In this part of the article titled “The ruler and society”, we shall continue with other aspects of the topic such as the classes of men.
Concerning the Classes of Men
Know that subjects are of various classes, none of which can be set aright without the others and none of which is independent of the others. Among them are:
(1.) The soldiers of God,
(2.) Secretaries for the common people and the people of distinction, (1) executors of justice (2) and administrators of equity and kindness, (3)
(3.) Payers of jizyah (4) and land tax, namely the people of protective covenants (5) and the Muslims,
(4.) Merchants and craftsmen and
(5.) The lowest class, the needy and wretched. For each of them, God has designated a portion, and commensurate with each portion He has established obligatory acts (Faridah) in His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet-may God bless him and his household and give them peace-as a covenant from Him maintained by us. (6)
Now soldiers, by the leave of God, are the fortresses of the subjects, the adornment of rulers, the might of religion and the means to security.
The subjects have no support but them, and the soldiers in their turn have no support but the land tax that God has extracted for them, (a tax) by which they are given the power to war against their enemy and upon which they depend for that which puts their situation in order and meets their needs.
Then these two classes (soldiers and taxpayers) have no support but the third class, the judges, administrators and secretaries, for they draw up contracts,(7) gather yields and are entrusted with private and public affairs.
And all of these have no support but the merchants and craftsmen, through the goods which they bring together and the markets which they set up.
They provide for the needs (of the first three classes) by acquiring with their own hands those (goods) resources others do not attain.
Then there is the lowest class, the needy and wretched, those who have the right to aid and assistance. With God, there is plenty for each (of the classes).
Each has a claim upon the ruler to the extent that will set it aright. But the ruler will not truly accomplish what God has enjoined upon him in this respect except by resolutely striving,
By recourse to God’s help, by reconciling himself to what the truth requires and by being patient in the face of it what is easy for him or burdensome.
(I.) Appoint as commander from among your troops that person who is in your sight the most sincere in the way of God and His Prophet and of your Imam, (8) who is purest of heart and most outstanding in intelligence, who is slow to anger, relieved to pardon, gentle to the weak and harsh with the strong and who is not stirred to action by severity nor held back by incapacity.
Then hold fast to men of noble descent and those of righteous families and good precedents, then to men of bravery, courage, generosity and magnanimity, for they are encompassed by nobility and embraced by honour.
Then inspect the affairs of the soldiers (9) as parents inspect their own children. Never let anything through which you have strengthened them distress you, and disdain, not a kindness you have undertaken for them, even if it be small, for it will invite them to counsel you sincerely and trust you.
Do not leave aside the examination of their minor affairs while depending upon (the examination of) the great, for there is a place where they will profit from a trifling kindness and an occasion in which they cannot do without the great.
Among the chiefs of your army, favour him most who assists the soldiers with his aid and bestows upon them what is at his disposal to the extent that suffices both them and the members of their families left behind. (10)
Then their concern in battle with the enemy will be a single concern, for your kind inclination toward them will incline their hearts to you. (11)
Verily the foremost delight of the eye for rulers is the establishment of justice in the land and the appearance of love for them among the subjects. (12)
But surely the subjects’ love will not appear without the well-being of their breasts, and their sincerity (toward rulers) will not become free from blemishes unless they watch over their rulers, find their governments of little burden and cease to hope that their period (of rule) will soon come to an end.
Therefore, let their hopes be expanded, and persist in praising them warmly and taking into account the (good) accomplishments of everyone among them who has accomplished, for frequent mention of their good deeds will encourage the bold and rouse the indolent, God willing.
Then recognize in every man that which he has accomplished, attribute not one man’s accomplishment to another and fall not short (of attributing) to him the full extent of his accomplishment.
Let not a man’s eminence invite you to consider as great an accomplishment that was small, nor a man’s lowliness to consider as small an accomplishment that was great.
Refer to God and His Messenger any concerns which distress you and any matters which are obscure for you, for God-high be He exalted-has said to a people whom He desired to guide:
“O believers, obey God, and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. If you should quarrel on anything, refer it to God and the Messenger”. (13)
To refer to God is to adhere to the clear text of His Book, (14) while to refer to the Prophet is to adhere to his uniting (al-jami’ah) Sunnah, not the dividing (al-mufarriq). (15)
(2a.) Then choose to judge (al-hukm) among men he who in your sight is the most excellent of subjects, i.e., one who is not beleaguered by (complex) affairs, who is not rendered ill-tempered by the litigants, (16) who does not persist in error, who is not distressed by returning to the truth when he recognizes it, whose soul does not descend to any kind of greed, who is not satisfied with an inferior understanding (of a thing) short of the more thorough, who hesitates most in (acting in the face of) obscurities, who adheres most to arguments, who is the least to become annoyed at the petition of the litigants, who is the most patient (in waiting) for the facts to become clear and who is the firmest when the verdict has become manifest; a man who does not become conceited when praise is lavished upon him and who is not attracted by temptation.
But such (men) are rare. Thereupon investigate frequently his execution of the law (Qada’) and grant generously to him that which will eliminate his lacks and through which his need for men will decrease.
Bestow upon him that station near to you to which none of your other favourites may aspire, that by it he may be secure from (character) assassination before you by men of importance. (17)
(In sum) study that (i.e., the selection of judges) with thorough consideration, for this religion was a prisoner in the hands of the wicked, who acted with it out of caprice and used it to seek (the pleasures of) the present world. (18)
To be continued!
NOTES:
___________________________
1. The secretaries (Kuttab) are “those who are in charge of the ruler’s own affairs and who write letters for him to his administrators and commanders. They take care of making arrangements and running the government administration (diwan)” (Ibn Abi-l-Hadid, vol. I7, p. 76).
2. Qudat al-adl, i.e. judges.
3. Administrators (‘Ummal) are government officials concerned with the affairs of “the general public, alms, religious endowments, the common interest, etc.” (Ibn Abi-l-Hadid, vol. I7, p. 69). For the meaning of the term ‘Amil (singular of ‘Ummal) throughout Islamic history see the Encyclopedia of Islam (new edition), vol. I, p. 435.
4. Jizyah is the head tax upon “People of the Book”-followers of revealed religions other than Islam-who live under Muslim rule.
5. Ahl al-dhimma means the “People of the Book” who live in Muslim lands, accorded hospitality and protection by Islam on condition of acknowledging Islamic political domination and paying the jizyah.
6. The covenant between man and God (‘ahd) is frequently mentioned in the Quran and plays a central role in Islamic thought. Some representative Quranic verses are the following: “Only men possessed of minds remember, who fulfil God’s covenant. . .” (13:20); “And fulfil the covenant; surely the covenant shall be questioned of” (17:34); “Made I not a covenant with you Children of Adam, that you should not serve Satan … and that you should serve Me?” (36:59-60).
7. One commentator remarks as follows: “Land tax is only paid in accordance with an agreement between the owners of the land and the ruler, so it is necessary that the documents be drawn up. Furthermore, officials have to collect the land tax from the land owners according to the terms of the contract. Here it is possible that disputes arise between the government officials and the landowners, so it will be necessary to refer to judges to solve these disputes.” Mirza Habiballah al-Hashimi, Minjaj al-bara’ah fi sharh nahj al-balaghah, Tehran, I389/I969-70, vol. 20, p. 200.
8. I.e., Imam ‘Ali himself.
9. “Of the soldiers” is a translation of the pronoun “their”, and some question remains as to whether the pronoun does not in fact refer to the commanders. “If you say, ‘But the soldiers of the army are not mentioned in the preceding section, only the commanders,’ I will answer, ‘On the contrary, they were mentioned where he says “The weak and the strong” ‘ ” (Ibn Abi-l-Hadid, vol. I7, p. 53)
10. Khuluf (plural of khalf ) are the women, children and weak left behind when the men go on a journey.
11. Kind inclination toward the army means choosing for them the best of commanders, which will m turn cause them to love the ruler (Ibn Maytham).
12. According to Ibn-l-Hadid, the context indicates that the word “subjects” refers in particular to the army. Al-Hashimi disagrees and states that ‘Ali does in fact mean all the subjects. He mentions them in the section on soldiers because the soldiers have to keep order m the land among the subjects (vol. 20, p. 222-2).
13. Qur’an 4:59
14. See above, p. 56, note 48.
15. The commentators explain this as meaning that people should follow that part of the Sunnah of the Prophet upon which all are agreed, not that concerning which there is a difference of opinion.
16. Tamhakuhu-l-khusum. According to Ibn Abi-l-Hadid, the verb here means to “make cantankerous or obstinate” (vol. I7, p. 59). Ibn Maytham, however, interprets the passage to mean that the judge should be someone “who is not overcome in his attempt to ascertain the truth by the obstinacy of the litigants. It has been said that this is an allusion to the person with whom the litigants are satisfied.”
17. Muhammad ‘Abduh explains that when the judge is given an elevated position, the ruler’s favourites, as well as the common people, will be in awe of him and no one will dare slander him, out of fear of the ruler and respect for the person held in such high esteem by him (vol. 3, p. I05).
18. Ibn Abi-l-Hadid: “His words refer to the judges and rulers appointed by ‘Uthman, for during his reign they did not judge rightfully but in accordance with caprice and in order to seek this world. Some people say that this happened because ‘Uthman-may God’s mercy be upon him-was weak and his relatives were able to gain mastery over him. They disrupted the affairs of the state without his knowledge, so the sin is upon them and ‘Uthman is guiltless of what they were doing” (vol. I7, p. 60). See Shi’ite Islam, pp. 46-48.
