The almighty Allah deserves to have this exclusive right to be called a sovereign, as Allah does not share this characteristic with anyone. It clearly indicates that in the whole universe no one has the right to be called a sovereign but the almighty Allah. This is one of the basic and foremost principles of Islam. According to the Islamic point of view, the almighty Allah, being the creator and king of the whole universe, is a sovereign power and no one else ever claimed to accompany Him in this exclusive characteristic.
The term sovereignty has been defined by many western scholars such as Jean Bodin, John Austin, and Thomas Hobbes, among others. However, out of all of these western thinkers, John Austin’s definition of sovereignty is considered to be the most renowned and it received vast consideration in western societies. Apart from the theoretical definition of the term “sovereignty,” in most of the western countries in particular, sovereignty is considered to be rested with the people. For example, in the western world, a famous thinker, Jean J Rousseau, left a paramount influence on the French revolution, and promulgated the idea of popular sovereignty for the first time on a wide scale in the 18th century. In the western world in particular, sovereignty is defined to be with the people, which they enjoy through delegating this power to their representatives. As a result, people in western societies in particular, or in non-Islamic societies, have been given the power to formulate the laws and amend those formulated laws whenever they desire.
However, Islam has a different point of view. In accordance with Islam, sovereignty rests only with the entity of the almighty Allah. Any definition of the term “sovereignty” implies that only the almighty Allah has such attributes due to which He can claim to be the only sovereign power in the entire universe. Sovereignty has certain features which, if found in any entity or person, he can be considered to be a sovereign. Those features of sovereignty include comprehensiveness, exclusiveness, absoluteness, inalienability, indivisibility, and permanence.
While considering the features of sovereignty one by one, we realize that the Islamic point of view about the sovereignty of the almighty Allah is the only authentic, valid and factual point of view. Being the creator and lord of all creatures and the universe, the almighty Allah has this power in all aspects of human life or otherwise. His power is comprehensive and covers all spheres of this universe. Likewise, only the almighty Allah has this power of exclusiveness and absolutism. Allah’s commands are final and any breach of them is punishable. As far as inalienability and indivisibility are concerned, Allah does not share His sovereign power with anyone. He is all alone in the practice of His powers. Similarly, Allah does not divide His power. Sovereign power is only held by His entity. Lastly, since the entity of Allah is eternal and He is never going to die, his existence is permanent. Therefore, only Allah’s claim over sovereignty is right and factual.
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