Skip to main content

Explanation of the Draft Constitution of the Khilafah, Article 1

We will be publishing the draft english translation of sections of the Arabic book مقدمة الدستور
أو الأسباب الموجبة له (Introduction to the constitution and the evidences that make it obligatory) published by Hizb ut-Tahrir 1382 Hijri (1963 CE). Please refer to the original Arabic for accurate meanings. Please note some of the adopted opinions of the Hizb have changed since the time the book was published so any of the adopted literature published after this book which contradicts what is mentioned in this book abrogates those specific points.

The following introduction is from a booklet from the Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Europe who published a booklet containing the explanation of the first ten articles.


بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Introduction

Truly praise be to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness, and seek His refuge from the evils of our souls and the wrongs of our deeds. He whom Allah guides none shall misguide him and he whom Allah misguides none shall guide him; and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, Alone with no associates, and that Mohammed is His servant and His Messenger. He sent him with the Truth as a conveyor of glad tidings and as a herald till the Hour of Judgement. He who obeys Allah and His Messenger, he is rightly guided, and he who disobeys them, he shall not harm Allah in the slightest. We pray to Allah our God to make us from among those who seek His pleasure and avoid His wrath for we are but by Him and for Him.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: The most truthful of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is that of Mohammed. The most evil of matters are novelties and each novelty is an innovation and each innovation is a deviation and each deviation is in Hell fire.

Indeed, the most horrific of innovations, considered to be the peak of all deviations in this day and age, is that of the rule by other than what Allah has revealed, and of following the ways of the nations of Kufr and the people of aberration, who have appointed themselves as a god to the exclusion of Allah, legislating for people the systems of life and determining for them the principles of behaviour. Despite the fact that Allah (swt) has honoured the Muslims with the best Message and the most perfect Deen, they however have been in this century afflicted by rulers upon whom Allah (swt)’s following saying applies: He (swt) says: [14-28,29] “Did you not turned your vision to those who have changed the favour of Allah into blasphemy and caused their people to descend to the house of perdition. In Hell they will burn therein; an evil place to stay in.” T.M.Q.

Those rulers legislated for the Ummah that which Allah (swt) never ordered, and the made of their systems and their rules a carbon copy of the capitalist West, thus their reality was a confirmation of Al-Mustafa’s Hadith (saw) who said: “You shall follow the ways of those before inch by inch and yard by yard, even if they entered a lizard’s hole you will follow them.” We said: “O messenger of Allah! You mean the Jews and the Christians?” He (SAW) replied: “Who else?” Now that the Islamic Ummah has realised that she had strayed from the straight path, she has no alternative but to proceed towards rebuilding the rightly guided Khilafah State, who will resume the Islamic way of life; also, to envisage the new life towards which she aims to move, so that she could implement Islam in a comprehensive and radical manner, that would govern all life’s aspects, so that she may achieve happiness through it and so that she may save humanity from that which it had fallen into in terms of oppression, rebellion and tyranny, and from that which it is suffering in terms of hardship, misery and deprivation.

Motivated by the sense of duty, we herewith put forward to the Muslims, through a serialised publication, a draft constitution for the Khilafah State, in the hope that it may enlighten the minds which the painful reality had dominated or those which had been smitten by the capitalist West. Not only such minds are no longer capable of envisaging the Islamic way of life, but they also ruled out the possibility of a state rising on the basis of Islam. Meanwhile, others are attempting to harmonise between the Truth and falsehood and mix darkness with the Light.

We are absolutely certain that the clear visualisation of the Islamic way of life that Muslims aim to resume, will help crystallise and incorporate the objective of the Islamic Da’awah carriers in the minds and hearts of the Islamic Ummah; this will foil the enemies’ attempt to dupe the Ummah with partial reforms here and there. Hopefully, this will also help unite the Muslims, for the unity of the thought that emanates from the Islamic Aqeedah, and that is built upon it, acts as the main factor in uniting the Muslims in the absence of the Khalifah around whom the Ummah rallies under the wing of the state of Islam.

We wish to mention that the book entitled “The Draft Constitution or the incumbent reasons” published in 1382 Hijri (1963) by Hizb-ut-Tahrir, acts as the main reference for this series, in addition to the book of “The Islamic State” and “The Ruling System in Islam” both of which are also published by Hizb-ut-Tahrir. The articles of this constitution are considered -according to information available to us- an unprecedented and a leading study in this field, and the main features of this study are:

1. The articles of this constitution are characterised by the fact that they are exclusively and purely Islamic opinions and thoughts. They contain nothing whatsoever that is non Islamic, nor are they influenced by anything that is non-Islamic. They are rather Islamic in every sense and nothing else, and they are based upon nothing but the foundations and texts of Islam.

2. When the constitution’s articles were deducted or when they were obtained from the Islamic schools of thought and the opinions of the Sahaba® , they were confined to the general evidences which have been established by conclusive and decisive evidence. These are The Book, the Sunnah, the General Consensus of the Sahaba and analogy (Qyyas).

3. This constitution has the benefit of the legal design that contains general principles; thus it could be considered as a jurisprudence reference in its topic, in addition to the benefit of being accurate in applying the rules to their relevant circumstances.

4. By proposing this constitution of the Khilafah State, which the Muslims are working towards establishing, with the help of Allah (swt), we invite the Muslims in general, and the intellectuals, the scholars and the prominent figures in particular to air their views and to take an active part in debating the matter. We warmly welcome every correspondence sent to the addresses listed on the inside of the front cover, and every direct contact with members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in the Islamic lands which represent the party’s field of activity.

We look forward to receiving all suggestions whether these were a criticism of a thought or a rule, or a suggestion to add and expand any of the existing thoughts and rules, for this is every Muslim’s right over another Muslim. Imam Muslim reported on the authority of Ataa Ibn Yazid on that of Tamim A-d-Dari that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The Deen is a name of sincerity and well wishing.” Upon this we said: “For whom?” He (saw) replied: “For Allah, His Book, His Messenger and for the leaders and the general Muslims.”

Though we are aware of the effort exhausted in research, study and contemplation over this work, and while we adhere to the established principle of : “Our opinion is sound but it could be wrong.”, we reiterate our welcome, from the bottoms of our hearts, for any amendment to any rule that might have been wrongly deduced, or any correction of any reality that might have not been fully perceived, or anything similar.

We pray to Allah (swt) for success and soundness, and to make this action of ours solely devoted to His sake and blessed with His Grace and Mercy.

We supplicate Him, the Qayyum of heavens and earth to confer upon the Ummah of the seal of prophets and the Imam of Mojahideen Mohammed (saw), a mighty and dignified victory, that will restore to this Ummah the state of Islam and raise over the world the banner of Iman, the banner of “there is no God but Allah, Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah”. This to Allah is not dear.

General rules

Article 1

“The Islamic Aqeedah constitutes the foundation of the state. Hence, nothing is permitted to exist within her entity, or apparatus, or accountability or any other aspect connected to her, unless the Islamic Aqeedah is its basis. At the same time, the Islamic Aqeedah acts as the basis of the constitution and Shari’ah laws; thus nothing related to the constitution or laws is permitted to exist unless it emanates from the Islamic Aqeedah.”

The state comes into being by the emergence of new ideas upon which it becomes built. The authority -i.e. the governing of people’s affairs and the management of their interests- changes when these thoughts change, for if the thoughts turned into concepts, i.e. if their meaning were perceived and if their credibility were established, they would influence man’s behaviour. This behaviour would then proceed according to these concepts. Thus, man’s viewpoint about life changes; and according to its change, his viewpoint towards the interests also changes. The authority is the guardianship of these interests and the supervision of their management; thus the viewpoint about life is the basis upon which the state is built and it is the basis upon which the power is established. A typical example of this is the agreement struck between the Aws and the Khazraj before Islam pertaining the crowning of Abdullah Ibn Ubay Ibn Salul in Madinah. Ibnu Ishaq reported: “When The Messenger of Allah (saw) came to Madinah, the leader there was Abdullah Ibnu Ubay Inbu Salul Al-Aufi. None of his own folk contested his authority. The Aws and Khazraj were never united behind a man before or after him until Islam came, as they did to him. Abdullah Ibnu Ubay’s people had made a sort of jewelled diadem to crown him and make him their king when Allah (swt) sent His Messenger (saw) to them. So his folk forsook him and turned to Islam, giving their leadership and their loyalty to the Messenger of Allah (saw). The Messenger of Allah (saw) issued a document concerning the emigrants and the Ansar (helpers) and describing them as being one single Ummah to the exclusion of all other people. He (saw) addressed them by saying: “Whenever you differ about a matter, it must be referred to Allah and to Mohammed.” This serves as evidence that authority changes according to the change of the viewpoint about life.

However, the viewpoint about life is generated by a specific thought about life. Hence, this viewpoint about life becomes the basis of the state and the basis of the authority.

Since the specific thought about life is reflected in the host of concepts, criteria and convictions, this host of concepts, criteria and convictions are considered a basis; the authority looks after people’s affairs and supervises the management of their interests according to this host of concepts, criteria and convictions.

Therefore, the basis is a host of thoughts and not just one single idea. It is this host of thoughts that generated in its entirety the viewpoint about life, and consequently, the viewpoint towards the interests was established and the authority set about managing them according to this viewpoint.

Therefore, the state was defined as being an executive entity for a host concepts, criteria and convictions which a group of people had adopted. This is as far as the state is concerned, in its capacity as a state, i.e. as an authority that assumes looking after the interests and supervises the management if these interests.

However, this host of thoughts upon which the state is founded, i.e. this host of concepts, criteria and convictions, could either be built upon a basic thought or not built upon a basic thought. If it were built upon a basic thought, it would be solidly built, with strong pillars and a firm entity; for it would rest upon an unprecedented basis. This is so because the basic thought is the thought that has no other thought before it, that is the intellectual Aqeedah. In such case, the state would be built upon an intellectual Aqeedah. Whereas if the state were not built upon a basic thought, this would render its destruction an easy affair and the demolition of its entity and the usurping of its authority would not be difficult; because it would not have been built upon an intellectual entity from which the thoughts upon whose basis the state was established; in other words, an intellectual entity from which emanate the host of concepts, criteria and convictions which represent the idea of the state in life, and consequently the viewpoint of this state towards life; that viewpoint from which the state’s viewpoint towards the interests originates.

The Islamic State is built upon the Islamic Aqeedah, because the host of concepts, criteria and convictions which the Ummah has adopted, emanate from an intellectual Aqeedah. The Ummah has first of all adopted this Aqeedah and embraced it as a conclusive Aqeedah based on a decisive evidence. Hence, this Aqeedah was her collective idea about life, and accordingly her viewpoint about life was shaped and form it her viewpoint towards the interests originated; also, the Ummah derived from it the host of concepts, criteria and convictions. Therefore, the Islamic Aqeedah is the basis of the Islamic State.

Besides, the Messenger of Allah (saw) established the Islamic State upon a specific basis; thus this very basis must be at all times and in all places the basis of the Islamic State. When the Messenger of Allah (saw) established the authority in Madinah and assumed the rule in there, he established it on the basis of the Islamic Aqeedah from the very first day, and the ayat (verses) of legislation had not been revealed yet. Hence, the Messenger of Allah (saw) made the Shahada (testimony) of “There is no god but Allah. Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah.” as the basis of the Muslims’ life and the basis of relationships between people, as well as the basis of removing grievances and settling disputes. In other words, he (saw) established it as the basis of all aspects of life, and the basis of authority and government. He (saw) did not stop at that, but he also legislated Jihad and made it an obligation upon the Muslims in order to carry this Aqeedah to all people. Abu Dawood reported on the authority of Abu Hurayra that the messenger of Allah (saw) said: “I have been ordered to fight people until they profess that there is no god but Allah. If they said it, their lives and their wealth would be inviolable to me, except that which is by right and Allah (swt) will hold them accountable.”

The Messenger of Allah (saw) has also made the continuous presence of the Aqeedah as a basis for the state an obligation upon the Muslims, and he (saw) ordered the Muslims to brandish the sword and to fight if the flagrant disbelief were to become manifest; i.e. if the Aqeedah ceased to be the basis of authority and rule. The Messenger of Allah (saw) was asked about the tyrant rulers: “Do we challenge them with the sword?” He (saw) replied : “No, as long as they continue to establish prayer amongst you.” He (saw) made the Baya’a based on the Muslims’ obedience of the people in authority, unless they witness a flagrant Kufr. Muslim reported in his Sahih on the authority of Auf Ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The best of your Imams are those whom you love and who love you, and they invoke Allah’s blessings upon you and you invoke His blessings upon them; and the worst of your Imams are those whom you hate and who hate you, and whom you curse and who curse you.” Those present asked: “Should we not challenge them with the help of the sword?” He (saw) said: “No, as long as they continue to establish prayer amongst you. If you then find anything detestable in them, you should hate their administration, but do not withdraw yourselves from their obedience.” Bukhari reported that Ubadah Ibn-us-Samit said in the Hadith of the Baya’a: “The Messenger of Allah (saw) called upon us so we pledged our Baya’a to war in complete obedience to the Messenger of Allah (saw), in weal and woe, in ease and hardship and evil circumstances; that we would not wrong anyone, that we would speak the truth at all times and that in Allah’s service we would fear the censure of none, and that we would not dispute the people in authority unless we witness a flagrant Kufr of which we have proof from Allah.” In the narration of Al-Tabarani, the wording was: “..open Kufr…”. Also, in another narration, the wording was : “..unless the disobedience to Allah is flagrant..”

All this indicates that the basis of the state is the Islamic Aqeedah, for the Messenger of Allah (saw) established the authority upon its basis, ordered the brandishing of the sword in order to maintain it as a basis for the authority; he also ordered Jihad for its sake.

It is on these grounds that the first article of the constitution was drafted; this article prohibits the state from having any concept, conviction or criterion that does not emanate from the Islamic Aqeedah. To have the Islamic Aqeedah as a nominal basis for the state would not be sufficient; this basis should rather be reflected in every aspect related to the state’s existence and reflected in every one of its matters, be it minor or major. Hence, it is forbidden for the state to have any concept about life, or about the rule, unless this emanates from the Islamic Aqeedah. The state would not tolerate any concept not emanating from this Aqeedah; thus it would not tolerate the concept of democracy to be adopted within the state, because it does not emanate from the Islamic Aqeedah, in addition to its contradiction to the concepts which emanate from it. Also, the concept of nationalism would not be allowed to have any consideration whatsoever, because it does not emanate from the Islamic Aqeedah, in addition to the fact that the concepts which emanate from this Aqeedah abhor, prohibit and outline its danger. Likewise, the concept of patriotism should not have any existence, for it does not emanate from the Islamic Aqeedah, not to mention its contradiction to the concepts which emanate form it. Furthermore, the Islamic State should not have any ministerial departments based upon the democratic concept, nor should there be in her government any imperial, monarch or republican concepts, for these do not emanate from the Aqeedah of Islam and they contradict the concepts emanating from it. Also, it is categorically forbidden to account the Islamic State on other than the basis of the Islamic Aqeedah, whether this were by individuals or groups or blocs. Hence, such type of accounting, that is based upon other than the Islamic Aqeedah would be prohibited. The establishment of movements and bloc on other than the basis of the Islamic Aqeedah would be prohibited. The fact that the Islamic Aqeedah acts as the basis for the State necessitates all this from the State itself and makes incumbent upon the citizens over which she rules; for her life, in her capacity as a state, as well as the life of every matter originating from her in her capacity as a state, every action linked to her in her capacity as a state and every action established with her in her quality as a state must have as a basis the Aqeedah of the State, that is the Islamic Aqeedah.

As for the second issue in the article, its evidence is reflected in the fact that the constitution is the basis law of the State; thus it is a law, and the law itself is the order of the ruler and Allah (swt) ordered the ruler to rule by He (swt) revealed to the Messenger of Allah (saw), and described he who rules by other than what Allah has revealed as Kafir if he believed in that which he ruled by and believed in the unsuitability of what Allah (swt) revealed to His Messenger; He (swt) described the ruler who rules by other than what He revealed, but did not believe in it a Fasiq (rebel). This indicates that Iman in Allah and His Messenger must be the basis of which the ruler orders, i.e. the basis of the laws and the basis of the constitution. As for Allah’s (swt) command of the ruler to rule by what He (swt) revealed, i.e. by the Shari’ah rules, this is established in the Book and the Sunnah. Allah (swt) says: [4 -65] “No By your God, they shall not believe until they make you judge of what is in dispute between them and find in their souls no resistance against your decision, but accept them with the fullest conviction.” T.M.Q.

Allah (swt) also says: [5-49] “So rule between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their desires and beware lest they tempt you away from what Allah has revealed to you.” T.M.Q.

Allah (swt) has confined the State’s legislation to that which He had revealed and He warned against ruling by other than what He had revealed, for He (swt) says: [5-44] “Whoever rules by other than what Allah has revealed, they are the disbelievers.” T.M.Q. Muslim reported on the authority of Aysha ® that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “He who generates in our order that which is alien to it, it must be rejected.”

This indicates that the legislation of the State must be confined to what emanates from the Islamic Aqeedah; these are the Sharia’ah rules which we trust that Allah (swt) has revealed to the Messenger of Allah (saw), whether their revelation were explicit, by stating that it is the rule of Allah, and it is reflected in the Book or the Sunnah or the Sahaba unanimously consented that it is the rule of Allah, or implicit rules, which are taken by way of analogy whose Illah (reason) is a Sharia’ah Illah. This is why the second issue has been drafted in the article.

Besides, since the actions of the servants are subject to the adherence to the address of the Legislator (swt), their governing should therefore be from Allah (swt), and the Islamic Sharia’ah has been to all people’s actions and relationships, whether these relationships were with Allah (swt) or with themselves or with other people. Hence, there is no place in Islam for people to enact laws in order to govern their relations, for they are restricted to the laws of Shari'ah. Allah (swt) says: [59-7] “Whatever the Messenger brought you take it; and whatever he forbade you abstain from it.” He (swt) also says: [35-36] “It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any option about their decision; if anyone disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed far astray.” The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Truly Allah has commanded a host of duties, so do not neglect them; He also prohibited certain things, so do not violate them and He imposed certain limits, so do not transgress them.” He (saw) also said: “He who generates in our order that which is alien to it, it must be rejected.”

Therefore, it is Allah (swt) who legislated the rules, not the ruler, and it is He (swt) Who obliged people and the ruler to adhere to them in their relations and in their actions, Who confined them to these rules, prohibiting them from following any other rules. Therefore, there is no room for man to enact laws and govern people’s relations, and there is no room for the ruler to force people or give them the choice to follow conventional principles and rules to govern their relations.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An advice to Muslims working in the financial sector

Assalam wa alaikum wa rahmatullah wabarakatahu, Dear Brothers & Sisters, We are saddened to see Muslims today even those who practise many of the rules of Islam are working in jobs which involve haram in the financial sector. They are working in positions which involve usurious (Riba) transactions, insurance, the stock market and the like. Even though many of the clear evidences regarding the severity of the sin of Riba are known, some have justified their job to themselves thinking that they are safe as long as they are not engaged in the actual action of taking or giving Riba. Brothers & Sisters, You should know that the majority of jobs in the financial sector, even the IT jobs in this area are haram (prohibited) as they involve the processing of prohibited contracts. If you work in this sector, do not justify your job to yourself because of the fear of losing your position or having to change your career, fear Allah as he should be feared and consider His law regard

Q&A: Age of separating children in the beds?

Question: Please explain the hukm regarding separation of children in their beds. At what age is separation an obligation upon the parents? Also can a parent sleep in the same bed as their child? Answer: 1- With regards to separating children in their beds, it is clear that the separation which is obligatory is when they reach the age of 7 and not since their birth. This is due to the hadith reported by Daarqutni and al-Hakim from the Messenger (saw) who said: When your children reach the age of 7 then separate their beds and when they reach 10 beat them if they do not pray their salah.’ This is also due to what has been narrated by al-Bazzar on the authority of Abi Rafi’ with the following wording: ‘We found in a sheet near the Messenger of Allah (saw) when he died on which the following was written: Separate the beds of the slave boys and girls and brothers and sisters of 7 years of age.’ The two hadiths are texts on the separation of children when they reach the age of 7. As for the

Q&A: Shari' rule on songs, music, singing & instruments?

The following is a draft translation from the book مسائل فقهية مختارة (Selected fiqhi [jurprudential] issues) by the Mujtahid, Sheikh Abu Iyas Mahmoud Abdul Latif al-Uweida (May Allah protect him) . Please refer to the original Arabic for exact meanings. Question: What is the Shari’ ruling in singing or listening to songs?  What is the hukm of using musical instruments and is its trade allowed? I request you to answer in detail with the evidences? Answer: The Imams ( Mujtahids ) and the jurists have differed on the issue of singing and they have varying opinions such as haraam (prohibited), Makruh (disliked) and Mubah (permissible), the ones who have prohibited it are from the ones who hold the opinion of prohibition of singing as a trade or profession, and a similar opinion has been transmitted from Imam Shafi’i, and from the ones who disliked it is Ahmad Ibn Hanbal who disliked the issue and categorised its performance under disliked acts, a similar opinion has been tran