418 Abdessamad Belhaj
without the state (lā qiyām illā bihā) because humans cannot achieve
their interests unless they gather as they need each other. Once assem-
bled, they need a leader.”^80
Indeed, Ibn Taymiyya and later Ibn al-Qayyim emphasize that the
state is necessary for religion and order, which makes them traditional
Sunni political jurists.^81 While Muʿtazilī political ideas highlight the
capacity of humans to manage themselves by way of reason and the
universal principle of justice, Sunnis are less optimistic and rely on law
to command right and forbid wrong in the society. Consequently, they
need a political body able to apply law. That being the case, there is no
similarity between the juristic need for a state and the idea of a contract
between the society, Sharia and the state. Rather, one should think of
a compromise between Sharia and the state. However, Ibn Taymiyya
and Ibn al-Qayyim were not considering an Islamic state that would
enforce Sharia. For them, the state is a tool that allows Sharia to control
the public order. In a similar way, Ibn al-Qayyim puts the accent on the
necessity for a judge to be close to reality. Thus, he praised the quality
of being able to understand the reality of cases (fahm fī nafs al-wāqiʿ),
while criticizing many judges who lacked this quality.^82 Moreover, he
made the point that those who do consider siyāsa to be part of Sharia
“lack not only a real knowledge of Islamic law and the reality, but also
the capacity to apply each to the other, as well”.^83
4. A Comparison Between Ibn Taymiyya
and Ibn al-Qayyim on siyāsa sharʿiyya
As a final point, I would like to briefly compare the two works of
Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim on siyāsa sharʿiyya. At this stage,
80 Ibn Taymiyya, al-Siyāsa al-sharʿiyya, p. 217.
81 On the judicial necessity of the state according to Ibn Taymiyya see Khan,
Qamaruddin: The Political Thought of Ibn Taymiyah, Lahore 1983, p. 125.
82 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, al-Ṭuruq al-ḥukmiyya, p. 7.
83 Ibid., p. 31. Frank Vogel summarizes the sense of reality in Ibn al-Qayyim’s
judicial philosophy as follows: “He advanced the idea, learned from Ibn
Taymiyya, that the justice sought by the sharīʿa cannot be found just in doctrine
with no concern for reality and practical implementation. Sharīʿa demands jus-
tice realized in the world, as far as human capacities allow,” see Vogel, Frank:
Islamic Law and Legal System. Studies of Saudi Arabia, Leiden and Boston
2000, p. 145.
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