A Manual of Hadith: Chapter XXXI: The State (Al-Imārah)

(Al-Imārah)

Amr means a command or an order; imārah, the possession of command or the office or authority of a commander or a ruler or a king; and amīr, the person who commands or rules, or the head of a state. The word imām (originally, a person whose example is followed or who is imitated) is also used to indicate the chief or head of a state, and so also the word khalīfah (originally, a successor or a vicegerent, or a prophet's successor).

According to the Holy Qur'ān, the Muslim State is a democracy, counsel being the foundation-stone of government (v. 1); even the Holy Prophet is ordered to consult with his followers in conducting affairs of state (v. 2). The People are required to elect as their rulers persons who are fir for this office--to make over trusts to those worthy of them--and those chosen as rulers are required to be just (vv. 3, 4). Vast knowledge and strong physique are the qualifications which should be sought for in a good ruler, not the possession of wealth (v. 5). The highest authority is that of Allāh and His Messenger, so that no law should contravene the Holy Qur'ān and the Sunnah (v. 6).

Every one of you is a ruler and every one of you shall be questioned about those under his rule; the king is a ruler and he shall be questioned about his subjects; and the man is a ruler in his family and he shall be questioned about those under his care; and the woman is a ruler in the house of her husband, and she shall be questioned

(B. 11:11).

2 Anas reported,

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"Hear and obey though a Negro whose head is like a raisin is appointed (to rule over you)."2

(B. 10:54.)

3 Ibn 'Umar reported,

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"To hear and obey (the authorities) is binding, so long as one is not commanded

1. The Arabic word rā' (from ra'y, pasturing cattle) means a keeper, guarder, ruler or governor. Imām means a leader, and the king is also called an imām. The king or ruler is here placed in the same category as a servant. Just as a servant is entrusted with certain property for which he is responsible to the master, the king or the ruler is entrusted with the care of the people and the guarding of their rights; and for the proper discharge of his duties. He is responsible in the first place to God Who is the real Master, and then to the people in relation to whom he occupies the position of a servant. Hereditary kingship is therefore foreign to the Islamic conception of the State.

2. Thus even a Negro, if he is fit for the job, may be placed in authority over people of a white race; considerations of race and colour carry no weight Islām. According to another version, the words are a Negro slave (M. 17), so that even a slave may be entrusted with command.

(B. 56:108.)

4 Abū Hurairah reported,

He heard the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say:

"He who obeys me obeys Allāh, and he who disobeys me disobeys Allāh and he who obeys the amīr obeys me, and he who disobeys the amīr disobeys me; and the imām is an armour for protection4--the battle is fought for his defence and through him protection is sought. So

3. Law is above all, even above the king or supreme authority; an order against the Holy Qur'ān and authoritative hadīth cannot therefore be accepted.

4. Amīr literally means one who holds command, and the word is applied to any person who is entrusted with any kind of authority over others. The highest ruling authority in Islām was called Amīr al-Mu'minīn (Commander of the Faithful). The amīr or the imām is here called junnah, or an armour for protection, because without the institution of imārah, or subjection to authority, a people cannot protect themselves either from an enemy or from one another's injustice.

5 'Alī said,

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said

"Obedience is due only in that which is good."6

(B. 64:61.)

6 Ibn 'Abbās said, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"He who dislikes an order of his amīr should withhold himself from

5. The maxim that the king can do no wrong is not known to Islām. As h. 6 shows, however, constituted authority is not to be opposed simply because a person thinks that justice has not been done to him.

6. These are the concluding words of the hadīth, according to which the amīr appointed over a small force required those under him to enter fire. but they refused to obey him. The Holy Prophet approved of their action, and added the words quoted here. According to another hadīth (B. 64: 60), when Khālid, who was appointed commander of a small force, ordered certain prisoners of war to be put to death, Ibn 'Umar and others refused to kill as the order was against the clear teachings of the Holy Qur'ān; and the Holy Prophet approved of their action. So an order should be disobeyed when it is against the clear precepts of the Law.

7 Abū Sa'īd said,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

The most excellent jihād is the uttering of truth in the presence of an unjust ruler."

(Tr-Msh. 17.)

8 'Ubādah ibn Sāmit said,

'The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, invited us so we swore allegiance to him; and among the conditions which he laid down on us to follow was this that he had a promise from us to hear and obey, whether we liked or disliked (an order,) and whether we were in adversity or ease, even if our rights were not granted; and that we should not dispute the

9 'Ā'ishah reported,

'The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, died and the Ansār gathered together around Sa'd ibn 'Ubādah in the porch of Banī Sā'idah and said, There shall be an amīr from among us and an amīr from among you (the Quraish). Thereupon Abu Bakr and 'Umar and Abū 'Ubaidah went to the them, and 'Umar intended to speak, but Abu Bakr asked him to remain silent ..... Then Abu Bakr spoke, and

7. Kufr, as already shown (H. ii:13) means disbelief as well as an act of disbelief, or an evil deed. Kufr bawāh thus includes both open disbelief and evil deeds which are manifest to an ordinary eye. In such a case, the authority of the ruler may be contested, and he may even be deposed. It was on this ground that Imam Husain contested the authority of Yazīd, and fought against his rule.

(B. 69:6)

10 Anas reported,

He heard the second sermon of 'Umar when he ascended the pulpit, and this was the day next to that on which the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, died; . . . . . he said . . . . .

8. Conclusive evidence is afforded by this hadīth that the Islamic State was a democracy in which the head was chosen by the people themselves. Abū Bakr was admittedly the best among the companions and the fittest man to be the head of the State and to control its affairs. as this hadīth and the one that follows show. The Ansār were at first under the impression that there could be two amīrs or two heads of the State, but they were ultimately convinced that this position was untenable, and there was an agreement on the point that the State must have a single head, with ministers and counsellors to help him. Wazīr ( from wizr, burden ) means an aider or helper, and hence a king's minister. 'Umar's election as the head of the State after Abū Bakr was made in a different way. Before his death Abū Bakr consulted the leading men of the Muslims community, and nominated as his successor 'Umar, who during his own caliphate had acted as his right-hand man, and who was, admittedly the most outstanding personality in Islām after Abū Bakr. 'Umar. on his death-bed, adopted yet a third course by appointing an elective council. There were then six eminent men, every one of whom was fit to hold the reins of government, and 'Umar decided that these six should choose one from among themselves as the amīr, and the mantle fell upon 'Uthmān. There were some differences when 'Uthmān died, but the majority favoured 'Ali who was the fourth head of the Islamic State after the Holy Prophet. In all four cases, election was the basic principle in appointing the head of the State, though different methods were adopted to avoid dissensions.

Some of them had sworn allegiance to him before this in the porch of Banī Sā'idah and the masses swore allegiance to him while he was on the pulpit.

(B. 94:51.)

11 'Ā'ishah said,

When Abū Bakr was chosen as successor (to the

9. By Light is meant the Holy Qur'ān, the basis of the Islamic law, to which even the head of the State was subject. Abū Bakr is called the "Second of the two" because during the Flight he was in the cave with the Holy Prophet.

(B. 34:15.)

12 Ma'qil said,

I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say:

"There is not a man whom Allāh grants to rule people, then he does not manage their affairs for (their) good but he will not smell the sweet odour of paradise."11

(B. 94:8.)

10. The head of the State was thus paid a fixed salary from the public treasury, like all other public servants.

11. Officers of government are, thus required to manage the affairs of the public for the good of the public.

(B. 64:62.)

14 It is reported about 'Umar that when he appointed his governors, he laid down upon them certain conditions:

You shall not ride a horse that is not of Arabian breed; you shall not eat bread made of fine flour; you shall not wear fine clothes; and you shall not shut your doors against the needs of the people. If

(Msh. 17:l.)

15 Hasan said,

Allāh has given orders to the rulers that they shall not follow their low desires, and shall not fear people, and shall not take a small price for Allāh's injunctions.13

(B. 94:16.)

16 'Amr ibn Maimūn said,

I saw 'Umar at Madīnah a few days before he was wounded. He stopped to talk with Hudhaifah ibn al-Yaman

12.A governor was thus required to lead the life of an ordinary Muslim citizen. That there is a direction not to ride any but a horse of Arabian breed shows that governors were required to be good horsemen as well. The ruling authorities were further required to be easily accessible to the public. The Holy Prophet himself set an example in this respect as he had no door-keepers even after he became ruler of Arabia (B. 23:31).

13. Selflessness was thus the first requisite of those who were entrusted with rule.

14. Hudhaifah and 'Uthmān were appointed by 'Umar to assess land revenue. The total amounted to a very large sum. and therefore 'Umar's apprehension that the people might have been taxed too heavily. He was assured that assessment was according to the capacity of the land.

15. 'Umar apparently was thinking of making the State responsible for the maintenance of widows He had already introduced old-age pensions and made arrangements for the grant of allowances to the weak and the disabled.

16. The conditions under which the urban and the rural populations lived were different, and 'Umar was therefore anxious that the Muslim State should have regard for the welfare of both. People were to be taxed with their assent, which shows that the State worked on purely democratic principles.

(B. 62:8.)

37. The non-Muslims living in a Muslim state were known as ahl al dhimmah or dhimmīs, dhimmah meaning a covenant. Here they are spoken of as being under the protection of Allāh and the protection of Allāh's Messenger, and the sacredness of their right is thus enhanced. They enjoyed freedom to the same extent as the Muslim subjects of a Muslim state, and had the additional advantage of being free from military service on payment of a small tax. which was by all means a smaller burden than zakāt which Muslims were required to my in addition to their liability to military service, being required to fight in the defence of Islām as well as non-Muslims.