An Exposition of the Meaning of Governance in Accordance with the Sharia
Drawn from the Words of the Author and His Pupil Ibn al-Qayyim
The author and his pupil Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah Most High have mercy on them both—made valuable observations concerning governance in accordance with the Sharia, scattered throughout several of their works. Ibn al-Qayyim also wrote an independent work on the subject, al-Turuq al-Hukmiyya (Judicial Methods). I therefore thought it beneficial to preface the discussion of this book with this chapter, drawing especially upon material not contained in our present treatise.
- The author said in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (20/391–393): “This is also evident in much of the discourse and writings of certain adherents of the Kufan school. When someone argues against them by citing a person whom the Prophet—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—killed or ordered to be killed—such as his killing of the Jewish man who crushed the girl’s head; his declaring the blood of the woman who reviled him to be forfeit, although she was protected by a covenant; his command to kill one who commits sodomy; and similar cases—they say, ‘This was done as a matter of governance.’ They should be told: If you say that this form of governance is prescribed for us, then it is true and is governance in accordance with the Sharia. But if you say that it is not prescribed for us, then this contradicts the sunnah.
“Moreover, when someone says, ‘This is governance,’ does he mean that people are to be governed by the Sharia of Islam, or that this governance lies outside the Sharia of Islam? If he means the former, then it is part of the religion; but if he means the latter, then that is the error.
“The source of this error, however, is that the Kufan school falls short in its knowledge of the governance practiced by the Messenger of Allah—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—and by his Rightly Guided Caliphs. It is authentically established that he said: ‘The Children of Israel were governed by the prophets. Whenever a prophet died, another prophet succeeded him; and indeed, there will be no prophet