I'm reading Muhammad Aslam Ch, 'Muslim Political Thought' (previously Sages of the Ages), and he writes in the chapter on Al-Farabi about al-Farabi's concept of Sovereignty. But I think Islam categorically states that ALL sovereignty belongs to Allah only, Man is just his representative on Earth and is not sovereign at all. Then why does al-Farabi go on to elucidate the essential qualities of an Ideal Sovereign as Head of State (i.e why does he identify the Ideal Head of State, a man, as 'sovereign'?) Please help, this is messing up my concepts!

First,let us know how do you perceive sovereignty?

__________________
The color of blood in my veins is green,I am a proud Pakistani.

I think a supreme power that is above the common public in terms of status & administrative abilities is a Sovereign.

I read in western Political Thought that some philosophers like Hobbes attributed Sovereignty to One Man, and advocates of Democracy usually attribute it to the general masses.

However, as Muslims we believe the only One who has all authority over us Allah, hence He is the Supreme Authority, the Sovereign. Caliph is just His Representative on Earth to further the cause of Islam, hence he has no privileges or sovereignty, just duties as Caliphate is a TRUST, not a 'Malukiat' or Worldly Ruler ship.

I'm really confused, but the only justification I can think of on my own is that each Muslim Philosopher was loyal to his Caliph/Amir/Monarch of the time and hence they formulated unwarranted innovations to justify that rule.

A kind of ideological corruption, maybe?

__________________
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."

dear, its good that u have knowledge of this concept.
sir, ALLAH ALMIGHTY is sovereign in an Islamic state.the khalifa acts as his vicegerent on the earth.the khalifa has to try his level best to perform within the legal framework provided by AL-QURAN and SUNNAH.he takes decisions with the help of SHURA-a consultative body of the scholars of Islam who are pious and having superb background and character.and the khalifa is in his office as long as he enjoys the confidence of the SHURA.the khalifa of islamic state, in real terms, serves not rules.if the SHURA is strong and independent,there is no chance of corruption and othe malpractice on the part of state administration.

__________________
Recite a Darood Shareef at least once and now.
(RAFIQUE AHMED KHOKHAR)

Thanks for the reply!

I was going thru Mazhar-ul-Haq's 'Principles of Political Science' this morning, and he has succinctly described the concept of sovereignty in Islam, that also helped to clear things up.

(For newbies to Political Science (like me) I would NOT suggest M. Aslam Chaudhry's book. I have found it to be full of English grammatical & spelling mistakes that make understanding it's concepts a pain. )

__________________
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."

sir u may also go through the political system of Islam from any reputable book of Islamiat.this wud also help u get to grips with the concept.

__________________
Recite a Darood Shareef at least once and now.
(RAFIQUE AHMED KHOKHAR)

better to compare sovereignty in Islam and Democracy. Plz share your knowledge on it.

__________________
Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.