Assignment Introduction To Fiqh (RKFQ 2062)

Section 4

“Khilafah Vs Democracy System According To

 Fiqh Siyasah In Indonesia”

PREPARED BY :

HADIDATUN SOFRO (1125326)

SEMESTER 2

PERIODE 2013/2014

                     INTRODUCTION

§  THESIS STATEMENT

In the study of contemporary political science, a topic which is related to the caliphate and democracy has been attracting  the attention of many political observers.  In Indonesia , it’s very common that both topic democracy and caliphate system have been discussing in all over parts of Indonesia . Not only in the certain parts of Indonesia but in all walks of life . In addition , it is not rare be found that some of those people who are very fanatic to one of the system makes the both topic democracy and caliphate as the topic that is very sensitive to talk about . It is so because , there are some of them that support the democracy system assume that caliphate system is  an utopian system . They still maintain the thinking that democracy is the most relevant system with the current situation compared to other system ,especially caliphate system . On the other hands, there are some of the people that are still maintain the thinking that caliphate is the best Islamic system and democracy is the worst system today . Not only that , it is also assumed as the “kufur” system which had adopted from the Greek time and it was a secular system which is believed as the system that is not relevant to the Islamic teaching . In addition , some of the people who do not accept the democracy system within the country are also still keep the thinking that the democracy is the worst system because from democracy , the people who are sitting in the parliement have their more intencity to do corruption which is greater compared to others . Thus , for them , the poor will always be poor and the rich people will be richer than before .

However , from some extent , i strongly believe that the democracy is the most relevant system with the current situation of political life in Indonesia . I do not say that the caliphate is the bad system and it is not applicable system for Indonesia as the muslim country , but for my point of view , it is not relevant to the current situation of political life in Indonesia and if it is implemented in Indonesia then there will be so many conflicts occured in Indonesia as the implementation of Shari’ah laws which is always be brought by the Caliphate system . In addition , there will be supporting reasons of my point of view that will be taken from reliable sources and also from the perspective of Fiqh siyasah that both are relevant to the current situation . Then the content of this assignment will also explain , give some evidences and examples of this topic . Hopefully , the contents of this assignment will provide many benefits and also achieve all the aims that have been attached at the objectives part . Amin .

§  OBJECTIVES

o   Describe the  implementation of democracy system in Greek time and also in Indonesia

o   Clarify concepts and understanding also hone the critical thinking of the reader about democracy system .

o   Give some explanation of the democratic system according to the Islamic Perspective

o   Help the readers discover the real understanding of democration

o   Help the readers to know about the advantages and disadvantages of applying democratic system In Indonesia

o   Help the readers to know about the advantages and disadvantages of applying Caliphate system in Indonesia

o   Help the readers to know about which one is more suitable system to be applied in Indonesia according to Fiqh Siyasah and also Political Perspective .

§  RESEARCH QUESTIONS

o   How Islam defines politic ?

o   What is the difference between Caliphate and Democracy system ?

o   Why is Caliphate system regarded as an Utopian nowadays?

o   Why should be Democracy system in Indonesia ?

BACKGROUND

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

v DEMOCRACY

The word “democracy” is derived from two Greek roots , demos  which means people and kratia which connotes rule . Thus , literally , democracy means rule by the people . For a society to be democratic , then a large number of its people must enjoy the right to have some say over important decision that affect their lives . In other words , democratic government is based on the consent of the governed . The most popular definition of democracy has been given by Abraham Lincoln as “the government of the people , by the people for the people .” . It can be also defined as the government by the majority with the consent of the minority . Austin Ranney defines it as “a form of government organized in accordance with the principle of popular sovereignty , political equality , popular consultation , and majority rule .”[1]

The first emergence of democracy was in Greek , which was in Athena in the 4th and 5th _{BC .} Democracy emerged as the response to the presence of the monarchy-dictator at that time. When it first appeared ,democracy was still in its pure form which is called as direct democracy . However , democracy was born in Athena , it didn’t guarantee that the democracy was the best system in Athena and it was well developed there . At that time , the word “people” which was in the sentence of “the govenment of the people , by the people and for the people “ has meaning only some people who can have political right and can participate in the democracy system . Women , slaves , foreigners and free men under 20 years old were exluded . They could not participate in the process of democracy . In addition , the population in Athena at that time was 250.000 – 300.000 people , but only 30.000 of the amount have their political right and 5.000 of those people could participate in democracy process .

Then in the further development , some of the political thinker came out with their political ideas to improve further the democration . There were some of them like Machiavelli came with his ideas of secularism , Thomas Hobes with his social contract and J.J.Rosseau with his popular sovereignity ideas and social contract . However , because of that , finally democracy started facing a deviation , then because of that , it was finally resulted a representative democracy . Representative democracy is that “a system of government in which citizens elect their representative to run the government on their behalf “.[2] In this stage , the democracy seems to be more apparent in supporting the Liberalism , Capitalism and Secularism .

v CALIPHATE

In Indonesia , it is very common to say that when people are talking about caliphate then it is always related to Hizbut Tahrir . Hizbut Tahrir was founded by Taqiudin al - Nabhani in Palestine in 1953 . He was a judge in Haifa . His full name is Taqiy Al-Din bin Ibrahim bin Musthafa bin Isma’il bin Yusuf Nashir Ad Din An Nabhani . He was always moving from one place to another from Jordan, Syrians, eventually died in Lebanon . He was educated at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt in 1928 AD . He was very productive because he wrote so many books such as Nidzam al-Islam, al-Takattul al-Hizbi, Hizb al-Tahrir Mafaheem, al-Nidzam al-Iqtishadi fi al-Islam, al-Nidzam al-ijtimai fi al-Islam, al-Hukmi Nidzam fi al-Islam, al-Dawla al-Islamiyya, Mafaheem Siyasiyah li Hizb al-Tahrir, and so forth. Before he founded the liberation party, he wrote a book called Risalat- Al arab . The establishment of this liberation  party was closely related to the Israeli invasion of Palestine and the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate that fell in 1924 .

Hizbut Tahrir leadership system called 'Emirate'  which was held by Amir al-Hizb. The limitation of  Amir al-Hizb leadership was not limited, or lifetime. Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani himself held the reins of Amir al-Hizb until 1977 (at the same year he died). After Al-Nabhani, and then it was replaced by Abdul Qadeem Zallum (1977). As al-Nabhani, Abdul Qadeem Zallum has also studied at al-Azhar. Encounter with al-Taqi al-Din Nabhani occurred in 1952, or one year before the party stand. Among the works are Zallum; Amwal fi al-Dawlat al-Khilafah, Nidzam al-Hukm fi al-Islam, al-Ta'rif bi-Hizb al-Tahrir, al-Kufr Dimuqrathiyyah Nidzam, and so on.

CONTENT

v THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRACY SYSTEM AND KHILAFAH SYSTEM 

The democracy is characterized by four features . The first features is that the ultimate power to make political decision is vested in all the people . The second one is that Each adult citizen has the same opportunity as every other adult citizen to participate in the decision –making process . This means “one person , one vote “ and , indeed, the freedom to choose from alternatives . The third one is that the public policies are made only after ascertaining the wishes of the people . The last one is that all political decisions must be made according to the wishes of the majority .[3]

In addition , on the basis of relationship between the executive and legislature , democracies are classified into two categories , which are presidential system and parliamentary system . Presidential system is that a system of government that is organized by the principle of separation of powers . In this system , the President is the one who holds the responsibilities to lead the country . He has a power in both head of state and chief executive . While for the parliamentary system is that a system of government that is organized by the principle of fusion power . It means the executive and legislature are fused . This kind of system of government also can be called as a representative system , which means , citizens in the country do not vote directly for a chief executive  . They only vote for legislative representatives or members of parliament who are organized into political parties . It also differs with presidential system because in presidential system , the president is both chief executive and head of state , while in presidential system , the chief executive is the prime minister .

In brief , it is very clear to be seen that the democracy system is that the system of government in which majority voice of people are a backrest of all political decisions . People have their own liberty to do whatever they want and express what is in their minds .

However , there are some evidences that showed how democracy cannot represent the aspiration of people . Finally , the democracy is only becoming an illution now . As we can see in Indonesia that the democracy cannot ever make all citizens in Indonesia to participate in the democracy system . It is just becoming a system in which a few people can participate in political affairs and only some of them can have their right in political matters . Finally , it makes democracy has no difference with oligarchy system or other system of government , such as authoritarianism .

On the other hands , As the opposition of democracy is that the Khilafah system . It is  a system in which a state constitution is depending on the power of Allah ( swt) and His messenger . Not only that , the khilafah system also submit all the sovereignity and legislative power to Allah and His Messenger and it must believe that Allah (swt) is the highest judge in the world .

In addition , the concept of khilafah is very contradict with the democracy system . In the democracy system , the people is the highest judge in decision-making , while in khalifah system , the most high judge is going back to Allah (swt) . In khilafah , people are limited in doing whatever they want . They have to do something which is related to the Islamic law and does not against the Islamic teaching . In addition , it has also been stating in Qur’an that Allah (swt) has given the power and ability to someone. Allah also made ​​man in such a position , so that they can use the gifts of God. Therefore , men are not rulers or the owner himself but they are just the caliph on earth.

In addition , the concept of khilafah is quite different with democracy system . In khilafah system , the state task must be done perfectly , it starts with choosing the heads of state and officials in charge (ulil amri) and do things concerned with legislation and executive matters which would have been agreed by all muslims and mukmin . In addition , not like a democracy system , in khilafah system , the way of elect the leader has certain conditions which have to be fulfilled by the leaders . The leaders must be a good person , he has to have a retentive memory , etc . If the leader doesn’t have all those requirements , then he could not be a leader .

Again , when people talk about khilafah , It always comes to the Indoensians’ mind that khilafah means hizbut tahrir . Hizb ut-Tahrir in the realization their agenda to establish an Islamic state is through parliament . There are several ways are done by Hizbut Tahrir to get involved in the parleament which are Hizbut Tahrir tries to focus more on the doctrinal efforts to the community about Islam . In this stage , Hizbut Tahrir prefer to the thought and knowledge of Islamic civilization . The second way is that it tries to concentrate its activities in the political sphere . It can be done by a mean in which they try to everything possible to undermine the rules are made not from Islamic principles. Not only that , Hizbut Tahrir assumes that the country is inhabited by Muslims but adopt laws which derived not from the Islamic principles , then the country can be called as Dar Al-Kufr . Therefore , Hizbut Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir in Indonesia are trying so hard to press the government to implement Islamic laws comprehensively which is impossible to be implemented in Indonesia as a country that has been adopting liberal-democracy .

v DEMOCRACY SYSTEM ACCORDING TO FIQH SIYASAH

Why is Caliphate regarded as an utopian in Indonesia nowadays ?

         When it talks about utopian , utopian according to oxford dictionary is that “Modelled on or aiming for a state in which everything is perfect; idealistic “.[4]It is not said that the caliphate system is a bad system and cannot be applicable at all in Indonesia . However , Hizbut Tahrir has been forgetting that the Islamic government at the time of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his companions which is called as Khilafah system is very impossible to be implemented again in Indonesia . It is so because the quality of the people at the time of prophet Muhammad (saw) and his companions are so much different with the quality of people nowadays . The people today are much complex than the people at the time of prophet Muhammad (saw) . It is so because the muslims today have been confronting the challenges from Western , then some of them may have been experiencing moral degradation as the result of Western influence to the Muslim’s thought . Thus as the result of it , it is very impossible to implement the shari’ah laws such as Hudud and Qisas in Indonesia , because it will invite a lot of criticism and conflicts of various parties .

In addition , when the muslims start to face a moral degradation then it will be so much impossible to implement the khilafah system . It is so because as it has mentioned above that to implement the caliphate system , it must be a caliph to rule the country . However , as muslims face moral degradation then it becomes a proof that it is becoming so much impossible to find an eligible person to be a caliph to lead the country which is adopting caliphate system . However , it is not enough to simply mention about the caliphate in all parts of the country but when it comes to practice, then it gets nothing . Thus , this is something that people who want to implement caliphate must underline in order a caliphate system is not just an utopian system .

Why should Democracy system ?

            “Contemporary scholars are unanimous in their opinion that the Qur’an and sunnah do not prescribe any particular form of government , nor elaborate a constitutional theory . Consequently , it is argued that the Islamic polity can take many forms ,”it is up to the Muslims of every age to find one that suits them.”[5] . From the statement , it is very clear that Al-Qur’an and Sunnah do not even mention what the form of government muslims must adopt . It is neither caliphate nor democracy . Thus it becomes a choice of individual muslim to adopt any form of government which suits them and then it is a proof that there is no big deal in implementing democracy system eventhough it comes from West .In addition , democracy is an ideal system that can be applied by all countries. Although with the implementation of democracy, there will be the potential for the birth of secularism, communism and liberalism, but there are some concepts of democracy which are not contradictory to Islam , such as the practice of syura’ (QS. Ali Imran: 159), Ahl Al-Halli wa Aqdi (QS. Al-Nisa’: 59), reject the despotic ruler (Surat al-Baqara: 258, QS. Al-Syu'ara: 150-152), following a majority vote (Surat al-Tawbah: 105, QS. al-Ghafir: 35).

            In addition , from the brief description above, we can see how Hizbut Tahrir with his mission wants to bring Islam to the Islamic legal normativity . Islamic Legal normativity is that an Islamic law is assumed to be unchanged until whenever. There are two theories about the relation of Islamic law and social change namely normativity and adaptability . The normativity is that a law that is believed will not change eventhough the times have changed. The law is assumed cannot change at any time since the law is being revealed . While the adaptibility is that a law can be adapted to social change and require new ijtihad according to the conditions that exist today. From the explanation above , Hizbut Tahrir adopted the theory of normativity which according to Yusuf Qardlawi in his book , “the law which does not see the aspect of time, place and conditions is being called as legal syadz or broken law .”

            In brief , from the explanation above , it can be said that the formalization of Islamic law is not the command of Allah, nor the advice of the Prophet. Then it becomes permissible to Indonesia to adopt the democracy system in which it is thought as the most suitable system in Indonesia compared to the Khilafah system .

CONCLUSION

It can be taken as the conclusion that Al-Qur’an and Sunnah do not mention what the form of government muslims must adopt . It is neither caliphate nor democracy . Since there is no prohibition in Islam of implementing the democracy system within the country , then it becomes a must of implementing the democracy system as it is felt as the most suit system to Indonesia . Not only that , eventhought , the democracy system as the product of Western , but it doesn’t guarantee that both democracy system and caliphate system are not interconnected to each other . There are some concepts of democracy which are in line with Khilafah system such as such as the practice of syura’ (QS. Ali Imran: 159), Ahl Al-Halli wa Aqdi (QS. Al-Nisa’: 59), reject the despotic ruler (Surat al-Baqara: 258, QS. Al-Syu'ara: 150-152), following a majority vote (Surat al-Tawbah: 105, QS. al-Ghafir: 35). Allahu a’lam .

REFERENCES

1.      Abdul Rashid Moten , Introduction To Political Science , Thomson Learning : Singapore , 2005 .

2.      Anshori Thayyib , Sistem Politik Dalam Pemerintahan Islam , Anggota IKAPI , Surabaya , Cetakan Pertama , 1983 .

3.      "utopian". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 11 March 2014. <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/en

4.      S.Abdul A’la Maududi , Khilafah Dan Kerajaan , Dewan Pustaka Fajar , Bandung , 1986 .

5.      Hizbut Tahrir Al-Islamy , “ Citizens And Governance In A Knowledge-Based Society“, accessed from http://www.transnationalterrorism.eu/tekst/publications/Hizb%20ut%20Tahrir%20al%20Islami.pdf on March 11 , 2014 at 23.05

6.      Taqiyyudin An Nabhani , “Mafahim Hizbut Tahrir” , accessed from http://www.hizbut-tahrir.or.id/container/uploads/2007/12/02-mafahim-ht.pdf on March 11 , 2014 at 23.15

7.      Ahmad Hadidul Fahmi , “Kritik Pemikiran Hizbut Tahrir” , accessed from https://www.facebook.com/notes/ahmad-hadidul-fahmi/kritik-pemikiran-hizbut-tahrir/10150303922777603 on March 9 , 2014 at 15.08

8.      Lubab El-Mobahitsin , "Demokrasi , Pemilu , Khilafah “ , accessed from https://www.facebook.com/notes/lubab-el-mobahitsin/demokrasi-pemilu-khilafah-special-for-doni-usman/151254321162 on March 9 , 2014 at 21.05

           

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[1] Austion Ranney , Governing :An Introduction to Political Science (Englewood Cliffs, N.J:Prentice-Hall, 1993),100.

[2] Abdul Rashid Moten , Introduction to Political Science ( Thomson Learning : Singapore , 2005),135.

[3] Abdul Rashid Moten , Introduction To Political Science , 132

[4] Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 11 March 2014. <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/e

[5] [5] Abdul Rashid Moten , Introduction To Political Science , 151