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Adopting Divine Rules (Ahkam Shari‘ah)
During the era of the Companions (Sahabah), the Muslims used to
extract the Ahkam Shari‘ah from the Book and the Sunnah by
themselves. The judges, when tackling the disputes among people,
would deduce for themselves the hukm shari’ for every issue or event
that they were faced with. The rulers, starting with the Amir al-Mu’mineen
to the Woulat and others, would themselves deduce the Ahkam Shari‘ah
to solve every problem that arose during their ruling. Abu-Musa al
Ash’ari and Shuraih (raa) were two such judges (qadi) who deduced
the rules (Ahkam) and judged by their own ijtihad. Mu’adh ibn Jabal
(raa) was a governor (wali) at the time of the Prophet (pbuh) and
used to deduce Ahkam and ruled in his wilayah by his own ijtihad.
Abu Bakr and Umar (raa) both deduced akham by themselves during
their ruling and both ruled the people with the ijtihad each of them
had deduced.
Muawiya and Amr ibn al ‘As were two governors who deduced Ahkam for
themselves by their own ijtihad and ruled people in accordance with
it in their provinces. In spite of the ijtihad undertaken by the
judges and governors, the Khaleefah used to adopt certain Hukm and
to order their execution by the people who would be obliged
themselves to implement the adopted rules and to leave their own
opinion and ijtihad on those rules. This is because the hukm shar’i
states that the Imam’s decree is to be executed openly and covertly.
Examples of this is Abu Bakr’s adoption that the pronouncement of
divorce three times in one sitting constitutes only one divorce, and
his adoption that funds should be equally distributed among Muslims
irrespective of the time when they embraced Islam or any other
matter. The Muslims followed Abu Bakr in these adoptions and the
judges and governors executed them. When ‘Umar came to office after
him he adopted different opinions in the same questions. He obliged
people to accept and execute the pronouncement of divorce three
times in one sitting as three divorces, and he distributed the funds
differently according to the time when the people had entered Islam
and according to need. The Muslims followed ‘Umar in these adoptions
and the judges and governors executed them. Umar also made the
adoption that land obtained in war was a Ghanima owned by the Bayt
al Mal (House of Funds), wherein the original owners would retain
possession and not distribute the land to the Muslim soldiers or the
Muslims. The governors and judges followed him in this adoption and
enacted the hukm he had adopted. Accordingly, the consensus of the
Companions (ijma’a as-sahaba) confirms that the Imam has the
authority to adopt certain rules to order that they be executed and
the Muslims must obey him, even if their ijtihad differs from it.
Among the well known Shari‘ah principles are: ‘The Sultan has the
right to adopt decrees as numerous as the actual problems’; ‘The
Imam’s decree resolves the discord’; and ‘The Imam’s command is
executed openly and covertly’.
Henceforth, the Khulafa’ah adopted specific Ahkam. Haroon ar-Rasheed,
for example, adopted the book ‘Kitab al-Kharaj’ in the economic
affairs, and he obliged all the people to execute the Ahkam included
within it.
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