Introduction to an Islamic Constitution for Syria and the Muslim world - Article 1

The following is the translation of an article from the book by Hizb ut-Tahrir entitled 'Introduction to the Constitution and the necessary evidences for it' which is the explanation of its draft constitution for the Khilafah state. This draft translation is from the second edition published in 2009 which was updated from the original published in 1963. Numerous brigades in Syria have agreed to the implementation of this constitution after the removal of the corrupt system that has brutally suppressed the people for decades. 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

All praise is due to Allah (swt) and peace and blessing upon our Master Muhammad , the seal of the Prophets, and upon his family, and may the pleasure of Allah (swt) be upon all of his companions.

Hizb ut-Tahrir published a constitution which it produced at its inception, distributed it to the people and printed within its books in 1374 Hijri (1955 CE). Then, in light of the discussions taking place regarding the current events and in anticipation that the Islamic State will be practically established and that the party will assume ruling practically, some amendments were made to it built upon the strength of Shari’ah evidence. It was then released to the people separately in an independent booklet in 1378 Hijri (1959 CE). It then became necessary to lay down the premise for the constitution which would clarify the Shari’ah evidence for each article from its various articles in order to publish what is conventionally known as the incumbent reasons for the basic law, i.e. for the constitution. This is in accordance with what was mentioned in the book “The adopted concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir”. This book will serve to increase the confidence of the Muslims, in particular the pure and the righteous amongst them, that these articles are Shari’ah rules; that the constitution is a pure Islamic constitution; that the opinions, thoughts and rules within it are exclusively Islamic opinions, thoughts and rules; that there is nothing within it that is not Islamic, that it is not influenced by anything non-Islamic and that it does not rely upon anything other than the sources of Islam and its texts.

So, here we present to all the people the premise of the constitution, or the incumbent reasons for it, asking Allah (swt) to accept this action which we carried out seeking His (swt) pleasure, to bring about the day that this constitution will be enacted soon, to inspire the Muslims to work for the return of the authority of Islam, to raise the Islamic flag by the establishment of the Khilafah and the rule by what Allah revealed, and to convey the call to Islam (Da’wah) to the whole world and through Jihad in the Path of Allah (swt) in order that the Word of Allah (swt) will be Most High.

Dhul-Hijja 1382 Hijri

May 1963

Hizb ut-Tahrir

General Rules

Article 1

The Islamic belief (‘Aqidah) constitutes the foundation of the state. Hence, nothing is permitted to exist within its entity, its structure or its accountability or any other aspect connected to it, unless the Islamic ‘Aqidah is its basis. At the same time, the Islamic ‘Aqidah acts as the basis of the constitution and Shari’ah laws; thus, nothing related to the constitution or to the laws is permitted to exist unless it emanates from the Islamic ‘Aqidah.

The explanation and the clarification of the evidences

The state comes into being by the emergence of new ideas upon which it is established. The authority (the governing of people’s affairs and the management of their issues) in the state changes when the new ideas change, since if these ideas turned into concepts (i.e. if their meaning was perceived and their credibility was established), they would influence man’s behaviour. This behaviour would then proceed according to these concepts. Thus, man’s viewpoint about life changes, and according to its change, his viewpoint towards the interests also changes. The authority is simply the guardianship of these interests and the supervision of their management; thus the viewpoint about life is the basis upon which the state is built and it is the basis upon which the authority is established. However, the viewpoint about life is generated by a specific thought about life. Hence, this thought about life becomes the basis of the state and the basis of the authority.

Since the specific thought about life is embodied in a host of concepts, criteria and convictions, this host of concepts, criteria and convictions is considered a basis. The authority looks after peoples’ affairs and supervises the management of their interests according to this host of concepts, criteria and convictions. Therefore, the basis is a host of thoughts and not just one single idea. It is this host of thoughts in its entirety that generated the viewpoint about life, and consequently the viewpoint towards the interests was established and the authority set about managing them according to this viewpoint. Therefore, the state was defined as being an executi entity for a host of concepts, criteria and convictions that a group of people had adopted.

This is regarding the state from the fact that it is a state i.e. from the fact that this state is the authority that looks after the interests of people and supervises the management of these interests.

However, this host of thoughts upon which the state is founded i.e. the host of concepts, criteria and convictions could either be built upon a fundamental thought or not built upon a fundamental thought. If it were built upon a fundamental thought, it would be solidly built with strong pillars and a firm entity; since it would rest upon a fundamental foundation. This is so because the fundamental thought is the thought that has no other thought behind it, and that is the intellectual ‘Aqidah. In such a case, the state would be built upon an intellectual ‘Aqidah. On the other hand, if the state were not built upon a fundamental thought, this would ease its destruction and it would not be difficult to demolish its entity and then usurp its authority. This is because it has not been built upon one intellectual ‘Aqidah upon which the state was established. Therefore, it is essential that in order for the state to be a strong entity, it must be established upon an intellectual ‘Aqidah from which ideas that the state was founded upon emanate i.e. an intellectual ‘Aqidah from which the host of concepts, criteria and convictions that represent the idea of the state regarding life emanate and consequently the viewpoint of this state towards life and this is what produces its viewpoint towards the interests.

The Islamic State is built solely upon the Islamic ‘Aqidah because the host of concepts, criteria and convictions which the Ummah (collective of Muslims) has adopted emanate solely from an intellectual ‘Aqidah. The Ummah has first of all adopted this ‘Aqidah and embraced it as a conclusive ‘Aqidah based on decisive evidence. Hence, this ‘Aqidah was its comprehensive idea about life and accordingly its viewpoint about life was shaped and based upon it and its viewpoint towards the interests was derived from it. The Ummah also took the host of concepts, criteria and convictions from it and therefore the Islamic ‘Aqidah is the basis of the Islamic State.

Additionally, the Messenger of Allah  established the Islamic State upon a specific basis; therefore this very basis must be the basis of the Islamic State in every era and in every location. When the Messenger of Allah  established the authority in Madinah and assumed the rule over it, he established it on the basis of the Islamic ‘Aqidah from the very first day and the verses of legislation had not been revealed yet. Hence, the Messenger of Allah  made the Shahadah (testimony) of “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” as the basis of the Muslims’ life and of the relationships between people as well as the basis for removing grievances and settling disputes. In other words, it was the basis of all aspects of life and the basis of authority and government. He  did not stop at that; rather, He (swt) also legislated for Jihad and made it an obligation upon the Muslims in order to carry this ‘Aqidah to all people. Abu Dawud reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah that 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 their account is with Allah” (Agreed upon, text used from Bukhari)

The Messenger of Allah  also made the protection of the continued presence of the ‘Aqidah as a basis for the state an obligation upon the Muslims and he  ordered the Muslims to brandish the sword and to fight if the flagrant Kufr (disbelief) were to become apparent; in other words, if the ‘Aqidah ceased to be the basis of authority and rule. The Messenger of Allah  was asked about the tyrant rulers “the most evil of the leaders”: “Do we challenge them with the sword?” He  replied “No, as long as they continue to establish prayer amongst you.” (Muslim), and he  made the Bay’a (pledge of allegiance to the ruler) based on the Muslims’ obedience to the people in authority unless the Muslims witness a flagrant Kufr. In the narration of Auf Bin Malik regarding the evil leaders “It was said O Messenger of Allah – do we not challenge them with the sword? And he  replied: "No as long as they establish the prayer” (Muslim). And ‘Ubadah B. Samit said in the agreed upon narration regarding the Bay’a “and that we would not dispute the people in authority unless we witness a flagrant Kufr (disbelief)” and in the narration of Al-Tabarani, the wording was: “open Kufr”. And in a narration by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih collection, the wording was: “unless the disobedience to Allah is flagrant”. All of this indicates that the basis of the state is the Islamic ‘Aqidah, since the Messenger of Allah  established the authority upon it, ordered the brandishing of the sword in order to maintain it as a basis for the authority and he also ordered Jihad for its sake.

The first article of the constitution was drafted based on the previously mentioned grounds. This article prohibits the state from having any concept, conviction or criterion that does not emanate from the Islamic ‘Aqidah. To have the Islamic ‘Aqidah as a nominal basis for the state would not be sufficient; rather, this basis should be reflected in every aspect related to the State’s existence and in every minor or major issue. Hence, it is forbidden for the state to have any concept about life or about ruling unless it emanates from the Islamic ‘Aqidah. The state would not tolerate any concept not emanating from this ‘Aqidah. Therefore, it would not tolerate the concept of democracy to be adopted within the state because it does not emanate from the Islamic ‘Aqidah and because the Islamic Aqidah contradicts with the concepts which emanate from it. Additionally, the concept of nationalism would not be allowed to have any consideration whatsoever because it does not emanate from the Islamic ‘Aqidah and because the concepts which emanate from the Islamic ‘Aqidah abhor it, prohibit it and outline its danger. Likewise, the concept of patriotism should not have any existence, for it does not emanate from the Islamic ‘Aqidah and because it contradicts with the concepts that emanate from the Islamic ‘Aqidah. Furthermore, the apparatus of the State would not have any ministerial departments according to the democratic understanding and nor should there be in its government any imperial, monarchical or republican concepts for these do not emanate from the ‘Aqidah of Islam and they contradict with the concepts emanating from it. Furthermore, it is categorically forbidden for individuals, movements or groups to account the Islamic State on other than the basis of the Islamic ‘Aqidah. Hence, such type of accounting that is based upon other than the Islamic ‘Aqidah would be prohibited and the establishment of movements and groups on other than the basis of the Islamic ‘Aqidah would be prohibited. The fact that the Islamic ‘Aqidah acts as the basis for the State makes all of this binding upon the State itself and makes it incumbent upon the citizens over which it rules. This is since its life, in its capacity as a state, as well as the life of every matter originating from it in its capacity as a state, and every action linked to it in its capacity as a state, and every relationship established with it in its quality as a state, must have as its basis the ‘Aqidah of the State, that is the Islamic ‘Aqidah.

As for the second issue in the article, its evidence is reflected in the fact that the constitution is the fundamental law (qanun al-asaasi) of the State; thus, it is a law, and the law itself is the order of the authority.  Allah (swt) ordered the ruler to rule by what He (swt) revealed to the Messenger of Allah  and described the one who rules by other than what Allah (swt) has revealed as a disbeliever if he believed in what he ruled by and believed in the unsuitability of what Allah (swt) revealed to His Messenger . He (swt) described the ruler who rules by other than what He (swt) revealed but did not believe in it as ‘aassi (disobedient). This indicates that belief in Allah (swt) and His Messenger  must be the basis of the orders of the ruler; that is, the basis of the laws and the basis of the constitution. As for the command of Allah (swt) to the ruler to rule by what He (swt) revealed, in other words by the Shari’ah rules, this is established in the Book and the Sunnah. Allah (swt) says, “ By your God, they shall not believe until they make you judge of what is in dispute between them” (TMQ 4:65) and “So rule between them by what Allah has revealed” (TMQ 5:49).

Allah (swt) has confined the State’s legislation to what He had revealed and He warned against ruling by other than it. He (swt) says, “Whoever rules by other than what Allah has revealed, they are the disbelievers.” (TMQ 5:44). Also, the Messenger of Allah  said in an agreed upon Hadith, “Whoever introduces into our matter (Islam) something that is not in it, then it is rejected” (Agreed upon, text from Bukhari), and in the narration in Muslim “something that is not from it”, and in the narration from Ibn Hazm in Al-Muhalla and Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr in Al-Tamhid “Every action which is not based upon our order, it is rejected”. This indicates that the legislation of the State must be confined to what emanates from the Islamic ‘Aqidah; these are the Shari’ah rules which we certainly believe that Allah (swt) has revealed to the Messenger of Allah , whether their revelation were explicit; by stating that it is the rule of Allah (swt) and it is reflected in the Book, the Sunnah or the Sahabah (companions of the Prophet) unanimously consented that it is the rule of Allah (swt), or whether their revelation was implicit; by saying this is an indication of the rule of Allah (swt) taken by way of analogy whose ‘Illah (reason) is a Shari’ah ‘Illah. This is why the second issue has been drafted in the article.

In addition, since the actions of the worshippers must be confined to the address of the Legislator (swt), their governing should therefore be from Allah (swt), and the Islamic Shari’ah came to address all the actions of people and all of their relationships, whether these relationships were with Allah (swt), with themselves or with other people. Hence, there is no place in Islam for people to enact laws from themselves in order to govern their relations for they are restricted to the laws of Shari’ah. Allah (swt) says “Whatever the Messenger brought you take it; and whatever he forbade you abstain from it.” (TMQ 59:7). He (swt) also says: “It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any option about their decision.” (TMQ 35:36). The Messenger of Allah  said: “Truly Allah has commanded the obligations, so do not neglect them; He also prohibited certain things, so do not violate them and He imposed certain limits, so do not transgress them.” (extracted by Al-Daraqutni from Abi Tha’labah, and confirmed as Hasan by Al-Nawawi in Al-Riyadh Al-Salihin). He  also said: “Whoever introduces into our matter (Islam) something that is not in it, then it is rejected” (Agreed upon, through Aaisha (ra) and the wording is from Muslim).

Therefore, it is Allah (swt) who legislated the rules, not the ruler, and it is He (swt) who obliged people and obliged the ruler to adhere to them in their relations and in their actions, restricted them to these rules and prohibited them from following anything else. Due to this, there is no scope for man to lay down laws to govern peoples’ relations and there is no place for the ruler to force people or to give them the choice to follow principles and rules laid down by man to govern their relations.