Mouood Mouood English Edition
(h) ’Umur al-Hisbiyyah
It could be said, as a number of Muslim scholars have said so that the governance and guardianship of society are among the ’umur al-Hisbiyyah. Such tasks need to be carried out; the Prophet (s.a) or any of the infallible Imams (a.s) have appointed no specific individual or individuals for the same. Rather they must be accomplished according to the Islamic laws and regulations. Any Muslim or group of Muslims capable of carrying it out may carry out such task. ’Umur al-Hisbiyyah are those affairs that must be carried out in accordance with the needs of the society. If there is someone specifically in charge of carrying out these tasks, so much the better, otherwise, it is incumbent (Wajib kifa ‘i) on all individuals who have the capability to carry them out properly. Some examples of’umur Hisbiyyah are: protecting the life and property of such people as orphans and presentation of testimony that one happens to bear and it would guard the rights of certain individuals, teaching the guidance of religion when no other qualified individuals would do so. Of such matters is to arrange for the burial of a deceased person etc. Those who subscribe to this view cite a number of Quranic verses and Ahadith. Of suchtexts are the following:
” . . . and do good. Allah loves the beneficent.” (2:195)
There is no way (of blame) against those who do good (voluntarily).” . . . (9:91)
… And cooperate with one another in righteousness and pious deeds (5:2)
“Every good deed is a charity.” (Safinat al-Bihar, vol. II, p. 25)
“Helping the weak is the best charity.” (Al-Shaykh al-‘Ansari, al-Makasib, the chapter on the Wilayat al-Faqih)
“God helps His servant as long as he continues to help his brother.” (Al-Shaykh al-Ansari, al-Makasib)
The purport of the above texts, verses and Ahadith is that any action is considered desirable which helps and benefits either some member of the society or the society as a whole. Of such acts is helping the poor and oppressed, and giving assistance to one’s brothers in faith, is considered desirable, appropriate and valid in the sight of God.
2. The Qualifications Required for the Wilayat
In the following the qualifications and capabilities required for the post of the Wali, the leader or guardian of the Islamic system will be mentioned. Without such qualifications it would be unlawful for anyone to occupy the office of the Wilayat and leadership of the Islamic society.
However, before we begin our discussion of the qualifications necessary for the office of the Wilayat this should be noted first. The person whose authority in the Islamic system in his capacity as the successor to the Wali al-‘asr (The Guardian of the time, the Twelfth Imam (a.s) was proved ‘above, also has the authority for a spiritual and religious leadership. In other words, unlike other societies in which there is separation between religion and State in the Islamic system no such separation exists. The same individual is expected to fulfil both the functions. This was precisely the case with the leadership of the Prophet (s.a) and Imam Ali (a.s).
They not only exercised political leadership over the Ummah, and administered the affairs of the State, but also fulfilled the functions of spiritual, ideological and religious leadership of the society also. The same principle also applies to the successors of the infallible Imam (a.s). It is for this reason that all the qualifications necessary for political leadership are also true for spiritual leadership and all those characteristics necessary for the spiritual guide are also required of the political leader.
The issue at this point, then, is in establishing the evidence of the validity of Wilayat of the Faqih; we simultaneously prove his authority in political sovereignty and his privilege of religious leadership. In fact, religious and political aspects are interwoven and inseparable in the concept of Wilayat, just as they were in the authority of the Prophet (a.s.w) and Imam Ali (a.s). This was not always, however, in real life, the case in the past and even during the lifetimes of most of our Imams (a.s).
The government in most of the times was in the hands of tyrant caliphs, while the spiritual leadership, since the tyrants did not possess, of the people remained with the Imams (a.s). But there is not such separation of functions in the government of the Islamic Republic. The duties and responsibilities of Wali-e Faqih include all the duties and responsibilities of the Islamic State, such as implementation of the Hudud, (judicial decrees), appointment of judges, appointment of Friday-prayer leader’s, and so on.
The qualifications necessary for the post of the Wali al-Faqih (guardian and head of the State), are certain basic obvious conditions. There is no disagreement about such conditions among the scholars of Fiqh
The Wali (head of the State and leader) must be:
• Mature.
• Mentally sound
• He must be a Muslim
He must be a Mu’min (follower of Ahlul Bayt (a.s) Imams from the family of the holy Prophet.
• Must be a male
• Must be free from slavery
• Born out of wedlock
• Must posses the faculty of justice.
• Must posses the faculty of Ijtihad
These conditions are obvious in their meaning and do not need any elaboration. Only the following ones of these conditions will be discussed with some details together with supporting evidence from the Holy Quran and Hadith:
A. Ijtihad
Ijtihad, Expertise in Islamic Jurisprudence
This condition means that the leader and ruler of the Muslim Ummah must be a scholar of Fiqh. He must be able to deduce and find the rules of the cases in practical life through proper and standard reasoning principles from the appropriate and relevant basis sources of the Shari’ah; the Holy Quran, the Sunnah and principles of reason. It may also be specified that the level of the Ijtihad, expertise of the Wali al-‘amr must be, if not greater than those of other scholars of jurisprudence, at least equal to them.
Of the evidence to support the necessity of this condition are the Ahadith mentioned above. (See items ‘c’ to ‘g’ under “Wilayat al-Faqih“). In the above-mentioned text the following phrases and expressions are mentioned.“Those having knowledge of God,” “Faqih”,” scholars”, the “scholars of my Ummah”, “those who support our standpoint regarding the Halal and the Haram”and “our views regarding the Divine commands”, “the narrators of our Hadith“.Such expressions establish that Ijtihad is a necessary qualification for a Faqih. The following texts can also be pointed out as supporting evidence:
“Allah has chosen him above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and physique…. (2:247)
The Holy Prophet (a.s.) said, “And if the leadership of a community is placed in the hands of one who is not the most learned in its ideology, that community is bound to decline, unless its people return to amend what they have neglected.” (Kitab Sulaym Ibn Qays)
Imam Ali (a.s) said: “You know that it is not right for one who has authority over the life and honor of the people to be ignorant (a.s) of the laws of the religion because he will misguide them due to his ignorance.” (Nahj al-balaghah, sermon 127)
