Islam: Genesis of leadership

as a country or city or village or household consisting of a few human beings, can continue to subsist without a leader and ruler who puts the wheel of the society in motion and whose will governs each individual’s will and induces the members of that society to perform their social duty.
Every human being, as a social creature in society, needs a leader. Leadership has, however, remained one of the greatest challenges for man since his early creation. Islam, as a religion which is established upon the basis of the primordial nature of things and is concerned with man’s social life, has paid special attention to the issue of leadership. The philosophy of leadership in Islam is premised on the fact that every human being has a goal and this goal cannot be fulfilled without the law of God and divinely inspired leadership. The issue of leadership in Islam is addressed in three perspectives; from the perspective of Islamic government, of Islamic sciences and injunctions and the leadership and innovative guidance in the spiritual life.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him-pbuh) was never oblivious to the problem of the formation of social groupings whenever the influence of Islam penetrated. The Prophet (pbuh) displayed great interest in the problem of succession and never failed to appoint a leader when necessary. Each time a city or village fell into Muslim hands, he would in the shortest possible time, appoint a governor or ruler in whose hands he would leave the affairs of the Muslims.
Leadership has a broad and comprehensive sense that includes both intellectual authority and political leadership. In Islam leadership is nothing other than the realisation of the goals of Islam and the implementation of its precepts, precepts established by the Messenger of God. It bestows objective existence on the ideal of forming a community and codifying a law of governance. In the larger sections of the Muslim world, leadership is seen as a form of divine governance, an office depending on appointment just like prophets, something God bestows on exalted persons. The difference being that the Prophet is the founder of the religion and the school of thought that proceeds from it, whereas the leader has the function of guarding and protecting God’s religion.
Great emphasis is placed on the moral conduct of the leader considering the profound effect of his leadership on society. According to the teachings of Imam Ali (pbuh) “with respect to their morals, people resemble their leaders more than they resemble their fathers”.
Such is the effect a leader may exert on society that the need to consider certain criteria when choosing a leader has not been overlooked in Islam. A leader is expected to exercise tolerance and to habituate his mercy for the subjects and to show affection and kindness towards them. Islam constantly reminds every leader of his close relation with his subjects. Such a relationship obtains in two forms, either your brother/sister in religion or one like you in creation.
Islam pays special attention to the need for leaders to show humility. Imam Ali (pbuh) in his letter to the governor of Egypt says: ” . . . do not say; ‘I have given authority, I should be obeyed on every order’; because it engenders confusion in the heart, weakens religion and take one near ruin.
“If the authority in which you are placed produces pride of vanity in you then look at the greatness of the realm of God over you and His superiority which you do not have even yourself . . .”
Leaders, in Islam, are required to not to keep themselves secluded from the people for a long time. Seclusion of those in authority from their subjects is said to be a kind of narrow sightedness that causes ignorance about their efforts. Seclusion from one’s subjects also prevents them from the knowledge of those things they do not know and as a result they begin to regard large matters as small and small matters as large, good matters as bad and bad matters good, while truth get confused with falsehood.
Justice is an essential obligation every leader is expected to fulfil. Imam Ali (pbuh) while addressing the governor of Egypt says the absence of justice implies oppression and when a person oppresses the creatures of God, then instead God becomes his enemy, and when God is the enemy of a person He tramples his plea. Nothing is more inductive of reversion of the bounty of Allah or for hastening his retribution than oppression.
Most Islamic scholars seem to concur that the issue of leadership in Islam was addressed when the Divine Mission of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was nearing its end. By then the Islamic society stood in dire need of a worthy personage who would be endowed with the knowledge derived from revelation, exempt from sin and impurity, and capable of perpetuating the path of the founder of Islam.
Such a person would be able not only to watch over the political development of the time and to protect society from its deviant elements, but also to provide people with the extensive religious knowledge which spring from the fountainhead of revelation, and derive from the general principles of Islam.
Nevertheless, the issue of leadership remains a contentious issue within the Muslim world today. There are those who are content with the proclamation made by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), upon returning from his last pilgrimage in Mecca at the pond of Khum where he is said to have appointed Imam Ali (pbuh) as his successor before a crowd of 120 000 pilgrims.
The event is largely recognised and celebrated within the Shiite Islamic world as Eid Ghadir Khum. The second school of thought, which emerged soon after the demise of the Prophet and is largely recreated as Sunni Islam, while acknowledging the event of Ghadir Khum, disputes the appointment of Imam Ali.
A closer look at history, however, will reveal that almost all divinely revealed religions are replete with the universal practice of prophets nominating their successors (on the command of God) without any interference from the people.
The history of religions such as Judaism founded by Moses (pbuh) and Christianity founded by Jesus (pbuh) does not offer a single instance of a prophet’s successor being elected by a voting of his followers.
It was one of the bounties of God, bestowed on Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) and the His Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that, in reality and practice, all the leaders who followed after them (with the exception of Jesus pbuh) came from their own families, and that all those who held necessary qualifications for the leadership were from their progeny. Going by this trend it can be equally inferred that there is no exception; in the case of the successor of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) that this established Divine Law could be changed.
Pursuant to a divine command and in succession to his mission, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is said to have accredited Ali, and the successive Imams of his and his (Prophet) progeny, exclusively and bindingly. Exposed to the scorching rays of the midday sun, with meticulous thoroughness of his genius, Prophet Muhammad mounted the pulpit and made an important announcement: ‘‘Whoever whose master I am, Ali is his master… O you people! Verily, Allah has appointed him to be your Imam and ruler…his position to me is like that of Aaron and Moses, except that there is to be no prophet after me…’ Soon after this proclamation, the Angel Gabriel (pbuh) is said to have appeared to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) with a revelation pronouncing the completion of his Divine Mission. ‘This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed my bounty upon you and chosen for you Islam as a religion’ (Holy Qur’an Chapter 5:3).This revelation, preceding the announcement of a successor by the Prophet, demonstrated that nothing is more important than the issue of leadership and successorship in ensuring the perpetuity of the Islamic faith. Islam was completed by the appointment of Imam Ali as leader of the ummah. The subsequent leadership squabbles which followed after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) can be singled out as the basic defect on the Muslims’ outlook which has always been and is today the underlying cause of the political instability in the Muslim world. The Muslim world has been plunged into a long struggle in the ideological and political fields, and into different kinds of conflicts, and various intellectual doctrines that seek to establish and reconstruct this social edifice.