State and Majority Will of the People (1)

  

We have seen in the article https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2017/09/decision-making-and-qattal-by-islamic.html that decision making by an Islamic state has to be made on the basis of majority will of the people. The principle of majority has been given sanctity in Islam (if decision reached at is not contradictory to Quran and Hadith). But what is to be noted is that people’s participation is a must to constitute a majority; majority cannot be formulated without participation of all (at least majority) people in the process. In other words, a majority emerged without participation of at least majority people in the process would not be a majority given sanctity in Islam. It means in order to avail blessings attached with the majority (of  Muslims), Muslims are obliged to formulate majority by taking part in the process of decision-making, directly or indirectly, through the political system. In other words, decision-making is a sacred trust given to Muslims which have to dispense with this trust by constituting majority in the process of decision-making. Islam makes it compulsory for the Muslims to take part in the process of decision-making through formulating majority under the political system.

 In the same articles, we have also seen that majority will of the people has to be operated on the basis of Quran and Hadith. It means Muslims may opt for one of the solutions presented on the basis of Quran and Hadith; but Muslims are not allowed to opt for a solution which is contradictory to Quran and Hadith.  If issue cannot be resolved on the basis of  knowledge of Quran and Hadith (due to any reasons), the matter would be referred to men of piety and knowledge. It may be appreciated it would be the majority Muslims who would implement the decision rectified by the  men of piety and knowledge (who would be majority of men of piety and knowledge); the  men of piety and knowledge themselves, if they are in minority or lack support of majority people, cannot implement the decision on their own, violating the will of majority people. The implementation of decisions in an Islamic state is responsibility of majority Muslims through the state. Quran says:

“[And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give zakah and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allah belongs the outcome of [all] matters” al-hajj-41).

The words " if We give them authority in the land" means this verse is about a state. This verse explains two things clearly. Firstly, it makes it clear that one of the basic duties of an Islamic state is to establish such society which is based on enjoining the right and forbidding from the wrong so that a society based on principles of equity and justice may be established. In other words- social, legal, economic, educational, political systems- in short all systems in Islamic state have to be based on principles of equity and justice. For this purpose the state is advised to constitute a special group of people; in modern age such a group of people may be called institutions. “And let there be [arising] from you a group inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful” (al-imran-104). Secondly, this verse makes clear that Islamic state is to be run by majority Muslim people. The addressee of this verse are Muslim people/ nation collectively; it means at least majority Muslim people/ nation would control the state.

In short, it would be responsibility of the state to implement the decisions aiming at establishment of a society based on principles of equity and justice, and it would be majority Muslims who would control a state. In other words, an Islamic state is what is majority will of the Muslims.

 There is difference between a state, a government, and majority will of the Muslims. State is collection of many state institutions; government is only one state’s institution. If government acts according to majority will of the Muslims, it would be considered as representing the Islamic state; if government does not represent majority will of the Muslims, the state would be shifted from the government’s hands into the hands of majority Muslims, because an  Islamic state is what is majority will of the Muslims. But it may be appreciated majority will of the Muslims operates through the state institutions as well as non-state institutions. In other words, majority will of the Muslims is what is operated through the state institutions as well as through non-state institutions (state institutions are those which are vested with legal powers; non-state institutions are not vested with legal powers). In other words,  the determinants of majority will of the Muslims are not only state institutions but also all non-state social organizations like family institution, teaching institutions, ‘masajid and madaras’, think tanks, community organizations, social welfare organizations, commercial and trade organizations, , professional organizations, workers organizations, political organizations, in short all kinds of non-state social organizations. A government would be considered as representing the Islamic state, if it acts according to the majority will of the Muslims determined through all state institutions and non-state social institutions because a state is what is majority will of the Muslims; otherwise government would be no more considered as representing the Islamic state and the state would be shifted from the government’s hands to the majority Muslims’ hands- it means legal powers of the state would be transferred to the majority Muslims.  

A state is collection of many state institutions. Some institutions are elected and some are non-elected. Elected state institutions are based on explicit will of the Muslims; whereas non-elected state institutions are based on implicit will of the Muslims. Similarly non-state institutions are based on explicit will of the Muslims, if they are elected institutions, and they are based on implicit will of the Muslims, if they are non-elected institutions.But it may be appreciated state or non-state institutions-whether they have been created through explicit will or implicit will of the people- have to be approved by the Majority implicit will of  the people/ Muslims. The  majority will which approves creation of state or non-state institutions is actually implicit majority will of the Muslims/ people. Even if an institution is created by explicit will of the people, each and every individual of a nation does not participate in creation of whole institution. For instance, every single voter may vote for electing a single member of an assembly, but every voter cannot elect every member of the assembly. However all voters, if they approve election of all members of the assembly, may grant their implicit consent for creation of such assembly. In the same way, it is majority Muslims’/peoples’ implicit will which approves creation of all state and non-state institutions though every individual of the approving majority has not participated in the creation of those state or non-state institutions. In other words, majority will of the people/ Muslims is actually majority implicit will of the Muslims/ people.

Non-elected state institutions, which are created through implicit will, have to perform the functions assigned to them through the Majority implicit will of the Muslims; Majority implicit will would be determined through whether or not creation of such non-elected state institutions was approved by implicit will of the majority Muslims. Once approved by the implicit will of majority Muslims, the non-elected state institutions are not to be dictated by any other state institutions, not to be dictated even by the political government- which is itself only a state institution- because foundation of these non-elected state institutions is the same majority implicit will of the Muslims, which is the foundation of other elected or non-elected state institutions. But it does not mean a non-elected state institution cannot be made answerable to any other institution; it may be made answerable to a specified institution in a specified manner, if it violates the laws under which such non-elected state institution is to work. Implicit will of majority Muslims/people is actually functioning of an institution according to law as approved by the implicit will of majority people/ Muslims.

Political government, being only one elected state institution among all other  state and non-state institutions, is not authorized to dictate/ rule other state or non-state institutions, in violation of majority implicit will of the Muslims; the rightful role of the political government is to oversee and ensure that all state and non-state institutions are performing their functions according to the laws. In other words, a government’s job is to ensure that all state and non-state institutions are performing according to majority implicit will of the Muslims.  A government, in order to be rightful representative of the Islamic state, has to act in line with majority implicit will of the Muslims. If political government acts in violation of majority implicit will of the Muslims, it would be no more rightful representative of the Islamic state; and the state-along with its legal authority- would stand transferred to the majority Muslims.

In Islam there is no room for dictatorship.  Dictatorship is a situation where a state institution or a non-state group or institution takes over the state and starts ruling/dictating the other state or non-state institutions, in violation of majority implicit will of the Muslims. It means a dictatorship is not necessarily a military rule; a political government- which is a state institution among all other state and non-state institutions- can also establish its dictatorship by dictating/ ruling other state and non-state institutions, in violation of majority implicit will of the people.
A government's role is actually to divide the state's powers among the state institutions; it means there are many states within a state. A government's duty is to ensure that division of state powers among the state institutions is not violated; if government violates such division of state's powers by dictating/ ruling other state institutions,  it would be called government's dictatorship. Such dictatorships in states including Muslim states are, in fact, a tool in the hands of international establishment which controls such states through such dictatorships. If state institutions and non-state institutions are powerful, they would resist dictatorship successfully and foil nefarious designs of international establishment whose agenda is to exploit the world’s resources in their favor by hook or by crook (continued).