Leadership between Shura and democracy

Books / Khaled Al-Najjar

Perhaps through my reading of many books that dealt with topics related to the democratic style and other types of leadership, The majority of the literature has focused on the need for power to have democratic leadership.

Democracy in its broad political sense: It is the rule of the people themselves by themselves, And in their leadership specialists: It is a consultative process between the leader and the followers, Does this process mean “Shura”, i.e. one of the rules of governance in Islam? Here many writers and researchers disagreed about the difference of the two concepts.

The concept of modern democratic leadership focused on participation to achieve some goals that require broad intervention, starting from the bottom up to all organizational levels under the umbrella and authority of the leader. He dealt with the concept of Shura in the sense of Shura leadership, which derives its rules and contents from the words of the Almighty: “And he commanded them to consult among them.”

Does this require the leadership to consult with followers on all matters related to the interests of the nation or the interests of the organization? Here the jurists differed about the areas of Shura, Scientists have seen that there are two areas, First: Passport in Shura, Imam Nasir al-Din al-Baydawi believes that for the Shura it is a matter of war.

While Shaykh Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi stated in his book “Madarak al-Tatril wa’l-Haqa’iq al-Ta’wil” that shura in the matter means the command of war and the like, which was not revealed to him by revelation, al-Tabari mentioned a broader interpretation of the meaning of the matter and deals with consultation in everything that did not come from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

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As for Al-Qurtubi, it is mentioned that the people of interpretation differed in the meaning in which his Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded to consult his companions, may Allaah be pleased with them. Taifa said: That in the place of war and when meeting the enemy, And to bless their souls and elevate their destinies, Note that Allah Almighty enriched him from their opinion by His revelation.

The second area is the area of inadmissibility in the Shura, Some commentators, such as Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Rida, the author of the interpretation of “Al-Manar”, have opined, And Abdul Hamid Metwally in the book “Principles of the System of Government in Islam” that the interpretation of the Almighty’s saying {and consult them in the matter} is the worldly order of the nation that rulers usually do, There is no matter of the immunized religion that is based on revelation without opinion.

In many matters, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say to the people, “You know the things of your world”, and so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to consult in every matter of the state, except what the revelation revealed to him in his statement, and he carried it out without referring to anyone.

How much we need a leadership that creates a mix between democratic and consultative leadership, Although there is a complete separation of the two concepts from an Islamic perspective, However, the leadership’s reaching the stage of balance in the development of democratic leadership patterns may be closer to the patriarchal leadership that makes the “father” national leader and formulates its principles according to more coherent rules and foundations closer to the human being who seeks freedom. Imam ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “O people, Adam gave birth to neither a slave nor a nation. All people are free.”