Authority, Accountability, And The Islamic State |
A few days ago, the Chief of the Defence Forces, General Syed Asim Munir, stated in front of Ulama that ‘in an Islamic State, only the State has the authority to declare jihād.’ The remark generated extensive discussion across media platforms and legal forums, as it invoked ‘Islamic constitutional’ principles to define the limits of religious and coercive authority. At its core, the statement reflects an assertion that Islam does not permit the privatisation of coercive power; rather, such authority must remain institutional, regulated, and subject to law.
Once an Islamic principle is invoked to define the scope of state authority, however, it invites a broader inquiry. If Islam determines who may legitimately exercise power, it must also inform how that power is constrained. This raises an unavoidable question: where does the concept of lifetime legal immunity for state officials stand within an ‘Islamic’ conception of the state? This is a structural question about the political, moral, and legal architecture of authority (one that Muslim jurists and political thinkers have examined for centuries).
In most of the Muslim jurisprudence, wilāyah, political authority, is not conceived as an inherent right but as an amānah, a trust. The Qurʾān consistently links authority with justice and accountability, emphasising that governance is a........