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The Ruler and Society 1 - Al-Shia The Scientific and Cultural Website of Shia belief The Ruler and Society 1 2021-06-21 339 Views Muslim Ummah , The Ruler , The Society , Muslim Community Professing God’s Unity and accepting Muhammad (PBUHH) as His Prophet bring in their wake innumerable consequences. If the Qur’an is God’s Word and Muhammad is His chosen Messenger (PBUHH) who “speaks out not of caprice”(1), then their instructions concerning all things must be obeyed.

Contents Imam Ali’s Instructions to Malik al-Ashtar Part One: Introduction (3) Part Two: Commands and Instructions Concerning Righteous Action in the Affairs of the State Faced with these facts of their faith, the Muslims soon developed a complicated science of the Shari’ah or Divine Law, a science that embraces every dimension of human conduct, including the political.

One of the earliest and best expositions of Islam’s explicit and implicit instructions concerning government and its role in society is ‘Ali’s instructions to Malik ibn al-Harith al-Nakha’i, surnamed al-Ashtar (“the man with inverted eyelashes”) because of a wound he received in battle. He was one of the foremost Muslim warriors in the first few years of Islam’s spread and one of Ali’s staunchest supporters.

He advised Ali against making a truce with Mu’awiyah at the battle of Siffin and was poisoned on his way to assume his post as governor of Egypt in the year 37/658 or 38/659, shortly after ‘Ali became caliph following the assassination of ‘Uthman.(2) Since these instructions form part of ‘Ali’s Nahj al-Balaghah, they have been discussed by all the more than 100 commentators on the text. I have made extensive use of two of the most famous of the commentaries. The first is by Ibn Abi-l-Hadid (d.

655/1257), a historian who was attached to the Abbasid court in Baghdad. His commentary is one of the earliest, and because of its thoroughness and exactitude forms the basis for many of the later commentaries. The second is by Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani, a well-known Shi’ite scholar and theologian who died in 679/1282-3. In addition I have profited from the glosses of the nineteenth century reformer Muhammad ‘Abduh (d. 1905) and one or two other modern Commentaries which are mentioned in the notes.

Imam Ali’s Instructions to Malik al-Ashtar Imam Ali (PBUH) wrote these instructions to al-Ashtar al-Nakha’i when he appointed him governor of Egypt and its provinces at the time the rule of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was in turmoil.