What the Scholars of the Qur'an and Sunnah Say About Establishing the Islamic State In Light of Recent Events in Iraq and Syria
[A Partial Transcription of “Declaring the Islamic Khilafah” by Sh. Kamil Ahmad, see end of article for a link to the complete lecture – TML]
In the year 1924, the Islamic Khilafah became abolished. That was the Ottoman empire, which ruled for almost 500 years. Before them you had other Khilafahs that ruled the entire Muslim Ummah. This was a continuation of the Khilafah after the death of the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam.
Now since the Khilafah fell almost a hundred years ago, there have been many attempts to reestablish it. Most of these attempts, however, were failures.
After the enemies of Islam conquered the Muslim lands, they divided the various Muslim lands into nation states. So what we have today is this division. And so you have several countries that stretch over the entire Muslim Ummah.
However, this year there was an announcement, a declaration of a Khilafah after almost one hundred years. And so many Muslims are asking many questions: is this Khilafah legitimate? Are we supposed to go and make hijrah and give bay’ah (pledge of allegiance) to this new Khalifah? What is the position that Muslims are supposed to take?
These questions have especially been revolving around the youth – many among the youth who are excited to see change. After seeing what has happened to the Muslim Ummah for decades, they want to see change. So when they see something similar to this they become excited and so they pose these kinds of questions.
Before we actually get into the discussion regarding the legitimacy of this Khilafah, or any other questions surrounding it, it must always be kept in mind that one can only determine the true path – whether it be regarding this issue or any issue – by putting aside emotions and prejudices, which often blinds us from reality. Then, and only then, will we be able to use our God-given intelligence and make a rational and correct decision. Once we do that, by the Will of Allah, we will arrive at the truth.
Our discussion today is going to be in light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, in light of how the scholars of Islam, starting from the Salaf until our time, have understood the religion of Islam.
Let us first look at it from an Islamic perspective: what does Islam say regarding the Khilafah? How is it establishied? Who is a legitimate Khalifah? Who is supposed to appoint the Khalifah, etc ?
First of all, there are many conditions that the scholars have mentioned regarding who is fit to be the Khalifah of the Muslims. These conditions are general among who is supposed to be fit to be in charge of the affairs of the Muslims, whether he be the Khalifah of the entire Muslim Ummah or whether he be the leader of a certain group among the Muslims, governing their affairs. And so they mentioned many conditions, such as: he has to be a Muslim, he has to be male, he has to be an adult, he has to be sane, etc. Among the most important of these conditions are two conditions: mashurah and tamkin.
Mashurah is basically to consult – to consult a group among society who are known as Ahl al-Hal wal-‘Aqd. They are basically the scholars and the noble individuals in society, those who have a say in the affairs of the Muslims. In order for anyone to be appointed as a leader of the Muslims, they must be consulted. Without their consultation no one is declared to be the leader of the Muslims or the Khalifah of the Muslims. This is based on what ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) mentioned, which has been reported in Sahih al-Bukhari. He said, “If any person gives the pledge of allegiance to somebody (to become a Khalifah) without consulting the other Muslims, then the one he has selected should not be granted allegiance, lest both of them should be killed.” And so what Umar (Allah be pleased with him) feared was that if the vast majority of the Muslims are not consulted in such great affairs, then there would be bloodshed. This is what he meant by this statement. So the point here is that without mashurah, without this condition, no one can be declared as being the leader of the Muslims. Why? Because it would cause bloodshed, for if it was permissible to simply announce that anyone can be the Khalifah without consulting the Muslims and those who have authority over them, then this would lead to pretty much anyone and everyone coming out and saying that, “I am the Khalifah.” So, one of the most important conditions of appointing the Khalifah is this condition of mashurah.
Now, let us analyze what has taken place regarding the declaration of the Khilafah that we have seen in these days. What they have claimed is that they approached Ahl al-Hal wal-‘Aqd and that they gave them the green light. But who are Ahl al-Hal wal-‘Aqd according to them? They are basically their own supporters. So they consider Ahl al-Hal wal-‘Aqd to be their own followers and not the notables, not the scholars living in their area.
So what we can see here is that they don’t have the support of Ahl al-Hal wal-‘Aqd in their own locality. The scholars and the people of authority in Iraq and Syria have not given them any support. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, if we were to say that, “Okay, he can be the leader of that area where he is ruling, but how about the entire Muslim Ummah?” To say that one has become the Khalifah of the Muslims at large, it requires not only the consultation of the people in that area where he is, but the consultation of the scholars throughout the Muslim Ummah. What we can see here is that this new “Khalifah” does not have any support, not among his own people, nor among the scholars and the people of authority in his own area, nor anywhere else in the Muslim Ummah.
The second condition that I mentioned was that of tamkin. Tamkin basically means empowerment; having the power and ability to ward off the harm of the enemies from the land where this leader is ruling and protecting the lives of those who are under him. If we were to analyze this current claim to the Khilafah, we will see that this current “Khalifah” is not only weak to defend himself and his own followers, but even those around him, even those in the neighboring lands. He may have an army numbering in the thousands, but without aerial support, for example, he is defenseless. So one of the conditions for an individual to claim the Khilafah is that he needs to be powerful enough to protect his land and the surrounding lands, and to protect his subjects who are under him from outside attack. If he is not able to protect his own region and not able to protect his own people, then how about the entire Muslim Ummah whom he claims to be a Khalifah for? So, as we can see, this current claim to the Khilafah does not fulfill this condition of tamkin.
Here I want to bring to our attention a very important difference. That is that one may become the ruler of a certain area, of a certain land, which he captures by force. In this case, he can become the legitimate ruler of that area if he takes it by force. But that does not mean that he becomes the Khalifah for the entire Muslim Ummah. So the least we can say is that this individual who has claimed to be the Khalifah of the Muslims, is a ruler ruling in that particular land where he is, that particular part of al Iraq or Syria, not over the rest of the Ummah. This is something we have seen throughout Islamic history, where there have been certain nations that emerged, even when there was a main Khilafah in place. The scholars have said that basically these rulers are legitimate rulers in their particular localities, but they are not rulers for the entire Muslim Ummah.
Now, another very important point to mention here is that if we were to examine certain nations that tried to implement the Shari’ah and tried to have an Islamic rule – which is one of the main objectives behind establishing the Islamic Khilafah in the first place – some of them who were successful in doing that did not rush to proclaim the Khilafah. We have several examples of this.
We have, for example, the Ottoman Empire, who originate from Aal ‘Uthman, the family of ‘Uthman, a Turkish family. Before they came into power and before they proclaimed their Khilafah, they started as a small state. This family ruled over a part of Turkey and expanded gradually over a period of three hundred years before they announced their Khilafah. And then their Khilafah lasted for five hundred years after that.
We also have in our times certain attempts by Muslims who came into power in certain Muslim countries, they did not rush to proclaim the Khailafah even though they could have. An example is in Afghanistan, when the Taliban took over and ruled the country for a few years; they did not rush to proclaim the Khilafah. Why? Because they learned from history that when you rush to proclaim the Khilafah, it is unwise and illogical to do so.
Now, if we were to analyze what has taken place today, in terms of the declaration of the Khilafah, we can see that many evils, calamities and tribulations have resulted from this incident. Among these are the following:
1. Announcing the Khilafah in this particular manner demolishes the entire purpose and objective of establishing the Khilafah. What is the objective of establishing the Khilafah? To preserve the sanctity of Islam and to govern the land by Islam. When we do not have a Khilafah, we cannot establish the religion of Allah as Allah wants us to and we cannot guard Islam from the enemies, as we are seeing today.
2. Those who have proclaimed the Khilafah today, they basically consider that the entire Ummah is committing an offense, that the entire Ummah is at sin for not supporting this “Khilafah.” What this has resulted in is that these individuals are making the blood of Muslims halal (lawful). Thus, what we have seen in Syria and Iraq is that they are killing innocent Muslims who refuse to give their pledge of allegiance to this newly founded “Khalifah.” And we all know of the great crime and how severe it is with Allah to shed the blood of an innocent Muslim.
3. They have distorted the image of Islam by showing that Islam is a religion of bloodshed, that it revolves around killing and beheading, as we have seen recently when they beheaded an American journalist. This method of killing and beheading was never performed by the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam, nor by any of the companions after him.
4. It has weakened the Muslims, and in particular the efforts of those who are fighting an unjust regime in Syria. This group came to Syria from Iraq and started fighting the various Muslim groups that are fighting an unjust ruler. Thus, it has led to disunity among the ranks of those fighting the unjust Syrian government and mistrust among them.
5. It has given the opportunity for some non-Muslim countries to once again come and attack Muslim lands. As a result of what these individuals are doing, we see once again that some non-Muslims have yet another justification for invading the lands of the Muslims, killing and attacking innocent Muslim civilians.
I conclude with a few pieces of advice, especially for our youth, regarding these current times of fitnah.
Firstly, even if after all what we have mentioned today of the illegitimacy of this proclaimed “Khilafah,” you are still not convinced of its illegitimacy, then at least consider it to be a fitnah. And what did the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam advise us regarding times of fitnah? In the hadith of Hudhayfah bin Yaman (Allah be pleased with him), who used to always ask the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam about the times of fitnah, about the future, and the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam always used to answer him. One of the things that the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam mentioned is that in the future there will be a lot of disunity, a lot of fitnah. So Hudhayfah asked the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam, “What should I do in such times?” The Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam said, “Stick to the main body of the Muslims and their leaders.” If there is no main body of the Muslims, then the Prophet Sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam said, “Then withdraw from all of them, even if you have to bite on to the trunk of a tree and die in that state, then do it.” And so if, after everything that we have mentioned, you are still not convinced, then at least consider this to be a fitnah. And the best thing to do in times of fitnah is to stay away from all parties, stay away from all groups, and stick to yourself.
Another very important piece of advice is that we need to be patient. In times of fitnah we need to be patient. We are seeing a lot of atrocities being committed against Muslims. We are seeing a lot of things unfolding in the world today. So in these times we need to have patience, and we need to stay far away from jumping to conclusions and judgments. We also need to stick to and refer to the people of knowledge in such times. In the time of the companions, as the Muslim empire was expanding, Khalid bin Walid (Allah be pleased with him) and Abu ‘Ubaydah bin Jarrah (Allah be pleased with him), who were both commanders of the Muslim army, used to write letters to the scholars from among the companions who use to live not on the frontiers of the Muslim lands, but rather who used to live in Hijaz, in Makkah and Madinah. What is the lesson that we gain from this? That, in times of fitnah, and even if you are deep in the trenches of the battlefields, don’t forget to refer to the scholars and the people of knowledge.
The full lecture can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xswLkhPhTc
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