Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Salaam, i was recently talking to a brother from a group called the Hizb-ut-tahrir and he said to me working for the Khilafah is fard, I just wanted to ask is working to establish the Islamic state a fard upon all muslims, Jazakallah! 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Is working for Khilaafat fard?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The believers, who sincerely fear Allah Subhanah and the Last Day, should have two objectives:

As an individual, his main objective should be to avoid Hell Fire, and make it to Paradise.

And collectively, they must strive to establish, to the best of their ability, a system of government where the Laws, Guidance, and Teachings of Allah Subhanah and His Messenger (saws) are implemented and practiced.

Islam is not the name of some rites and rituals, where one does some routine rituals to satisfy his religious needs, and in the rest of his life there is no implementation of Divine Guidance! Islam is the name of a full and comprehensive Way or System of Life, as approved by the Creator Himself. All facets of a believers life, be they personal, civil, social, economical, governance, etc., must be from the teachings and guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws).

If we look at the ‘Seerah’ of the Prophet (saws), we realize that the first thing the Messenger of Allah (saws) did upon migration to Medina was establish an Islamic State, whereby the guidance and teachings of Allah Subhanah would be implemented in its entirety. But before his migration, when the muslims were weak and in the minority, they practiced the Shariah upon themselves, but never tried to enforce the Shariah on the disbelievers, who were the leaders of the unbelieving society.

Thus, in the present state of the Muslim Ummah, the believers, who are probably weak and in the minority in a country, cannot establish an Islamic State by simply organizing rallies and slogans of Khilaafah! The need of the hour is that the believers must actively do ‘daawah’ and spread the message of Truth from the Quran and Sunnah to all who care to listen to good caution; and when the true believers are in the majority and they have power in the land, a nation that adheres to the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws) will be a natural progression.

It is absolutely obligatory that every believer, first and foremost establish Shariah upon himself; and then individually and collectively strive with their wealth and their lives to do ‘daawah’, and invite the people to the Message of Truth. If we do this for the Pleasure of Allah Subhanah, and Allah accepts our efforts, there will be a huge reward in the Presence of the Merciful. If we do not do this, we will have a severe accounting on the Day of Judgment in the Presence of the All Mighty Lord of the Worlds.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan