Etymology of Madina
Greek: Polis: City
Polite: civilized
Politics-Politician: rules of governemnt
Polic: authority
Roman: Civitas: to civilize- civilization
Urbanization= Civilization
Islamic: Madina: City
Maddana:to settle- to found cities- to civilize- to urbanize
Tamaddun: civilization- refinement of manners
Madaniyya= civilzation
Din: religion
Dayyan: judge- governor-
D-I-N and M-A-D-I-N-A come from the same root (Aramaic).
Madina is the actualization of Din.
Verbal noun: Din, has 4 connotations:
o Submissiveness
o Indebtedness
o Juridical Power
o Habits, costumes, conventions
Din finds
its full meaning in
Madina: Law- Order- Justice- Authority
Shar‘ (Divine Law) enabling people to live under justice in din (obedience) under government
Madina: epitomizes the socio-political order of Islam
Islamic city in the real sense can only exist where sharia is paramount: it has to be a city within Dar al-Islam
Al-Madina al-Munawwara (munawwara by the truth): the city of the Prophet-
Example of a model city-state to which an Islamic state aspires.
It went through 2 stages:
A: Theocracy: rule of God
1: Prophet receives revelation that answers problems which arose in the community
2: Prescriptive example of the Prophet: Sunna
B: Nomocracy: from Nomos (Law of God) Shari’a
Both Divine and human authority
Sources of authority:
· Qur‘an: Infallible Word of God
· Sunna: Infallible Guidance of the Prophet’s example
· Qiyyas: Analogical inference
· Ijma‘: Consensus of Community
Guardians of Law:
Caliph: supreme executive: can neither define nor alter the law, but abide by it.
Fuqaha: Jurists: explainers of law: government depends on them for questions of state.