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Author: Dr. Tanveer Hussain

Public Participation in the Government

Public Participation in the Government

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Public participation is an essential attribute of the Islamic political system. There is no place in Islam for such a political order where only a single person or a specific set of persons have authoritarian or totalitarian rule. Even the Prophet (s.a.w.) (i.e. the highest authority in Islam) was commanded by the Almighty God to have consultation with the community of believers and extract their opinion in public matters[1]. Similarly, it has been categorically pointed out in the Quran that…

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The Principle of Limited Government

The Principle of Limited Government

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If a government has absolute power, there is always a risk of it becoming tyrannical, dictatorial and oppressive, resulting in human rights violations, revolts or violence. In pure democracy, the parliament is supreme and has unlimited power while in a republic like USA the constitution is supreme and the powers of the congress are limited by the constitution. In an Islamic Republic, the Word of God is supreme and the powers of the Islamic government are limited by the Quran…

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Constitutionalism and Rule of Divine Law

Constitutionalism and Rule of Divine Law

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Tracing the genealogy of constitutionalism, Mads Qvortrup, in his book ‘The Political Philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’, writes that “the law given to Moses by the Lord was the birth of constitutionalism….The power of the king, or ruler, was restricted by a higher law….Unlike their contemporary colleagues in Babylon or Egypt, the Jewish kings were restricted in their action by the law as laid down by God….The king’s role was to apply the law – he was a judge rather than…

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Sovereignty and Authority

Sovereignty and Authority

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Sovereignty has been defined as “supreme authority within a territory”[1]. This definition has two major components viz. (1) authority (2) territoriality, where authority means “the right to command and correlatively the right to be obeyed”. In parliamentary sovereignty, the legislative body is the ultimate source of power and can make, change or repeal any law, without subject to any judicial review (which may overturn the law deeming it as unconstitutional). Parliamentary sovereignty is associated with pure Democratic form of Government,…

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Justice and Equality

Justice and Equality

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Justice as ‘fairness’ is the hallmark of an Islamic political system. The Quran makes it clear that the key task of all the Messengers of Allah and the objective of giving them the Book of Divine laws was to establish justice[1],[2]. Justice must be meted out in all fairness even if the decision goes against one’s own self, one’s parents, relatives, the poor or the rich[3]. And the hatred or enmity of someone should never be a cause to deviate…

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Individual Liberty and State Intervention

Individual Liberty and State Intervention

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The ultimate goal of an Islamic Republic is to establish a society wherein people are able to fulfill their valuable physical, mental and spiritual potential in peace and security. In order to ensure peace and security in the society, the state must intervene for the protection of life, liberty, property, honour and dignity of the people, and also for their protection from exploitation or victimization by one another. The state must provide basic healthcare and education facilities for the physical…

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Freedom of Expression

Freedom of Expression

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Freedom of speech or expression is the political right to express one’s opinion or ideas. The right to freedom of expression is not absolute anywhere in the world, and is subjected to restrictions as with slander, sedition, libel, obscenity, etc. In an Islamic Republic, no one is allowed to spread immorality or broadcast obscenity[1] in the name of freedom of media or press. No one is allowed to calumniate the innocent under the pretext of freedom of speech[2]. Regarding the…

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