Legal principles in the Constitution of Madīnah: bases from the Qur’ān

This article discusses some constitutional legal principles in the Constitution of Madīnah and identifies the Qur’ānic bases for these principles. The principles include ummah, territorial integrity, jihād, obedience to the Messenger (s.a.w.), consultation, goodness, right to life, equality and freedom of religion. For this purpose, the Constitution is analysed through doctrinal research, while the times or the causes of the revelation of the relevant verses of the Qur’ān are identified. In addition, aḥādīth and historical records are referred to. The article finds that all these principles had their basesin the Qur’ān, and that the verses prescribing them had already been revealed at the time the Constitution of Madīnah was drafted. However, this article also finds that the Constitution of Madīnah did not include all the constitutional principles in the Qur’ān because, at the time of its drafting, some of those principles had not yet been revealed. For this reason, the article concludes that Muslim modern States should not simply adopt the Constitution of Madīnah as a model for their respective constitutions; otherwise, their constitutions will not contain all the principles prescribed in the Qur’ān.