Apart from the fact that civil laws...

Apart from the fact that civil laws; decrees on marriage and divorce; laws on trade, transactions, mortgage, loan and the like can be found in the Qur’an (which proves that issues on statecraft, like enactment and presentation of laws for the administration of society are taken into account in Islam), a special right for the Prophet ( s ) has been stipulated in the Qur’an to enact laws and decrees on particular cases based on circumstances of time and space, and the faithful are duty-bound to act upon the laws issued by the Messenger of Allah ( s ): ﴿وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلاَ مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ﴾ “A faithful man or woman may not, when Allah and His Apostle have decided on a matter, have any option in their matter.

” [^2] In this noble verse, the faithful have been deprived of the option to violate the decision of God and His Prophet ( s ). Thus, apart from the orders of God and fixed divine laws, laws enacted by the Prophet ( s ) are also binding on all those living within the jurisdiction of the Islamic government. No one has the right to question these laws because whoever opposes them does not regard the Prophet as an emissary of God. We have no business with such a person.

He who believes in the Prophet’s ( s ) right of legislation being delegated to him by God, but disputes about a truth, we will argue with him according to verses of the Qur’an.

Therefore, the Qur’an does not say, “An unbelieving man or woman may not…” but rather *“A faithful man or woman may not…”*As such, just as every ‘faithful’ living under the Islamic government acknowledges the apostleship of the Prophet ( s ) and regards the laws of God as necessary to follow, he should equally regard the orders of the Prophet ( s ) as necessary to follow.

The necessity to follow God and His wilayah over all the faithful is established by such noble verses as: ﴿النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ…﴾ “The Prophet is closer to the faithful than their own souls...” [^3] According to the Qur’an, therefore, both the highest level of implementation of law and the right of legislation have been delegated to the Messenger of Allah ( s ).

Whether or not such a right and station is also established for anyone other than the Messenger of Allah must be dealt with elsewhere. Presently, our concern is whether Islam has an opinion about politics or not.

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