In Islamic legal theory, failure in implementation does not negate obligation. One does not abandon prayer because some pray without concentration, nor fasting because it is done without reflection. Similarly, the appointment of a Caliph is not annulled by the misconduct of rulers.
The socio-economic conditions cited as priorities are not natural disasters, but consequences of flawed political systems. Capitalist structures exacerbate inequality; nation-state borders fragment Muslim unity and obstruct coordinated development; education systems inculcate secular epistemologies detached from the Islamic worldview. These are structural issues that no amount of charity or individual activism can resolve within the current paradigms.
The hadith stating that “the Caliphate after me will last thirty years” is a descriptive prophecy about the era of Prophetic-model Caliphate, not a prescriptive limitation on the Islamic obligation of political unity and leadership. The idea that Islam abandoned the concept of Caliphate after thirty years has no basis in classical jurisprudence, historical practice, or theological reasoning.
To say “we are safe, so we do not need the caliphate” is to confuse the individual's luxury with the community’s duty. It is to claim sufficiency in fragments of the deen, while neglecting its collective expression and divine mandate. It is also complacency and a failure to recognise that their individual circumstances may be in relative comfort due to the space afforded to them by a kufr regime and ideology today, that can be easily taken away tomorrow – leaving them with no recourse to anyone to stand up for them on the basis of Islam either.
Arguing that the West won't allow the emergence of a Caliphate is not a fiqhī evaluation, but a surrender to the dominant international order - a worldview that elevates the invincibility of global hegemons above the command of the Creator. Such a posture is not realism, but rather despair and cowardice masquerading as maturity.
Discussion of the Personal Obligation Denial argument – or summed up as “it’s not an obligation for me because (I’m not capable/ it’s something that the scholars and people of influence have to do as an obligation of sufficiency/Allah will establish it/ it’s not actually an obligation to begin with)" As for the last argument … Continue reading Caliphate Contentions (6) – Establishing the caliphate isn’t an obligation for me personally
Discussion of the Historical Precedence Argument - summed up as "the practical reality was that there were several competing caliphs or sultans, and therefore it is not an obligation or realistic to have a single Imam". Without debating the premise of the argument (which could itself be considered historically problematic) - it is important to … Continue reading Caliphate Contentions (5): Historically, there was rarely a single unified caliphate, and therefore it is an unrealistic, utopian idea
Historical precedence is not an evidence for permissibility. That it is not a source of Islamic ruling should be clear – if taken to its conclusion that would mean that we can point to the actions of some of the leaders historically to align themselves with groups hostile to the Muslims such as the crusaders or Mongols, or enforced hereditary rule, or other indiscretions of specific rulers which went unchecked, whether personal or otherwise – and suggest that they were also permitted since they took place. Such an argument is irresponsible, incorrect and contrary to Islamic thought.
[TL:DR 1. There are several Prophetic narrations which indicate the obligation of both establishing an Imam, and of obeying an Imam 2. Any narration which talks about the necessity to obey the Imam of the Muslims is also a proof of the necessity to establish such an Imam if it isabsent 3. These narrations link … Continue reading Caliphate Contentions (3): There is nothing in the Prophetic example (sunna) to suggest that establishing a Caliphate is an obligation upon the Muslims.
[TL:DR1. 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 … Continue reading Caliphate Contentions (2): The obligation to establish a Caliphate is not mentioned in the Quran, and therefore is not an obligation.