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Ibn Al-Qayyim: the Rulers Are a Manifestation of the Actions of the Servants

Posted by Abu Iyaad
Translated December 2013
Filed under Manhaj



Imām Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) said:[1]

And reflect in His, the Most High's wisdom in making the kings of the servants, their leaders and their rulers to be of the same type as the actions [of the servants]. Rather, it is as if their actions became manifest in the appearances of their rulers and kings.

  • If they remain upright, then their kings will remain upright, and if they turn away (from uprightness), then they (the kings) too will turn away from uprightness.
  • And if they (the servants) oppress [each other], then their kings and rulers will oppress [them].
  • And if plotting and deception appears from them, their rulers will [be made to] behave likewise (towards them).
  • And if they (the servants) withhold the rights of Allāh that are between themselves and become miserly with respect to them, then their kings and their rulers will withhold the right that they (the servants) have upon them and will become miserly with respect to them.
  • And if they take from the one who is considered weak what they do not deserve to take from him in their dealings, then the kings will take from them (the servants) what they do not deserve to take (from them) and will inflict them with taxes.
  • And everything that they (the servants) take away from the weak person (unjustly), the kings will take away from them with power, force.

So their actions (those of the servants) become manifest in their actions (those of the kings and rulers). And it is not from the Divine wisdom that the evil-doers and the sinners are made to be ruled over [by anyone] except by one who is of their like.

And when the very first band (of Islām) was the best of the generations, and the most pious of them, then their rulers were likewise. And when they (the people) became corrupt, the Rulers were made corrupt over them.

Thus, the wisdom of Allāh refuses that the likes of Muʿāwiyah, and ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz are put in authority over us in the likes of these times [the 8th Century Hijrah], let alone the likes of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. Rather, our rulers are in accordance with our (nature) and the rulers of those before us were in accordance with their (nature).

Arabic Text:



Footnotes
1. Miftāḥ Dār al-Saʿādah, (Dār Ibn ʿAffān, 2/177).


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