Al-Mawardi’s Theory of State
Caliphate:
The institution of Caliphate represents the mission of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) the Prophet and the main duties of the Caliph are the safeguard of religion from all destructive propaganda and innovations and the proper organization of general polity. The Holy Quran aims at creating an ideal society in which good predominantly prevails over evil and in which the laws of God are generally practiced and obeyed. Further, it promises the inheritance or possession and governance of the earth to those only who follow in the footsteps of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) and practice piety and do justice.
When the Muslims built a world empire and actual needs arose, they tackled all these issues and tried to reach definite conclusions on all of them in the light of Quran and the Sunnah. The Quran is silent on all these pertinent issues, because their meaning is ever changing with the historical evolution. Besides, the Quran does not aim at creating a state but a society.
Syed Qutab was of the view,
“Whatever the form and shape of the state, if the Quranic society is realized in it, it may bear the designation of the Islamic State.” The Quran says,
“Obey God and obey the Prophet (P.B.U.H) and the Uli-al-Amr from amongst you.” It also commands the Prophet (P.B.U.H) to take the counsel of the Muslims in matters of state.
The Muslim jurists are of the opinion that the institution of the Caliphate is not necessitated by a clear injunction in the Quran but by the consensus of opinion, it is obvious that the matter is left to the discretion and judgment of the Muslim community. The Quran is very clear and definite about all fundamental problems for instance, about the articles of faith, the forms of religious worship, laws of matrimony and inheritance, distribution of booty of war, prohibition of interest, rights and obligations of husband and wife etc., but omits all details about the form and constitution of the Caliphate; and this is deliberate, because the wisdom of God knows better that the social and political constitutions of men are ever changing and evolving with the march of time.
The second fundamental source of political speculation was the Sunnah. And because the jurists failed to get sufficient material in the Quran to construct a detailed political theory, they spent greater pains in exploring the Sunnah and the archives of early Islamic History to realize their purpose. And not only traditions of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) but also of the companions and successors were complied.
The forty years of the Pious Caliphate rightly represented the true spirit of Islamic polity. Although the structure of the Caliphate was brutally shaken during the regime of Hazrat Usman (R.A) and finally cracked during the reign of Hazrat Ali (R.A), its basic principle remained permanent and operative. These principles are as follows:
1. The aim of Islamic State is to create a society as conceived in the Quran and Sunnah.
2. The State shall enforce the Shariah as the fundamental laws of the state.
3. The sovereignty rests in the people. The people can set up any form of the government conforming to the above two principles and with the exigencies of time and environment.
4. Whatever the form of the government may be, it must be upon the principle of popular representation, because based sovereignty belongs to the people.
Muslims in early Islam were not beguiled by sophisticated notions of Caliphs as presented by later theologians and jurists. To them it was crystal clear the source of all temporal authority were the people and the people alone. The ideas of absolution of the Caliph and of divine right were entirely foreign to them. There was no written constitution as the modern constitutions. The Quran and Sunnah did not specifically demand the necessity of a state. And at any rate the conception of the state was never clear. It was on account of this that the Umayyad and Hashimite race for supremacy of power started immediately after the device of the Prophet (P.B.U.H). After the fall of the Pious Caliphate, the idea of democratic caliphate passed into monarchical system without any ideological conflict. (Ibn-e-Khaldoon)
The Umayyad made strenuous efforts and effected a practical compromise between monarchy and the original caliphate. They however, took pains to preserve the original pattern of succession b y nomination and limited election within the House of Umayyad. This Umayyad innovation received general approval and became an established principle of Islamic polity for alter times.
Wazarat:
Al-Mawardi says,
“the appointment of a Wazir does not mean that the Imam or Caliph should give up all connections with the administration of the state, but the real significance of his appointment consists of the fact that in the province of politics it is better to have a coadjutor rather than one sole person at the helm of affairs.” And when the Prophet Moses (A.S) could make his brother Haroon (A.S) his Wazir in order that his hands should be strengthened, then surely in the administration of the state it is allowable for the Imam to have a Wazir beside him. Al-Mawardi says that Wazarat is of two kinds:
1. The Wazarat of Delegation:
The Wazir of Delegation is the person in whom the Imam has the fullest confidence and to whom the powers of administration of the realm are delegated. The difference between the Wazir and the Imam himself is that the Wazir of Delegation is not empowered to appoint anyone as his successor and the Imam, the highest authority; can dismiss the officers appointed by him.
2. The Wazarat of Execution:
The Wazir of Execution is similar to the Secretary to the Government in modern times. Al-Mawardi says that the main function of the Wazir is to get the decrees of the Imam executed and he should be the main official channel of information for him. Mawardi opines that, seven qualities are required for a person aspiring to this office and these are honesty, confidence, absence of greed, good relationship with the people, intelligence and the wisdom of grasping the truth of things, absence of luxury and amorousness, and lastly, diplomacy and experience.
Al-Mawardi said,
“It is not necessary that the holder of the office should be a follower of Islam and a non-Muslim dhimmi can also be appointed a Wazir of Execution."
For the efficient functioning of the administration, the government should be divided into various departments dealing with the business of government such as revenue, army and other high offices of State.
The State administration as a whole was called Diwan. Al-Mawardi enumerated four chief offices of Government are under:
1. The Army Board
2. The Board of Provincial Boundaries
3. The Treasury
4. The Board of Appointment and Dismissal of Officers
Views of Central Government:
Al-Mawardi being an orthodox Shafi’ite, gave an account of legal rationalism in his writings. Very rationally he makes full endeavors to demonstrate the necessity of the Imamate and he proves it not only by referring the Islamic law but lays down a general proposition that it is in the nature of man or rather those among men who are superior to others in intellect that they should hand over their affairs to one who can keep them from being tyrannized over by others and should have the power of adjudging between them in case of mutual quarrels.
Al-Mawardi relies solely upon the Quran without reference to any other source of law. Thus when he tries to demonstrate that the Imam should not indulge in luxurious living and he reminds the readers of the order which God gave to the Prophet David (A.S) when He appointed him His Caliph:
“O David, We have appointed thee Our Caliph on earth; so judge aright between man and man, and follow not desires that might lead thee away from the path of thy Lord.”
He at the time of discussing different categories of taxes, argues entirely on the basis of the Quran, and quotes a verse to prove that the Zakat should be distributed
“among the poor and the needy, and those who collect them and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of God and for the wayfarer” (Quran ix, 60).
Along with the verses of the Quran he argues from the order of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) as related in the Traditions when he wishes to prove that the Caliph has the right to appoint his own successor, he argues from the battle of Mutah and says,
“The Prophet (P.B.U.H) appointed his manumitted slave, Hazrat Zaid bin Harithah, to take his place at the head of the Muslim army and at the same time ordered that is case of his death he should be replaced by Hazrat Jafar bin Ali Talib, after him Hazrat Abdullah bin Rawahah and in case he is also killed, the mantle of command should fall on the shoulders of whomever the soldiers might choose.” Mawardi was of the view that
“it was possible for the Prophet (P.B.U.H) to make these nominations; it should be possible in case of khilafat as well.”
As regards the office of Qazi, he quotes the instructions given by the Caliph Hazrat Umar to Hazrat Abu Musa al Ash’ari when he appointed him to this office. Sometimes al-Mawardi uses the documents of the Umayyad and the Abbasid periods his premises, for instance, he quotes the accession address of Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz to demonstrate the exalted ideals of the office of the Caliph. Whenever he wants to stress the importance of the Wazarat, he quotes a
proclamation of Mamun where he declares that
he wishes to appoint one of his ministers who should be virtuous, sophisticated and conservative in his habits, experienced and matured in his profession and willing to undertake the most difficult missions, should be reliable and trustworthy, whose silence should signify his great indulgence and whose conversation should demonstrate his great knowledge. He should be able to understand the innermost thoughts of others by the mere gesture of the eyes, and even a second’s conversation should suffice for him to get at the root of the matter, who should have the posture of the rich, the foresight of the learned, the humility of the savant and the acuteness of the jurist, who should be grateful for any good that might be done to him and should bear his troubles with patience.