{"id":5875,"date":"2020-01-17T10:01:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T15:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/?p=5875"},"modified":"2020-01-17T10:01:15","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T15:01:15","slug":"the-basics-of-the-political-system-in-islam-part-1-of-2-islam-a-total-way-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/the-basics-of-the-political-system-in-islam-part-1-of-2-islam-a-total-way-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Basics of the Political System in Islam (part 1 of 2): Islam a Total Way of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"Introduction<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.islamreligion.com\/articles\/images\/The_Basics_of_Political_System_in_Islam_(part_1_of_2)_001.jpg\")
The West makes a natural mistake in their understanding of Islamic tradition, assuming that religion means the same for Muslims as it has meant for most other religious adherents ever since the industrial revolution, and for some societies, even before that; that is: a section of life reserved for certain matters, and separate from other sections of life.\u00a0 This is not the Islamic world view.\u00a0 It never has been in the past, and modern attempts of making it so are seen as an aberration.<\/p>\n
Islam: A Total Way of Life<\/h2>\n
Islam is a \u201ctotal way of life.\u201d \u00a0It has provided guidance in every sphere of life, from individual cleanliness, rules of trade, to the structure and politics of the society. Islam can never be separated from social, political, or economic life, since religion provides moral guidance for every action that a person takes.\u00a0 The primary act of faith is to strive to implement God’s will in both private and public life.\u00a0 Muslims see that they, themselves, as well as the world around them, must be in total submission to God and his Will.\u00a0 Moreover, they know that this concept of His rule must be established on earth in order to create a just society.\u00a0 Like Jews and Christians before them, Muslims have been called into a covenant relationship with God, making them a community of believers who must serve as an example to other nations by creating a moral social order. \u00a0God tells the Muslim global nation:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are the best community raised for mankind, enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong\u2026\u201d (Quran 3:110)<\/b><\/p>\n
Throughout history, being a Muslim has meant not only belonging to a religious community of fellow believers but also living under the Islamic Law.\u00a0 For Islamic Law is believed to be an extension of God\u2019s absolute sovereignty.<\/p>\n
God is the Only Sovereign<\/h2>\n
God is the absolute sovereign in Islam, and is therefore the only Lord of heaven and earth.\u00a0 Just as He is the Lord of the physical universe, to the true Muslim believers, God is the Lawgiver for every area of human life.\u00a0 Just as He is the Master of the physical world, God is the Ruler of the affairs of men in Islamic doctrine.\u00a0 Thus God is the supreme Lawgiver