Ali (r.a) was one Caliph who should have been known as great political scientist first than a figure of Imam for one community and a great soldier for another community. Ali bin Abi Talib should have been celebrated for his political work more than somehow becoming the reason for divide between Shai and Sunni world. His ideas and political thoughts can become the light in this new age where corruption in Politics and administration on systematic level is a fashion. In today’s Muslim world, there is rarely a concept of politics and political upliftment, so nobody pays attention to political theory. Nobody has time to study great political philosophers like john Locke, David Hume, Thomas Hobbes etc from last few centuries. However, around thousand years before them, lived a man who showed how to practice all political theories and run a smooth administration as great Politician. If you study Ali as a political scientist you find a treasure of Islam in a way that was never explored before. Ali was the only Caliph who left notes and letters about Islamic principle of political science. These notes are available in the form of a book in Nahjul Blagha, and his letters to governors, which is a great manual for political endeavours.
There has been a long rift between two communities of Shia and Sunni over something that is not really so relevant in this age. Both claim that they are right about Ali but in their religious adventurism, the great leader of Islamic world is lost. Ali and his legacy lives on the edge of Shia and Sunni debate, but his political ideologies are still looking for explorers. If Ali was alive in this age he would have considered himself as one strong believer of Prophet than a commander or Imam of Shia or a brave soldier for Sunni. But we somehow managed to make him confined into groups and sects dividing his common legacy for all Muslims alike. The legacy of Ali is his political legacy, how he lead the government, how he defined the government, how he established Khilafat, how he distanced himself from taking positions in the government, how he told his governors to not become the dictators, how he fought battles, how he spread knowledge to all his peers, how he lead military conflicts, How he ran the administrations. Ali gave the idea and written manual about how’s and why’s of political theory in detail. This is the reason he is so needed in this age and time, where manual for politics is either lost or if it exists in a polluted form.
If one leaves what Shia people says about him or how Sunni’s view him, and accept him as pure political leader, then one has a great chance to succeed in political space. He is the only figure whose political legacy is capable to shake the foundation of any corrupt state in contemporary world. It is not that all three Caliphs are not relevant today or they were not good administrator, in fact Umar bin Khattab is also relevant in our times as the conflict he solved in Jerusalem again started to bleed. So when you read the Jerusalem’s history which is current flash point of the modern wars, Caliph Umar is so important. However Ali is on different level in the field of politics. His idea of justice and especially the idea of justice for common citizen is so significant at this moment, that rarely we find any leader in the world who is thinking of practicing justice, let alone applying it practically. A world where the rights of common people are being curtailed and they are being treated as ruler wants them to treat, this is where Ali’s idea of citizen rights intervenes. He prefers to protect the rights of common citizen over amplifying his own ego as a leader. The lack of protection of rights of common citizen and the violation over violation is the key problem of the messed up world around us. So one starts taking notes from Ali about justice and rights, even if he is not a Muslim, he will become the just leader for that mater.
Ali bin Abi Talib introduced the Islamic theory on how to run and rule the country, depending on three basic Islamic law, freedom, equality and justice. The principle of social contract theory in political science, and running a state for the people and by the people is something that has been popularised in democracy two three centuries ago. But Ali was way ahead of him time 1400 centuries ago, when he presented the idea of ruling the government in a way where citizen rights are protected. In his letter to the governor of Egypt, who wrote extensively about the process of ruling a country in a way that economic, social and political rights are protected. He talked about protecting the majority rights, rights of traders, the right of peace treaties, respect for human rights. In his letter he mentions different dynamics and dimension of the state. He talked about the relations between ruler and the people, economic development, social development, foreign policy of the state. He emphasized upon separation of power as an important and effective tool in any state. He advised to have three branches under separation of power, executive, legislative and judiciary. He talked about agriculture law and taxation by saying focus on cultivation of land more than collection of revenues. He says whoever asks for revenue without cultivation, ruins the area and brings death to the people.
Islam is continuation of history since 1400 years, The political legacy is also in sync with the continuation of what began so many centuries ago. in this continuation, there is a key battle that happened at the time of Prophet and Ali, the battle of Khayber. Surprisngly one more battle is going on at this moment in Palestine between Jews and Muslims. The confrontation of Muslims and Jews have become the greatest battle that is affecting all the world population in one way or another, is also in continuation of what happened in the time of Ali in Khayber. The two religious groups that had intense battle in the Khayber is again fighting with each other. And the precedent is being taken from Ali on how he fought battles when religious confrontation came into play. How he lead and how he never left the grace while fighting the enemy.
In today’s age Muslim world is facing crisis about who to follow when they lead an individual political life as well, also they looking for real examples on how to run governments if they run a Muslims states. This is where the vision of Ali and his political roadmap comes to rescue us. This is why his political ideology needs to be understood, celebrated and applied whenever time comes. Hussain is another continuation of the legacy of Ali. Hussain fought a political fight showcasing, If just system is not in place in the administration, then you better stand up and challenge. And if Challenging that system brings you humiliation, death and political setbacks then let it be. It was not as Yazeed was a bad person religiously, but the battle eventually took place because Hussain wanted political injustice and corruption in administration of Yazeed to be abolished. Hussain, willingly sacrificed his life and all his families as well to leave a great impact in his legacy of political theory for centuries to come. There is no other human being in the world history even now, whose political commitment was so strong that he embraced death along with his all family members than bowing down to the oppressed system.
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