The Ummah's Charter 

  Hizb ut Tahrir

1410 AH / 1989 CE

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The Ummah's Charter

The word charter, linguistically and in the Sharee'ah terminology, means al-‘Ahd (the covenant). He swt said: "Except those who join a group, between you and whom there is a treaty (of peace) (meethaaq)." [An-Nisaa': 90] And He swt said: "And if he belonged to a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual alliance (meethaaq), compensation (blood money - Diyah) must be paid to his family.' [An- Nisaa: 92] And He swtsaid: "Was not the covenant (meethaaq) of the Book taken from them that they would not say about Allah anything but the truth?" [Al-A'raaf: 169] And He swt said: "And (remember) when Allah took the Covenant (meethaaq) of the Prophets, saying: ‘Take whatever I gave you from the Book and Hikmah (understanding of the Laws of Allah, etc.), and afterwards there will come to you a Messenger (Muhammad saw) confirming what is with you; you must, then, believe in him and help him.'" [Aali ‘Imran: 81]

In our time, technically, it refers to a collection of principles, in which the people believe, make their viewpoint in life and take as a source for their constitution and rules. The people, who adopt a charter, are the newly emergent people who have established a state and began a new life other that which they used to live; as is the case with the African states and with every state which was born recently and began a new life other than their former life.

When the Arab countries were separated from the body of the ‘Uthmani Khilafah "Caliphate" at the end of World War I, each region that had become a state tried to draw up a charter, which they called the national charter, as in Iraq and Syria for example. As for the previous peoples and nations, they did not think of writing a charter. This is because a specific political creed had crystallised in them, together with specific principles which they took as their viewpoint about life and as a source for the rules that they used, instead of a constitution and canons, in case if they did not have a constitution or canons. If they have a constitution and canons, they use these principles as a source for this constitution and canons. These principles are preserved, well known and agreed upon without any need for them to be written down, and without being called an Ummah's charter or national charter. This is the case with all very old states.

The Islamic Ummah is one of the most ancient of nations and she has a political creed, which is the only true ‘Aqeedah. It has been entrenched within her thoughts and ahkaam, which she made her viewpoint about life and took as a source of rules that organise the state and the rest of the relationships, or what they call constitution and canons. All of this has been recorded in two great sources, which are the Kitaab and Sunnah.

Therefore, it is in no need for a charter called the Ummah's charter. It is not right that she should have a national charter, because the Kitaab and Sunnah oblige it to fight against the patriotic and nationalistic bond. However, the Ummah was affected by the Western thoughts, due to the missionary and cultural invasion, followed by the political and military attack by the Kaafir Western states on the Muslim lands.

The application of Islam in the state and society became far removed from the Ummah after the destruction of the Khilafah "Caliphate" state in 1924, the Kitaab and Sunnah lost, in the minds of the Muslims, their political and legislative aspect. The Islamic ‘Aqeedah ceased to be a political creed. As a result of these two matters, the vision of Islam as an ‘Aqeedah and system for life, state and society weakened. However, this ancient Islamic Ummah woke up from its slumber, after the intense suffering caused by her remoteness from Islam and the domination of the West, its thoughts, systems and agents. It woke up after the West showed its true face and the Ummah perceived the corruption of the Western thoughts and systems, the corruption of the socialist and communist thoughts and systems and also the corruption of nationalism and regionalism. It  has understood the extent of their danger to it and to its entity as an Ummah.

So, it has returned to Islam to discover in it the solution to its problems. Islam became its hope for salvation and for saving it from its sufferings and hardships. It has begun to view the Islamic Aqeedah as a political creed, and that the Kitaab and Sunnah contain a complete system for life, state and society and they both have a political and legislative aspect. They have come to realise that it cannot be saved or rescued unless it returns to the Kitaab and Sunnah and implements them.

Therefore, it is natural, when the Ummah feels the need to change the current society and believes in the Kitaab and Sunnah, that it would take this Kitaab and Sunnah as the charter for the Ummah and as the source for the constitution and canons. However, adopting the Kitaab and Sunnah as a charter for the Ummah, must be expressed in the form of broad guidelines, in which thoughts are manifested that contain the manner of implementation, so that the Kitaab and Sunnah can be taken as a charter. It should include a study on how to correctly define what the Kitaab and Sunnah mean, in order to guarantee the right course. It must show how to comprehend the Kitaab and Sunnah and how they will be a source of constitution and canons. It is necessary to explain the identity of the state that will be based on the two sources, in order to execute them. Thus, one must adopt the Kitaab and Sunnah as a charter, which is crystallised in the form of broad guidelines that reflect the practical image of the adoption of the charter. It is from this perspective that the idea of this charter has come.

These are the broad lines, which have been crystallised in taking the Kitaab and Sunnah as a charter for the Ummah.