The Islamic State

Amin Ahsan Islahi (1904-1997) a renowned Pakistani scholar, author of nine-volume commentary on the Holy Qur'an, Tadabbur-e Qu'ran (Urdu), addresses fundamental questions on the Islamic political system. After a brief introduction to the concept of khilafah in Islam and a description of differences between the Islamic State and the conventional states, Islahi explains the basic principles of the Islamic State. He details conspicuous characteristics of the nation founded on Islam and explains the rights of Muslim and non-Muslim citizens of the state. He concludes his discussion on a detailed analysis of the duties and obligations of the rulers and the state officials in Islam. Islahi maintains that the traditional understanding of the rights of the non-Muslim citizens in the Islamic State, the so-called dhimmis, in erroneous. He believes that the Islamic State is not required by the divine law to subject all the non-Muslims to the payment of jizyah. Islahi's thoughts in this book represent the views of a great majority of the learned Pakistani Muslims regarding the Islamic Khilafah.