Politics in Islam (50): A Civilization Founded on Faith
Throughout history, nations and civilizations have typically emerged for political, military, or economic purposes—then later adopted religions. Take, for instance, the Roman Empire. After centuries of persecuting Christians, it eventually embraced Christianity under Emperor Constantine. Other civilizations, like the Chinese or Persian empires, developed first as political entities and only later took on a dominant faith.
But Islam flipped this model entirely.
The Islamic civilization was born for the sake of the religion. The state came into existence to serve the deen—not the other way around. It wasn’t that a group of people formed a state and later found a shared belief; rather, it was the revelation itself, the message of Islam, that united hearts, shaped communities, and necessitated the formation of a political structure to uphold and implement its principles.
This foundational idea is deeply embedded in our scholarly tradition. In virtually every classical book on Islamic political thought, the definition of imamah—or leadership—is as follows:
“It is the succession to the Prophet ﷺ in preserving the religion and managing the affairs of the world through it.”
This means that political leadership in Islam was never about authority for its own sake—it was about preserving the religion and governing the worldly matters through the lens of divine guidance.
That’s why the earliest caliphs weren’t just rulers; they were scholars and jurists. Knowledge was a precondition for leadership. A person couldn’t just be brave or charismatic—he had to understand the deen deeply enough to guide others.
In fact, scholars of Islamic law established a remarkable principle:
The ijtihad (independent reasoning) of the imam puts an end to scholarly disagreement.
Why? Because the leader himself was a mujtahid—a qualified scholar whose interpretation carried weight because he was one of them.
Even in later centuries, when the ruler himself may not have been the most knowledgeable scholar of his time, he was still obligated to consult with those who were. His legitimacy depended on it. This principle makes one thing crystal clear: the religion is prioritized above the state. The state exists to serve the religion, not to dominate or silence it.
So how can anyone argue for the separation of religion and state in Islam?
Islam does not merely have a political dimension—it was designed to function within one. The deen was never meant to be locked away in mosques or limited to private practice. It came to guide all aspects of life—including how power is handled, how justice is delivered, and how communities are managed.
When the religion is sidelined from politics, we distort the very essence of the Islamic message. And when we return to this divine order—where the state serves the faith, and not vice versa—we pave the way not only for justice, but for revival.
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