PROVIDED THE GOVERNING RULES ARE ISLAMIC, ISLAM ENDORSES A REPUBLIC, NOT A MONARCHY

Provided the Governing Rules Are Islamic
ISLAM ENDORSES A REPUBLIC, NOT A MONARCHY

It is Allah who created human beings. Allah, who created human beings, established Islam as their religion and communicated its laws through the prophets He chose from among them. Through this true religion, human beings are tested in their service to Him. In its final form, conveyed by the Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him), Islam encompasses human life in its entirety, from belief to politics, from morality to sexuality.

In this sense, Islam is religion, state and peace; it is a body of commands and prohibitions that regulate and guide.

Islam encompasses human beings and seeks their happiness in this world and the hereafter. It therefore needed, of course, to clarify the general rules for choosing the leaders of the government it requires to be established.

Sent by Allah 14 centuries ago and ordained to remain valid until the Day of Resurrection, Islam laid down general rules for elections that can be applied under the most primitive conditions as well as in the most advanced societies. We can summarize these rules as justice, appointing those who are qualified, and shura, within a framework that empowers all believers who bear religious responsibility to vote and stand for election.

Justice, Appointing Those Who Are Qualified, and Shura

For our Almighty Lord has commanded justice in numerous verses of the Noble Qur’an, requiring us to uphold it even against ourselves. He has also established the following principle of appointing qualified people in every sphere, including public affairs:

“Allah commands you to entrust responsibilities to those qualified to bear them and, whenever you judge between people, to judge with justice…” (Nisâ, 58)

The principle of shura, which encompasses consultation, election and the adoption of the majority’s views on matters not settled by revelation, was enjoined upon all believers through our glorious Prophet, our sole leader, as follows:

“(O Prophet!) Consult the people around you on every matter concerning the community.” (Âl-i İmrân, 159)

That shura should be a defining characteristic of believing communities is also explained as follows:

“(Divine gifts) are for those who respond to their Lord’s call, who are attentive and constant in their prayers, and who settle all their common affairs through shura (consultation) among themselves…” (Şûrâ, 38)

Society’s Natural Representatives

It was entirely natural that, in societies of the past, the rules we have described as identifying qualified believers through shura within a just and inclusive framework could be implemented only through the efforts of intellectuals such as scholars, military figures and politicians, who could be seen as society’s natural representatives. Indeed, this was how the Companions, that exemplary generation, proceeded in electing the first four caliphs. For our Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him) granted neither members of his own family nor those of any particular group privilege or precedence in government. He left Muslims free to elect their head of state in accordance with Islamic principles.

In our age of advanced transport and communications, it is reasonable to accept that these rules can be put into practice through a democratic republic (aligned with Islam), the ultimate product of reason in human development.

A Democratic Republic

Every believer who bears religious responsibility has a duty to guide the society in which they live towards what is good, beautiful and right, and to eliminate, directly or indirectly, the injustices, exploitation and immoral practices rejected and condemned by religion, mature reason and science. A democratic republic, which grants every individual the right to vote and stand for election and allows civic action, should therefore be preferred to absolute or constitutional monarchy (unless a better method is identified).

Here we wish to emphasize this fundamental truth: A republic is the opposite of absolute and constitutional monarchy, and is not a feature of any human-made system. Yet it is a requirement of Islam. For it was our Prophet himself who described government established within the conditions outlined above, foremost among them shura, as the caliphate of prophethood, while characterizing and condemning sovereignty passed from father to son as kingship/monarchy. (Feyzü’l-Kadîr, hadith no. 4147)

For just and virtuous government, a body of laws that gives governance vitality, effectiveness and sanctity is as important as a democratized republic.

The body of laws and values on which government is to be based, though central to the matter and vitally important to Muslims, is a separate issue.

This fundamental issue can be resolved in a democratic republic through choices made in the light of revelation and reason, taking “Islam’s unchangeable principles” as the standard. For in many areas, particularly fundamental rights and freedoms, there are similarities and even overlaps between Islamic principles and the universal principles people respect.

What distinguishes Islam is that it gives its principles vitality and effectiveness through faith in Allah and the life hereafter.

A Republic Is a System Islam Can Endorse

In light of the information presented above, the republic, as established in various countries over the course of history, should be regarded as an electoral system endorsed by Islam, independently of its founders and their aims and actions.

Here we would like to clarify another point we consider important.

The system of passing government from father to son, regarded as legitimate in the Islamic states established throughout Islam’s long history, rests not on Islam but on historical circumstances and the interpretations of scholars who felt the need to legitimize political arrangements in Islam’s name, or who invoked the principle of necessity under pressure.

Although a system of absolute hereditary succession could foster stability and successful advances under qualified rulers sincerely committed to the guiding and institution-building principles of Islamic law, it is clear that, as a system, it cannot receive the approval of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Let us conclude our sermon with the historic speech Ebubekir delivered immediately after his election by the noble Companions, who applied the rule of electing and appointing qualified believers within a just framework:

“O people! I have become your leader, although I am not the best among you. If I perform my duty as I should, help me. If I err, show me the right way. Truthfulness is a trust, and lying is a betrayal. The weak among you are strong in my eyes until I secure their rights. The strong among you are weak in my eyes until I recover from them the rights of others.

If a people abandon jihad in the way of Allah, they will suffer humiliation. A people who engage in vile words and deeds will also meet with calamity. Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His Prophet. If I disobey Allah and His Prophet, you are under no obligation to obey me.”

NOTE: I prepared this article as a sermon about 50 years ago, and it was delivered as a Friday sermon at Süleymaniye Camii, where I served as imam and preacher.

Ali Rıza Demircan

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