What is the Khilafah
- What is Dar al-Islam?
Dar al-Islam is the land where Islamic Law is implemented in all matters of life and ruling and whose security is maintained in the name of Islam even if its citizens are non-Muslims.
- What is Dar al-Kufr?
Dar al-Kufr is the land where Kufr laws are implemented in matters of life and whose security is maintained in the name of Kufr even if all its citizens are Muslims. This is because the criterion of a region being Dar al-Islam or Dar al-Kufr are the laws that are implemented there, and the security by which it is protected, the criterion is not the religion of its citizens.
- Which Muslim Countries today are Dar al-Islam?
Out of the Muslim countries of today, there is not a single country or state where Islamic laws are exclusively implemented in ruling and life’s affairs; therefore all of them are considered Dar al-Kufr although their citizens are Muslims.
- What is The Muslims Duty towards His Country?
Islam makes it a duty upon all Muslims to work to change their countries from Dar al-Kufr to Dar al-Islam, and this can be achieved by establishing the Islamic State i.e. the Khilafah, and by electing a Khaleefah and taking a bay’ah on him that he will rule by the Word of Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’Ala) i.e. he will implement Islamic laws in the country where the Khilafah has been established. Then the Muslims should work with the Khilafah to combine the rest of the Islamic countries with it, hence the countries will become Dar al-Islam and they will then carry Islam to the world through invitation and jihad.
- What is the Khilafah
The Khilafah is the global leadership for all the Muslims in the world. Its role is to establish the laws of the Islamic Shari‘ah and to carry the da‘wah of Islam to the world.
- Is the Khilafah known as anything else?
The Khilafah is also known as the Imamah, both terms have the same meaning. Several sound ahadith mention them with the same meaning, neither of the two terms has ever differed in meaning in any Shari‘ah text i.e. the Qur’an or the Sunnah of the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam), these being the only Shari‘ah sources. It is not compulsory to hold to the term of Khilafah or Imamah, but rather it is compulsory to hold to the meaning of the term.
- Is the establishment of a Khaleefah an obligation upon all Muslims in the world?
The establishment of a Khaleefah is an obligation upon all Muslims in the world. Performing this duty, like any of the duties prescribed by Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’Ala) upon the Muslims, is an urgent obligation in which there can be no choice or complacency. Negligence in performing this duty is one of the greatest sins, for which Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’Ala) punishes severely.
- What is the evidence that the appointment of a Khaleefah is obligatory?
The evidence that the appointment of a Khaleefah is obligatory upon all Muslims is in the Sunnah and the Ijma‘a (consensus) of the Sahabah.
- What is the evidence from the Sunnah
As for the Sunnah, Nafi‘a reported saying: “‘Umar said to me that he heard the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) saying: Whoso takes off his hand from allegiance to Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’Ala) will meet Him (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’Ala) on the Day of Resurrection without having any proof for him, and whoso dies whilst there was no bay‘ah (allegiance or a pledge) on his neck (to a Khaleefah), he dies a death of jahilliyah.” So the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) made it compulsory upon every Muslim to have a bay‘ah on his neck, and described whoever dies without a bay‘ah on his neck that he dies a death of jahilliyah. The bay‘ah cannot be for anyone except the Khaleefah, and the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) made it obligatory upon every Muslim to have on his neck a bay‘ah to a Khaleefah. Yet he did not make it an obligation upon every Muslim to give bay‘ah to a Khaleefah. The duty is the existence of a bay‘ah on the neck of every eligible Muslim, i.e. the existence of a Khaleefah who accordingly deserves a bay‘ah upon the neck of every Muslim. So it is the presence of the Khaleefah which places a bay‘ah on the neck of every Muslim, whether the Muslim gave a bay‘ah to him in person or not.
Therefore, this hadith of the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) is an evidence that the appointment of the Khaleefah is an obligation and not a proof that giving the bay‘ah is obligatory. This is so because the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) rebuked the Muslim who has not a bay‘ah on his neck until he dies, not the one who did not give bay‘ah. Hisham ibn ‘Urwa reported on the authority of Abu Saleh on the authority of Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) said: “Leaders will take charge of you after me, where the pious (one) will lead you with his piety and the impious (one) with his impiety, so listen to them and obey them in everything which conforms with the truth. If they act rightly it is for your credit, and if they acted wrongly it is counted for you and against them.” Muslim narrated on the authority of al-A’araj, on the authority of Abu Hurairah, that the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) said: “Behold, the Imam is but a shield from behind whom the people fight and by whom they protect themselves.” Muslim reported on the authority of Abu Hazim, who said: “I accompanied Abu Hurairah for five years and heard him talking of the Prophet’s saying: The Prophets ruled over the children of Israel, whenever a Prophet died another Prophet succeeded him, but there will be no Prophet after me. There will be Khulafa’a and they will number many. They asked: What then do you order us? He said: Fulfil the bay‘ah to them one after the other and give them their due. Surely Allah will ask them about what He entrusted them with.” Ibn ‘Abbas narrated that the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) said: “If anyone sees in his amir something that displeases him let him remain patient, for behold, he who separates himself from the sultan (authority of Islam) by even so much as a hand span and dies thereupon, has died a death of the days of jahilliyah”.
In these ahadith, the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) informs us that leaders will run the affairs of Muslims, and the ahadith include the description of the Khaleefah as a shield, i.e. a protection. So the description of the Imam as a shield is informative of the benefits of the presence of the Imam, thus it is a command for action, because if the information conveyed by Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’Ala) and the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) contained rebuke then it is a command of prohibition, and if it contained praise then it is a command for action. If the ordered action is necessary to implement a hukm shara’i (divine law), or by its negligence a hukm shara’i will be neglected, then this command is decisive.
In these ahadith there is information also that those who run the affairs of Muslims are Khulafa’a, which indicates an order to appoint them. They also include a prohibition for Muslims to separate from the authority, which indicates the obligation upon Muslims to appoint an authority for themselves, i.e. ruling.
Moreover, the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) ordered the Muslims to obey the Khaleefah and to fight those who dispute his authority as Khaleefah, which indicates an order to appoint a Khaleefah and to protect his Khilafah by fighting against whosoever disputes with him. Muslim reported that the Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasalaam) said: “He who pledged allegiance to an Imam giving him the clasp of his hand and the fruit of his heart shall obey him as long as he can, and if another comes to dispute with him you have to strike the neck of that man.” So the command to obey the Imam is an order to establish him, and the command to fight those who dispute with him is an evidence that this command is decisive in maintaining the presence of one Khaleefah.