Argument from Islamic Jurisprudence

injunctions, which are obligatory upon you, cannot be fulfilled without the appointment of a caliph and the establishment of government; therefore, acquiring this condition becomes obligatory upon you in order to act upon these injunctions.” (Monthly Zindagi, December 1962 / Rajab 1382 AH) The “consensus” of the Muslim Ulama to which the writer refers here is itself correct—that the enforcement of collective injunctions requires the existence of an Islamic government. But the question of who the addressees of these collective injunctions are is a separate issue, which is not established by this “consensus.” His error lies in considering the general body of believers as the addressees of these injunctions, misapplying the “you” to whom the command is directed. In reality, the addressees of collective and societal injunctions are the community of believers as an organized body possessing authority, not individual and scattered believers. This is a conditional command, not an absolute one. (For details, see the chapter “Correct Understanding Of Religion” in the book.) The second point is that recognizing the qualification or condition of these rulings does not mean that “when a government is established, then implement them.” Instead, this qualification means that the demand for implementing these rulings is not placed on ordinary