The Legitimacy of Tyranny in the Islamic System (A Study of Its Jurisprudential and Political Explanations)

Abstract

There are many studies that adopted the defense of the Islamic ruler and the necessity of hearing and obeying him, whether he is a righteous prince or an immoral one, and provided legal evidence for this, most of which are by scholars of the Salafi method. Among the most important of these modern studies are:

The Great Imamate according to the Sunnis and the community by the writer Abdullah bin Omar Al-Dumaiji. It is a study written primarily to address the issue of the Great Imamate, in terms of its definition and conditions, the methods of holding it, the duties and rights of the Imam, and other issues. The conclusion of the study is that obedience is obligatory for every righteous or immoral prince.

The second study, written by Sheikh Dr. Abdul Salam bin Barjas Al Abdul Karim, entitled (The Treatment of Rulers in the Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah), confirmed that listening and obedience to Muslim rulers is one of the foundations of the doctrine of the Sunnis and the community.

The study is an attempt to determine the legitimacy granted by many scholars of the Islamic nation to the Islamic ruler and his representatives in ruling alone, and the evidence that was used for this purpose from the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s hadiths. The opinions of the interpreters had an important role in identifying the noble verses that contain clear indications of the nature of rule in Islam and their interpretation. According to specific data, as well as Muslim jurists and their role in adopting an interpretive view of the Prophetic hadiths that bear more than one interpretation and interpretation, which can be understood as granting the Islamic ruler unlimited and unrestricted powers in dealing with the subjects. It is known in Islamic history that the duration of the Rightly Guided Caliphate differs radically from What followed the rule of the Umayyads and the Abbasid Caliphate.

But Islamic jurisprudence granted legitimacy to rule according to several reasons and many evidences that were defended and adopted, especially by the followers of the Salafi approach. In the research, most of the evidence that was adopted was identified, which could be considered legislation for what is called today tyranny in the ruling system.

The research was divided according to two sections: the first was the evidence provided by the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet regarding the obligation of obeying the ruler, and the second discussed the opinions of the most important jurists of Islamic schools of thought in the various Islamic eras regarding obedience to the ruler, whether he is righteous or immoral.