The belief in the Oneness of authority means the belief of God’s dominance over all spheres of life and the belief that the government in human hands is the trust of God. This in turn leads to the effect that when choosing a pe5rson for any category of authority one believes that it is the gift of God and His trust and then there is no scope for giving preference to any individual’s view over looking God’s command and there is yet no scope that the elected person will sacrifice the collective social benefit for the benefit for any individual or group.
As far as the rulers and governors are concerned we know that most of them are selfish
And it is their self motivation that has lead the world many times to wars in different countries. They were responsible for throwing a large portion of humanity into the abyss of misery, hardships and sadness.
In the recent past Hitler was responsible for the deaths of so many people; people have estimated the deaths in Stalin’s era and they have found that more than 3 million people were exterminated. The condition of the world remains the same though in a different style.
Even today if a ruler believes in the oneness and believes that the ultimate authority is for God, and the authority imposed on him is from God then he will never be vain, unjust and selfish.
Even though he is appointed to authority he will utter the words of Amirul Mominin, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib, “Had God not taken the covenant from the Ulema of truth that they will not remain silent on the gluttony of the rulers and the hunger of the meek people then I would have put the reins of the camel of Caliphate on his shoulders (and I would never even have looked at this Caliphate for which their chests are bursting in envy)” (1)
Yes such a ruler considers himself the trustee of god’s grace and responsible to Him for his deeds.
This ideology can give a complete overhaul to the ways of the worldly rulers but the condition is that the person should instill this ideology in the core of his heart and color his soul in it. This is not just for the countries leaders but for all government officials like governors, generals, ministers, officers, magistrates, judges and subordinate staff for they should all consider the powers they have to be a gift of God a trust, and they should use it to please Him.
It is not learnt from our previous discussion that Islam is not tyrannical in its rule or similar to the western democracies but is a people’s government that works under the parameters of Islamic tenets. It actually has the color of God and follows the principles laid down by Him to get the people’s support. This is that special feature that distinguishes it from other governments of the world.
There are various aspects about “Governance through Qura’n” and we are discussing only the Oneness in authority and that God is the source of all governance. The rest of the issue will be discussed under the subject of “Complete governance”
1. Nahjul Balagha Sermon 3
