[TL:DR
1. The obligation can be derived from the Quran directly
2. Every verse that mentions a law that must be implemented is an evidence for the obligation to establish an authority to implement that law
3. Ali Abdul Raziq was the first contemporary scholar to make the claim there was no evidence in the quran for the obligation of the Caliphate – and his views were deconstructed as completely inaccurate and incorrect]
Before debunking the contention, it is worth reminding that not all Islamic obligations are explicitly mentioned in the Quran. For example – neither is the issue of the obligation to pray 5 times a day mentioned in the Quran explicitly, nor are the details of the pillars and supererogatory elements of the prayer. While the Quran does contain many rules and details, it also directs us to the Prophetic example – or sunna – being the second primary source of legislation, and that the sunna is a necessity to explain and expand upon the Quran. As mentioned in the Quran –
وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad SAW) the reminder and the advice (the Qur’an), that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought
(16:44)
This already invalidates the contention as a relevent position, since it is not necessary for something to be mentioned in the Quran in order for it to be obligatory, and therefore not being mentioned in the Quran explicitly does not necessarily render it as not being obligatory if it is mentioned or derived from another source of Islamic doctrine and law such as the practise of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
While taking this into account – in the case of the caliphate there are several evidences in the Quran which have been used to state its obligation upon Muslims both directly an indirectly.
Some scholars have used some verses from the Quran to indicate the obligation directly – for example Imam Qurtubi uses the verse from al-Baqarah “And when your Lord said to the angels, “Indeed, I will make upon the earth a Khalifa” (2:30)
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً
هَذِهِ الْآيَةُ أَصْلٌ فِي نَصْبِ إِمَامٍ وَخَلِيفَةٍ يُسْمَعُ لَهُ وَيُطَاعُ، لِتَجْتَمِعَ بِهِ الْكَلِمَةُ، وَتَنْفُذُ بِهِ أَحْكَامُ الْخَلِيفَةِ. وَلَا خِلَافَ فِي وُجُوبِ ذَلِكَ بَيْنَ الْأُمَّةِ وَلَا بَيْنَ الْأَئِمَّةِ“And when your Lord said to the angels, “Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority (Khalifa)” – this verse is a foundational evidence for appointing an Imam and khalifa who is to be listened to and obeyed, to unite around him, and implement the rules of the khalifa. There is no difference among Muslims or scholars regarding that obligation”
The first contemporary scholar to try to deny the obligation of the Khilafa – Ali Abdul Raziq – put forward the argument that there was no evidence from the Quran used, writing in his book al-Islam wa usul al-Hukm (Islam and the foundations of government):
“We do not find any of the previous scholars who made the claim that the establishment of the Imam is an obligation, trying to establish evidence for that claim using any verses from the Book of Allah”
«لم نجد فيما مر بنا من مباحث العلماء الذين زعموا أن إقامة الإمام فرض من حاول أن يقيم الدليل على فرضيته بآية من كتاب الله الكريم.»
With this particular argument, Ali Abdul Raziq was trying to dismiss the obligation of the caliphate by stating that there was no evidence for it from the Quran, which was based upon his claim that if there were then the scholars would have used it.
As has already been highlighted with the quote of Imam Qurtubi, this was a wholly inaccurate claim without any basis, and is easily contradicted several times (with Imam Qurtubi being a single quotation amongst several used here for representation. As an example for further readings, please refer to my book “The Inevitable Caliphate” (Hurst, OUP 2012) in the introductory section).
One of the many rebuttals and outright rejections of the views of Raziq, was authored by Sheikh al-Khidr Hussein (one of the great scholars of the early 20th century who was Sheikh of al-Azhar for a time), who addressed this argument with the following:
“Some of the people of knowledge use as evidence for the Imama the words of Allah – Oh you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you,” and the author himself [referring here to Raziq] narrated that ibn Hazm used this verse as an evidence. And Sa`ad al-din al-Taftazani mentions it in his Sharh al-Maqasid where he states: “And they use evidences such as the words of Allah – ‘Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you’, and the words of the Messenger ‘and whoever dies without knowing his Imam, dies the death of jahiliyya (days of ignorance)’ – and this is because the obligation to obey (those in authority) and to know (the Imam) requires that Imam to be established.”
استدل بعض أهل العلم على الإمامة بقوله تعالى: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ، وقد نقل المؤلف نفسه الاستدلال بهذه الآية عن ابن حزم، وأوردها سعد الدين التفتزاني في شرح المقاصد،٤ فقال: وقد يتمسك بمثل قوله تعالى: أَطِيعُوا اللهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ، وقوله ﷺ: «من مات ولم يعرف إمامه مات ميتة جاهلية.» فإن وجوب الطاعة والمعرفة يقتضي وجوب الحصول،
Al-Taftazani has stated that since it is an obligation to know who the Imam is – it is therefore an obligation to establish an Imam. And since it is an obligation to obey those in authority, it becomes obligatory to establish said authority. This is another evidence and an example of an application of the juristic argument that whatever leads to an obligation is by necessity therefore also obligatory.
Additionally, the principle that whatever leads to an obligation is an obligation itself can be applied to all of the verses in the Quran which relate to rules and laws which require an authority to implement them. For example, all the verses related to hudud (prescribed punishments), or to jihad and so on. The obligation to implement these rules necessitates an authority to be in place to implement them, and therefore to establish afore-mentioned authority also becomes obligatory.
In summary – the obligation to establish a Khilafa is derived from the Quran, and the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) further confirmed, explained and expanded upon its details – and so the contention is incorrect.
Dr. Reza Pankhurst is the author of The Inevitable Caliphate (Oxford University Press, 2012) and The Untold History of the Liberation Party (C Hurst & Co, 2016)