foretold the reestablishment of “Khilaafah” (whatever it implied). This does not, as is quite clear, render the establishment of the “Khilaafah” (implying a universal Islamic state) an obligation upon all Muslims.”
Reply: The above Hadeeth was quoted by me as a great news for Muslim Ummah about the coming of Khilafah and was not meant to imply any obligation upon Muslims regarding the establishment of Khilafah. According to several traditions of the Holy Prophet (SAW), the domination of Islam on a global level is bound to come, and almost all the Ulema’s are unanimous about it. There are lots of Daleels about the upcoming worldwide domination of Islam. Please also read “The future is for Islam” under Religion at Pak.org
My dear brothers and sisters to establish this Ummah as a Khalifa of Allah (SWT) is a collective obligation of the entire Ummah (Fard Al-Kifaya). So that this world is ruled by the ISLAMIC WORLD ORDER and not by any NEW WORLD ORDER.
Oh ALLAH (SWT), Please forgive this humble servant of yours if this servant has made any mistakes in the above text. For all Ilim belong to ALLAH (SWT) and ALLAH knows best and ALLAH knows it all.
[This message has been edited by Musalman (edited November 15, 2000).]