IDEA 35
Preventing Betrayal
… unhappily personal interest is always found in inverse ratio to duty, and increases in proportion as the association grows narrower, and the engagement less sacred; which irrefragably proves that the most general will is always the most just also, and that the voice of the people is in fact the voice of God. [Jean Jacques Rousseau. A Discourse On Political Economy]
Rousseau had no use for revelation, and thus sought “the voice of God” in the concept for which he is best known, namely the general will. Given this framing, Muslims can reject it without hesitation. But the quotation above does contain a valuable insight. If we discard the term “will,” which is usually associated with wants or desires, and instead use ‘conscience,’ we should be able to agree with him that the public conscience is a better guide to right and wrong in political matters than “personal interest.”
It is this “voice of the people” or public conscience to which Abu Bakr was appealing when he said, in his inaugural speech, “So if I act rightly, then help me, and if I act wrongly, then correct me.”
When a leader believes himself to be above or distinguished from this public conscience, as most leaders tend to do, then personal interest and dereliction of duty cannot be far behind.
Any power structure that widens or maintains that gap between the people and their leader is bound to be corrupting. If the first leader thus distinguished is, by the grace of GOD, conscientious and humble, there is still little chance that subsequent office-holders will retain that character.
It is therefore imperative that, at least at the local level, such as the mosque or community centre, the leader NOT be a professional cleric or scholar, but rather one who makes his living in the community in the same way that most of them do. If he is independently wealthy and so free from a daily occupation, he should nonetheless be residing in the same area as the people he leads, shopping in their markets, participating in their festivities, and as welcoming to guests as he would be welcome in their homes. In other words, the voice of the people should be loud and clear in his ears every day.
At the same time, he should be conscientious enough to know the difference between what people want and what people recognize as fair and proper. There is always a battle going on inside of us between what we will for ourselves and what we know is right. It is that knowledge by which the leader should be guided, even if it means opposing popular demands (e.g., for vengeance, for licence to imitate the kuffar, or for mistreatment of minorities).
This can only be done if the leader has enough wisdom and strength of character to see that his decisions will affect how people see their relationship to GOD and, consequently, how GOD will be judging them.
O you who have believed, do not betray AL-LAH and the Apostle and [thereby] knowingly betray your trusts. / And know that your possessions and your children are a test, and that with GOD there is a great reward. (Q8:27-28)
The leader (ulil-amr) is trusted by his people to fulfill his obligations to them. While he is mentioned as one of those to be obeyed, after GOD and His Messenger, he is counted in (Q4:59) — ulil-amri min kum — as being among you (min kum), i.e., the believers. Consequently, his betrayal of that trust causes a rupture between the believers and GOD. His decisions express the effective will of the people, whether they approve of them or not. On a personal level, the people may still desire to be obedient, but their public disobedience to AL-LAH is confirmed with each new injustice or act of personal interest the leader commits.
At a communal level, therefore, the corrupt or unjust leader is inviting the wrath of GOD to fall upon his people. Personally, they could well be innocent, but the Judgement that envelops a whole people regardless of personal merit is bound to have some spiritual effect. And they will be questioned: ‘Why did you tolerate such a person as your leader, knowing him to be unjust? He betrayed your trust and Mine — and yet you let him go on?’
The bai’ah can only be meaningful if it is informed, voluntary, and revocable. The leader must be close enough to the people that they can evaluate him and thus be informed in their trust. Trust has no value, however, if it is not voluntary, which is why AL-LAH declares: There is no compulsion in religion. (Q2:256) And in view of how corruptible leaders have always been and will continue to be, that informed, voluntary trust must be revocable. The power to revoke it must remain with the people, those who embody the general conscience, which is sometimes all that Muslims have of truth when their leaders no longer listen to the voice of GOD and their scholars tell them to obey no matter what.
How can we regain that power of revocation now, when the ‘ulama managed to brush it aside over a thousand years ago?
Download the PDF version for free at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’ān – Mont Redmond complete version, or purchase a hard copy at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’an: Redmond, Mont: 9781738842506: Books – Amazon.ca.
Photo by Sam Kolder
