The First Islamic State under Muhammad (622 - 632) Research Paper

The First Islamic State under Muhammad (622 - 632) - Research Paper Example The first Islamic state has thus been established by Prophet Muhammad based on the Holy Quran and the revelation he got from Almighty God, Allah. This piece of research paper presents a brief note on first Islamic State and described its salient features in comparison to other states and legal systems prevailing in today’s modern world. First Islamic State When prophet Muhammad and his companions faced increased opposition and emigrated to Medina, a small group of early converts to Islam in Medina provided accommodation and welcomed the religious, social and cultural changes perfectly. This is how Islamic State came in to existence (Temperman, p. 19). Islamic state represents a typical government system in which the basic ruling and jurisprudence for all the legal and other matters are Holy Quran, Prophet’s Sunnah (His wordings and activities) and scholars opinions based on the above two. When Prophet Muhammad arrived to Medina, the political, social and cultural enviro nments that had long been considered to be superior were swiftly getting altered. The rules and regulations that most Islamic nations even until today strictly adhere to, the legal notions that many of Muslim lawyers often refer to and the very underpinning business concepts that hundreds of Islamic banks and financing institutions research and develop to improve economies are certainly parts of the religious, political and economic concepts established by Prophet Muhammad. Prophet has emigrated to Medina in 622 and he started his mission and preaching in order to help his companions structure new-life systems according to the new Islamic State. The first Islamic State, constituted by Prophet Muhammad, has put forth a written contract between the state and its members, to show rights, duties and responsibilities between them. This document has been renowned as Al-Watiqua. Al-Watiqua As Berween (2003, p. 103) stated, Al Watiqua is a document that put forward a social contract between all members of the community in Medina between 622 to 632, during the time of Prophet’s mission in Medina. It was the first ‘Human Right Document’ in the history and is the first state constitution written by Prophet Muhammad and by the all representatives different tribes and clans in the region as part of his mission of establishing the first Islamic state. Al-Watiqua was merely a legal document that governed relation between three major political groups in medina that time, namely Al Muhajireen (who are the migrated companions from Mecca), Al-Answar (The residents in medina who believed Islam and helped people from mecca) and Jews and non-Muslims who also were residents of Medina that time. Al-Watiqua document was meant to clear duties, rights and responsibilities of each clan and tribe in Medina as each tribe had its own values, customs, cultural activities and commitments. The major contents of Al-Watiqua document were sovereignty, Unity and Independence. T wo main clauses contained in the document were: 1-It’s a document from Muhammad, to govern the relation between the believers and Muslims of people coming from Mecca and people who were residing in Medina, and those who followed them, 2- They are one community. These two clauses comprise of three basic policies, namely sovereignty, Unit