Summary of Sunni concepts
Who has the right to practice legitimate politics and their description
Those who have the right to practice legitimate politics are the rulers
Those whom the subjects are obligated to obey in what is good and not disobedient
God Almighty said
O you who have believed, obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
If you dispute over anything, refer it to God and the Messenger if you believe in God and the Last Day
That is a better and better interpretation
And the Almighty said
If a matter of security or fear comes to them, they announce it
If they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those from whom they derived it would have known it
What is meant by the rulers in the two verses is scholars and rulers
And those on their behalf, including judges, regional governors, Shura councils, or Sharia bodies
And everyone who has legitimate authority over people
Accordingly, it is misleading to attribute the meaning of guardian to contemporary tyrants
Those who rule without God’s law and who support the enemies of God
Just as the legitimate rulers have the right for the subjects to obey them in what is right
They have a duty to obey God and His Messenger in whatever they command
And to rule people according to Islamic law
Ibn Taymiyyah said
The princes and scholars have positions in which they must be obeyed
They, too, must obey God and the Messenger in whatever they command
On each of the shepherds, the flock, the heads, and the subordinates
That each of them obeys God and His Messenger in his situation
He adheres to the law of God that He has prescribed for him