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What and Where Is Khilafah Today?
What?, Where is the khilafah today? what about Saudi, Iran,
Pakisthan, Sudan?, Is ruler accountable?, How would non-muslims
be treated?, Women?, Science and innovation?, Is it
imperialistic?, etc. What is the Khilafah?
The Khilafah constitutes the ruling system in Islam that is
ordained in the Islamic texts. It is responsible for
implementing the Islamic system in its entirety. It applies the
rules of the Islamic legal code concerning judiciary,
governance, economy, social system, education, defence and
international affairs. The Khilafah is responsible for managing
the affairs of its citizens through applying laws and principles
in conformance with Islamic text. The Khilafah is uniquely
distinguishable from any other political governance styles such
as democracy, theocracy or monarchy.
The Khilafah will undertake the task of bringing reconciliation
between all Muslims and it will banish all notions of tribalism
and nationalism. The state is not for a faction, a group or a
people. Its view towards its citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim,
will be one. It will apply Islam according to the strongest
evidences from the Islamic texts. It is not the state of any
ethnicity or colour. Arab and non-Arab, white and black, will be
equal before the state. Although the Khilafah is the Islamic
State it does not just look after the Muslims but also all those
who carry the citizenship of the Islamic State, whether Muslim
or non-Muslim. When looking after the affairs of non-Muslim
citizens of the Islamic State it has a duty of care to them
based on their citizenship and does not view them as an "ethnic
minority".
Where is the Khilafah today?
The Khilafah does not exist today in any shape or form
throughout the entire world. It was destroyed following World
War 1 at the hands of Mustafa Kemal of Turkey.
Commenting on its destruction, Lord Curzon, the British foreign
secretary, told the House of Commons on 24th July 1924
"...Turkey (the seat of the Khilafah) is dead and will never
rise again because we have destroyed its moral strength, the
Khilafah and Islam."
For a land to be considered an Islamic State, every single
article of the country's constitution, every rule and law, must
emanate from the Islamic legal code. In every case of the
above-mentioned countries however, these criteria are far from
being met. In these places, Islamic law exists only by name as
the source of the country's legislation, with all types of
secular legislation and customs playing alongside it, while the
constitutions give much more weight to democracy, socialism,
capitalism and the like. But these are all concepts that have
their roots in other than Islam and are based on a different
fundamental philosophy. Thus it can, in no way, be claimed that
any of the current Muslim countries are representative of Islam
and the Islamic system of government, which is the Islamic
Khilafah.
Who will be the ruler in the Caliphate and will he be
accountable?
The Khalifah (Caliph) rules the State according to the commands
of Allah as laid down in the Qur'an and in the example of the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The people choose and
appoint the Khalifah. As a citizen of the Islamic State, whether
male of female, Muslim or non-Muslim, you can approach the
Khalifah. This may be done for any reason - be it to encourage
him to fear Allah or to ask him for your rights. People are
obliged to remove the Khalifah if he implements other than
Islam.
How would non-Muslims be treated in the Khilafah?
An Islamic classical scholar, Imam Qarafi, says, "It is the
responsibility of the Muslims to the People of the Dhimma
[non-Muslim citizens] to take care of their weak, fulfil the
needs of the poor, feed the hungry, provide clothes, address
them politely and even tolerate their harm even if it was from a
neighbour, even though the Muslim would have an upper hand. The
Muslims must also advise them sincerely on their affairs and
protect them against anyone who tries to hurt them or their
family, steal their wealth or anyone who violates their rights,"
Many non-Muslims used to live with Muslims under the banner of
Islam for almost thirteen centuries. Throughout those periods
non-Muslims used to have the same high standard of living as the
Muslims did. They enjoyed equal rights, prosperity, happiness,
tranquillity and security.
What would be the position of women in the Khilafah?
Women would play an active role under the Khilafah to build a
state that not only has an elevated moral character, but is also
economically prosperous and technologically advanced. The
Khilafah would be obliged to provide free education to boys and
girls alike at primary and secondary level as well as fund free
education at higher level in key areas such as medicine and the
sciences. This would enable women to enter professions such as
medicine, engineering, science, architecture, academia and the
like. The woman would be permitted to trade, invest her wealth,
own property, run a business and be an employer or an employee.
She could, for example, take an administrative post within the
state or be appointed as a judge, lease property and undertake
various other societal transactions. In addition, she would
fulfil the vital role of being a wife and mother, creating a
tranquil family life, caring for her children and family and
nurturing the thinking and development of future generations.
She would have an active political role and a powerful political
voice in accounting the ruler for any injustice, being vigilant
over any societal corruption and taking care of the needs of her
community.
How will men and women interact in the Khilafah?
Men and women would interact in order to fulfil the needs of
their public life but within the remit of the Islamic social
system that regulates the relationship between men and women.
This creates an environment that facilitates the cooperation of
the genders and enables them to fulfil their public rights and
duties without affecting the moral climate of the State. It
ensures that the honour and chastity of all are protected and
that the sexual aspect of the relationship between a man and
woman is restricted to marriage. For example, Islam has defined
a particular public dress for the Muslim woman as well as
obliged her to conceal her beauty in the presence of a man to
whom marriage is permitted and has forbidden her to be in
isolation with him. Islam has forbidden free socialising between
non-related men and women or any action that may lead to
fornication or adultery. The woman would be viewed as an honour
under the Khilafah and therefore no action would be permitted
that would compromise this.
Why can't a woman be the ruler in the Khilafah?
This is established from Islamic evidences that forbid a woman
from holding a position of ruling. Those who have failed to
study the Islamic texts deeply have claimed that this is because
Islam believes the woman is not physically able to perform this
action and have therefore labelled Islam as being discriminatory
towards women. Islam has given no such reason but has simply
prohibited this action for the woman.
Ruling in Islam is not a position of prestige but a position of
responsibility. Status in Islam is not measured by the one who
holds a position of responsibility but by how resolutely an
individual fulfils any duty obliged upon him. A ruler by default
does not hold superiority over a mother. Both have their duties
to fulfil to ensure the society prospers.
Within the Khilafah, women would be permitted to elect the
ruler. In fact women were present within the first delegation
that gave a pledge of allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him), accepting him as the first leader of the Islamic
State. Women would be permitted to be within the consultative
body of the Khilafah State that advises the ruler on various
matters. They would be obliged to be engaged in the political
life of the Islamic society and to account the rulers if they
observed any corruption or injustice within the State. They can
also be appointed as an official of the State in a non-ruling
position.
Will the Khilafah accept scientific and technological
innovation?
When Islam came for the first time as a way of life, the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent Muslims on a special mission
to ash-Sham (modern day Syria, Jordan and Palestine). At that
time ash-Sham was not ruled by Islam and was dominated by a
superpower of that time, the Romans, who were Christians. These
Romans were very skilled in military technology and had
developed two special catapults. Also, the Muslims acquired
trench technology from the second superpower of the time, the
Persians, via Salman al-Farsi and it was put to good use in the
Battle of the Trench. This is allowed in Islam because the
Muslims did not go to take their way of life from the Persians
and Romans. They did not take on their beliefs, values and
systems of life. They took only the technology from them, which
in fact did not come from a particular belief and is for all
human beings to find, by the grace of Allah. Muhammad (peace be
upon him) by his example showed us that technology in its origin
is permitted in Islam, but it must only be used in a manner that
is permissible under Islamic law. So a surgeon's scalpel can be
used to heal, but not abort an innocent baby. Television,
internet and DVDs can all be used to propagate the truth or for
educational purposes but not to exploit women as material
objects.
Is the Khilafah a Monarchical System?
The monarchical system is not an Islamic system and Islam does
not approve of it whether the monarch is a figurehead who does
not rule, as is the case in Britain and Spain, because the
Khalifah (Caliph) is not a figurehead, rather he is the ruler
and an executor of the laws of Allah on behalf of the Islamic
Ummah; or if the monarch is the head and the actual ruler, as is
the case in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. This is because the
Khalifah does not acquire his position like the kings do;
rather, he is selected and given a pledge of allegiance. The
hereditary system is not allowed in Islam; the Khalifah does not
have more privileges than any other citizen and he is not above
the law like the kings who cannot be tried, rather he is
subservient to the laws of Allah and is liable to be accounted
for every action he commits.
Is the Khilafah an Imperial System?
The regions ruled by Islam - though they are of various races
and linked to one central place - are not ruled by an imperial
system but by a system contradictory to the imperial system. The
imperial system does not treat races equally in the various
regions of the empire; rather it gives privileges in the ruling,
finance and economy to the centre of the empire.
The Islamic way of ruling establishes equality between the
subjects in all the regions of the state. Islam grants
non-Muslims who hold citizenship, the full rights and duties
that Muslims have. They enjoy the same fairness as Muslims and
are subject to the same accountability like them. Furthermore,
every single citizen, regardless of his or her creed, enjoys
rights that even a Muslim living abroad who holds no citizenship
does not enjoy. With this equality, the Islamic system differs
completely from the imperial one. It does not make the regions
under its ruling into colonies, areas of exploitation, nor a
source of wealth funnelled back into the central region for its
own benefit, no matter how far apart they were, and no matter
how different their races were. It considers every single region
as a part of the state and its citizens enjoy the same rights as
those in the central region. It also makes the ruling authority,
its system and its legislation the same in all the regions.
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