The Separation of Powers in Islamic Political Jurisprudence and Its Manifestations in Contemporary Constitutional Systems
Abstract
This article examines the principle of separation of powers from the perspective of Islamic political jurisprudence, seeking to uncover its historical roots in the classical Islamic legal tradition and its intersection with contemporary Western constitutional theories. The study proceeds from the hypothesis that Islamic jurisprudence established a comprehensive framework for the distribution of sovereign functions among governing institutions, albeit under different terminology and mechanisms. The research adopts a comparative analytical methodology, drawing on classical Islamic jurisprudential sources and constitutional texts from several Muslim-majority states. The study concludes that there is a substantive convergence between the principle of Shura and constitutional oversight on the one hand, and the functional separation of powers on the other, while highlighting the Islamic specificity grounded in Shari'a as the supreme authority over all powers. The article recommends the development of a contemporary Islamic constitutional model that balances divine sovereignty with the requirements of the modern state and popular participation
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Abu Yaʿla al-Farraʼ, M. ibn al-H. (1966). Al-ahkam al-sultaniyya [The ordinances of government] (M. H. al-Fiqqi, Ed.). Matbaʿat al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya.
Al-Ghazali, A. H. (1964). Fadaʼih al-batiniyya [The infamies of the esoteric sects] (ʿA. R. Badawi, Ed.). Muʼassasat Dar al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyya.
Al-Mawardi, A. ibn M. (1990). Al-ahkam al-sultaniyya wa al-wilayat al-diniyya [The ordinances of government and religious offices] (K. al-ʿAlami, Ed.). Dar al-Kitab al-ʿArabi.
Ibn Khaldun, ʿA. R. (2004). Muqaddimat Ibn Khaldun [The prolegomena of Ibn Khaldun] (ʿA. M. al-Darwish, Ed.). Dar Yaʿrib.
Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi. (1994). Al-mughni [The comprehensive] (Vol. 11). Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya.
Ibn Taymiyya, A. ibn ʿA. H. (1989). Minhaj al-sunna al-nabawiyya [The method of the Prophetic Sunnah] (M. R. Salim, Ed.). Muʼassasat Qurtuba.
Ibn Taymiyya, A. ibn ʿA. H. (2005). Al-siyasa al-sharʿiyya fi islah al-raʼi wa al-raʼiyya [Legitimate governance in reforming ruler and ruled] (ʿA. M. al-Shafiʼi, Ed.). Dar al-Kitab al-ʿArabi.
Modern and Contemporary Arabic References
ʿAbd al-Salam, F. (2000). Al-ahzab al-siyasiyya wa al-haqq fi al-taqadi al-dusturi [Political parties and the right to constitutional litigation]. Dar al-Nahda al-ʿArabiyya.
Al-Ansari, ʿA. H. (1980). Al-shura wa atharuha fi al-dimuqratiyya [Shura and its impact on democracy]. Maktabat al-Kulliyyat al-Azhariyya.
Al-Aslimi, ʿA. R. al-M. (2012). Dustur 2011 al-maghribi: Qiraʼa fi al-mustajaddat [The 2011 Moroccan constitution: A reading of the new developments]. Masalik: Fi al-Fikr wa al-Siyasa wa al-Iqtisad, 21–22.
ʿAmmarah, M. (1988). Al-dawla al-Islamiyya bayna al-ʿilmaniyya wa al-sulta al-diniyya [The Islamic state between secularism and religious authority]. Dar al-Shuruq.
An-Naʼim, ʿA. A. (2012). Al-Islam wa al-dawla al-ʿilmaniyya [Islam and the secular state] (H. Qasim, Trans.). Dar al-Taliʼa.
ʿAwda, ʿA. Q. (1981). Al-Islam wa awdaʼuna al-siyasiyya [Islam and our political condition]. Muʼassasat al-Risala.
Bilhaj, ʿA. (2009). Al-dustur al-Irani bayna al-fiqh al-shiʼi wa mutallabat al-dawla al-haditha [The Iranian constitution between Shiʿa jurisprudence and the requirements of the modern state]. Majallat al-Muslim al-Muʼasir, 132, 55–70.
Al-Ghamidi, M. ʿA. (2008). Al-nizam al-siyasi fi al-mamlaka al-ʿarabiyya al-suʿudiyya [The political system in Saudi Arabia]. Markaz al-Dirasat wa al-Buhuth.
Al-Ghannushi, R. (1993). Al-hurriyyat al-ʿamma fi al-dawla al-Islamiyya [Public freedoms in the Islamic state]. Markaz Dirasat al-Wahda al-ʿArabiyya.
Ibn ʿAshur, M. T. (2004). Maqasid al-shariʿa al-Islamiyya [The objectives of Islamic law] (M. H. Ibn al-Khawja, Ed., Vol. 2). Wazarat al-Awqaf wa al-Shuʼun al-Islamiyya.
Mabahith fi al-qanun al-dusturi al-muqaran [Studies in comparative constitutional law]. (2022). Majallat al-Manara lil-Dirasat al-Qanuniyya wa al-Idariyya, 31, 11–40.
Majallat al-Qanun wa al-Mujtamaʼ [Journal of Law and Society]. (2012). (No. 28). Cairo.
Al-Qaradawi, Y. (1997). Min fiqh al-dawla fi al-Islam [On the jurisprudence of the state in Islam]. Dar al-Shuruq.
Rabiʼ, H. (1997). Nazariyyat al-dawla fi al-fiqh al-Islami [Theory of the state in Islamic jurisprudence]. Dar al-Fikr al-ʿArabi.
ʿUthman, F. (1979). Al-dawla al-Islamiyya bayna al-fikr al-siyasi wa muʼtayat al-tahqiq al-tarikhi [The Islamic state between political thought and historical realization]. Muʼassasat al-Risala.
Constitutional Texts
Basic Law of Governance of Saudi Arabia, Royal Decree No. A/90. (1992). Articles 1–84.
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (1979, as amended 1989). Articles 57–176. Official Parliament of Iran.
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. (1973, as amended 1985). Articles 227–232.
Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco. (2011, July 29). Bulletin Officiel du Royaume du Maroc, No. 5964 bis.
Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia. (2014). Journal Officiel de la République Tunisienne, special issue.
Foreign References
An-Naʼim, A. A. (2008). Islam and the secular state: Negotiating the future of Shariʼa. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjghvkd
Arjomand, S. A. (2009). After Khomeini: Iran under his successors. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195391817.001.0001
Brown, N. J. (2002). Constitutions in a non-constitutional world: Arab basic laws and the prospects for accountable government. State University of New York Press.
Daadaoui, M. (2011). Moroccan monarchy and the Islamist challenge: Maintaining makhzen power. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230118560
Feldman, N. (2008). The fall and rise of the Islamic state. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400837021
Hallaq, W. (2013). The impossible state: Islam, politics, and modernity’s moral predicament. Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/hall15724
Hamid, S. (2016). Islamic exceptionalism: How the struggle over Islam is reshaping the world. St. Martin’s Press.
Jalal, A. (1990). The state of martial rule: The origins of Pakistan’s political economy of defence. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511563850
Locke, J. (1988). Two treatises of government (P. Laslett, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1689) https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810268
Lombardi, C. B. (2006). State law as Islamic law in modern Egypt: The incorporation of the Shariʼa into Egyptian constitutional law. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047408857
Montesquieu, C.-L. de S. (1989). The spirit of the laws (A. M. Cohler, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1748) https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139168458
Ramadan, T. (2012). Islam and the Arab awakening. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199324361.001.0001
Rousseau, J.-J. (2003). The social contract (G. D. H. Cole, Trans.). Dover Publications. (Original work published 1762)
Al-Ghazali, A. H. (1964). Fadaʼih al-batiniyya [The infamies of the esoteric sects] (ʿA. R. Badawi, Ed.). Muʼassasat Dar al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyya.
Al-Mawardi, A. ibn M. (1990). Al-ahkam al-sultaniyya wa al-wilayat al-diniyya [The ordinances of government and religious offices] (K. al-ʿAlami, Ed.). Dar al-Kitab al-ʿArabi.
Ibn Khaldun, ʿA. R. (2004). Muqaddimat Ibn Khaldun [The prolegomena of Ibn Khaldun] (ʿA. M. al-Darwish, Ed.). Dar Yaʿrib.
Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi. (1994). Al-mughni [The comprehensive] (Vol. 11). Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya.
Ibn Taymiyya, A. ibn ʿA. H. (1989). Minhaj al-sunna al-nabawiyya [The method of the Prophetic Sunnah] (M. R. Salim, Ed.). Muʼassasat Qurtuba.
Ibn Taymiyya, A. ibn ʿA. H. (2005). Al-siyasa al-sharʿiyya fi islah al-raʼi wa al-raʼiyya [Legitimate governance in reforming ruler and ruled] (ʿA. M. al-Shafiʼi, Ed.). Dar al-Kitab al-ʿArabi.
Modern and Contemporary Arabic References
ʿAbd al-Salam, F. (2000). Al-ahzab al-siyasiyya wa al-haqq fi al-taqadi al-dusturi [Political parties and the right to constitutional litigation]. Dar al-Nahda al-ʿArabiyya.
Al-Ansari, ʿA. H. (1980). Al-shura wa atharuha fi al-dimuqratiyya [Shura and its impact on democracy]. Maktabat al-Kulliyyat al-Azhariyya.
Al-Aslimi, ʿA. R. al-M. (2012). Dustur 2011 al-maghribi: Qiraʼa fi al-mustajaddat [The 2011 Moroccan constitution: A reading of the new developments]. Masalik: Fi al-Fikr wa al-Siyasa wa al-Iqtisad, 21–22.
ʿAmmarah, M. (1988). Al-dawla al-Islamiyya bayna al-ʿilmaniyya wa al-sulta al-diniyya [The Islamic state between secularism and religious authority]. Dar al-Shuruq.
An-Naʼim, ʿA. A. (2012). Al-Islam wa al-dawla al-ʿilmaniyya [Islam and the secular state] (H. Qasim, Trans.). Dar al-Taliʼa.
ʿAwda, ʿA. Q. (1981). Al-Islam wa awdaʼuna al-siyasiyya [Islam and our political condition]. Muʼassasat al-Risala.
Bilhaj, ʿA. (2009). Al-dustur al-Irani bayna al-fiqh al-shiʼi wa mutallabat al-dawla al-haditha [The Iranian constitution between Shiʿa jurisprudence and the requirements of the modern state]. Majallat al-Muslim al-Muʼasir, 132, 55–70.
Al-Ghamidi, M. ʿA. (2008). Al-nizam al-siyasi fi al-mamlaka al-ʿarabiyya al-suʿudiyya [The political system in Saudi Arabia]. Markaz al-Dirasat wa al-Buhuth.
Al-Ghannushi, R. (1993). Al-hurriyyat al-ʿamma fi al-dawla al-Islamiyya [Public freedoms in the Islamic state]. Markaz Dirasat al-Wahda al-ʿArabiyya.
Ibn ʿAshur, M. T. (2004). Maqasid al-shariʿa al-Islamiyya [The objectives of Islamic law] (M. H. Ibn al-Khawja, Ed., Vol. 2). Wazarat al-Awqaf wa al-Shuʼun al-Islamiyya.
Mabahith fi al-qanun al-dusturi al-muqaran [Studies in comparative constitutional law]. (2022). Majallat al-Manara lil-Dirasat al-Qanuniyya wa al-Idariyya, 31, 11–40.
Majallat al-Qanun wa al-Mujtamaʼ [Journal of Law and Society]. (2012). (No. 28). Cairo.
Al-Qaradawi, Y. (1997). Min fiqh al-dawla fi al-Islam [On the jurisprudence of the state in Islam]. Dar al-Shuruq.
Rabiʼ, H. (1997). Nazariyyat al-dawla fi al-fiqh al-Islami [Theory of the state in Islamic jurisprudence]. Dar al-Fikr al-ʿArabi.
ʿUthman, F. (1979). Al-dawla al-Islamiyya bayna al-fikr al-siyasi wa muʼtayat al-tahqiq al-tarikhi [The Islamic state between political thought and historical realization]. Muʼassasat al-Risala.
Constitutional Texts
Basic Law of Governance of Saudi Arabia, Royal Decree No. A/90. (1992). Articles 1–84.
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (1979, as amended 1989). Articles 57–176. Official Parliament of Iran.
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. (1973, as amended 1985). Articles 227–232.
Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco. (2011, July 29). Bulletin Officiel du Royaume du Maroc, No. 5964 bis.
Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia. (2014). Journal Officiel de la République Tunisienne, special issue.
Foreign References
An-Naʼim, A. A. (2008). Islam and the secular state: Negotiating the future of Shariʼa. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjghvkd
Arjomand, S. A. (2009). After Khomeini: Iran under his successors. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195391817.001.0001
Brown, N. J. (2002). Constitutions in a non-constitutional world: Arab basic laws and the prospects for accountable government. State University of New York Press.
Daadaoui, M. (2011). Moroccan monarchy and the Islamist challenge: Maintaining makhzen power. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230118560
Feldman, N. (2008). The fall and rise of the Islamic state. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400837021
Hallaq, W. (2013). The impossible state: Islam, politics, and modernity’s moral predicament. Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/hall15724
Hamid, S. (2016). Islamic exceptionalism: How the struggle over Islam is reshaping the world. St. Martin’s Press.
Jalal, A. (1990). The state of martial rule: The origins of Pakistan’s political economy of defence. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511563850
Locke, J. (1988). Two treatises of government (P. Laslett, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1689) https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810268
Lombardi, C. B. (2006). State law as Islamic law in modern Egypt: The incorporation of the Shariʼa into Egyptian constitutional law. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047408857
Montesquieu, C.-L. de S. (1989). The spirit of the laws (A. M. Cohler, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1748) https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139168458
Ramadan, T. (2012). Islam and the Arab awakening. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199324361.001.0001
Rousseau, J.-J. (2003). The social contract (G. D. H. Cole, Trans.). Dover Publications. (Original work published 1762)
Published
2026-06-10
How to Cite
Djokhdem, M., & Rafeq Hamed , R. H. Z. M. A.-S. (2026). The Separation of Powers in Islamic Political Jurisprudence and Its Manifestations in Contemporary Constitutional Systems. Journal of Science and Knowledge Horizons, 6(2), 496-513. https://doi.org/10.34118/jskp.v6i2.4646
Section
Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
