Some have said...

Some have said, اَلْمُلْکُ لَمِنْ غَلَب - whoever takes charge will be the ruler of the state. In other words, rule of the jungle. Some have stated whoever is shrewd deserves to rule . Others have decreed one who has support of people should rule . Still others have declared one who belongs to a certain tribe is eligible to rule . Some other people have expressed other logic and ideas.

The religion and school of thought has answered, اِنَّمَا وَلِيُّکُمُ الله وَ رَسُوْلُہ verily Allah and His Prophet are your Walis. So practically speaking the one who has been given the responsibility of enforcing the law and enjoining good and forbidding evil in the society is the Prophet. So when a Prophet arrives in a society, there is no room for anyone else to rule in his presence. Prophet is the one who should have the power in the society.

However, when the Prophet passes away just like others, who will be the next ruler? The Qur'anic verse responds, وَالَّذِيْنَ ٰامَنُو - the believers are your walis **.** What believers? Can every faithful who believes in the religion and the school of thought be the Wali and the ruler of the Islamic society? In this situation there will be as many rulers as the believers.

The Qur'anic verse in addition to identifying a known and appointed individual according to legislation as the rightful ruler, rationalizes the selection and provides a measure. It says, وَالَّذِيْنَ ٰامَنُو - those who believe. And who really believe. These words are for those who have validated their belief through action. So وَالَّذِيْنَ ٰامَنُو - the first condition is that they are truly believers. There are other conditions too.

الَّذِيْنَ يُقِيْمُوْنَ الصَّلٰوۃَ - those who establish prayer. It does not say, "those who pray." It is one thing to pray and another to establish prayer. If the objective was to just pray, then يصلّون - pray would have been a short message. Establishing prayer in a society means that the soul of the prayer in the society is alive; praying is common in the society. And you know that praying society implies a society in which remembrance of God is present in all its corners.