Madina Constitution

Submitted by Don C. Couch (United States), Dec 6, 2005 at 00:05

What have I missed?

Bernard Lewis writes in his introduction, page 7 "Just as the individual still wears at least partial Western dress, so the state still wears a Western coat and hat in the form of a written constitution, a legislative assembly, and some form of elections. All of these were maintained in the Islamic Republic of Iran, though there is of course no precedent for them either in the acient Iranian or the sacred Islamic past."

Looking at http://www.research.com.pk/home/fmri/books/eng/mithaq/constitution_madina.pdf, I find a translation of "The Constitution of Islamic State of Madina, a constitutional document given by Muhammad (SAW), the prophet."

This is indeed a conundrum. Did Mr. Lewis forget this fact of the sacred Islamic past, or did the Prophet (SAW) not set a precedent by giving a constitution to Madina?

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