The sovereignty of the Umma comes before the application of the Sharî'a, of 'Abd Allâh Al-Mâlikî

The sovereignty of the Umma (people/community) does not mean that the Umma is the criterion which must serve as the basis for judgment on morals or values, as some imagine. But the basic criterion, logically, is the authority ( marji'iyya ) to which man refers and in which he believes, whether this authority be religious, philosophical or secular. Thus, the knowledge of the licit and the illicit, in Islam, is not done by popular consultation, but through the sources of the sharî'a , and in the first place, through the Koran and the Sunna .

The function of the Umma is to transform values and ideas from mere moral principles into sovereign and enforceable constitutional laws.

In other words, the function of popular consultation is to rely on the will of the people when there is a conflict between values and wills, so as to put an end to it by a peaceful and civilized means, and not by wars, killings, terror, oppression, exclusion, bloodshed and the violation of taboos, as was the case among ancient peoples, where the victor had the right to impose his will and its choices without having to refer to the will of the people. This is why the sovereign will ( siyada ) of the Umma comes before the application of the sharî'a .