Despite that some people think that “freedom” and “government” are two opposite points, and that personal freedom surely should removes “a government” from life of humankind,

 

Despite that some people think that countries and governments are based on powerful people who protect their rights and interests at the expense of the rights and interests of the poor,

 

Likewise, despite the perception that man is a good person and that he is a rational and knowledgeable creature, then there is no need for the existence of a state that organizes and manages his affairs and preserves his interests,

 

Despite all those perceptions and allegations that reveal a kind of sophistry and naivety and only lead to chaos, the need for a government in human life is so clear that it never needs evidence and proof.

 

Necessity dictates the establishment of a state that safeguards individual freedoms along with social interests, seeks to organize energies and develop talents, stops the people of society in their duties, and implements divine or human laws.

 

For this reason, a group of great philosophers and scholars (such as Plato, Aristotle, Ibn Khaldun, and others)[1] considered the existence of the state a vital necessity.

No one opposed this except Marx, who considered the existence of the state to be necessary as long as there is the existence of class struggle. But with the spread of communism and the stability of the communist system in the whole world, there is no need for a state.

 

However, Marx looked at human life from one perspective which is the "class struggle", while human life has other issues. If Marx looked at that objectively and accurately, he would not have ruled that there was no need for the state, nor would he have called for its demise even after the spread of communism, according to his point of view.

 

Because the cause of conflict and disagreement among human beings is not confined to the class struggle only, so that if this conflict ends, the earth would have become the Garden of Eden, but rather there are human instincts such as the instinct of love of prestige, self-love, and other impolite instincts, which are also the source of conflict and disagreement among humans along with “class struggle”.

 

Then, assuming that there is no class struggle, the necessity for the existence of the government in order to manage society to fulfill its social needs is inevitable.

A society in which the class struggle has disappeared does not differ from other societies in its need for someone to manage its affairs, such as securing its housing, health, education, upbringing, land, sea and air transportation, and adjudicating its disputes in what is not related to class matters, as well as other matters that are inevitable for the establishment of society, and its need for institutions and managing its affairs.

 

There must be institutions, each one of which undertakes an aspect of these matters and organizes them. We do not mean by the government anything other than this.

 

Anyways, there must be a state that stops people in their legal duties, punishes transgressors, restores oppressed rights, and preserves the order and social discipline that represents the basis of happiness and the symbol of the survival of civilization, the basis for the continuity of civilization and the cause of human progress in the material and moral fields.

 

In conclusion, preserving the social order and human civilization, introducing the members of society to their duties, their money and the rights they owe, and raising any conflict in the life of the group are matters that require a strong reference that carries out these huge tasks. This honorable human duty preserves the foundation of civilization, which is the preservation of social order and its preservation from regression and decline.

 

The reality of Islam is nothing but a series of “origins and branches” revealed by God, which the Messenger of God (pbuh) commissioned to call people to and apply them to life in appropriate circumstances. But because the application of a range of rules that guarantee the stability of order in society was not possible without the formation of a government and the establishment of a state, the Prophet (pbuh) proceeded by virtue of reason, and by virtue of what he had of the mandate given to him by God, to form a state.

 

However, the government is not in itself the goal of Islam, but rather the goal is to implement rulings and laws and guarantee the higher Islamic goals. Since these matters cannot be achieved without political organs and governmental authorities, the Prophet (pbuh) himself undertook the task of forming such a state and establishing such a government.

 

In conclusion, implementing the punishment on the thief and adulterer and others, dealing with Muslims’ problems, settling their disputes in financial and legal matters, preventing monopoly and high prices, collecting Islamic financial taxes and expanding the area of ??Islam’s spread, raising other needs in the Islamic community and others, are not possible to be achieved without the presence of a unifying and firm leader, without a government, and a leadership accepted by the nation.

 

Whereas it is necessary for Muslims now to implement Islamic rulings in their entirety on the one hand. Since their proper application is not possible without establishing an authority to which everyone submits on the other side, it is imperative that they have political apparatus and governmental formations, within the framework of Islamic teachings and values, so that they can be able to  advance, in every era, along with the new requirements and the renewed needs.

 

The Commander of the Faithful (a.s) refers to the necessity of forming such a government, rather to the necessity of having a ruler. He prefers an unjust ruler over the social chaos that entails the absence of a ruler. He indicates at the same time that the government in the logic of Islam is not the goal.  Rather, it is a means of establishing a secure, dignified life so that everyone can enjoy their just rights.

 

Imam Ali indicates that the state, in the view of Islam, is a means of preserving the economic system, security and defense, and taking the rights of the oppressed from the powerful and arrogant, as he says: “People must have a leader, whether righteous or immoral, in whose command the believer works, the unbeliever enjoys it, God takes the souls of human and gathers booties, where the enemy is fought in it, and the paths are secured with it, and the weak people take their rights from the strong”.

 

In another narration, he says: “As for the righteous leadership, the pious people work in its authority, and the immoral people enjoy it, until his period ends, and his death reaches him”. [2]

 

Based on this, the existence of the state is an inevitable social necessity.

 

In addition to that, the Prophet (pbuh) was assigned, after his return from the Farewell Pilgrimage in Ghadir Khumm, to appoint Ali as the caliph after him to lead the Muslims, on behalf of God, and the divine command was a source in the words of God Almighty:” O Messenger! Convey everything revealed to you from your Lord” [3]

 

Then God shows the importance of this subject and its extreme seriousness, by saying that not saying what was revealed to him in the matter of the caliphate is equal to failure to communicate the Sharia directly,” If you do not, then you have not delivered His message” [4]

 

This verse, as it indicates the position of Al Imam Ali and the greatness of his position, also reveals - the importance of the position of the Imamate and the seriousness of the leadership of society because because Al Imam, the rays of justice shine on human society and are not absent, and because of him that the divine teachings remain alive, protected from all distortion and humanity reaches the shores of happiness, both material and moral.

 

[1] Ibn Khaldun Introduction: 41-42

[2] Nahj Al Balagha, sermon 39

[3] Surah Al Maida verse 67

[4] Surah Al Maida verse 67