Election process in the Islamic State (Khilafah)

Question 01: Leaders in any society should be elected and be held accountable for all of their actions. Would they be in an Islamic Society?

Answer 01:

Yes they are, contrary to notions of the Islamic Khilafah being a religious dictatorship presiding over an authoritarian system, the head of state is elected within an open transparent election and is directly accountable for all his actions to the people. This accountability is maintained by having a vibrant open society and political parties, the presence of strong institutions including independent courts as well as the presence of strong values. There are many Islamic evidences that are well known that obliged enjoining good and forbidding evil (amr bil maaroof wa nahi anil munkar) upon rulers.

Within the Khilafah State there is a specific institution called the Court of Unjust Acts (Mahkamut ul Madhalim), which has the mandatory power to look into any complaint against the Head of State, his advisers, any assistants or the governors in the provinces. Indeed the court itself has the right to look into any case of injustice by the executive even if nobody filed a complaint. On this matter Hizb ut-Tahrir stated in its book ‘The Institutions of State in theKhilafah’ [2005]: ‘The judge of Madhalim is a judge appointed to remove every Madhlimah (unjust act) perpetrated by the State against any person, whether this person were a citizen of the State or a person living under its authority, and whether this Madhlimah were perpetrated by the Khaleefah or those working under him, be they rulers or civil servants… The origin of the judiciary of Madhalim is derived from reports referred to the Messenger of Allah where he described the unjust acts perpetrated by the ruler while ruling over the subjects as being a  Madhlimah. Anas reported: “Prices soared during the time of the Messenger of Allah so they said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah why don’t you introduce pricing?’ he said: ‘Verily Allah is the Creator, the Recipient, the Extender of wealth, the Provider, and the Pricer, and I hope that I will meet Allah without having anyone accusing me of having perpetrated a Madhlimah against him be it in blood or in money.” [See Musnad Ahmad 3/286]. He therefore judged pricing as being a Madhlimah, for if he had done it, i.e. introduced pricing, he would have acted without authority. He also made the issues that affect the common rights which the State organises for the people as part of the Madhalim.’ (Source/Ends)

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