Tauhid Hakimiyyah Verses in Ibn 'Ashur's Interpretation

This paper discusses Ibn ‘Ashur’s interpretation of the verses which serve as the basis of the Tauhid Hakimiyyah concept. Despitebeing an expert in Islamic law, Ibn ‘Ashur did not perceive the Tauhid Hakimiyyah verses as a basis for the necessity to apply Shari’a law at the level of government. Perhaps the thought of “hakimiyyatullah” had not developed in the time of Ibn ‘Ashur. Another reason, Ibn ‘Ashur used a linguistic-sociological contextual approach when interpreting the verses claimed to be the basis of the Tauhid Hakimiyyah concept. With this approach, Ibn ‘Ashur did not use the Tauhid Hakimiyyah verse to judge the behavior of the Muslims because in fact these verses were revealed to explain the behavior of the polytheists who opposed Islamic da’wah.