LAW 400- Introduction to Islamic law

The Grundnorm is the doctrine that the legal sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority is exercisable by people within the limits prescribed by Him, as a sacred trust. 1.vi. Islam The term Islam means total submission to the Will of Allah. Incomplete or partial `surrenders' or `submissions' creates a patch work of contradictions and conflicts, because the numbers of `non-compliances', in that case, could be any. 1.vii. Political Islam Confusion exists for not differentiating the following: Ummah is sans borders Muslim state has geo-political dimensions, Muslim Community has a locus. Muslim community has internal goals that form its subsystems: -protection of Deen, -preservation and protection of life, -maintenance of family unit and its values, -development of personality and intellect, -economic well-being, Though Khilafat had practically ceased to have any significance, jurists, before Ibn Taymiyah, still clung to its concept, and even after it was demolished by Mongols. Ibn Taymiyah did not "presuppose the existence of a state" and denied that a state as implied in the concept of khilafah had ever been established by the Prophet. He said that the period of the Prophet was nubuwwah; he wielded authority, primarily as Prophet and not as head of state. Supremacy of Shariah could be the principle in khilafat or mulk (state). Imamate (spiritual authority) on the basis of descendence could also never afford a long term alternate. He also rejected concept of rule of clergy. Ibn Taymiah denied concept of khalifat Allah, with divine rights, above Shariah. Idea of universal caliphate was a fiction. He advocated legality of multiplicity of states.. Supremacy of Shariah means implementation of purposes of Shariah, implying that form of government does not affect it. Shariah supremacy can itself ensure that justice is maintained and rights of each individual and group are secured through due process of law. ‘Democratic’ principles are upheld by Islamic law as means of good governance.