The name of the Islamic government!
Islamic government has three names. Imamat, Khilafat, Emirate. All three Islamic theory of state are interpreted in the words of great scholars.
Imamate is the name of a public state that obtains sovereign supremacy from the legal representation of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and expresses its authority and power in the collective activities of religion and the world in such a way that it is guided by superiors. Attributes become prominent.”
Imamate is the highest name of Islamic government. Allama Ibn Khaldoun has said:
“The position of the government which fulfils the guardianship of the religion and the political duties of the world is the caliphate and the imamate. It is called the high imamate and the general caliphate.”
Allama Sheikh Muhammad Amin Abidin describes Imamate in these words.
“The general dispensation over the inhabitants of God’s created world which leads to the formation of a common state and which has the honor of representing the Prophet.”
Caliphate:
There are three types of caliphate mentioned in the Holy Quran.
- Deputy caliphate
- Democratic caliphate
- King caliphate
1- Deputy Caliphate:
All the sons of Hazrat Adam (A.S.) are the caliphs of Allah and each individual was created to rule over other creatures. As mentioned in the Quran:
وَ اِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلٰٓىٕكَةِ اِنِّیْ جَاعِلٌ فِی الْاَرْضِ خَلِیْفَةًؕ
(Surah Al Baqarah: Ayat 30)
Translation:
“And remember when your Lord said to the angels: I am about to make a successor in the earth”.
In this verse, all human beings are called Khalifa.
2- Democratic Caliphate:
When a nation is blessed with government and kingship, it is the caliphate of that nation. Allah Ta’ala addresses the nation and says:
وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفَاءَ مِن بَعْدِ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ
(Surah Al A’raaf: Ayat 69)
Translation:
“And remember when He made you king after the nation of Note”.
وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْجَعَلَكُمْخُلَفَاءَمِنبَعْدِعَادٍوَبَوَّأَكُمْفِيالْأَرْضِتَتَّخِذُونَمِنسُهُولِهَاقُصُورًاوَتَنْحِتُونَالْجِبَالَبُيُوتًاۖفَاذْكُرُواآلَاءَاللَّهِوَ تَعْثَوْافِيالْأَرْضِ
(Surah Al A’raaf: Ayat 74)
Translation:
“And remember when He made you successors after Aad (people) and settled you in the land”.
By saying here, توائم فِي الْأَرْضِ he explained the caliphate, which means inheriting the land.
وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَائِفَ الْأَرْضِ
(Surah Al An’am: Ayat 165)
Translation:
“He is the one who made you the successors of the earth”.
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3- King Caliphate:
There are two types of personal caliphate. Special Khilafah and Public Khilafah. Khilafah Khasa refers to that Khilafah. When Allah appoints a person to guide people. All the Prophets (peace be upon them) had a special caliphate. Allah Almighty says;
یٰدَاوٗدُ اِنَّا جَعَلْنٰكَ خَلِیْفَةً فِی الْاَرْضِ فَاحْكُمْ بَیْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ وَ لَا تَتَّبِـعِ الْهَوٰى فَیُضِلَّكَ عَنْ سَبِیْلِ اللّٰهِؕ
(Surah Sa’ad: Ayat 26)
Translation:
“O Da’oud, We have made you the Khalifa (ruler) of the earth. Judge between people with truth and do not follow desires. Otherwise, they will mislead me from the path of Allah”.
Public Khilafa, if an official dies, his deputy will hold Public Khilafat to carry out his mission. The caliphate mentioned here is the new government which is obtained as the vicegerency of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and whoever will be his deputy and fulfils all the conditions of the caliphate will be called Khalifa-ul-Rasul.
Characteristics of Salam Caliphate:
The first characteristic of the Islamic caliphate that distinguishes it from other political systems is that the form of government embraces both religion and the world. Other political systems are only concerned with worldly affairs and exclude the concept of religion from their system
The second characteristic is that obeying the commandments of Allah Almighty and enforcing them on the gender, the system in which there is no obedience and obedience to the commandments of Allah Almighty will not be called Khilafah
In the Islamic Khilafah, the supreme authority is only Allah and no one else has this right. It is instructive اِنِ الْحُکْمُ اِلاَّ لِلّٰہِ . That is, no one has supreme authority except Allah.
Emirate:
When the government takes public affairs into its own hands, it directs the people to the good things and forbids them from the bad things. So that Emirate attains the status of Ummah. This word is derived from Amar. The meaning of amar is command.
Emirate includes both obedience and dominance and these are the essence of government.
Addresses of the head of Islamic government
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Imam Azam:
This name shows that the Imam is the leader of the government and the organs of the government.
-
Caliph:
He is called Khalifa because he is the vicegerent of the Holy Prophet.
-
Leader:
It is called because of commanding good things and forbidding bad things.
Election of the Caliph:
The head of state should be elected by the people or the leaders. As God says:
وَ اَمْرُهُمْ شُوْرٰى بَیْنَهُمْ۪
(Surah Ash Shura: Ayat 38)
Translation:
And their command was a council between them.
In the first period of Islam, when the caliphs look back on the choice of the Rashiduns, this fact comes to the fore that these caliphs were directly elected by the choice of the people.
Hazrat Abu Bakr R.A.’s pledge of allegiance was given in Saqifa Bani Sa’idah. Then there was a public pledge of allegiance in the mosque and everyone took the pledge of allegiance in the hands of Hazrat Abukar.
Hazrat Abu Bakr R.A. suggested the name of Hazrat Umar R.A. for the caliphate after him. First consulted with the competent solution and contract. After that, the name was submitted to gain public approval, Hazrat Umar R.A. was nominated as Caliph after him. This nomination also does not include one’s own will but the will of the people. Same went with the other two Caliphs.
In Islam a Caliph is elected according to public opinion. There are different methods of selection of Caliphs, but the influence of public opinion works in every way. In the Islamic system of government, there is no justification for crowning and nomination, nor limiting the caliphate to a single family.
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