TRANSLATION
God commands you to convey the trust [that God has given] to those deserving of it and when you judge between people, that you exercise justice. Indeed, God asks you to do what is most excellent; God is ever Hearing and Seeing!
O People of Faith, listen to God, listen to the Messenger, and listen to those who are given authority to govern among you. Then, if there is any disagreement and dispute on any matter among you, refer to God and His Messenger—this is if you truly believe in God and the Last Day. This is the best and most conducive to achieve your objectives.254
INTERPRETATION
254. In these few simple verses, God and His Prophet laid down a few foundational principles for governance of our civic, political, social, and religious matters and affairs. In our current day, the US Constitution is a good example of how a brief but well-thought-out set of constitutional guidelines can govern a nation. Certainly, the early Muslims, who were direct followers of the prophets and subsequent rulers, all maintained a fair degree of separation between the executive and the judiciary, and the guidance from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s traditions were highly regarded as the legislative authority and thereby achieved an unprecedented human civilization, spanning the greater part of the known world and a phenomenal contribution to science, agriculture, trade, and all forms of physical and spiritual upliftment. Once the rulers became increasingly autocratic, the judiciary became a mere tool of the rulers, and there was serious exploitation of Islamic guidance in favor of the powerful; that was the beginning of the downfall of the Islamic civilization, a trend that continues even to this date. The use of so-called Islamic Shariah to oppress the weak and to favor the powerful only exacerbates the negative debates about Islam and its guidance.
The “trust” (amanat) given to each one of us—whether it is freedom, physical and intellectual capability, property and means, guidance, rules and regulations, leadership, or protection of liberty and life itself—has to be put to proper use and put under proper and lawful construct to maximize the potential for all. A good example is governance of a society—the right to be ruled and the right of leadership by democratic means and to elect qualified people to run the society is a fundamental obligation from this verse. And so is the maintenance of justice for all, irrespective of one’s position, gender, origin, and so forth and the absence of any undue influence or interference with the judges or the legal system. And so is the responsibility of the elected individuals and leaders as well as each member of the society to respect the guidance and law established in society (so long it is consistent with truth, justice, equality, and faith in God) and to collectively endeavor with sincerity and gratitude for the opportunity and responsibility to interpret and create rules and regulations that conform to heavenly guidance and our human condition.
In this respect, one of the Prophet’s sayings is very revealing. Referring to amanat as the responsible governance of people, he said, “When this amanat is wasted, then wait for the hours of doom (days of despair and disarray).” When someone wanted a clarification of what was meant by this waste of amanat, he replied, “When the governance [of people] is entrusted to those who are unworthy of it.” Our world today, in many ways, represents the truth of this statement—certainly in many parts of the Muslim world and societies. On one hand, people are rapidly losing faith in government, and on the other hand, they are unwilling to go through the hardship and struggle to elect worthy individuals and to have the courage to hold them accountable. The presidential election in the United States in 2016 is a stark example of such neglect of this amanat, and it can happen even in the best run democracy in the world if the citizens are not committed to know the facts, exercise good judgment, and fully appreciate the consequences of bad choices.
REFLECTION
These two verses are two of the most powerful and fundamentally important verses in the Qur’an with respect to our mutual governance and mutual obligation—capable leadership, independent and just judiciary, and rule of law according to God’s guidance and our best and collective interpretation and adherence are going to be the key for future success of humanity.
ACTION
We have serious responsibility in this regard as we see country after country falling into misuse of power, wealth, faulty democratic process, corrupt leadership and legislative bodies, rise of military and secret apparatus to oppress citizens, and growing and unprecedented influence of business entities to exploit the masses by excessive profiteering and influence peddling with politicians.
Key Arabic Term
85. Amanat: Trust, gift, possession, intellectual capability, responsibility