According to Islamic sources, by accepting the Rule of God, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Infallible Imams (A.S) , we will accept that the Islamic government is based on the Divine Rule on all material and spiritual aspects of the human being.
We know that the role of the Prophet (PBUH) in the Islamic society, relying on his Divine Sovereignty, was the formation of the Islamic government, which is done as soon as he emigrated at the end of the thirteenth year and the beginning of the fourteenth year of his emigration to Yathrib, the city which later was renamed to the “Prophet’s City”.
In Mecca, due to the small number of his supporters, he only had the opportunity to invite people to Islam, but with the provision of social, political, economic conditions, and the people’s allegiance to him as the apocalyptic prophet and ruler and representative of God on earth, the Islamic government was first established in Medina.
The allegiance of the people of Yathrib to the Prophet (PBUH) was first known in the year 11 AH as the “First Bay’at (Pledge) of Aqabah”, which led a number of Yathribis to convert to Islam even before the Prophet’s migration.
In the “Second Bay’at (Pledge) of Aqabah”, a large number of Yathrib residents in Mecca met the Prophet (PBUH) and converted to Islam, paving the way for the Prophet (PBUH) to emigrate to Medina and establish an Islamic government in the city.
After the emigration, with the signing of the Medina Constitution between the Prophet and the various people and tribes of Medina, the formation of the government also gained popular legitimacy, as the people of Medina not only pledged allegiance to the Prophet personally, but also signed a treaty or constitution. In addition, after the conquest of Mecca, the Prophet (PBUH) pledged allegiance exclusively to the women of Mecca and offered his Islam and mission to them, emphasizing the importance of women in the Islamic society and Ummah.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) gradually implemented the political, civil, criminal, etc. Islamic rules in the society, although according to the time and place, his rule is considered to be very simple in terms of form. To regulate international relations between the Islamic world and the surrounding world, while inviting the civilized nations of the world to the religion, he even calls for friendly and peaceful relations with the empires around the Arabian Peninsula, especially Persia (Iran), Egypt and Rome, based on monotheism, justice and non-supremacy, according to verse 1 of Surah Al-Furqan, which promises the universality of Islam.
According to studies conducted by experts and scholars of Islamic history, the Prophet had created several posts for better management of affairs, which, despite differences in naming them, have been established as follows: 1- Ministry, 2- Administrative department, 3- Judiciary department, 4 – Technical department, 5 – Financial department, 6 – Diplomacy department, 7 – Military department, 8 – Educational department, 9 – Propaganda department, 10 – Security department.
In addition to these departments, he drafted the first constitution of the world, entitled the “Medina Charter” (Sahifa or constitution or charter of Medina), in 52 principles, and introduced the method of establishing order and justice and the relations of different religious groups such as Jews, and other residents and ruled according to it. According to this constitution, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) formed a single nation (United) , until with the conquest of Mecca in the year 8 AH, the territory of the Islamic Ummah was extended to Mecca and gradually to other lands.
According to the first principle of this charter, “This (writing) is a command or charter sent by Muhammad, the Messenger of God (PBUH) and will be effective among the believers and Muslims from the tribe of Quraysh and (the people of) Yathrib (Medina) and those who follow them and join them.”
Also, according to clause 24,
“it is obligatory on the believers to be the authority [of resolving the dispute] between the command of God and God’s Messenger in any case where you disagree with each other”.
The last clause of this charter also states:
“Certainly, this order (document) will not support anyone who is oppressive and violates the covenant, and whoever leaves the city and whoever stays in Medina will be safe and sound. Except for the one who commits injustice and acts contrary to the contents of this charter (document), and surely God is the refuge of those who do good deeds and are more pious, and Muhammad (PBUH) is the Messenger of God.”
Thus, regardless of the form of political rule of the Messenger of God (PBUH), despite the fact that obedience to the Prophet (PBUH) is obligatory on all Muslims, he nevertheless, while resorting to allegiance to the people, guaranteed the dual divine and popular legitimacy of his political system, and although he could run the government independently, by establishing a relatively modern system, he fully complied with what is now known as the “separation of powers” rule and appointed Imam Ali (A.S) as his judge. At the same time, he chose military commanders according to their merits and tact, and it was not the case that they took on all the responsibilities personally.
In addition, in the field of economics, Islamic economics based on respect for private property, the prohibition of “usury”, the fight against underselling and hoarding, etc., and established the Islamic financial system by founding the institutions of “Zakat”, “Khums” and … as quasi-tax institutions to help various social groups and political institutions, which is one of the strengths and advantages of the Islamic financial system over other financial systems. The penal system of Islam, based on verses and hadiths, consists of “limits” and “punishments” was formed by him based on the principle of judicial justice and has made Islam an absolutely social religion.
* Dr. Mohammad Saeid Taheri Moosavi is a specialist in Public Law and Political Sciences. This article is written for Shafaqna French and translated by Fatemeh Aghaei for Shafaqna English.
Source: en.shafaqna.com
