Q&A: Is it the right of the Khaleefah to ask for the bay’ah of ta’at (obedience) from Muslims in the West?

The following is the translation from an Arabic Q&A issued during the time of Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zalloom (rh).

Question: Is it the right of the Khaleefah to ask for the bay’ah of ta’at (obedience) from those Muslims who live in the West?

And if so, on what areas can the Khaleefah command them on and in what areas can he not instruct them?

If they reside outside the State, in the West, is it Fard to obey the adoption of the Khaleefah on matters that relate to their reality. E.g. they cannot implement the penal code but they can implement in the adopted opinion on jilbaab etc.?

And is the order of obedience on particular matters restricted to causing hardship for them. So, if it caused hardship then Khaleefah should not order?

Answer: The sultaan (authority) of the Khaleefah is only in Daar ul- Islam, so the Muslims in the Islamic State are obliged to obey the Khaleefah in all the ahkaam shar’iyyah he adopts. He has to obtain a bai’ah of in’iqaad and a bai’ah of Taa’ah from the Muslims in the state.

As for those Muslims who live outside the State, the followings rules apply to them:

1. They have to emigrate to daar ul-islam, either as fard, mandoob, or forgiven, according to what came in the shakhsiyyah (The Islamic Personality), volume 2, chapter of: Hijrah from daar ul-kufr to daar ul-islam.

2. They have no right in the bai’ah of in’iqaad (contracting pledge), i.e. they have no right to give a bai’ah to another Khaleefah in their country; they are obliged to give a bai’ah of

Taa’ah (pledge of allegiance) to the Khaleefah in daar ul-islam. In other words, they are responsible to have a bai’ah of Taa’ah to the existing Khaleefah, for Khilaafah is a general leadership for all Muslims worldwide, to establish the ahkaam of shar’ islami, and to convey the da’wah islamiyyah to the world; and it is Haraam for Muslims to have more than one Khaleefah. See Nitham ul-Hukm (The Ruling System), page34, page43, Arabic edition.

Therefore, Muslims living outside the sultaan (authority) of the Khaleefah have no right in the bai’ah of in’iqaad; they are rather obliged of a bai’ah of Taa’ah to the existing Khaleefah, which is virtually a bai’ah of Taa’ah, i.e. when their country is annexed to the Islamic State or concurred the bai’ah of Taa’ah becomes compulsory upon them. See nitham ul-Hukm (The Ruling System), chapter of: who appoint the Khaleefah, page64, Arabic edition.

3. It is not compulsory upon them to adopt the ahkaam shar’iyyah which the Khaleefah adopts, neither those related to the state actios like the hudood, nor those related to the individual actions like the Salah or jilbaab. What is compulsory upon them is to abide by the aHkaam ush-shar’ through proper ijtihaad. So if the Hukm shar’ee adopted by the Khaleefah was the right one on an issue like the obligation of wearing the jilbaab and khimaar by the woman, or any other Hukm, then they must execute it, not because it is obligatory upon them to adopt what the Khaleefah adopt, but rather because the Hukm shar’ee adopted by the Khaleefah is the right one.

4. There is no real authority for the Khaleefah on the Muslims who live outside the Islamic State. Therefore, he is not allowed to command them as an obligatory matter to do any thing whether it was hard to them to do or not, unless Islam obliges them to do so; then they have to execute the order of the Khaleefah, not because they are of his citizens; but rather because they are Muslims, who are a part of the Islamic Ummah. As an example that the Khaleefah commands them to take certain actions to help annexing their country or help conquering their country, in such case they are obliged to execute that, for it is obligatory upon them to annex their country to daar al-islam. In this case they have to execute the order of the Khaleefah, because Islam obliges them to do so. Thus, in such situations, they execute the order of the Khaleefah as explained above.