All over history, rulers, according to their qualifications, have played influential roles in the development and retardation of nations. The ideal, sincere ruler is he who governs his subjects on the bases of leniency, justice, and equality. The absolute ruler, on the other hand, is he who enslaves, humiliates, and exploits the subjects for his own interests: The Prophet (s) said: On the Day of Resurrection, a caller will cry out: where are the unjust rulers and their supporters, including those who provided them with an inkpot, those who untied one of their bags, and those who sharpened a pencil for them. Join all these individuals to those rulers.
The unjust rulers will sooner or later suffer punishments that befit their acts of oppression. History is full of stories showing the bad results of absolute rulers. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yousuf at-Thaqafi is the most hideous example of an unjust ruler. He ruled for twenty years during which he killed 120,000 individuals besides those who were killed during his campaigns. In his cells, there were fifty thousand men and thirty thousand women etc. Finally, this dictator was affected by canker and severe frost until he perished.
Rights of Subjects against Rulers
(A) Justice:
The absolute authority of the unjust rulers, in most cases, is the result of people’s rebellion against and disobedience to the Lord: The Prophet (s) said: Allah says: I am Allah. There is no god but I. I have created the kings whose hearts are in My hand. I will make the hearts of the kings full of mercy towards the people who obey Me, but I will make them full of rancour towards the people who disobey Me. Do not engage yourselves in reviling at the kings. You must repent to Me so that I will make their hearts full of compassion towards you.
(B) Righteousness
Because most people try to imitate them, it is obligatory upon rulers to be characterized by righteousness and well-behaved so as to act as good examples for their subjects. Likewise, the rulers’ deviation and misconduct push most people towards deviation.
(C) Leniency
Rulers are required to govern people with means of lenience and avoid persecution because despotism is the most disreputable manner of the rulers and the most injurious act towards the subjects. The Prophet (s) said: Lenience will beautify anything it accompanies and will disfigure anything it leaves. Amir ul-Mu’minin (a) said: Habituate your heart to mercy for the subjects and to affection and kindness for them. Do not stand over them like greedy beasts who feel it is enough to devour them, since they are of two kinds, either your brother in religion or one like you in creation.
They will commit slips and encounter mistakes. They may act wrongly, willfully, or by neglect. So, extend to them your forgiveness and pardon, in the same way as you would like Allah to extend His forgiveness and pardon to you because you are over them and your responsible Commander (Imam) is over you while Allah is over him who has appointed you through what He has given to you of the knowledge of His Book and the practices of His Prophet (s). Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: The lenient can win anything he wants from people. Lenience is of no value unless it is done to virtuous people. The evildoers who disturb social peace do not deserve any sort of lenient treatment.
Aspects of Leniency
Aspects of lenience can be shown through the words and deeds of the rulers. Hence, the ruler must use good wording and avoid obscenity. He must treat the subjects with kindness through sympathizing with their pains and tragedies and hurrying for helping them in misfortunes and crises. Finally, the ruler must try his best to save the subjects from heavy taxes.
Results of Leniency
Lenience creates the subjects’ love for their rulers and save them from the need for flattering and hypocrisy. God praised His Messenger Mohammed (s) for his lenience: Only through the Divine Mercy have you (Muhammad) been able to deal with your followers so gently. If you had been stern and hardhearted, they would all have deserted you a long time ago.
(D) Selection of the Retinue
A ruler, no matter how well-qualified he is, cannot dispense with supporters who help him do his duties properly. Such supporters, in fact, have a great effect on guiding and conditioning the ruler’s morals and opinions. From this cause, it is important for the ruler to select well-qualified and decent retinue so that they will positively help him and contribute to achieving the subjects’ pleasure.
(E) Settlement with the Officials
Because most of them take pride in their authority, officials usually challenge and treat people arrogantly and neglect their duties. Such behaviours will surely dissatisfy people with the ruling authorities. From this cause, it is necessary for rulers to supervise and call the officials to account so as to reward the dutiful and punish the negligent. By doing so, each individual will perform his duty towards society properly, tragedies and varieties of flattering to the office will be eradicated, and all social affairs will he prevail by justice.
(F) Achievement of Social Happiness
The ruler is responsible for the moral and material development of the subjects. This happiness can be achieved when the ruler supervises the subjects, pays attention to their interests, secures their rights of security, justice, and luxury, raises their scientific, physical, social, moral, and structural levels, cares for the industrial, agricultural, and commercial development, and encourages the talents and abilities.
Rulers’ Rights against Subjects
The ruler, in his capacity as the pioneer of national development and civilization, enjoys definite rights imposed upon the subjects. In the following words, Amir ul-Mu’minin (a) refers to the rights of the rulers: The ruled cannot prosper unless the rulers are sound, while the rulers cannot be sound unless the ruled are steadfast. If the ruled fulfil the rights of the ruler and the ruler fulfils their rights, then right attains the position of honour among them, the ways of religion become established, signs of justice become fixed and the Sunna gains currency.
In this way time will improve, the continuance of government will be expected, and the aims of the enemies will be frustrated. But if the ruled gain sway over the ruler, or the ruler oppresses the ruled, then difference crops up in every word, signs of oppression appear, mischief enters religion and the ways of the Sunna are forsaken. Then desires are acted upon, the commands (of religion) are discarded, diseases of the spirit become numerous and there is no hesitation in disregarding even great rights, nor in committing big wrongs. In such circumstances, the virtuous are humiliated while the vicious are honoured, and there are serious chastisements from Allah on the people.
(1) Obedience:
Rulers enjoy the right of obedience against their subjects in the fields that achieve the satisfaction of God. Obedience encourages rulers to treat their subjects sincerely while rebellion and disappointment are detestable manners that excite the rulers’ rage and punishment. Imam al-Kadhim said: O Shia, do not humiliate yourselves by acting disobediently to the rulers. You should pray to Allah to perpetuate the just rulers and rectify the unjust. Your rectification will be achieved when your rulers are rectified. The just ruler is as same as the compassionate father. Hence, you should love for him that which you love for yourselves and reject for him that which you reject for yourselves.
(2) Support
A ruler cannot dispense with the support of his subjects who help him do his duties properly by means of intellectual and mental efforts.
(3) Advice
People of reason are encompassed by the duty of providing advice to the rulers when they tend to despotism enthralling the subjects. If such advice proves futility, then the intellectuals are not blamed. The Prophet (s) said: The ruler is Allah’s shadow on this earth and the shelter of the wronged. If the ruler governs with justice, he will be rewarded and the subjects must thank him. If the ruler governs unjustly, he will be punished and the subjects must show tolerance until they are relieved. Nowadays, the rulers have no longer accepted advice; therefore, civilized governments have permitted criticizing the rulers by way of parliaments, press media, and memoranda.
NOTE:
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1. Qur’an 3:159
