It first commands the believers to submit unreservedly and...

It first commands the believers to submit unreservedly and unconditionally to the commands of the Creator of the universe and all who inhabit it for He bestows being on all phenomena and is their master and owner. All forms of leadership must necessarily derive from His sacred being and all forms of obedience must issue in obedience to Him.

Obedience is necessitated and required by the Lord's attributes of ruler and creator and since God is the origin of all legislation the source of all commands and prohibitions the role of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family is in the first place the receipt of divine revelation and conveying to mankind what he is entrusted with conveying.

Next comes obedience to the Prophet who is God's representative among men a prophet who is divinely protected against error and sin and who never speaks arbitrarily or out of mere fancy. In addition to the divine message and commands that he conveys he has a specific set of plans and strategies for implementing the ordinances of God's religion.

The exercise of government requires the choice of a certain policy that will respond to the needs of society a policy that in Islam was determined by the great leader of religion who perceived wherein lay the welfare of the ummah and issued commands that addressed themselves to current circumstances and were ( 121 ) informed by an awareness of what leads to social equilibrium.

This type of legislation was delegated to the Prophet by God and derived its efficacy and legitimacy from God the ultimate master of all. It is clear from the preceding that obedience to the Prophet being the result of God's command may also be regarded as a form of obedience to God in just the same way that disobedience to him is in reality disobedience to God.

This is set forth clearly in the following verse: "Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God." (4:80) The conveyance of any decision taken by the Prophet is therefore equivalent to the promulgation of an order from God. The third aspect of the Qur'anic injuction concerning obedience relates to the Holders of Authority obedience to whom God has conjoined with obedience to Himself and Messenger.