THE IMAM AND THE CALIPH - Imam Ali the Commander of Faithful [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

THE IMAM AND THE CALIPH

After the death of Uthman bin Affan, the nation
unanimously turned to Imam Ali (a.s.) and gave him the
pledge of allegiance as caliph. They were overwhelmed
with a wave of affection towards him. However, Imam Ali
(a.s.) rejected them saying: "Let me alone, and
go in search of someone else.."(100)

Imam Ali (a.s.) refused to be a captive of emotions,
as it was probable that the hatred of some people against
Uthman was responsible for kindling similar feelings
towards him, as well as aggravating the trend against
him. Imam Ali (a.s.) wanted voluntary acceptance of his
Imamate.

Furthermore, Imam Ali (a.s.) was not of those who could
be induced by post and position and thus, be responsive
to the people as soon as they rushed to him. The whole
caliphate did not have the worth of the wing of a
mosquito to him. Actually the entire earthy world, in his
sight, equalled not more than "a goat's
sneeze," as he put it. Leadership is worthless if it
does enable one to establish right and abolish wrong.

Therefore, he did not respond, at first, to the pressure
of the people. He wanted to subject them to a test to
make sure that they had the capacity to receive his
programs and take to his plans, should he accept the
rule.

So, despite the fact that the sacred capital, the
"Illuminated Madinah" insisted on choosing him
and expressed its persistence in actual demonstrations
and crowded gatherings, so much so that the desire became
unanimous, he was not pressed to accept hastily. At last,
finding the people still persisting in pledging their
allegiance to him, he accepted the caliphate on certain
conditions, which had to be wholeheartedly agreed to.

Spelling out what he needed in his mission, he demanded:

"...Remember that if I accept your caliphate I
shall make you follow the religion according to my own
rulings and judgements. I shall not accept suggestions
from anyone, nor will I bother about the discontentment
and anger of dissatisfied persons..."(101)

The whole nation responded by hurrying to announce
their submission to his conditions, extending their
hands, and pledging their allegiance and obedience to
him. So, Imam Ali (a.s.) agreed to face fully his
responsibilities of leading the Islamic nation, thought
and practice.

The first task was to remove all forms of deviation which
had grown into Islamic life, and to bring the nation back
to the original Divine course. To attain this he had to
act according to a strict and comprehensive program, and
to have others to act correctly in implementing it. It
was a task where his government had many problems to
confront, especially in political and economic fields:

1. Political Field:

Imam Ali (a.s.) defined the attributes of governors
and government officials whom Islam recommends to manage
the affairs of the Islamic nation. These definitions were
clearly set out in his communique which he issued:

"....O people! you must understand and realize
that so far as the protection of properties, rights and
honor of the Muslim world, the propagation and
preservation of Muslim laws and guardianship of Muslim
finances are concerned, an ignorant person, a miser, a
tyrant, a man who accepts bribes or one who has forsaken
the principles of equity and justice should not be
entrusted with the ruling of a Muslim state.

"A miserly person will covet the wealth of
those he rules; an ignorant one will misguide them; a
tyrant will oppress and tyrranize them; one who is not
afraid of rapidly changing times and policies will, to
the detriment of the cause of Islam, keep on forming
unholy alliances with one nation after the other; a
corrupt ruler, who is open to bribery, will violate
rights, and will not dispense justice, and the one who
has given up the traditions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)
will be responsible for the destruction of Islamic ideals
and doctrine."(102)

Under this clear and objective determination of the
attributes of the officials acceptable to Islam, Amir
Al-Mu'minin Imam Ali (a.s.) began to dismiss some of the
governors from their posts in different parts of the
Islamic state. Had he compromised, as some wanted him to
do, subsequent Muslim generations would not have
recognized the true picture of the Islamic religion for
which Allah had sent His great Messenger (s.a.w.).

2. Economic Field:

Simultaneously with reforming the political system,
Imam Ali (a.s.) started to revolutionize the economy of
the state. No sooner had he begun his rule, than he
cancelled the method of distributing wealth which had
formerly been followed. He replaced the discriminate way
of distributing money by a system based on equity as
practiced by the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.).

So, all forms of discrimination in dividing the money
among the people, was cancelled by the Imam (a.s.)
stressing that fearing Allah, priority in embracing
Islam, fighting for the sake of Islam, or companionship
with the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), were not matters
which gave their owners any sort of distinction in this
world. Reward from Allah would be theirs in the
Hereafter. Whoever had priority in these attributes,
would receive his reward from Allah. But, here in this
world, all people are equal in their financial rights in
respect to the law and in their duties.

His ideas about justice are stated in one of his
speeches:

"...Any man from the Muhajirin and the Ansar,
who had kept company with the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.), seeing that he had priority over the others
just because of that, should remember that the reward of
this merit would be awarded him by Allah in the
Hereafter...

"Any one who responds to Allah and to His
Messenger, believes in our religion, embraces it, prays
with his face towards Ka'bah, deserves the rights of
Islam and accepts its limits. So you are servants of
Allah, and money is Allah's. It is to be distributed
among you equally, with no one having any distinction
over the other, as the pious ones will tomorrow have the
best of rewards and highest results. Allah did not ordain
any reward for the pious in this world. What Allah has is
much better for the righteous..."(103)

In this way Imam Ali (a.s.) incarnated the concept of
equity, giving allowances to all persons who enjoy the
right of being Muslim citizens, without any
discrimination on any grounds.

These are some of the features of the reformative process
led by Amir Al-Mu'minin Imam Ali (a.s.) in different
fields of Islamic life-- financial, administrative and
governmental.