(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the hadith of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and his Ahl-al-Bayt reveal that the Islamic government is established through the votes and will of people and that no system of governance can materialize without the will of the masses. Meanwhile, the status of people's resolve in the political system of Islam can be explained in two categories: First and foremost, governance and leadership in Islam is a heavy responsibility rather than a privilege. A person who has assumed the leadership of the society should be accountable for his deeds and decisions. In verse 6 of chapter A'araf of the Holy Qur'an we read: "Both the ones for whom our messengers were sent to, and the messengers themselves will come under question." In the Holy Qur'an, the responsibility to lead and control the affairs of the society is dependent on people's will; i.e. if people give up supporting the leaders, these leaders won't be duteous to set up a system of government because they lose the executive ability. Although the divine leaders are responsible for implementing justice in human society, the people's cooperation is the prerequisite for the formation of such a government. In some of the verses of the Holy Qur'an it is said to Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny) that he can't force people to accept the truth and that people have the free will to choose or reject. In ayah 99 of Surah it is said, "And if your Lord had wished all the people on the earth would have believed by force, are you really willing to force the people to believe?"
At the beginning of his caliphate, Imam Ali (PBUH) mentioned the people's demand as one of the important reasons to accept the caliphate. He said, "By God who split the seed and created the soul, if there were not this great number of the allegiants and the companions hadn't given the sealing argument for me and if God hadn't taken a covenant from the ulema not to keep silent against oppression of the oppressors and hunger of the oppressed people, I would let relinquish the caliphate." Two significant issues have been clearly pointed out: First considering government as a responsibility for ulema and second the dependence of this responsibility on people's presence in the scene and their support for the divine leaders. That is why the formation of the Islamic government is fully dependent on the people's votes, and materialized by their support. It has been emphasized in verse 6 of chapter A'araf that both the people to whom the prophets were sent and the prophets themselves will be questioned for their deeds. It is an obligation of people to choose the right way and find the divine leader. People are responsible before the divine leaders as the divine leaders are also responsible before people. People are duty-bound to support the divine leaders and obey and them.
According to Imam Khomeini (God bless his soul) by referring to different verses and narrations, says that people play an important role in the establishment and continuity of the government. The Late Imam considered people's status very important and fundamental and believed people could make the future. He said: "The destiny of each nation is in his own hands" and "Today the destiny of Islam, Iranian Muslims and our country is in the hands of the nation." According to such a belief the Imam decided to hold a referendum on the type of the government just 1 and a half months after the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and victory of the Islamic revolution. More than 98 percent of the Iranian people voted yes to the Islamic Republic system. After the formation of the Islamic government till now people have had a direct or indirect role in forming the Assembly of constitution experts, the approval of the first constitution and forming all pillars of the Islamic Republic system. In the first year of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the people of Iran went to the polls 5 times. In no revolution, people have played such a significant and effective role.
Imam Khomeini (God's mercy upon his soul) had a strong belief that not only the country should be ruled by people, but they also have to consider themselves responsible in this regard. Therefore, he said, "Today the responsibility is on the nation", "Everybody should know that they are responsible." This means everybody should pay attention. Although some people have got legal and legitimate responsibilities in the country, others shouldn't be careless about the fate of the country and should play their role through different ways so that the authorities do not deviate from the right path. In the words of Imam Khomeini: "A country will be damaged just when its nation is indifferent." About the supervisory role of the people the sage of the age Imam Khomeini said: "The whole nation should take all affairs into consideration, comment on the political, social affairs and the affairs that the government is handling", "The nation should supervise the affairs of the government". It means people's public supervision as their fundamental role can make the country immune against many deviations because these supervisions can be both effective in people's correct choice and make the officials be responsive." About people's role to support the government and its establishment, the Imam says: "The support of a government is the people; a government cannot be established if a nation does not support it, this government cannot survive." Elsewhere in his speeches Imam Khomeini (God's mercy upon his soul) states: "What is important is that the nation stands firmly and doesn't separate the government from themselves, and doesn't say 'everything should be done by the government.'" He also believed that the country won't be inflicted as long as the nation is present at the scene.
In sum, the late Imam considers a particular and important role for people in governance. He didn't believe in the hollow democracy of the west but, in his view, in fact people's will is embodied in the government in one way or another. He expresses: "Nations' will, which is a continuation of God's will, turns impossible into possible." Meanwhile, the final and fundamental point is that the legitimacy of government should be from God and in this regard, people don't give legitimacy to the government. In other words, the legitimacy of the government is not determined by people's votes, but it is legitimized by God. However, a legitimate government can have executive power and authority through people's vote as the Imam said: "Overtaking the responsibility of Muslims' affairs and formation of government depends on the votes of the majority Muslims."
This is the most important difference between religious popular rule and the western liberal democracy.
source : www.abna.ir
