History of Islamic Constitutionalism

In our constitutional theory the state is mostly secularized.
Al Hibri (1992) states that the Islamic state is not secular (as we consider this concept in the Western world) but it should be democratic and in accordance to Islamic law.

To summarize: the Islamic state is based on religion, it is not secular.

Arjonand says that there are basically three waves of constitutionalism, two of them in the first part of the XIX century. The most interesting wave is the last one which also affected the recent revolutions.

The original state provided with the Islamic system of law was the CALIPHATE (XII-XIII centuries).
The Ottoman caliphate many centuries later substituted this caliphate and felt to be continuation of the caliphs.
Constitutionalism was already born inside the caliphate, since there was the drafting of a Constitution.
In its original meaning inside the Islamic law, “CONSTITUTIONAL LAW” refers to the set of rules about the caliphate.

The Constitution is the document that fixes:
- the separation of powers;
- the check and balances between the various powers;
- accountability;
- rights and freedoms for the citizens.

The tanzimat, meant to be the resolution to the many problems of the “sick man of Europe”, the Ottoman empire, in the end was integrated by a constitutional text (1876).