Who Applies Islamic Law in Non-Muslim Countries? A Study of theSunnīPrinciple of the Governance of the Scholars (wilāyat al-‘ulamā)

In their political writings, Sunnī jurists have theorized about when Islam is in “power”and when it is not. Among the important issues discussed are the applications of Islamic law in non-Muslim countries and the question of who applies it. One of the significant contributions in this field is the book of Al-Juwaynī (478/1085), al-Ghiyāthī (The Saviours), in which he explains the principle of the governance of the scholars (wilāyat al-‘ulamā’) that should be applied when there is no Islamic government in place. This article discusses the Sunnī jurists' view of the governance of the scholars (wilāyat al-‘ulamā’), with special reference to al-Juwaynī, the origins, development, applications and relevance of this approach to the present time, particularly its applicability to Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries. Notes 1. The book is edited by M tafā ilmī, Alexandria: Dār al-Da‘wa, 1979; and by ‘Abd al-‘Aīm al-Dīb, Cairo: Mtba‘at Nahat Mir, 1979. 2. In the edition of M tafā Hilmī, 1979, the last word in the title reads as ulm meaning “injustice.” However, this appears to be a mistake, as the word does not rhyme with umam. 3. Ismā‘īl Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāya wa al-Nihāya (The Beginning and the End), Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, n.d., Vol. 12, p. 128. 4. Abū al-Ma‘ālī Al-Juwaynī, al-Ghiyāthī, ed., ‘Abd al-‘Aīm al-Dīb, Cairo: Mtba‘at Nahat Mir, 1979, pp. 12–14. 5. Ibid., pp. 329–354. 6. See B. Lewis, “The Abbasid,” in P. J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs, eds, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edn., Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960–2005; and W. M. Watt, Islamic Political Thought, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 1968, p. 100. 7. A. Al-Juwaynī, al-Ghiyāthī, op. cit., pp. 79–80. 8. Ibid., pp. 72–76. 9. Ibid., pp. 385–386. 10. Ibid., p. 386. 11. Ibid., p. 391. 12. Muammad Idrīs Al-Shfi‘ī, Kitāb Al-Umm (The Premier), Beirut: Dār al-Ma‘rifa, 1990, Vol. 4, p. 233. 13. Amad Al-aāwī, Mukhtaar Ikhtilāf al-‘ulamā’ (A Summary of Juristic Controversies), Beirut: Dār al-Bashāir, 1996, Vol. 3, p. 473. 14. Abū al-asan Al-Māwardī, Adab al-Qādī (Code of Judicial Conduct), ed., Muiyy Hilāl Sarān, Baghdad: Mtba‘at al-Irshād, 1971, pp. 139–140. 15. Abū Yayā' Al-Farā', Al-Akām al-Stāniyya (The Ordinances of Government), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1982, p. 37. 16. Muwafaq al-Dīn Ibn Qudāma, Al-Mughnī fī Fiqh al-Imam Ibn anbal (The Compendium on the Code of Imām Ibn anbal), eds, A. Turkly and A. al-ulū, Cairo: Hajar, 1992, Vol. 13, p. 17. 17. Amad Ibn Taymiyya, Majmū' al-Fatāwā (A Compendium of Legal Statements), compiled by M. bin Qāsim, Riyadh: Dār ‘Ālam al-Kutub, 1991, Vol. 34, pp. 175–176. 18. Kamal al-Dīn Ibn al-Humām, Shar Fat al-Qadīr (The Bounty of the Mighty: A Commentary on Legal Issues), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyya, 1995, Vol. 7, p. 246. 19. Amad Ibn ajar Al-Haytamī, al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā al-Fiqhiyya (The Copious Collection of Islamic Legal Statements), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1997, Vol. 4. 20. Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 294. 21. Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 294. 22. Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 295. 23. Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 296. 24. Ibid., Vol. 4, pp. 296–297. 25. Abū al-‘Abbās Amad Ibn Yayā Al-Wansharīsī, al-Mi‘yār al-Mu‘rib wa al-Jāmi‘ al-Mughrib ‘an Fatāwā Ahl Afrīqiya wa al-Andalus wa al-Maghrib (A Unique Collection of Islamic Legal Statements of the Scholars of Africa, mainly North Africa, and Andalusia), 13 Vols, al-Ribt: al-Awqāf wa al-shi’ūn al-Islāmiyya, 1981–1983. 26. Ibid., Vol. 10, p. 135. 27. Ibid., Vol. 10, p. 102. 28. Ibid., Vol. 10, p. 103. 29. Ibid., Vol. 10, pp. 108–109. 30. For a detailed discussion see Khalid Abou El Fadl, “Islamic Law and Muslim Minorities: the juristic discourse on Muslim minorities from the second/eighth to the eleventh/seventeenth centuries,” Islamic Law and Society, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1994, pp. 141–187. 31. Ibid., p. 158. 32. Cited in Muhammad Hamidullah, Muslim Conduct of State, Hyderabad-Deccan: The Government Central Press, 1941, pp. 70–75. 33. Ibid., p. 72. 34. Ibid., p. 72. 35. L. P. Harvey, Islamic Spain 1250 to 1500, Chicago, IL and London: University of Chicago Press, 1990, p. 12. 36. Ibid., pp. 2–3. Harvey defines Mudegar as “A Muslim who, after the surrender of a territory to a Christian ruler, remained there without changing religion, and entered into a relationship of vassalage under Christian king.” The word probably had its origin from the Arabic term Mudajan, which originally refers to a domesticated animal that was tamed to live under human protection. 37. Ibid., pp. 64–65. 38. Ibid., p. 125. 39. Ibid., pp. 102–103. 40. Ibid., pp. 138–145. 41. Ibid., p. 146. 42. Ibid., p. 149. 43. Imam Khumayni, “The Islamic Government,” in Islam and Revolution, trans. Hamid Algar, London: KPI, 1981, p. 64. 44. Ibid., pp. 124–125. 45. K. G. Zadeh, “General Principles of Imam Khumayni's Political Thought,” trans. A. N. Baqirshahi, Message of Thaqalayn, Vol. 2, Nos 2 & 3, see online . 46. See K. Abou El Fadl, “Islamic Law and Muslim Minorities,” op. cit., pp. 141–187. 47. See J. Nielsen, Emerging Claims of Muslim Populations in Matters of Family Law in Europe, Birmingham: Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian Muslim Relations, 1993; Sebastian Poulter, English Law and Ethnic Minority Customs, London: Butterworth, 1986; David Pearl, Family Law and the Immigrant Communities, Bristol, Avon: Jordan & Sons, 1986; Jan Rath, Kees Groenedijk and Rinos Penninx, “The Recognition and Institutionalisation of Islam in Belgium, Great Britain and the Netherlands,” New Community, Vol. 18, No. 1, October 1995, pp. 101–114. 48. See Silvio Ferrari and Anthony Brandey, Islam and European Legal Systems, Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2000. 49. See online . 50. S. Nūrīn Shah-Kazemi, “Untying the Knot: Divorce and Muslim Law in the UK,” ISIM Newsletter, No. 7, 2000, p. 31. 51. Extracts from Imkaan Training Progamme on “Marriage and Divorce in Islamic Law—Sharia Law, Implications for Muslim Women and Children Experiencing Domestic Violence,” 13 May 2004, see online

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