The Muslim world today is essentially run by regimes who govern the society in a dictatorial fashion with no regard for the well-being of the people. Unfortunately, those regimes that have claimed themselves as Islamic are no exception to this phenomenon. In fact, these regimes are among the most authoritarian that exist in the world. The existence of these regimes has caused many to mistakenly perceive the Islamic State as a dictatorship with the Khalifah as some sort of totalitarian figurehead. To complicate matters further, the only other existing alternative available to the people are the Democratic societies that exist in the West, which comparatively offer a much better life than what exists in the Muslim world. As a result, many Muslims believe that the models of Democracy and Dictatorship are the only types of political systems that exist. This misconception has caused many Muslims to believe that, unless the Islamic State is modelled after the Democracies of the West, then it will resemble a dictatorial regime no different than what exists in the Muslim world today.
The reality is that both the Democratic and Dictatorial systems are man-made systems in which the sovereignty belongs to the human being. The only difference between the two systems is the relative concentration of power; in a democracy, power is more dispersed among several branches that comprise the elite ranks of society, whereas in a dictatorship, the power is typically concentrated in the hands of one individual. However, the common denominator between the two is that, regardless of the concentration of power, the sovereignty still resides with human beings, whether one individual as in a dictatorship or in a group of elite as in a democracy (In theory, democracy states that power is in the hands of the people; however, such a theory has no practical reality because the very nature of society will prohibit such a chaotic distribution of power. Therefore, democracy is best described as an ''Elitist'' society). Islam is unique from both systems in that the sovereignty belongs to Allah. In the Islamic State, the Khalifah, like the people, is a slave and servant of Allah, and he is confined by the Islamic rules. Although the Khalifah has the authority, he does not possess the sovereignty. And the sovereign, who is Allah, has determined conditions for the Khalifah's authority, including how this authority is given to him and when this authority can be taken away from him. The Khalifah is given the authority by the Muslim Ummah to implement the Islamic system, and obeying him is obligatory only if he exercises his authority for this purpose. However, once he begins to implement non-Islamic rules or he becomes unable to carry out this position, then he must be disobeyed. Furthermore, implementing non-Islamic rules is grounds for the Khalifah to be removed, and Islam outlines the procedures for selecting and removing the Khalifah.
Therefore, the Khalifah is far from the concept of dictatorship because the very basis of Islam, which establishes Allah (swt) and His Shariah as the sovereign, eliminates the source of dictators, which is the concept of designating sovereignty to human beings. Furthermore, the Islamic system, like any other system, has checks and balances to further ensure that the rulers do not overstep their boundaries. The most important of these checks and balances is the taqwa of the individual, which instills within the Muslims the Fear of Allah. This taqwa will motivate the individuals to continuously monitor the Islamic State's policies and hold the rulers accountable for their actions. In addition, there are many other checks and balances, such as the Islamic political parties, which serve as the eyes and ears of the Ummah; the Majlis as-Shura, which continuously advises the Khalifah and addresses the grievances of the masses; and the Madhalim courts, which have the power to judge cases between the citizens and the State and can remove a ruler from his post. With all of these checks and balances in place, the Khalifah will think one thousand times before attempting to enact any policy or engage in any action that defies the limits of the sovereign.
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