Draft Constitution 170 to 191

The Education Policy

Article 170

It is imperative that Islamic ‘Aqidah is the basis for the education curriculum. The syllabi and the ways of teaching are all drafted in a manner that does not deviate from this basis.

It is said linguistically: a man learns knowledge (‘ilm) – he arrives at the true knowledge, and he learns something – he knows it. In the al-Muhit dictionary it mentions “he learnt it is like he heard it as knowledge…and knowledge is in the person, and the man is a scholar, and knowledgeable”. This linguistic meaning is the basis of the meaning of the word knowledge and its derivations, and so the linguistic meaning of the word and its derivations are taken as long as there is no indication present which transfers it to the terminological meaning. What is meant by “education curriculum” is the linguistic meaning; in other words every knowledge. The education curriculum is an expression meaning the basis upon which the information which is desired to be learnt is built upon; from one angle this is the subjects which are encompassed by this information and from another angle how this information is going to be given. It therefore encompasses two issues: firstly, the topics for study, and secondly, the ways of teaching. Since the Islamic ‘Aqidah is the basis of the Muslim’s life, and the basis for the Islamic State, and for the relationships between the Muslims, in other words the basis for the society, then it is imperative that every piece of information that the Muslim receives is based upon the Islamic ‘Aqidah. This is irrespective of whether the information was connected to his life, or to his relationship with others, or to the political situation in the State, or connected to any aspect of this life, or what came before it or what comes after it. The Messenger  used to first call people to Islam, in other words for them to embrace the Islamic ‘Aqidah. Once they embraced Islam, he  started teaching them the rules of Islam, and so the ‘Aqidah was the basis of the teachings of the Messenger  to the Muslims. When the sun was eclipsed at the time that his  son Ibrahim died, the people said that the sun had eclipsed due to the death of Ibrahim, and so he  said to them “The Sun and the Moon are two signs from the signs of Allah, they do not eclipse due to anyone’s death nor due to anyone’s life” (agreed upon). And so the Prophet  made the ‘Aqidah the basis for the information he  gave regarding the solar and lunar eclipses. It is reported by al-Bukhari from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri who said “We went out with the Messenger of Allah  in the expedition of Bani Mustaliq and we took some prisoners from the Arabs and so we wanted the women, and we were afraid about withdrawal (coitus interruptus), and we wanted to engage in it, and so we asked the Messenger of Allah  and he said “There is nothing upon you if you do it, since truly Allah has Written what He Created until the Day of Judgement”, and in another narration they asked the Prophet  about withdrawal and he  said “There is nothing upon you if you do it, since Allah has Written whoever He Created until the day of Judgement” and Muslim reported similar to this. So the Messenger  answered their question regarding withdrawal from the angle of whether it prevents pregnancy, and made belief in the Knowledge of Allah (swt) the basis of his  answer; in other words he  made the Islamic ‘Aqidah the basis of his  answer. And there are several narrations which indicate that making the Islamic ‘Aqidah the basis for the education curriculum is an obligatory issue upon the State, and that it is not permitted for it to stray from that at all. However, making the ‘Aqidah the basis for the education curriculum does not mean that every piece of information emanated from it, because that was not requested by the Shari’ah. This also contradicts the reality, since not every piece of information emanates from the Islamic ‘Aqidah, since the ‘Aqidah is specific to beliefs and laws, and has no relationship to anything else. Rather, the meaning of making it the basis for the education curriculum only means that all the information connected to beliefs and laws must emanate from the Islamic ‘Aqidah, since that is what the ‘Aqidah came with. As for with respect to any information other than beliefs and laws, the meaning of making the Islamic ‘Aqidah the basis for it is that these information and laws should be built upon the Islamic ‘Aqidah; in other words the Islamic ‘Aqidah is used as the criterion, so anything that contradicts it is rejected and not believed in, and whatever does not contradict it is permitted to be accepted. So the ‘Aqidah is the criterion for acceptance and beliefs.

As for the angle of information and learning, there is nothing that prohibits it from being learnt, since the evidences which encourage seeking knowledge are general; the Prophet  said “Seeking knowledge is obligatory”, al-Zarkashi said in al-Tadhkirah “and al-Hafiz Jamal al-Dinn al-Mizzi said: this is reported from many paths such that it reaches the level of a Hasan narration”, and the word “knowledge” which is general covering all knowledge that is beneficial. And Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Ibn Hibban, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu‘ab all reported from Kathir b. Qays that he  said, “Whoever sets out on a path seeking knowledge, Allah sets him on a path from the paths of Paradise” and the word “knowledge” is general, covering all knowledge that is beneficial.

And in the noble Quran there are ideas and beliefs which contradict Islam such as “and nothing destroys us except time” (TMQ 45:24) and other such examples, which indicate the permissibility of learning those ideas which contradict the Islamic ‘Aqidah. Accordingly, to learn information without adopting it or believing in it is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it, but what is prohibited is to adopt the ideas that contradict the Islamic ‘Aqidah. For example, the idea of Darwin says: people evolved from apes, whereas Allah (swt) said “Verily the likeness of Isa before Allah is the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then (He) said to him: “Be” – and he was” (TMQ 3:59), and the communist theory of material evolution claims that material evolves eternally, and there is nothing else which developed it, and so there is no God, whereas Allah (swt) says “O you who believe, believe in Allah” (TMQ 4:136), in other words in His (swt) existence, and He (swt) says “Allah Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them” (TMQ 25:59). The Book of Pre-Islamic (Jaahili) Literature mentions that the story of Ibrahim was fabricated and that there is no substance in it but rather it was invented by the narrators, even though the story of Ibrahim is mentioned in the Quran and it tells it as a story that occurred in reality and so denying it is a rejection of the Quran. Therefore, these types of information and anything similar are not placed in the education curriculum if that would lead to them being adopted and believed in, and so therefore for example they would not be a part of primary education, since this would lead to it being adopted (by the young children learning). In the same manner, if it is made part of the curriculum, it is imperative that its incorrectness be explained and that its ideas are dismantled such that no one would adopt them or believe in them.

In this manner, the Islamic ‘Aqidah is made the basis for the education curriculum, so it is made the criterion for adopting information from the angle of confirming it as true and believing in it, and not simply from the angle that it is simply information.

Article 171

The education policy is to form the Islamic mentality and disposition. Therefore, all subjects in the curriculum must be chosen on this basis.

Article 172

The goal of education is to produce the Islamic personality and to increase peoples’ knowledge connected with life’s affairs. Teaching methods are established to achieve this goal; any method that leads to other than this goal is prevented.

The reality of these two articles is that the meaning of the educational policy is the principle, or principles, upon which information is given. As for the goal of the education, this is the objective which the provision of that information is aiming for. So the education policy is the basis which is built upon and the goal of education is the intention which is intended by establishing it.

Therefore the education policy is connected to the subjects taught, and the goal of the education is connected to the methods of teaching. And the reality of man is that he comprehends things and actions, and so makes a judgement about them, and comprehends things and actions and so inclines towards them, and there is nothing which is outside of these two issues. The reality of information is that it is either information which develops the mentality in order to judge upon actions and things, and information about those actual actions and things in order to utilise them, and there is nothing which is outside of these two issues. Islam made the Islamic ‘Aqidah the basis for the Muslim’s life, and the basis for his thoughts, and in the same manner the basis for his inclinations. The verses of the Quran, and the narrations of the Prophet  which provoke thought, such as His (swt) words “and think deeply about the creations of the heavens and the earth” (TMQ 3:191), and the words of the Messenger  “Contemplation for an hour is better than a year of worship” (reported by al-Qurtubi in his Tafsir), are only because they provoke him to believe in Allah (swt). The verses and narrations which mention inclinations, such as His (swt) words “Say: if your fathers” until His (swt) words “are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger” (TMQ 9:24), and the Messenger’s  words “No one of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father and his son and all of the people” (agreed upon from the narration of Anas), are only mentioned as inclinations restricted by the Islamic ‘Aqidah. Therefore it is imperative that the judgement of a Muslim upon actions and things is built upon the basis of the Islamic ‘Aqidah, and in the same manner it is imperative that his inclinations towards actions and things are built upon the ‘Aqidah.

When it is the information which forms his mentality, from the angle of the judgement upon things, and forms his disposition from the angle of the inclinations towards things, accordingly it is imperative that all of this information is built upon the Islamic ‘Aqidah, irrespective of whether it is information to develop the mentality, or information which is adopted in order to utilise actions and things. In other words it is imperative that the information which forms the mentality of the Muslim be built upon the Islamic ‘Aqidah, and in the same manner it is imperative that the information which forms his disposition is built upon the ‘Aqidah. And upon this basis, it is imperative that the education policy forms the Islamic mentality and disposition. The education policy has been deduced from the reality of information from its aspect of being information, and from the collection of verses connected to thought and inclinations, and linking them to the reality of information, and Article 171 was drafted upon this basis.

Article 172 has been taken from the action of the Messenger  in his  teaching of the Muslims, irrespective of whether that was in Makkah before the emigration, or in Madinah afterwards, since he  intended from teaching them that each one of them becomes an Islamic personality in his mentality and disposition - in other words in their judgement upon actions and things and their inclinations towards them. So on top of teaching them the rules which treated their life’s issues, he  used to teach them the noble values, such as how to seek the Pleasure of Allah (swt), such as honour and such as how to carry the responsibility of spreading the guidance to mankind, and guiding them to Islam, with an influential method, and productive styles. Allah (swt) said “Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better” (TMQ 16:125), and he  used to make them memorise the Quran, and teach them the rules of Islam and enjoin them to follow the orders and avoid the prohibitions, and alongside that he  would permit them to learn what they required for their livelihood, from trade and agriculture and industry. And so these actions of the Messenger  were what formed the Islamic personality, and these are the evidences for this article.

Article 173

There must be weekly classes in Islamic sciences and Arabic, with the same time and amount allocated as the classes for the rest of the sciences.

The taught subjects are of two types: scientific knowledge to develop the mind, in order that the person can judge the words, actions and objects from the angle of their reality and characteristics, and from the angle of their adaptation to human nature – such as chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics and other experimental sciences. This knowledge has no direct relationship with the building of the personality. As for the Shari’ah knowledge of the words, actions and objects, in order to explain the defining Shari’ah rule (taklifi), if it was obligatory, recommended, permitted, disliked or prohibited, or to explain the Ahkam al-Wad’ such as whether it was a cause, condition or prevention, or a concession (rukhsa) or an original rule (‘azimah), or if it was valid (Sahih), void (batil) or defective (fasid), and accordingly the Islamic mentality is built. If these Shari’ah rules are accompanied by the goal of getting the Muslim to take an Islamic position towards objects, actions and words in terms of their inclinations towards or against them, and to take or leave them when fulfilling their bodily needs and instincts, then the Islamic disposition is built. The Islamic personality is built from the Islamic mentality and disposition, which makes the Islamic belief (‘Aqidah) the basis for its thoughts and inclinations.

Islam asks the Muslim to think about the creation of the universe, mankind and life, such as His (swt) words “and they think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth” (TMQ 3:191), “Do they not look at the camels, how they are created?” (TMQ 88:17) and “Thus Allah brings the dead to life and shows you His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) so that you may understand” (TMQ 2:73). In the same manner, Islam also asks the Muslim to adhere to the Shari’ah rules in his laws, actions and inclinations: He (swt) said “But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission” (TMQ 4:65), and “And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)” (TMQ 59:7), and “O you who believe! Take not for Awliya' (supporters and helpers) your fathers and your brothers if they prefer disbelief to Belief” (TMQ 9:23), and “And say (O Muhammad) Do deeds! Allah will see your deeds, and (so will) His Messenger and the believers. And you will be brought back to the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. Then He will inform you of what you used to do” (TMQ 9:105).

Just as it is requested from the school to be the first incubator to build the distinguished Islamic personality, in the knowledge of the rules of the basis of jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh), language and Tafsir, it is also requested to be the first incubator to build the distinguished Islamic personality with the scientific knowledge such as atomic science, astronomy and computing. The Islamic Ummah which gave birth to leaders in politics, governance and Jihad such as Abu Bakr (ra), Khalid (ra) and Salah al-Deen, is the same Ummah which gave birth to the scholars in jurisprudence and science such as al-Shafi’i, al-Bukhari, al-Khawarizmi and Ibn al-Haytham. The goal of teaching all of this knowledge in the school stage is to build the Islamic personality of the student, and to prepare him to enter into the realm of practical life, or to prepare him to continue higher studies in order to create distinguished personalities which are necessary to raise the intellectual and scientific level of the Ummah, and to prepare it to lead the world to take all the people from the darkness of disbelief to the light of Islam, and from the oppression of manmade law to the justice of the Shari’ah law. And in the same manner to work to harness what is in the heavens and the earth for the benefit and well being of mankind in that which pleases Allah (swt), in accordance with His (swt) words “But seek, with that (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on you, the home of the Hereafter, and forget not your portion of lawful enjoyment in this world” (TMQ 28:77).

Based upon this, there will be classes in scientific and Shari’ah knowledge, and it is obligatory to balance the classes to meet the requirements of the two sections in order for the Muslim to be capable to live on this earth which Allah (swt) made him a successor upon, in a manner which Allah (swt) and His Messenger  love.

The scientific knowledge that we are concerned with are those that do not have a direct relationship with the viewpoint about life, and do not emanate from the Islamic belief, but rather are built upon it, such as the necessary skills and knowledge to prepare the student to enter the realm of practical life. The first thing that the student is taught are those sciences that are necessary to interact with the environment he lives in such as mathematics and the general sciences about the tools and machinery used such as electronic and electrical equipment, and domestic tools. And in the same manner the principles and rules of traffic in the roads and streets, and the teaching of these subjects would take into account the environment in  which the students live, such as if it was industrial, agricultural or trade, and if it was mountainous, desert or a plain, and whether it was hot or cold. The goal in teaching these subjects until the age of ten is to enable the student to interact with the things around them, and to utilise them according to their age and needs.

After the age of ten, they start to be taught the branches of mathematics in stages, and similarly the other sciences such as physics, chemistry and biology, and beneficial sports such as swimming, jumping and shooting at targets. After puberty they are taught military skills under the supervision of the army, and then they can continue in the higher education institutions and universities to learn beneficial knowledge from the sciences to the extent necessary.

Article 174

A distinction should be drawn between the empirical sciences such as mathematics on the one hand and the cultural sciences on the other. The empirical sciences and all that is related to them are taught according to the need and are not restricted to any stage of education. As for the cultural sciences, they are taught at the primary and secondary levels according to a specific policy which does not contradict Islamic thoughts and rules. In higher education, these cultural sciences are studied like other sciences provided they do not lead to a departure from the education policy and its goal.

Its evidence is the generality of the evidences which permit learning knowledge, since they encompass all knowledge, and so it is permitted for the Muslim to learn all knowledge. However, learning some knowledge leads to deviation of the beliefs, or weakness in the ‘Aqidah and so these types of knowledge are forbidden from being taught as long as they result in that, and if they lost that effect then it would be permitted to learn it, applying the principle “If one type of a permitted thing leads to a harm, only that one is prohibited, and the thing remains permitted”.

Accordingly, the general evidences which permit learning and the Shari’ah principle are the proof for this article.

Since learning what causes a deviation and weakness in the beliefs easily influences children, it is therefore prohibited to teach anything of these types of knowledge in the primary and secondary stages of education. As for higher education, then knowledge such as philosophy and anything similar are taught, in order to refute them and show their falsehood, and nothing from these subjects is taught without also teaching its refutation and invalidity alongside it. The noble Quran mentions the ideas and beliefs of others, but they are mentioned in order to explain their invalidity and to reject them. And in the same way, when the educational programme is drafted, these types of subjects are drafted in higher education in order to refute them and explain their falseness.

Article 175

The Islamic culture must be taught at all levels of education. In higher education, departments should be assigned to the various Islamic disciplines as will be done with medicine, engineering, physics and anything similar.

The evidence for the article is the action of the Messenger , since he  used to teach the rules of Islam to men, women, the elderly and the youth, which indicates that Islam teaches every generation, and so it is learnt at all levels of education. Knowledge other than the laws of Islam such as the sciences and industries is permitted, however its reality is that they are studied after gaining basic knowledge that is essential such as the principles that are required to enter some of the sciences and industries such as medicine and engineering, and so they are taught after this information has been acquired. Therefore their teaching is done in higher education. Built upon the reality of the information and the action of the Messenger , this article was drafted, and so this is what necessitated it.

Article 176

Arts and crafts may be related to science, such as commerce, navigation and agriculture. In such cases, they are studied without restriction or conditions. Sometimes, however, arts and crafts are connected to culture and influenced by a particular viewpoint of life, such as painting and sculpting. If this viewpoint of life contradicts the Islamic viewpoint of life, these arts and crafts are not taken.

The evidence is the evidence for Article 162, which was the generality of the evidences which permitted knowledge/science, and the principle that one type of a permitted thing is prohibited if it leads to harm, because the arts and  industries are information, and so they are permitted since they are encompassed by the generality of the evidences regarding knowledge. If they bring about harm due to their being influenced by a particular viewpoint then they are prohibited. This is the case if there is no text forbidding it. As for when there is a text which forbids it, such as drawing something which has a soul (ruh), whether human, animal, bird or otherwise, or sculpting something with a soul, then it is prohibited because it is forbidden due to the narrations reported which decisively prohibit drawing and sculpting.

Article 177

The State’s has one unique curriculum and no other curriculums are allowed to be taught. Private schools are allowed as long as they adopt the State’s curriculum and establish themselves on the State’s educational policy and accomplish the goal of education set by the State, on condition  they do not allow mixing between male and female, whether student or teacher, and they are  not  specific to a sect, religion, school of thought, race or colour.

To enforce a single education curriculum upon the people is a permitted issue, since it is from the permitted issues which have been left to the Imam to enforce upon the people with a particular style if chosen, which is what ‘Uthman bin Affan (ra) did when he copied the Quran and sent it to the different regions of the State. All types of knowledge are permitted, and the methods of teaching are all permitted, since they are all part of information.

However, organising this information which is taught or upon which teaching is carried out in a specific curriculum is a style to systemise the education, similar to the style to organise the departments of the State. So the Imam can adopt a specific style and make the people abide by it, since it is from the issues which are part of the governing of the affairs, and therefore obedience to him in it would be obligatory.

The State can prohibit any teaching which is carried out upon alternative curricula with the evidence that it is from the issues that have been given to the Imam to deal with according to his opinion and Ijtihad, and it is permitted for him to select a particular style to undertake it. If he decided upon one particular style, obedience to him would be obligatory, and it would be forbidden to contradict him, since obedience to him is mentioned in the Quran, “Obey Allah and the Messenger and those of you in authority” (TMQ 4:59), and mentioned in the words of the Prophet , “Whoever obeys the leader has obeyed me” (agreed upon from the narration of Abu Hurayrah), and his  words “and listen and obey even if a black slave with a head like a raisin was appointed over you” (reported by al-Bukhari from Anas). This is only obedience to him in that which has been left for him to act in according to his opinion and Ijtihad, and obedience to him in this circumstance is obedience to the ones in authority. As for the Shari’ah rules such as the recommended, permitted, obligatory, and the forbidden, then obedience to him in these issues if he ordered them would be obedience to Allah (swt) and not to him, due to the evidence that if he ordered them to commit a sin he is not obeyed. It is reported from Nafi’ from Abdullah that the Messenger  said “The Muslim must listen and obey in that which he likes and dislikes except if he was ordered with a sin. If he was ordered with a sin, then there is no listening or obedience” (reported by al-Bukhari). And Ahmad reported with an authentic chain from ‘Imran b. Husayn, “No obedience to something created in disobedience to the Creator”. Therefore, his rights in governing the affairs are in what has been left to his opinion and Ijtihad, and the obedience to his order by those who were ordered by it is in these issues. So if he governed permitted issues upon a particular basis, such as drafting a specific curriculum which was then ordered to be implemented and for any difference to be prohibited, consequently obedience to him would be obligatory.

This is with respect to the fact that the State has one unique education curriculum.

As for the issue of private schools, the Messenger  used to send teachers to people in order to teach them Islam, and would permit the Muslims to teach other, which indicates that every person can teach whoever he wishes, whether for a fee or for free, and he is permitted to open a school. However, like the rest of the individual subjects, he is compelled to follow the State curriculum, in other words the curriculum that the Khalifah ordered, due to the evidence that was aforementioned regarding obedience to whatever the Imam ordered.

If it is asked how can the Dhimmi teach their children their religion if the private schools have to be in agreement with the syllabus of the Islamic State – then the answer is that they are not prohibited from teaching their religion and rituals in their houses and places of religious worship, or in other words in places other than the public life such as the schools since this proceeds upon the governance that the State lays down. The Dhimmi used to learn their rituals in their churches and their churches were present at the time of the Messenger  and the righteous khulafaa’. Al-Bukhari reported from Abu Hurayrah who said “While we were in the mosque the Messenger  came out to us and said: Go to the Jews, and so we went with him until we came to the midras house, and the Prophet  stood and called them O Jews, Embrace Islam you will be safe…” and the madras is the place of their worship which they used to read the Torah and in which they would also gather for prayers on their religious festivals. It is mentioned in the al-Muhit dictionary “al-midras: the place which the Quran is read, and from it is the madras of the Jews”, in other words where the Jews would read their Torah. In Lisan al-‘Arab it mentions “fuhr of the Jews: the place of their madras which they would gather in on their religious festivals to pray there”. In other words, at the time of the Messenger  they were not prohibited from learning their religion in their churches and synagogues. This continued throughout the time of the righteous khulafaa’: it is reported by ‘Abd alRazzaq in his Musannaf from ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (ra) “he saw a people with their clothes hanging low and so he said: As though they were Jews leaving their fuhr. We asked ‘Abd al-Razzaq what is their fuhr? He said their church”. In other words, ‘Ali (ra) described those who prayed with their clothes hanging low as being like Jews who left their synagogues after finishing their worship inside. In other words – the Dhimmis used to practice their religions and do their rituals of worship in their churches and synagogues, or in the places connected to them, and they did not have specific schools according to the known meaning.

As for the evidence to prohibit mixing in private schools, in the same way that it is prohibited in the schools of the State:

-          Al-Bukhari reported from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri who said:“ Some women requested the Prophet  to fix a day for them as the men were taking all his  time. On that he  promised them one day for religious lessons and commandments. Once during such a lesson the Prophet  said, A woman whose three children die will be shielded by them from the Hell fire. On that a woman asked, If only two die? He replied, Even two (will shield her from the Hell-fire).” In other words, the teaching of the women was separated from that of the men, and it was not mixed. The prayer was also done in separate rows, and when they left the mosque they would not leave together thus mixing, rather the Messenger  and the companions who had prayed would wait until the women left and then they would leave.

-          Al-Bukhari reported from Umm Salamah: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah  finished his prayers with Taslim, the women would get up and he would stay on for a while in his place before getting up. Ibn Shihab said, I think (and Allah knows better), that the purpose of his stay was that the women might leave before the men who had finished their prayer”, and in another report “he used to give salam, and so the women would leave and enter their houses before the Messenger of Allah would leave”

And therefore teaching must not be mixed.

As for the issue of the private schools not being specific to a sect, religion, school of thought, race or colour – this is because schools established on this basis lead to effects upon the unity of the State and focus upon points of difference, especially since schools play an important role in building the mentality and disposition of the students. At the end of the ‘Uthmani Khilafah such schools were a destructive element in the body of the State. Therefore these schools are prohibited due to what damage they produce and that they lead to the haram, in other words the evidence is the rule of harm and the rule regarding the means to the prohibited being prohibited.

This is apart from the call that is found in the Quran and the Sunnah to know other people and to discard tribalism, and not to differentiate on the basis of race or colour. Allah (swt) says “O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has taqwa. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware” (TMQ 49:13). And the Messenger  said in a narration reported by Muslim from Abu Hurayrah, “Whoever separates from the jama’h and leaves obedience (to the leader of the Muslims) and dies then he dies the death of one of jahiliyyah, and whoever fights under a flag of ignorance, getting angry for the sake of tribalism or fighting for the sake of tribalism or calling to tribalism, and then he dies then his death is that of jahilliyah”. And it is reported by Ahmad with a chain from Abu Nadrah authenticated by al-Zayn: Someone who heard the sermon of the Messenger of Allah  in the middle of the days of tashriq told me that he  said: O people – your Lord is one, and your father is one, there is no preference for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, nor for the red over the black, nor the black over the red, except in taqwa (piety). Have I not conveyed? They said: The Messenger of Allah  has conveyed”

These are all the evidences for the article.

Article 178

It is an obligation upon the State to teach every individual those matters that are necessary for the mainstream of life, male or female, in the primary and secondary levels of education. This must be provided free of charge to everyone, and the State should, to the best of its ability, provide the opportunity for everyone to continue higher education free of charge.

Its evidence is that it is from the essential interests and utilities for people, since teaching the individuals what they require in mainstream life is from the essential interests, since it achieves benefit and repels harm. This is why it is obligatory upon the State to provide for these interests according to what mainstream life necessitates, and according to the number of youth present that require to be taught those issues. Primary and secondary education of the masses has become a necessity due to the nature of life between nations in this era, and is no longer from the non-essential issues, so accordingly the primary and secondary education for every individual of what is required to partake in the mainstream of life is an obligation upon the State, while it remains one of the essential interests. Therefore, it is obligatory upon the State to provide sufficient primary and secondary schools for all the subjects of the State who wish to study and provide them with what they require to partake in life’s affairs free of charge. The Messenger  made the ransom of the disbelieving prisoners that they should teach ten of the Muslim children, and that was from the war booty which is part of what the Khalifah may spend in the interests of the Muslims, and is evidence that the spending upon education is without anything given in exchange.

Higher education is also from the interests, so anything from it which is part of the necessities such as medicine must be provided by the State, in the same manner as primary and secondary education, since it achieves benefit and repels harm and is from the issues that the Shari’ah obligated upon the State. As for anything from the non-essential issues, such as literature, then the State should provide for it if the finances were available.

The primary and secondary teaching, along with whatever is essential for the Ummah in terms of further education, is considered part of the obligatory interests upon the expenditure of the Bayt al-Mal, without anything in return.

Article 179

The State ought to provide the means of developing knowledge, such as libraries and laboratories, in addition to schools and universities, to enable those who want to continue their research in the various fields of knowledge, like jurisprudence, narrations and Tafsir, and thought, medicine, engineering and chemistry, and such as inventions and discoveries and so on. This is done to create an abundance of Mujtahidun, outstanding scientists and inventors.

The evidence for the article are the words of the Prophet (saw) “The Imam is a guardian and he is responsible for his subjects” (reported by al-Bukhari from Abdullah Bin Umar), and the principle “Whatever is necessary to accomplish a duty is in itself a duty”. Libraries, laboratories and the rest of the means of developing knowledge are part of the affairs of the Ummah which the Imam must govern, and if he falls short he is accounted over it. If the Ijtihad in jurisprudence and the creation of inventions which are necessary for the sake of military preparations, are not possible without these means of developing knowledge, then to provide these means becomes an obligation upon the Khalifah in accordance with the principle “whatever is necessary to accomplish a duty is in itself a duty”. If they help to achieve these goals, and simplify the issue of Ijtihad and invention, then they are part of the governing of the affairs which achieve benefits; in which case they would not be obligatory, and so if the State had the finances it would establish them and otherwise not. Due to all of this, the provision of libraries, laboratories and the remaining means to develop knowledge fall under what the Imam must provide, or in other words what falls upon the State to provide.

Article 180

The exploitation of writing books for educational purposes at whatever level is strictly forbidden. Once a book has been printed and published, nobody has the right to reserve the publishing and printing rights, including the author. However, if they were ideas he had, which were not yet printed or published, the owner has the right to be paid  for transferring these ideas to the public as he paid for teaching.

The evidence for it is the permissibility of taking a fee for teaching and the permission of knowledge for people. As for the permissibility of taking a fee for education, it is confirmed from the words of the Messenger  “The most right deserving thing you took a fee for is the Book of Allah” (reported by al-Bukhari from Ibn ‘Abbas), and so by greater reasoning a fee can be taken for teaching anything else; additionally it is confirmed from the fact that the Messenger  allowed the prisoners from the battle of Badr to each teach ten Muslims as their ransom, which is making a payment for education. Authoring is the writing of knowledge, or in other words the giving of knowledge through writing and so it is like imparting it verbally. Knowledge can be passed to people verbally or in a written form and in both circumstances it is permitted to take a fee for it. However, if the teacher imparts something verbally or through writing, the knowledge that the learner took becomes possessed by him, and so he has the right to impart that knowledge to anyone else whether verbally or through writing, and he has the right to take a fee for it. The prisoners from Badr had no right over those who learnt reading and writing from them other than their fee, and those who learnt from them could teach others reading and writing for a fee without the permission of their teachers, and without their teachers having any right.

Additionally, knowledge, from the angle that it is permitted, and the meaning of its being permitted is that it is permissible for anyone to take it, and permitted for anyone who teaches it to take a fee, and not simply the teacher who taught it originally. So from this it is seen that the knowledge is possessed by anyone who knows it, and is not the sole possession of the one who taught it, and it is the possession of the one who knows it as long as it remains with him, and so he can take a fee for teaching it to someone else, or can teach it to others for free. So if it emerges from him through his teaching of it to an individual or a group, or talking about it in public, or conveying it to the people by any means, it becomes permissible for all of the people in accordance with the evidences which generally permit knowledge, and it becomes permissible for whoever took that knowledge individually or part of a group, to give it to whoever they wish irrespective of whether the one who taught them initially gave them permission or not, and whether they were content for that to happen or not.

This is evidence that no one possesses the right to publish since it is knowledge, so as long as it remains with him he has the right to charge a fee for it, and if he imparts it to the people verbally or through writing, by any means at all, it becomes permitted for all the people, and it becomes permitted for every one of them to teach it to someone else and to charge a fee for teaching. So to make the rights of publishing specific to the author is forbidding the permitted; forbidding knowledge by prohibiting it being taken except with permission and forbidding charging a fee for it by prohibiting it being taught for a fee except with permission, and so accordingly it is not permissible for anyone to possess publishing rights.

Foreign Policy

Article 181

Politics is taking care of the affairs of the Ummah domestically and internationally. It is performed by the State and the Ummah. The State takes on this task  practically through government, and the Ummah accounts the State upon it.

This article is the definition of politics and this is a general definition held by everyone since it characterises the reality of politics as what it actually is. So it is similar to the definition of the mind, the definition of the truth, the definition of authority and other definitions from the meanings which have a single reality for all people which they do not differ over since it is a perceptible reality, and so rather they only differ over its rules. In addition to that, the linguistic meaning of politics (saasa, yasuso, siyasah) is governing of the affairs; it is mentioned in the al-Muhit dictionary “I governed the citizens  siyasatan – meaning I commanded them and I forbade them”, and this is the governing of affairs through commandments and prohibitions. Additionally there are narrations related regarding the actions of the ruler, accounting the ruler and concern for the Muslim affairs, and the definition has been derived from all of these; so the words of the Prophet  in an agreed upon narration, the wording here from al-Bukhari from Ma’qal b. Yasar: “There is no worshipper that Allah puts in a position of responsibility, who does not act sincerely towards it, except that he will not find the scent of Paradise”, and his  words, “There is no governor who takes charge of governing the Muslims, and then dies, and he had been cheating them, except that Allah prohibits him from Paradise”, and his  words “There will be leaders who you will know and reject, so whoever rejects them is innocent from them, and whoever holds themselves (from following them) is safe, but the one who is pleased with them and follows them (is blameworthy)” They said: Should we not fight them? He  said “No, as long as they pray”” (reported by Muslim from Umm Salamah), and his  words, “Whoever wakes up and his concern is other than Allah, then he is not from Allah, and whoever is not concerned with the Muslims then he is not from them” reported by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak from Ibn Mas’ud, and it is reported from Jarir b. ‘Abd Allah who said “We gave the pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah  upon establishing the prayer and giving Zakat, and giving the advice to every Muslim” (agreed upon), and it is reported from Jarir b. ‘Abd Allah who said “I went to the Prophet  and gave him the pledge of allegiance upon Islam, and he made it a condition to give the advice to every Muslim” (reported by al-Bukhari).

The definition of politics deduced from all of these narrations, whether related to the ruler and his undertaking of ruling, or to the Ummah and its accounting of the ruler, or to the relationship of the Muslims with each other in being concerned over their issues and advising each other, is that it is the governing of the affairs of the Ummah, and therefore the definition of politics which this article mentioned is a Shari’ah definition deduced from the Shari’ah evidences.

Article 182

It is absolutely forbidden for any individual, party, group or association to have relations with a foreign state. Relations with foreign countries are restricted to the State alone because the State has the sole right of governing the affairs of the Ummah practically. The Ummah can account the State regarding foreign relations.

Its evidence is the words of the Prophet  “The Imam is a guardian and he is responsible for his subjects” (reported by al-Bukhari from ‘Abd Allah b. Umar), and the Shari’ah gave the practical undertaking of the governing of the affairs which would be binding to the ruler alone, and so it is not permitted for the subjects to carry out the actions of the ruler and it is not permitted for any of the Muslims to carry out the actions of the ruler unless they were appointed to do that according to the Shari’ah, either through a pledge of allegiance from the people if he was the Khalifah, or by appointment from the Khalifah, or from one of his assistants or governors whom had given the right to make appointments. Anyone who had not been appointed through the pledge of allegiance, and had not been appointed by the Khalifah, is not permitted to undertake anything from the practical governing of the affairs of the Ummah, domestically or internationally.

It is imperative here that this rule is clarified from the angle of the evidence, and the reality upon which the evidence applies. As for the evidence, the authority has been given by the Shari’ah to the ruler alone and governing the people has been left to the ruler alone; the Messenger  said “Whoever hates something about his leader should be patient over him, since there is no person who removes himself even a hand span from the authority and dies except that he dies the death of Jahiliyyah” (agreed upon from the narration of Ibn ‘Abbas), and so it made rebellion against him rebellion against the authority, and consequently in that case he is the one who alone possesses the authority. The Messenger  said “The tribes of Isra’il were ruled by the Prophets, every time a Prophet died he was followed by another Prophet, and there will be no Prophets after me, and there will be khulafaa’” (agreed upon from the narration of Abu Hurayrah), and its meaning is that the Muslims are ruled by the Khulafaa’, and therefore the one who rules the Muslims has been specified. The understanding from this is that other than the Amir would not be an authority and that other than the Khulafaa’ do not rule. This is evidence that the governing of the affairs is for the ruler alone and not for anyone else. Additionally, the action of the Messenger  shows that he  was the authority, and undertook the ruling of the people with it by his  characteristic of being the Head of State, and he  was the one who appointed whoever would undertake the actions of authority or the actions of ruling the subjects. So he  appointed the one who would take his  place in Madinah whenever he  went out for any of the battles, and he  appointed the governors, judges, money collectors, and whoever undertook an interest such as distributing water, estimating the amounts of fruit (for tax purposes), and so on. This is all evidence that the authority and ruling the people is restricted to the ruler, in other words to the Khalifah and whoever the Khalifah appointed, to the Amir and whoever the Amir appointed. The authority is the governing of the affairs of the people that is binding upon them, and ruling the subjects is reported in the words of the Messenger  “were ruled by”, which is the governing of the people that is binding upon them. Built upon this is that governing the affairs of the people is a binding governance; in other words the undertaking of the responsibility of the ruler is restricted to the ruler, and so it is completely forbidden for anyone else to undertake it, since the Shari’ah gave the authority and looking after people’s affairs to the Khalifah and whoever he appoints. So if anyone other than the Imam or those appointed by him carries out the actions of ruling and authority, and takes upon themselves ruling the people, their action contradicts the Shari’ah and is considered to be void, and every void action is forbidden (haram), and so it is not permitted for anyone other that the Khalifah or who he appointed, in other words other than the ruler, to undertake any action of ruling and authority. Consequently, he does not undertake the governing of the affairs of the people in a binding manner, in other words he does not rule the people, since this is from the actions of the ruler and it is not permitted for anyone other than the ruler to carry it out.

This is from the angle of the evidence; as for from the angle of the reality, the undertaking of governing some of the affairs in a binding manner by a group is from the understanding of the democratic rule. The democratic rule is made up of institutions, the highest of which is the cabinet, in other words the government, but there are others who carry out governing some of the affairs in a binding manner, or in other words undertake ruling in some particular area. For example, there are unions, so the lawyers’ union undertakes governing the affairs of the lawyers in their professional capacity, and this is binding upon them and so they have authority over them in specific issues; it grants them the right to practise law and signs off on any punishments upon them, and sets up a retirement fund for them, and other things that are from the actions of ruling and authority which the State appointed to it in regards to the legal profession, and its judgement is implemented just like the judgement of the cabinet without any difference. This is the same with the doctors’ union and the rest of the unions. This is the reality upon which the evidence applies with respect to within the State. Internationally, some of the democratic countries permit the opposition party to communicate with other states, and gives it the right to conduct negotiations with those states while it is not ruling, and it has agreements with other states regarding issues connected to the relationships between the two states that they will implement once they get into power. This is the reality upon when the evidence applies with respect to international affairs.

Therefore this reality which is that some institutions such as syndicates undertake governing some of the affairs domestically in a binding manner, and some institutions such as the political parties undertake some of the affairs internationally in a manner which is binding, is not at all permitted by Islam. This is because the authority and undertaking ruling of the people has been given to the Khalifah or Amir alone, or to whom the Amir or Khalifah appointed, and so it is not permitted for anyone else to undertake a single issue from it since this would contradict the Shari’ah.

Additionally, undertaking the governing of the affairs in a manner that is binding is a governorship over the people, and governorship is a contract that must be concluded between two sides, either between the Ummah and the Khalifah, or between the Amir and the Ummah who appointed him, or between the Khalifah or Amir and who they appointed. Whoever undertakes the governing of the affairs without a contract of governorship, then his action is invalid, and every invalid action is forbidden (haram) without any difference. Therefore, undertaking the governing of the affairs in a manner which is binding would be invalid, and from this understanding it is forbidden for political parties and individuals in the Ummah to have any relationship with any foreign state in which that relationship would include what would be considered as undertaking the governing of an issue from the issues of the Ummah in a binding manner, and this is the evidence for this article.

Article 183

Ends do not justify means, because the method is integral to the thought. Thus, the obligation and the permitted cannot be attained by performing a forbidden action. Political means must not contradict the political methods.

Allah (swt) set rules in order to treat the problems of man, such as trade, renting, partnerships and so on, and set other rules in order to implement these treatments between the people, such as the discretionary (ta’zir) punishment for the one who cheats in trade and cutting the hand of the thief as a prescribed punishment (hadd). And in the same manner, He (swt) set rules to treat the problems that occur between the Islamic State and the disbelieving states, such as the rules regarding the one who is covered by a treaty and the one who takes amnesty, and the rules regarding the Dar al-Harb and the rules regarding conveying the call to Islam to them in a way that attracts attention, and so on. And He (swt) set other rules in order to implement these rules, such as the protection of the blood and property of someone who has amnesty being equivalent to the blood and property of the Muslim, and the prohibition of fighting the disbeliever before they have been called to Islam in a manner which attracts attention, and so on. Therefore, the method in Islam is the Shari’ah rules, and so victory is not achieved through betrayal and conquest is not achieved through breaking a treaty. So in the same way that the goal must be defined by the Shari’ah, what is used to reach that goal must be from what the Shari’ah permitted, since the goal and the means are both part of the actions of the worshipper, and what makes the action permitted or forbidden is the Shari’ah evidence, and not the results which are produced by it, nor the goal which is sought by it since Allah (swt) says, “And so judge (you O Muhammad) among them by what Allah has revealed” (TMQ 5:49), not by what results the actions produce, or these actions are used to reach, and so the rule regarding the means is the Shari’ah evidence just like the rule regarding the goal. In other words, the fact that the Shari’ah evidence is what establishes the permissibility or impermissibility of the goal is evidence that the goal does not justify the means, in other words does not make it permitted if there is Shari’ah evidence which has forbidden it. Accordingly the means are not permitted because its intended goal was permitted, or obligatory, or recommended, or because its goal had benefit or good or a victory; rather the means would be permitted if the Shari’ah permitted it and would be forbidden if the Shari’ah forbade it. In other words, it must be in accordance with the rules of the Shari’ah, because every action of the Muslim must be directed by the Shari’ah, and agree with the Shari’ah rule, because the definition of the Shari’ah rule is the address of the Legislator (swt) connected to the actions of the worshippers, and so it is obligatory that all the actions of the Muslim are in accordance with the Shari’ahh rule.

Based upon this, the Muslims reject and disapprove of the principle that the ends justify the means. It is correct that Islam has principles deduced from its evidences that give the means used to reach the goal the rule of the goal, such as the principle “the means to the forbidden are forbidden”, and such as the principle “If one type of a permitted thing leads to a harm, only that one is prohibited, and the thing remains permitted”, and the principle “Whatever is necessary to accomplish a duty is in itself a duty”, however this is if the means is permitted or obligatory. If on the other hand the means are forbidden, then the goal does not make it permitted, whether it was obligatory or permitted; rather the means would remain forbidden. From this understanding, the goal does not justify the means, or in other words the obligatory or permitted goal does not make the forbidden means permitted. The article was drafted in accordance with this.

Article 184

Political manoeuvres are necessary in foreign policy, and the effectiveness of these manoeuvres is dependent on concealing (your) aims and disclosing (your) acts.

This article is from the permitted issues left to the opinion and Ijtihad of the Imam, and the political manoeuvres are the actions which are undertaken by the State which are intended for goals other than the goals which are apparent from the action undertaken. The Prophet  used to carry out these manoeuvres, such as the expeditions which he carried out at the end of the first and beginning of the second year Hijri, as the apparent goal of these expeditions was that the Messenger  wanted to attack the Quraysh, but the reality behind them was to intimidate the Quraysh and make the other Arab tribes take a neutral position regarding the conflict between him  and the Quraysh. The evidence for that is that these expeditions were small in number - sixty, or two hundred, or three hundred - which is not large enough to fight the Quraysh, and he  did not fight the Quraysh in any of them. All that resulted from them was that he  concluded treaties with some of the Arab tribes, such as his alliance with Damra and concluding friendly relations with Bani Mudlij[YUN1] . Another example is his  trip to Makkah in the sixth Hijri year intending to perform the pilgrimage, and his  announcing that while there was a state of war between him and the Quraysh under whose authority the Ka’bah was at that time. The intention of that journey was to arrive at an armistice treaty with the Quraysh in order to deal with Khaybar, since it had reached him  that Khaybar and the Quraysh were negotiating an agreement to attack Madinah. The evidence for this being a political manoeuvre is that he  was pleased to return without having completed the pilgrimage once he  had achieved the treaty, and he  then attacked and dealt with Khaybar two weeks after his  return. All of these are political manoeuvres. The power of these manoeuvres are the actions which are undertaken, such as that the manoeuvre is announced and apparent, but the goals of it are hidden, and so its effectiveness is dependent upon the prominence of the action and the concealment of the goals.

Article 185

Some of the most important political means are exposing the crimes of other states, demonstrating the danger of erroneous politics, exposing harmful conspiracies and undermining misleading personalities.

This article is part of the styles, and is part of the permitted issues, and the Messenger  used to expose the crimes of Bani Quraythah when they broke the treaty on the day of al-ahzaab, and when the Quraysh attacked him because ‘Abd Allah Bin Jahsh (ra) took two men as prisoners and killed another during the sacred month and so they claimed that Muhammad  and his  companions had made the sacred month permitted (and so violated the custom), and spilt blood, seized wealth and captured men during it. When the Quraysh attacked him with that, Allah (swt) revealed verses which exposed their false politics trying to turn the Muslims away from their religion. He (swt) said “They ask you concerning fighting in the Sacred Months. Say, Fighting therein is a great (transgression) but a greater (transgression) with Allah is to prevent mankind from following the Way of Allah, to disbelieve in Him, to prevent access to al-Masjid al-Haram (at Makkah), and to drive out its inhabitants, and Al-Fitnah is worse than killing.” (TMQ 2:217).

And when the Jews of Bani Quraythah conspired to kill the Messenger  by throwing a rock upon him  when he  was sitting next to a wall, the Messenger  exposed their conspiracy and their being exiled was punishment for it. Ibn Ishaq said “The Prophet  went out to Bani Nadir to ask them to help pay the blood money for the two dead men of Bani ‘Amir who were killed by ‘Amru b. Umiyyah al-Damri. They had a promise of safe passage from the Prophet  according to Yazid b. Ruman. Bani Nadir and Bani ‘Amir had a treaty and were allies. When Allah's Messenger  went to Bani Nadir asking them for help to pay the blood money for the two men, they said, ‘Yes, O Abu’l-Qasim! We will help you, since you asked us for help.’ Yet, when they met each other in secret, they said, ‘You will not find a better chance with this man than this,’ while the Messenger of Allah  was sitting next to a wall of one of their houses. They said: ‘who will ascend this wall and drop a stone on this man and rid us of his trouble’ ‘Amr b. Jahsh b. Ka`b volunteered and ascended the wall of the house to drop a stone on the Messenger …The news of this plot was conveyed to the Prophet  from heaven, and he stood up and went back to Madinah. The Messenger of Allah  ordered the preparation of war and marching forth to them…then he exiled them”.  

And the Quran attacked Abu Lahab by name, “Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab (an uncle of the Prophet), and perish he” (TMQ 111:1) and others by their characteristics, all of which is considered undermining harmful personalities.

These are the evidences for this article.

Article 186

One of the most important political methods is the manifestation of the greatness of the Islamic thoughts in governing the affairs of individuals, nations and states.

This article is part of what the Islamic State must undertake since it is obligatory and not simply permissible. That is because it is the duty of the State to carry the call to Islam in a manner which attracts attention, because Allah (swt) said “and the Messenger’s duty is only to convey (the message) in a clear (mubeen) way” (TMQ 24:54), and the word mubeen is a description indicative of relation to the hukm (wasf mufhim), and consequently it is a restriction for the conveyance. Conveying the call to Islam in a manner which attracts attention cannot be achieved except through the manifestation of the greatness of the Islamic thoughts. Amongst the great Islamic thoughts are the way that the Islamic State deals with the Dhimmi, the one given amnesty, and the one who has a covenant, and the fact that the ruler is an implementer of the Shari’ah and not a dictator over them, and the fact that the Ummah accounts the ruler with complete discipline. So in the same manner that it is obligatory upon the Ummah to account the ruler, it is obligatory to obey him even if oppressed, and it is forbidden for it to obey him in a sin, and it has the full right to revolt against him, and it is obligatory to revolt if he showed clear disbelief. And the ruler and the ruled are equal in all affairs, and the Ummah can complain against him as they would against any other individual regarding any right in front of any judge, and they can complain about him to the judge of Madhalim if he contradicts the Shari’ah while ruling. And there are other Islamic thoughts of such nature, so accordingly it is obligatory to manifest them and accentuate their greatness until the greatness of Islam is displayed and until the call to Islam is conveyed in a manner which attracts attention. The manifestation of these thoughts is not from the political style rather they are from the political methods.

In addition to that, the Shari’ah rule is that practically fighting the disbelievers is not permitted until after the call to Islam has been conveyed to them: al-Tabarani reported in al-Kabir from Farwah b. Mosaik [YUN2] who said “I said O Messenger of Allah ; Shall I fight with those of my people who accepted Islam the others who refused it? He said Yes. After I turned around he called me and said: Do not fight them until you have called them to Islam”. And Al-Tirmidhi reported something similar. And from Ibn ‘Abbas, “The Messenger of Allah  did not fight a people until he called them” (reported by al-Darimi, Ahmad and al-Hakim). This is evidence for the obligation of the call to Islam before fighting. And for the call to Islam to be complete, it is imperative that the conveyance of the call to Islam to them be done in a way that attracts attention. From this, the issue of presenting the greatness of the Islamic thoughts is an obligation, because the conveyance in a manner which attracts attention is achieved through it. Therefore it is from the rules regarding the method, and not from the styles.

Article 187

The political cause of the Ummah is Islam, in the strength of the status of the State, the best implementation of its rules and continuity in carrying its call to mankind.

The meaning of the words the political cause is the matter that the State and the Ummah face and is a duty upon them to undertake whatever it necessitates from the governing of affairs. This issue could be general, and so it would be the political cause, or it could be specific in which case it would be a political cause, or it could be a part of a matter, and so in which case it would then be an issue from the various issues of the cause. For example, the issue that faces the Islamic Ummah and obliges her to undertake whatever it requires of the running of the affairs is the re-establishment of the Khilafah, so this would be the political cause, and anything else from the various causes such as the case of Palestine and the case of the Caucasus countries are issues of this cause, and though they are issues which the Islamic Ummah faces and they are affairs that need to be taken care of, however they are part of the return of the Khilafah. When the Islamic State is established, its political cause would be to implement Islam domestically and carry the call to Islam internationally, so if it becomes stabilised in a place then its political cause would be the one mentioned in this article. Subsequently if it implemented Islam correctly and its international profile was strengthened, then its political cause would become carrying the call to Islam to the world, until Allah (swt) made Islam dominant over all other ways of life.

Therefore, the political cause is what the State and Ummah face from the important political issues that the Shari’ah obligated upon them. So the State is obligated to work to establish it in accordance with what the Shari’ah required of it to do, and this does not require an evidence because it is part of the implementation of the rules of the Shari’ah upon the issues as they occur.

For this reason, the political cause changes as the issues that occur change. The political cause for the Messenger  while he was in Makkah in the stage of the call was to make Islam manifest, which is why when Abu Talib said to him, “Your people have come to me and said such and such, whatever they had said to him, so spare me and yourself, and do not make me carry what I cannot bear”, the Messenger  thought that his uncle would forsake him and give him up, and his support for him was weakened, so he said to him, “O Uncle, by Allah, if they place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand in return for giving up this matter, I will never desist until either Allah makes it triumph or I perish defending it" (Sirah of Ibn Hisham). These words indicate that the political cause for the Messenger  at that time was making Islam manifest. When he  was in Madinah, the State had been established and a number of battles occurred between him  and the main enemy, the head of disbelief which at that time was the Quraysh, the political cause of him  remained the manifestation of Islam. This is why on his  way to pilgrimage before reaching Hudaybiyah, after he heard that the Quraysh came to know that he was on the way and had come out in order to fight him, a man from Bani Ka’ab said to him, “They heard about your journey, and so they left wearing tiger skins, and they camped in Thi-Tuwa making oaths to Allah that you would never enter”, and so the Messenger said “Woe upon the Quraysh! War has destroyed them. What would it matter to them if they left me to deal with the rest of the Arabs” until his  words “So what do the Quraysh think? By Allah, I will continue to struggle for what Allah sent me with until Allah makes it manifest or until this Salifah is separate” (reported by Ahmad from al-Maswar and Marwan). The Salifah is the surface of the neck, and the Messenger  used its separation as a metaphor for death; in other words “until death”.

So the political cause in both situations was the same. However, in the first situation he  made clear his  insistence to continue conveying the call to Islam until Allah (swt) made it manifest, and in the second situation, in other words at the time the State was established, he  made clear his  insistence upon Jihad until Allah (swt) made Islam manifest.

After the Prophet  arrived at an armistice treaty with the Quraysh, which was the great opening, since it was the preparation for the conquest of Makkah and made the Arabs come to the Messenger of Allah  embracing the religion of Islam in droves, at which point the political cause for the Messenger  was not simply making Islam manifest but rather it became making it manifest and dominant over all other ways of life through battles against the states following other ways of life, such as the Romans and Persians. This is the reason why the chapter of the opening (al-fath) was revealed to him , including the words of Allah (swt), “He it is who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth for it to be dominant over all other religions.” (TMQ 48:28). So accordingly, if the Islamic State implemented Islam well, and its international profile was strong, the political cause for it would become making Islam dominant over all other religions and preparation for defeating those who carry other ideologies and other religions.

This is what the article is based upon.

Article 188

The foreign policy revolves around carrying the call to Islam; and the relationship between the State and all of the other states is built upon this basis.

This article is taken from the letters that the Messenger  wrote to the kings, and the preparation of the army of Usamah to Balqa and al-Darum in Palestine in order to fight the Romans, and his  insistence upon sending the Army despite his  illness which he  was to die from. This indicates that the call to Islam is the basis for the relationship between the Islamic State and any other state in the world, and this relationship necessitates the equipping of armies, and the preparation for fighting, such that if the opportunity to fight those who do not respond to the call to Islam after it has been conveyed to them in a manner which attracts their attention, then the force required for Jihad is ready. Therefore, the call to Islam is the basis for every relationship with any state, so it is the basis for the foreign policy.

Article 189

The relationship of the State with other states present in the world is built upon four considerations. These are:

1.      The existing states in the Islamic world are considered to be part of one land and therefore they are not included within the sphere of foreign affairs. Relations with these countries are not considered to be in the realm of foreign policy and it is obligatory to work to unify all these countries into one state.

2.      States who have economic, commercial, good neighbouring or cultural treaties with our State are to be treated according to the terms of the treaties. If a treaty states so, their subjects have the right to enter the State with an identity card without the need for a passport provided our subjects are treated in a like manner. The economic and commercial relations with such states must be restricted to specific items and characteristics which are deemed necessary and which at the same time do not lead to the strengthening of these states.

3.      States with whom we do not have treaties, and the actual imperialist states, such as Britain, America and France, and those states that have designs on the State, such as Russia, are legally considered to be belligerent states. All precautions must be taken towards them and it would be wrong to establish diplomatic relations with them. Their subjects may enter the Islamic State, but only with a passport and a visa specific to every individual and for every visit, unless they become practically belligerent.

4.      States that are actually belligerent states, such as Israel for example, a state of war must be taken as the basis for all dealings with them . They must be dealt with as if a real war existed between us – irrespective of whether an armistice exists between us or not - and all their subjects are prevented from entering the State.

This article was derived from the rules regarding Dar Al-Islam and Dar Al-Kufr, and from the rules regarding the one with a covenant and the one who has amnesty.

The first clause is related to the Islamic lands which used to be ruled by Islam, such as India for example, or where the majority are Muslims such as in Lebanon. All of the Islamic lands since the destruction of the Khilafah in 1342 Hijri until it is re-established anew with the Permission of Allah (swt), are Dar Al-Kufr, because some of them are ruled by other than Islam and their external security is not the security of Islam. Others are secured by Muslims but are ruled by other than Islam. All of these are considered to be Dar Al-Kufr and since they used to be Dar Al-Islam it is imperative to work to revert them back to being Dar Al-Islam, but as long as they are ruled by other than Islam, or their security is other than the security of Islam, then they remain as Dar Al-Kufr, and so the rules of Dar Al-Kufr apply to them. It being Dar Al-Kufr does not mean that all its inhabitants are disbelievers, and it does not mean that in Dar Al-Islam that all its inhabitants are Muslims. Rather, the meaning of Dar (abode) here is a Shari’ah term “Shar’i reality”, in other words it’s the Shari’ah which gives it this meaning, like the terms Salah and Siyam and others from the Shari’ah terms.

Based upon it, the term Dar Al-Islam is applied to a country where the majority of its inhabitants are Christians for example, but it is part of the Islamic State. This is because the laws applied are the laws of Islam and the security of the land is by the Islamic security so long as it remains part of the Islamic State.

And in the same vein, with respect to the land where most of the people are Muslims but it is part of a State that does not rule by Islam, and its security is not upheld by the Muslim army but rather by the army of the disbelievers, the term Dar Al-Kufr would be applied to it despite the fact that most of its inhabitants were Muslim. So the meaning of the word Dar here is a Shari’ah reality and no regard is given to the proportion of Muslims when the term is used, rather the laws applied and the security of the people are considered. In order words, the meaning of Dar is taken from the Shari’ah texts which clarify this meaning, just like the meaning of the term Salah is taken from the Shari’ah texts which explained it. And similarly all Shari’ah terms take their meaning from the Shari’ah texts and not from the linguistic meaning of the term.

The rules regarding Dar Al-Kufr are completely different to the rules regarding Dar Al-Islam, so there are rules specific to it.

If the Muslim who lives in Dar Al-Kufr is unable to openly practise the rituals of his Deen there, then he has to move to another Dar Al-Kufr in which he would be able to do so due to His (swt) words:“Verily, as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they are wronging themselves they (the angels) said “In what (condition) were you” they reply “We were weak and oppressed on the Earth” They say “Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to emigrate therein”. Such men will find their abode in Hell – what an evil destination” (TMQ 4:97).

This is if there is no Dar Al-Islam as is the case today.

However, if there was a Dar Al-Islam, the rules related to emigration from Dar Al-Kufr to Dar Al-Islam are accordingly:

1.      Whoever is capable of emigrating, and is unable to openly practise his Deen in his country nor carry out the Islamic rules required of him – then the emigration to Dar Al-Islam is obligatory upon him. In this circumstance it is not permitted for him to reside in Dar Al-Harb, in other words Dar Al-Kufr. Rather the emigration to Dar Al-Islam is obligatory. The evidence is the verse mentioned: :“Verily, as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they are wronging themselves they (the angels) said “In what (condition) were you” they reply “We were weak and oppressed on the Earth” They say “Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to emigrate therein”. Such men will find their abode in Hell – what an evil destination” (TMQ 4:97) as it is also suitable for deduction here. Additionally, this is indicated by what Al-Tirmidhi reported from Jarir that the Messenger of Allah  said, “I am free from a Muslim between the polytheists. They said: Why O Messenger of Allah? He said: such that their fires are not seen”, and in Abu Dawud “They said: Why O Messenger of Allah. He  said: such that their two fires are not seen” meaning that if both of them lit their fires you could not distinguish between them, as an allegory to not live in their abode.

As for what al-Bukhari reported “No emigration (Hijrah) after the conquest of Makkah” and his  words “no Hijrah after al-fath” and “Emigration is finished, but there is Jihad and intention”, and what was reported that when Safwan b. Umayyah embraced Islam it was said to him: no Deen for the one who doesn’t emigrate, and so he came to Madinah and the Prophet  said to him, “What brought you here Abu Wahb? So he said: It was said to me that there is no Deen for the one who does not emigrate. He  said: Abu Wahb – return to Makkah and stay in your places, emigration is finished and now there is Jihad and intention, so if I sought you to come out for war, then come” (as reported by Ibn Asakir). All of this negates emigration after the conquest of Makkah, but this negation has the Shari’ah Illah (cause) derived from the narration itself, since his  words “after the conquest of Makkah” comes in a form that includes the ‘Illah, which means that the conquest of Makkah was the ‘Illah behind negating the need to emigrate. Since the ‘Illah is present and absent with the ma’lul (caused), it is not specific to the conquest of Makkah rather it applies to the conquest of any place, with the evidence of another report “there is no Hijrah after al-fath (conquest)”. This is supported by what al-Bukhari reported from Aaisha (ra) when she was asked about emigration; she replied, “There is no emigration today – the believer used to escape with his Deen to Allah and His Messenger, as he was afraid of facing the trials. As for today, when Allah has made Islam dominant, and the believer can worship his Lord wherever he wishes” which indicates that the emigration for the Muslim before the conquest was in order to escape with his Deen thus avoiding being afflicted, and this was negated after the conquest of Makkah since he then became capable of openly practising his Deen and establishing the laws of Islam. So the conquest upon which this was based is the ‘Illah for negating the need to emigrate, and not the conquest of Makkah as a specific incident. Accordingly, what is meant is that there is no emigration from a land once it has been conquered. And his  words to Safwan that emigration is finished meant emigration from Makkah after it had been conquered, since emigration is to leave the land of the disbelievers and from Dar Al-Kufr, so then if a land is conquered and becomes Dar Al-Islam then it does not remain as a land of disbelievers nor a Dar Al-Kufr, and so there is no Hijrah from it, and accordingly every land which is conquered does not have a Hijrah from it after its conquest (since it has become part of Dar Al-Islam). This is supported by what Ahmad reported from Mu’awiyah who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah  say “Hijrah doesn’t end while repentance is accepted, and repentance is accepted until the sun rises from the West” and Ahmad also reported from the Prophet  that he  said “Hijrah does not end while Jihad remains” and in another narration “Hijrah does not end while the enemy is fought”, which indicate that the emigration from Dar Al-Kufr to Dar Al-Islam continues and does not end.

2.      The one who is capable to emigrate, but is able to openly practice his Deen in his country, and establish the Shari’ah laws required of him. In this case the emigration is recommended and not obligatory…the evidence being that the Messenger  used to encourage emigration from Makkah before its conquest while it remained Dar Al-Kufr, and explicit verses were revealed regarding it such as His (swt) words “Verily, those who have believed, and those who have emigrated (for Allah’s Religion) and have striven hard in the Way of Allah, all these hope for Allah’s Mercy. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful” (TMQ 2:218) and His (swt) words “Those who believed and emigrated and strove hard and fought in Allah’s Cause with their wealth and their lives are far higher in degree with Allah. They are the successful” (TMQ 9:20), and this is all explicit in requesting emigration. As for it not being obligatory, this is because the Messenger  sanctioned Muslims who remained in Makkah. It is reported that when Nu’aim al-Nahham wanted to emigrate, his tribe Banu Adi said to him: stay with us and remain upon your Deen, and we will prevent whoever wishes to harm you, and continue to support us as you have supported us; he used to help the orphans and widows. And so he delayed his emigration for a period and then emigrated later, and so the Prophet  said to him “Your people were better to you than mine to me, my people expelled me and wanted to kill me, whereas yours took care of and protected you” (mentioned by Ibn Hajar in al-Isabah).

3.      As for one who was not capable, then Allah (swt) is forgiving, and he  is not requested to do so due to his inability to emigrate, either due  to sickness or being forced to stay, or due to weakness such as women, children and the like. The evidence is His (swt) words, “Except the weak ones among men, women and children who cannot devise a plan, nor are they able to direct their way.” (TMQ 4:98).

4.      As for one who is able to practise his Deen openly in his country, and implement the rules of the Shari’ah requested from him, and at the same time he possesses the capability to transform the Dar Al-Kufr he  lives in into Dar Al-Islam – it is prohibited in such a situation for him  to emigrate from Dar Al-Kufr to Dar Al-Islam, irrespective of whether he possessed the capability himself or by organising himself with the Muslims in his land, or through getting help from Muslims from outside of his land, or through co-operation with the Islamic State, or through any of the permitted means. It is obligatory upon him to work to change the Dar Al-Kufr into a Dar Al-Islam, and in such a situation it is prohibited for him to emigrate from there. The evidence for this is that the work to make his land join to Dar Al-Islam is obligatory, and so if he does not support it and he is capable to perform it and left behind the action of seeking it to join the Dar Al-Islam and instead emigrates, then he has committed a sin just like the neglect of any other obligation.

Based upon this, if there was a Dar Al-Islam, taking up permanent residence in Dar Al-Kufr is prohibited for the one who is obligated to emigrate. Above that, taking a permanent residence in Dar Al-Kufr makes that Muslim from the people of Dar Al-Kufr, and so the rules which apply to Dar Al-Kufr apply to his relationship with the Islamic State and from the angle of his relationships with other individuals, and so the hudud (prescribed punishments) are not applicable to him, and Zakat is not collected from him, and anyone from Dar Al-Islam cannot inherit from him, and it is not obligatory to get maintenance from anyone in Dar Al-Islam from those people who are obligated to pay for him if he had resided there, because the Shari’ah is not applied upon the people of Dar Al-Kufr. Accordingly, they are not obligated by what the Muslims are obligated by and nor do they have the rights that the Muslims have, so they are not encompassed by the rules. The evidence for that is that the Muslims request two issues from those in Dar Al-Kufr: firstly, Islam; secondly, to come under the authority of Islam. It is related on the authority of Sulayman b. Buraydah on that of his father who said “Whenever the Messenger of Allah  appointed anyone as Amir of an army or an expedition, he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say: “Conquer in the Name of Allah and in the Way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Conquer and do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge and do not mutilate the dead bodies. Do not kill the children and if you encountered your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any of these, then accept it from them and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to Islam; if they respond to you accept it from them and desist from fighting them. Then invite them to migrate from their abode to the abode of the Muhajirin and inform them that if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajirin. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims, what applies to the Muslims applies to them, but they will not get any share from the spoils of war or Fai’ except when they actually perform Jihad with the Muslims” (reported by Muslim). So the Messenger  said “Then invite them to migrate from their abode to the abode of the Muhajirin and inform them that if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajirin” (reported by Muslim). This text makes emigration a precondition for them to have the same privileges and obligations as us, in other words for them to be encompassed by the rules. The understanding of his  words “if they do so, they shall have” is that if they do not do that then they do not have the privileges of the Muhajirin, nor do their obligations apply to them, since achieving the result is connected to achievement of the condition, and so if the condition is not met the result is not achieved. So if they do not migrate then they do not have the privileges that the Muslims in Dar Al-Islam have. The words of the Messenger  “they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims, what applies to the Muslims applies to the them” means from the angle that they will not be killed, nor will their wealth be taken as war booty, and not from the angle of the rules applying to them, since the subject of the rules was explicitly explained by the condition mentioned just previously. The Messenger  explained the issue of wealth further, and mentioned in the same narration “they will not get any share from the spoils of war or Fai’”, and so the Messenger  considered that their refusal to migrate nullified their right to the war booty and spoils of war, and any other wealth is also encompassed through analogy with the war booty and spoils of war. In other words, they have no rights with regard to anything connected to wealth, and so the one who did not migrate to the abode of the Muhajirin is just like the non-Muslims with regards to these financial rights. Therefore, he does not have the privileges of the Muslims and nor do the obligations upon them apply to him, which means that the financial rules do not apply to him since he did not migrate to the abode of the Muhajirin. This was an emphasis on financial rights, although all of the rules do not apply to him due to the words of the Messenger  “if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajirin”. It is the case that the abode of the Muhajirin (which was Madinah at that time) alone was Dar Al-Islam, and anything else was Dar Al-Harb, in other words Dar Al-Kufr, which is why when the Messenger  used to go out on expeditions against every land other than the abode of the Muhajirin considering it to be Dar al-Harb, according to the evidence related from Anas who said “Whenever the Messenger of Allah (saw) wanted to attack a people, he would wait until dawn, if he heard the Adhan (call to prayer) he would refrain, and if he did not hear it, he would pray and then attack” (reported by al-Bukhari). And on the authority of Isam al-Muzani who said: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah (saw) dispatched a task force or an expedition, he used to say to them: “If you see a mosque, or if you hear a mu’adhin, do not kill anyone” (reported by the five except for Ibn Maja, and Al-Tirmidhi said it is Hasan gharib). These two narrations indicate that the Messenger  considered anything other than the abode of the Muhajirin to be Dar Al-Kufr and did not differentiate between Muslims and non-Muslims other than that the Muslims are not fought, not killed and their wealth is not taken as booty, whereas the non-Muslims are fought, they can be killed and their wealth can be taken as booty, while in everything else the rule is the same. So every land which is not Dar Al-Islam is considered to be Dar Al-Harb, and takes the rules of Dar Al-Harb.

This all indicates that the rule is related to the abode, and so whoever takes residency in Dar Al-Harb, in other words Dar Al-Kufr, while there was Dar Al-Islam, then the rules of Dar Al-Harb apply to him whether he was a Muslim or a disbeliever, and they are the same in that respect, except that when the land is opened by force then the Muslim is not killed nor is his wealth taken as booty. In the same manner, the rules regarding Dar Al-Islam apply to the one who is resident in Dar Al-Islam, and the Muslims and the Dhimmi are equal in this respect. This means that differences in rules result from differences in the abode. Accordingly, whoever resides in Dar Al-Kufr whether Muslim or non-Muslim is not encompassed by the laws of Islam at all, due to the words of the Messenger  in the narration of Sulayman b. Buraydah “if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajirin”, since its understanding is that if they did not do that, in other words if they did not migrate to the abode of the Muhajirin, then they would not have their privileges and nor would their obligations apply to them; in other words they are not encompassed by the laws of Islam which are applied in the Islamic State (Dar Al-Islam) since they do not carry its citizenship, except for two rules which are: the inviolability of their blood and what wealth they have at the time of the conquest of Dar Al-Kufr in which they lived, and this is due to words of the Messenger  from ‘Abd Allah Bin Umar who said: The Messenger of Allah  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 will account them” (agreed upon from the narration of Umar, Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Umar and others, with the wording from Muslim).  As for the one who permanently resides in Dar Al-Islam, whether they were Muslim or Dhimmi, they are covered by all the rules of Islam which the State implements in Dar Al-Islam other than what the Shari’ah exempts the non-Muslims from such as their worship.

This consideration of the abode from the angle of it being Dar Al-Kufr or Dar Al-Islam is what is referred to as citizenship. Whoever resides in Dar Al-Islam, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, carries the Islamic citizenship (citizenship of Dar Al-Islam), and so the rules of Islam are applied upon him by the State, and whoever resides in Dar Al-Kufr, whether a Muslim or disbeliever, carries the citizenship of Dar Al-Kufr, and so the rules of Islam are not applied upon him by the State. Accordingly, the consideration is given to the permanent residency and not to temporary stay, and so if a Muslim resides in Dar Al-Islam and goes to Dar Al-Kufr for the sake of commerce, treatment, seeking knowledge, visiting relatives, to take a vacation, or any other purpose, and resides there for months or years but he carries the Islamic citizenship, in other words his permanent residency that he is going to return to was in Dar Al-Islam, then he is considered from the people of Dar Al-Islam, even if he was living in Dar Al-Kufr. And if a Muslim was a resident in Dar Al-Kufr, and came to Dar Al-Islam for commerce, treatment, to seek knowledge, visit their relatives, to take a vacation, or any other purpose, and so stayed in Dar Al-Islam for a day, month, year, or more, but he carries the citizenship of Kufr, in other words his permanent residency that he is going to return to is in Dar Al-Kufr then he is considered to be from the people of Dar Al-Kufr, and so the rules of the one given amnesty apply to him, and so he cannot enter Dar Al-Islam except with security, in other words except with the permission of the State. Therefore the subject is not temporary residency, however long that residency may be, but rather the subject is permanent residency, or in other words carrying the citizenship.

Based upon this, if the Islamic State was established then the Khilafah would be present, the lands that it governs with the authority of the Muslims, and the security of Islam, then they would become Dar Al-Islam, and anything else would have to be examined: if they were not ruled by Islam or the security was the security of Kufr, then it would be Dar Al-Kufr or in other words Dar Al-Harb even if all of the inhabitants were Muslims, and the rules of Dar Al-Harb would apply to it. However, if it was ruled by Islam, and the security was the security of Islam, but it had not joined to the Khilafah, then it would be Dar Al-Islam and the rules of Islam would apply to it, and the rule regarding it would be like the rule of the rebels, their contracts would be considered valid and their appointment as judges and governors would be valid, and the rule of their judgements and governorships is considered valid, but they are fought in order to make them give allegiance to the Khalifah due to the narration “If the pledge of allegiance is given to two Imams then kill the second of them” (reported by Muslim from Abu Said); in other words fight against him. Based upon this, if the Islamic State was established on any part of the Muslim lands such as Iraq, Turkey and Syria for example, then the rule of the Muslim who resides in England, America, Russia or anywhere else from the various abodes of Kufr and lands of the disbelievers would be the rule of the one who was in Dar Al-Harb, with no difference between the Muslim and disbeliever except for the inviolability of their blood and wealth upon the conquest of that land. As for the Muslims who are in the Muslim lands, then if they implemented Islam and did not become part of the Khilafah, then their lands are Dar Al-Islam and they would take the rule of rebels (bugha). If they did not implement Islam then they would be Dar Al-Kufr. In the same way, every land from the lands of Islam which remained not implementing Islam, or whose external security was not the security of Islam, is considered to be Dar Al-Kufr, and the rule of Dar Al-Harb is applied to it, even if all the people there were Muslims. There is no difference whether it was neighbouring the Islamic State, which is the lands which the Khalifah of the Muslims ruled or were not adjacent to it. So the Islamic State will consider all the Islamic lands which were ruled by Islam, or which the majority of people there are Muslims, as a single Islamic land which must join the Islamic State, and be subservient to the Islamic flag, and for there to be a pledge to the Khalifah upon its neck.

The phrase the security of Islam means to be protected by the authority of Islam, and the phrase security of Kufr means to be protected by the authority of disbelief; it is mentioned in the al-Muhit dictionary “Safety and security like a companion against fear”, and Abu Dawud related from Sa’ad who said “When it was the day of the conquest of Makkah, the Messenger of Allah  gave security to the people, except for four men and two women who he named”, and from Aubi b. Ka’ab, “when it was the day of conquest a man who is not known said: (There will be) no Quraysh after today, so the announcer of the Messenger of Allah  announced that the black and the white have been given safety, except so and so and so and so, people who he named” (reported by Ahmad in al-Musnad with a Hasan chain, and al-Hakim reported something similar in al-Mustadrak as well as Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, both from Aubi b. Ka’ab). So this is the meaning of security. It being added to Islam or Kufr, is simply to connect it to the authority which is providing the security, because the security in the State is achieved by the authority. Therefore, the security of Islam is the security by the authority of the Muslims and the security of Kufr is the security by the authority of Kufr.

Domestic security is to secure the blood, wealth and honour of every one of the subjects by the security of the authority; whereas the external security is that the State’s borders are protected by its authority from invasion against it, and not by any other authority.

As for the second clause in the article, its evidence is that Islam permitted entering into treaties with other nations; Allah (swt) said “Except those who join a group, between you and whom there is a treaty (of peace)” (TMQ 4:90), and He (swt) said “and if he belonged to a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual alliance, compensation (blood money) must be paid to his family” (TMQ 4:92), and He (swt) said “and if they seek your help it is your duty to help them except against a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual alliance” (TMQ 8:72). The Messenger  concluded a treaty with Yuhannatu Bin Ruba, the companion of Ayla, and concluded a treaty with Bani Damrah. There were conditions in these treaties which were applied, and it is a duty upon the Muslims to be bound by these conditions due to the words of the Prophet  “The Muslims are upon their conditions” (reported by Al-Tirmidhi who said it was Hasan), as long as this condition does not contradict Islam. If the condition did contradict Islam it would be rejected due to the words of the Messenger  in the narration of Al-Tirmidhi, “except for a condition which prohibits something permitted or permits something prohibited” and his   words “Every condition not in the Book of Allah is invalid” (agreed upon from Aaisha (ra)). Therefore the Muslims carry out the implementation of these conditions according to what was mentioned in the texts of the treaties as long as they do not contradict Islam. So the evidence for this clause is the evidence that permits treaties and the evidence for the obligation of fulfilling the conditions.

As for the second half of this clause connected to the economic and commercial relations, this is in consideration of what harm upon the Ummah could result from the economic agreements, such as if the raw materials were exported out of the country, or resulted in the closure of factories in the country, or anything else similar, so therefore the agreements are restricted to whatever does not cause harm and anything which causes harm is prohibited through the application of the principle “If one type of a permitted thing leads to a harm, only that one is prohibited, and the thing remains permitted”, and the same applies to the circumstances of the commercial agreements.

These States are legally considered to be belligerent States, because they are disbelievers who do not submit to Islamic authority, so they are considered to be belligerents because the Messenger  said “I have been ordered to fight the people until they witness that there is no God except for Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger”, which is general. Their  being legally considered as belligerents, in other words with respect to the laws, is due to the agreements between us and them.

As for the third clause, its evidence is the evidence for the rules of Dar Al-Harb in the absence of any treaty between us and them. The evidence to not create any diplomatic relations with the countries which are mentioned in the article is the fact that if their having embassies in a land which was under the authority of Islam would lead to harm because the job of embassies of countries like these is to try to increase the influence of their States in the countries where they had their embassies, so consequently they are prohibited in accordance with the practical application of the principle of prohibiting something permitted if it leads to harm. However, their subjects are not prevented from entering the country unless their entrance would lead to harm. And a visiting envoy would not be prohibited from entering the country unless the entrance of the specific person sent as an envoy, not their envoys generally, would lead to harm.

These countries are legally considered as belligerent (rather than actual belligerent) due to their falling under his  words, “I have been ordered to fight the people until they witness that there is no God except for Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger”, from the angle that they are disbelievers. As for their being considered as belligerents from a legal rather than actual perspective, this is because there is no fighting between us and them, and there has been no announcement of an actual war between us from our side or theirs. If some or part of these countries come to be in a situation of actual war with us, in other words if they attacked the Muslim lands, then they would be treated according to the fourth clause of this article which deals with actual war, and for that reason America and Britain are considered as actual belligerents after they began their war upon Iraq and Afghanistan, and any other country which declared war on any of the Muslim lands would also be considered the same, and the rules to do with actual war are applied as long as the situation of war remains between us and them.

As for the fourth clause, its evidence is the evidence of Jihad from the issue of fighting the disbelievers, and the evidences that make the blood and property of the non-Muslims from amongst them permitted, and the evidences of fighting in the battle; Allah (swt) said “fight those who are close to you from the disbelievers” (TMQ 9:123), and the Prophet  said “I have been ordered to fight people until they profess that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” agreed upon with the wording from Muslim, and he  made an exception for the Muslims amongst them with his words , “If they said it, their lives and their wealth would be inviolable to me, except that which is by right”. And Allah (swt) said, “And whoever turns his back from them that day, unless it be a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own), he had indeed drawn upon himself wrath from Allah” (TMQ 8:16), and also due to the words of the Messenger , “Stay away from the seven destructive things”, and he  enumerated them until he  said “and to turn away on the day of advance (into battle)” (agreed upon from the narration of Abu Hurayrah).

And other rules of fighting and battles and the rest of the evidences regarding Dar al-Harb and the battles.

It is not permitted to have a permanent peace treaty with these  countries that were practically belligerent, in other words a permanent cessation of fighting, or permanent truce, since this prevents Jihad which continues until the day of Judgement, just as a permanent truce prevents the spread of Islam until Allah (swt) makes it dominant over all other Deens. Allah (swt) says “And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone” (TMQ 8:39), and the Messenger    said “Jihad continues from when Allah sent me until the last of my Ummah fights the Dajjal” (reported by Abu Dawud from Anas).

As for a temporary treaty with these countries, and a temporary cessation of the war, it is looked at as follows:

a.       If the State which is in the actual war against us, has land which is not Islamic land upon which its entity is formed, then it is permitted to have a temporary truce with it, in other words to stop the war with it for a temporary time, if the pause is in the interest of Islam and the Muslims, and according to the conditions that the Shari’ah confirmed.

The evidence for this is the treaty of al-Hudaybiyah, which was between the Islamic State which the Messenger  had established in Madinah and the Qurayshi state which was established upon the land which Islam had not yet conquered, in other words it was not established upon Islamic land.

b.      If the State which was at war with us, was established as an entity in its entirety upon Islamic land, in other words the entity did not have any land connected to it which had not been conquered by the Muslims, such as Israel – the Jewish State which has stolen Palestine – then it is not permitted to have a treaty with it, since the establishment of this State was invalid according to the Shari’ah, and since a treaty with it would mean to give up Islamic land to it, which is prohibited and a crime against Islam. Rather, the situation of actual war has to remain with it, irrespective if there was a truce which was contracted with it by illegitimate rulers in the Muslim lands, or not.

And so accordingly any treaty with the Jewish State, even over a handspan of the land, is prohibited by the Shari’ah because it is usurping and occupying and its whole entity is established on Muslim land and it is a surrender of Islamic land to it, and establishing its control over the Muslims there, which is not permitted according to the Shari’ah. Islam requires that all of the Muslims fight against it, and so their armies must be sent to fight, and all those capable of fighting be gathered as soldiers in the army, and for this to continue until the Jewish State is finished and the Muslim lands are rescued from it. Allah(swt) says, “And never will Allah grant to the disbelievers a way (to triumph) over the believers” (TMQ 4:141) and His (swt) words, “Then whoever transgresses the prohibition against you, you transgress likewise against him” (TMQ 2:194) and “and turn them out from where they have turned you out” (TMQ 2:191).

Article 190

All military treaties and pacts (with other States) are completely prohibited, along with anything of their type, or connected to them such as political treaties and agreements covering the leasing of military bases and airfields. It is permitted to conclude good neighbour relations, economic, commercial, financial, cultural and armistice treaties.

The definition of “treaties” is that they are agreements that States conclude between themselves with the goal of organising a specific relationship and defining the rules and conditions which that relationship submits to. The Islamic jurists used the term “al-muwada’at”, and the evidence for the permissibility of concluding treaties between the Muslims and disbelievers are the words of Allah (swt), “between you and whom there is a treaty (of peace)” (TMQ 4:90) and “and if he belonged to a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual alliance” (TMQ 4:92), and “and if they seek your help it is your duty to help them except against a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual alliance” (TMQ 8:72), and the word al-mithaq used in the verses means treaties. The Messenger  concluded several treaties with the disbelievers, however it is a precondition for the validity of the contracting of the treaty that the subject that the contract was upon was something that the Shari’ah had permitted. There are various types of treaties, such as non-political and political treaties.

Non-political treaties are the agreements which specify the manner of the relationship between the two States with respect to a particular issue between the two of them such as financial, economic, commercial, industrial and cultural relationships, and anything else similar, and so these are considered in the light of the Shari’ah according to their subject, and the Shari’ah rules connected to that subject are applicable. That is why economic treaties are permitted, since the rules regarding renting and international commerce are applicable, and commercial treaties are also permitted, since the rules regarding selling and international commerce are applicable, and financial treaties are permitted, since the rules of exchange apply, and cultural treaties are permitted since the rules regarding education and teaching apply from the angle of scientific material, and from the angle of definite and speculative results which are produced by learning and teaching them.

There are three categories of political treaties:

Firstly, those that are permitted, which are those that do not affect the nature of the State, and do not decrease its domestic and international authority, and do not give the disbeliever any authority over it, such as peace and armistice treaties - the Messenger  concluded an armistice treaty with the Quraysh in the armistice treaty of Hudaybiyah.

Also permitted are treaties to not commit acts of aggression against one another; the Messenger  concluded treaties to not commit acts of aggression with Bani Damra and Bani Mudlij. In the same manner, treaties upon friendly relations are permitted since the Messenger  concluded a treaty upon friendly relations with the Jews and so on.

The second category of treaties are those which are necessary for the State if it is in a position of difficulty and constraint, and these are permitted, such as a treaty to take Jizya from a State while it remains ruled by a Kufr system, or a treaty with a State giving it money in exchange for its neutrality with us.

The third category are those treaties which are prohibited, such as treaties of protection, or permanent neutrality and treaties which delineate permanent borders, and those for leasing airfields and military bases and anything else similar. These treaties are not permitted, because the subject of the treaty is not permitted, since protection gives the disbeliever authority over the Muslims, and makes the security of the Muslims the security of disbelief (Kufr). Permanent neutrality is not permitted, because it reduces the authority of the Muslims. Delineating permanent borders is not permitted because it means not carrying the call to Islam and the suspension of the rules of Jihad. Leasing airfields is not permitted because it gives the disbelievers authority over Dar Al-Islam and the same applies to military bases.

As for military treaties, they are forbidden due to the words of the Prophet  “Do not take light from the fire of the disbelievers” (reported by Ahmad and Al-Nasa’i), and the fire of a people is a metaphor for their structure in war. It is also forbidden due to his  words  “I  do not rely /seek help from a polytheist” (reported by Muslim from Aaisha (ra)). And from Aaisha (ra) in Abu Dawud and Ibn Maja, “We do not seek help of a polytheist” and his  words, “We do not seek help with the disbelievers against the polytheists” (reported by Ibn Abi Shayba from Sa’id b. al-Mundhir).

With regard to what is reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud from Dhi Makhmar who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah  say “You will make a safe treaty with the Romans, and you and they will fight an enemy behind them” – his  words “and you and they will fight an enemy behind them” is taken to mean individual Romans, and not their State, and that is because he  said “You will make a safe treaty with the Romans, and you will fight” and the treaty between the Muslims and disbelievers is only when they accept the Jizya and to enter under the rule of the Muslims, since Islam ordered the Muslims to give the disbelievers they fight the choice between three: Islam, Jizya or war. If the treaty occurred and they were disbelievers, this could not happen except in the situation they were paying Jizya and their falling under the Islamic flag. So therefore his  words “you will make a treaty” is an indication that they were under the flag of the Muslims, and so they would be individuals at that time, and this is supported by what happened with the Romans. The Muslims fought and defeated them, and occupied their lands, and the Romans fought with the Muslims as individuals, but the Roman State did not fight alongside the Islamic State against another enemy behind them. This confirms that what is meant by the narration is individual Romans, and not as a State, and it is obligatory to interpret it in this way in order to reconcile and use all of the evidences – as is well known in Usul al-Fiqh, using the two evidences is better than voiding one of them, and there is no recourse to weighing the evidences unless reconciling them is not possible. Accordingly it is clear that there is no evidence which permits seeking the help of the polytheists as a State; rather the evidences are explicit against that without any restriction.

These are the evidences for this article.

Article 191

The State is forbidden to belong to any organisation which is based on anything other than Islam or which applies non-Islamic rules. This includes international organisations like the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and regional organisations like the Arab League.

The subject which the international and regional organisations are established upon has been prohibited by the Shari’ah.

The United Nations is established upon the basis of the Capitalist system, which is a system of Kufr, above and beyond which it is a tool in the hands of the large nations, particularly America, which exploits it for the sake of imposing its influence over the smaller nations, which the current states in the Islamic World are a part of.

The International Court of Justice judges with a system of Kufr, and going to it for a judgement is to take a judgement from other than what Allah (swt) has revealed.

The International Monetary Fund is established upon giving loans of hard currency with interest, and on a basis of exchange that is forbidden according to the Shari’ah, and so it does not give hard currency in exchange for the local currency on the spot, but rather it gives hard currency to the State which is in need of hard currency, in exchange that after a period of time it repays it the equivalent from its own currency with additional interest which is specified. This kind of currency exchange is forbidden since it is a type of currency exchange that has been prohibited, because currency exchange either has to be carried out on the spot without any delay, since if there is a delay it is forbidden as the narration has mentioned. And in the same manner it also includes interest which is also forbidden.

The World Bank is established upon utilising interest, like any other bank.

The Arab League is established upon the basis of the Capitalist system, and it explicitly mentions in its constitution that it is to protect the independence of the Arab states, in other words the protection of the separation and division of the Islamic lands, which is prohibited.

Similar to the Arab League is the Organisation of Islamic Conference and its like.

For these reasons, it is forbidden for the Islamic State to belong to any of these organisations.

This is the draft constitution, or the necessary evidences for it, and we have clarified the evidences for the rules which are part of the articles of the constitution, and explained what was necessary to be explained, and it is clear that this constitution is an Islamic constitution, in other words it is composed of Shari’ah rules deduced from Shari’ah evidences, in other words from the Book (Quran), the Sunnah, the Ijma’ of the companions, and Qiyas. This is why it is a duty upon the Muslims to act according to it.

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