There was disagreement only as to which person should assume...

There was disagreement only as to which person should assume responsibility for government and head the state. Government, therefore, was established after the Prophet (s), both in the time of the caliphs and in that of the Commander of the Faithful (‘a); an apparatus of government came into existence with administrative and executive organs.

The nature and character of Islamic law and the divine ordinances of the sharī‘ah furnish additional proof of the necessity for establishing government, for they indicate that the laws were laid down for the purpose of creating a state and administering the political, economic and cultural affairs of society. Firstly, the laws of the sharī‘ah embrace a diverse body of laws and regulation, which amounts to a complete social system.

In this system of laws, all the needs of man have been met: his dealings with his neighbors, fellow citizens, and clan, as…