Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
4. The Concept of the State in Islam
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of the State as his deputy. It is significant that the Prophet of Islam
made Abu Bakr lead the prayer several times. This stand of the
Prophet was to make it clear to the people that the appointment of
the leader of the believers should be in accordance with the
opinion of the people and not by appointment. That is why after his
death, when the companions gathered together at Saqifa Bani
Saeda, an assembly hall in Madinah, Abu Bakr was appointed the
successor of the Prophet, after a long consultation. Although the
Islamic system is democratic in its nature it would be more
appropriate to say that democracy in Islam is indirect democracy
rather than direct. That is to say, the entire public is not consulted
in the Islamic democratic system. Instead we find different methods
in that golden period of Islam known as the Pious Caliphate. None
of the caliphs of this period were appointed after consulting the
public. Only the senior people available in Madinah were
consulted.
This pattern was adopted concerning the appointment of all the
four caliphs. With these standard examples during the pious
caliphate before us, we should not be wrong in saying that the
democratic system of Islam is almost the same as what is called
indirect democracy in the jargon of today.
This system entailed selecting a central body after seeking the
opinion of the public. This body then selected the caliph. That is
why certain scholars have called this method being based on
Arbab
hallo Aqd,
that is, the intellectuals, the leaders, those who have a
say in society are responsible for selecting the caliph or their
