Bani Israel were ruled by their Prophets. When one died, there
would follow another. There will be no Prophet after me, only
Khulafaa’.’ They asked Rasoolallah, ‘What should we do?’ He said ‘Give
them bay’ah, one after the other.’ [Sahīh Muslim]
The Madinah State of the Prophet (saw) was the highest model of governance that has ever existed – succeeded by the Khilafah Rashidah, on the model of Prophethood.
The Khulafaa’ that succeed the Khulafaa’ al Rashidun
were of varying quality. The best – like Umar bin Abdul Aziz, Muhammad
al Fatih, Suleiman al Qaanooni and Abdul Hameed II – were great rulers.
The worst were better than the criminal rulers that rule the Muslim
world today. Even until the Ottoman era, when it was indebted and
weakened, the Khilafah was still a significant power on the world stage;
not only because they adopted the Islamic system alone, but also
because they struggled hard to preserve the unity of the state and
Ummah.
Yet 89 years ago, on the 3rd March 1924, some years after it had been
dismembered (after World War One) and after a long period of
intellectual decline – the Khilafah state, the model of government
established by Allah’s beloved Messenger (saw), was abolished by the
criminal Mustafa Kemal in Ankara. The Muslim world reacted with shock.
It was described as a ‘disaster to both Islam and civilization’. It was predicted the Muslim world would be thrown into ‘the ranks of revolution and disorder’.
Sadly, these predictions proved true. The Ummah has been divided,
oppressed, colonized, exploited and occupied ever since. Till now,
Muslims are looking for a way to overcome this misery.
For decades Muslims have been looking at the Western capitalist
system and nation state model – alternating between the oppression of
dictators and the corruption of democratic politicians. Since the
destruction of the Khilafah State, Islam has been confined to personal
belief, Salah, Zakat, Fasting in Ramadhan and Hajj. We follow the Prophet’s (saw) Sunnah in these individual ibadat, yet we have abandoned his Sunnah in
politics and government! It is through this great institution that the
Prophet (saw) taught this Ummah how to do politics and run a society and
state for Muslims and non-Muslims.
The Khilafah State represents the unity of the Ummah. The Khalifah is the Ameer of this Ummah. Allah (swt) said…’Hold fast to the rope of Allah and be not divided amongst yourselves’
[Surah Aal-‘Imran 3:103]. The Khilafah is the practical method by which
the Shari’ah secured this unity. The tie that links people in the
Khilafah is their citizenship. All of those who hold the citizenship of
the Islamic State – Muslim and non-Muslim – have the full right to enjoy
guardianship without fear of discrimination, just as they all obey the
law, in line with the divine principle that states: “They have the same fairness enjoyed by Muslims; and they are also accountable like Muslims.” The Khilafah looks after the affairs of all citizens regardless of tribe or ethnicity – abiding by the Quranic order: “The best among you in the sight of Allah is the most pious of you”. [Surah Hujurat 49:13].
Without the Islamic system of unity the Ummah has been divided into
nation states and the menace of nationalism and sectarianism has brought
nothing but war, conflict, division and fitnah in our countries amongst
our own people.
The Khilafah State is a political system where the Ummah holds the
authority and has a duty to account the Khalīfah according to Islam. On
assuming his position as Khalīfah, Sayidina Abu Bakr As Siddīq (ra)
said: ‘O People! I have been put in authority over you and I am
not the best of you. So if I do the right thing then help me and if I do
wrong then put me straight… Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His
Messenger, and if I do not obey Allah and His Messenger then obedience
to me is not incumbent upon you.’
The Khilafah enshrines the accountability of the government because Allah (swt) ordered the Muslim Ummah to enjoin ma’roof and forbid munkar on the ruler. The Messenger (saw) said: “By
He Who owns my soul, you must enjoin the Ma’roof and forbid the Munkar,
or Allah may inflict upon you a punishment from Him, you would then
supplicate Him and your supplication would go unanswered [Sunan Abu Dawud #4336].
So, there is a branch of the judiciary to judge between the ruler and
the people, the Qadhi Madhalim – with the power to remove the Khalīfah
if he breaks his contractual conditions of ruling. Islam encourages
political parties to hold the ruler to account; a Majlis of elected
representatives to account the ruler and be consulted by him; and an
independent media to hold the government to account and scrutinise its
actions. While democracy is claimed as the only way to ensure
accountable government, the reality is that this so called democratic
system in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq and Afghanistan
have produced politicians who are corrupt to the core, siphoning
millions and billions of the Ummah’s wealth and have opened our
countries to the ugly plans of the colonialists.
On the economic front our countries are submerged in a quagmire of
debt, poverty, inequality and economic colonialism. This goes on, whilst
our Ummah is blessed with some of the largest natural resources, vast
fertile agricultural lands and abundant human resources. This state of
affairs is because the secular politicians who are in charge of this
ummah today are there to steal this wealth and help the colonial powers
implement their IMF/World Bank policies to ensure our resources continue
to be in Western hands. Only a sincere Islamic leadership implementing
the clear economic rules from Islam can break this status quo. One of
the roles of the Khalīfah is the collection of Zakat. Imam Tahawi
narrated from Muslim bin Yasser that the Prophet (saw) said, “The
(collection of) the Zakat, (implementation of) Hudood, (distribution of)
the spoils and (the organising) of the Jumu’ah are for the Sultan.” The Khalifah’s role is to collect any revenues that Islam permits – Zakat, Ushr, Kharaaj, Jizya,
as well as the revenues from state and public properties – and spend
them on the things that are mandatory. For example, every citizen needs
to have food clothing and shelter; every male and female child must be
educated; and the state has a due to spend on health and the military.
The Muslim world is crying under the weight of its problems and needs
an alternative – and that alternative is the Islamic Khilafah state.
Following the Arab revolutions, Egypt and Tunisia are still engulfed in
political crisis and mismanagement because, fundamentally, the secular
man made system is still in place. It is the Khilafah system that can
bring a government that is based upon our Aqeeda, agrees with our
identity, history and culture and has the practical solutions for our
various political, economic and social problems. And, more importantly,
it is through this that we will attain the good pleasure of Allah (swt).
Today the Western capitalist system that has ruled the world for
decades is not admired as it once was. It has created another global
economic crisis. Western powers have overreached themselves in imperial
warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their societies are filled with family
breakdown and social problems. People view their politicians as
increasingly corrupt, bowing down to banks and big business.
In desperation, Western politicians and their corporate-backed media
slander the Prophet of Islam (saw) and portray the Khilafah system of
governance as backward and as the aspiration of extremists. This is
because they know it challenges their political, economic and military
dominance of the Muslim world.
Brothers and Sisters: We as Muslims living in Britain have a duty to
challenge these lies about Islam, about Allah’s Messenger (saw), about
his system of governance, and about the Shari’ah of Islam. Indeed, we
have a duty to offer people – who question the way the world is today –
an alternative, by giving our neighbours, colleagues and others the da’wah
to Islam, to show them how the Islamic Aqeedah convinces the mind,
agrees with man’s nature and has the capacity to solve humanity’s
problems.
It is the promise of Allah’s Messenger that the Khilafah on the way
of Prophethood will return – after it had been abolished. He (saw) said
after a period of biting oppression“there will be a Khilafah Rashida according to the ways of the Prophethood.’ Then he kept silent.” [Musnad Imam Ahmad]
And in anticipation of that return, isn’t it right that we redress
the shameful misrepresentation of the Prophetic system of governance
that we see today. It is our duty as Muslims to know this model of
governance and to tell others about its reality – and not the media’s
scaremongering.
Dear Brothers and Sisters: It is the Promise from your Lord, the glad tidings from your Prophet and the highest of obligations. (HTB)
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