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6 Political System of Islam (A Micro Analysis)
political organization did not differ much from those of the
falasifa. In order that political life may be regulated for
the well-being of all, a restraining law and a ruler are
required. Without certain principles of order and stability,
no Siyasah can be said to exist. Law in general and
religious law in particular, is an indispensable condition for
the emergence of a true Siyasah.
According to al-Ghazali(1058-1111 A.D), there is no
Siyasah without the religious sciences, which he devides
into two categories: first, the sciences concerned with the
wordly and the second, the sciences of this world that
Siyasah is most in need of, and that is the science of
Fiqh which regulates life, fixing man’s duties towards God,
towards himself, and towards his fellow citizens. 1
The highest form of Siyasah is the Siyasah al-
Shar’iyyah or Siyasah al-Nabawiyyah 2 which guarantees
stability and prosperity in this world and salvation in the
next. The temporal and the spiritual are interviewd;
without religion(Din), the world(Dunya) would be
miserable, and without Dunya, religion(Din) would be
impossible and God’s purpose unrealizable. 3
The analysis of this theoretical and intellectual basis
of Islamic government and society has been given only
scant attention by western scholar in examining the force
1. Abu Hamid Muhammad b. Muhammad Al-Ghazali.
Ihya’ Ulum al-Din.
(Cairo: al-Maktagah al-Tijariyyah al-Kubra, n.d.) vol 1, p. 12-13
2. Fauzi M. Najjar, “Siyasah in Islamic Political Philosophy”, in
Islamic Theology and Philosophy:Studies in Honor of George
F. Houranian.
(New York: State University of Ney York, 1984), p. 94.
Edt. by: Michael E. Marmura.
3. Al-Ghazali, Ihya’al-Ulum. Op.cit., vol. 1, p12-13. See also Taqi al-Din
Ahmad Ibn Taimiyyah,
al-Silasah al-Shar’iyyah Fi Islah al-Ra’i Wa al-Ra’iyyah,
(Cairo: Dar al-Kitab al-’Arabi, 1955), p. 60.