<Special Feature: Revisiting Islam and Politics in Egypt’s “New Republic”> A Legal and Political Analysis of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s “Caliphal State”: From the Perspectives of Legal Centralism, Legal Pluralism, and the Separation of Powers

Abstract

This paper analyzes Hizb ut-Tahrir's “draft constitution” of the “Caliphal state” from legal and political perspectives. Since the conception of the state can be evaluated as a kind of “ideal type” or “thought experiment” for a modern Islamic state, understanding it with perspectives that are generally applicable to modern states as clues leads to clarifying the relationship between the characteristics of the Islamic state and the modern state. However, previous research has rarely analyzed it from such perspectives. Concretely, this paper uses (1) legal centralism and legal pluralism, and (2) the separation of powers. On the other hand, the “draft constitution” of the “Caliphal state, ” consisting of 191 articles in total, is a very detailed and concrete design of the state. This analysis reveals as follows; first, on the one hand, the conception of the “Caliphal state” is strongly influenced by the modern states. For example, the “draft constitution” stipulates legal centralism and the separation of powers within government entities themselves. Second, in contrast to the first finding, the position of Islamic law in the “Caliphal state” indicates characteristics proper to Islam. This is institutionalized by requiring noncontradiction with the state law. Such institutionalization can be evaluated as a distinctive feature in an “ideal type” of Islamic state in the modern age. Third, it is construed as characteristic of Hizb ut-Tahrir's “Caliphal state” that the Caliph has both executive and legislative powers.