The Historical Rupture between the Doctrine of the Sword and the Concept of the Interpretive Mujtahid: A Conceptual Analysis of Their Implications in the Thought of Imam Abdessalam Yassine

Abstract

The study aimed to analyze the conceptual framework that structures Imam Abd al-Salam Yassine’s methodological reading of history by reconstructing the interpretive system governing his understanding of the transformation, or transition, from the Caliphate according to the Prophetic method to kingship. The study adopted the analytical method in reading the Imam’s texts, drawing on certain principles of concept analysis to highlight the functional relationships among the central concepts and employing comparison within limits that reveal the specificity of this reading without making it an independent subject. The study showed that the concept of the “doctrine of the sword” performs an interpretive function in explaining the transformation that affected political legitimacy, while the concept of the “interpreting jurist” explains how to understand the ijtihads that accompanied this transformation, while also distinguishing between evaluating political practice and preserving the status of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them. The study concluded that the distinctiveness of the methodological project lies in reconstructing the relationship between revelation and history through a pattern-based reading aimed at understanding the causes of historical rupture and anticipating prospects for civilizational reform. The study further found that the Imam’s reading is not based on interpreting historical events in themselves; rather, it rests on an integrated conceptual framework in which the concepts of the Prophetic method, historical rupture, hereditary kingship, the doctrine of the sword, the interpreting jurist, and the jurisprudence of the method interact within a pattern-based vision that regards the two revelations as the governing reference for interpreting, evaluating, and anticipating the outcomes of history.