Ala-Maududi
(42:38) who obey their Lord[60] and establish Prayer; who conduct their affairs byconsultation,[61] and spend out of what We have bestowed upon them;[62]
60. Literally: “Who answer the call of their Lord”, that is they hasten to do whatever Allahenjoins them to do, and accept whatever Allah invites them to accept.
61. This thing has been counted here as the best quality of the believers and has been enjoinedin (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayat 159). On thisbasis, consultation is an important pillar of the Islamic way of life, and to conduct theaffairs of collective life without consultation is not only the way of ignorance but also anexpress violation of the law prescribed by Allah. When we consider why consultation has beengiven such importance in Islam, three things become obvious:
First, that it is injustice that a person should decide a matter by his personal opinion andignore others when it involves the interests of two or more persons. No one has a right to do,as he likes in matters of common interest. Justice demands that all those whose interests areinvolved in a matter be consulted, and if it concerns a large number of the people, theirreliable representatives should be made a party in consultation.
Second, that a man tries to do what he likes in matters of common interest either because hewants to usurp the rights of others for selfish ends, or because he looks down upon others andregards himself as a superior person. Morally both these qualities are equally detestable, and abeliever cannot have even a tinge of either of these in himself. A believer is neither selfishso that he should get undue benefits by usurping the rights of others, nor he is arrogant andself-conceited that he should regard himself as all-wise and all-knowing.
Third, that it is a grave responsibility to give decisions in matters that involve the rights andinterests of others. No one who fears God and knows what severe accountability for it he will besubjected to by his Lord, can dare take the heavy burden of it solely on himself. Such aboldness is shown only by those who arc fearless of God and heedless of the Hereafter. The onewho fears God and has the feeling of the accountability of the Hereafter, will certainly trythat in a matter of common interest he should consult all the concerned people or theirauthorized representatives so as to reach, as far as possible, an objective and right andequitable decision, and if there occurs a mistake one man alone should not be held responsiblefor it.
A deep consideration of these three things can enable one to fully understand that consultationis a necessary demand of the morality that Islam has taught to man, and departure from it is agrave immorality which Islam does not permit. The Islamic way of life requires that theprinciple of consultation should be used in every collective affair, big or small. If it is adomestic affair, the husband and the wife should act by mutual consultation, and when thechildren have grown up, they should also be consulted. If it is a matter concerning the wholefamily, the opinion of every adult member should be solicited. If it concerns a tribe or afraternity or the population of a city, and it is not possible to consult all the people, thedecision should be taken by a local council or committee, which should comprise the trustworthyrepresentatives of the concerned people according to an agreed method. If the matter concerns awhole nation, the head of government should be appointed by the common consent of the people,and he should conduct the national affairs in consultation with the leaders of opinion whom thepeople regard as reliable, and he should remain at the helm of affair only as long as the peoplethemselves want him to remain in that position. No honest man can try to assume the headship ofa nation by force, or desire to continue in that position indefinitely, nor can think of cominginto power by deception and then seek the people’s consent by coercion, nor can he deviseschemes so that the people may elect representatives to act as his advisers not by their ownfree choice but according to his will. Such a thing can be desired only by the one who cherishesevil intentions, and such a fraud against the Islamic principle of consultation can be practicedonly by him who does not feel any hesitation in deceiving both God and the people whereas thefact is that neither can God be deceived nor the people be so blind as to regard the robber, whois committing robbery in the bright day light openly, as their well wisher and servant.
The principle of consultation as enshrined in amru-hum shura baina-hum by itself demands fivethings:
(1) The people whose rights and interests relate to collective matters, should have full freedomto express their opinion and they should be kept duly informed of how their affairs are beingconducted. They should also have the full right that if in the conduct of the affairs they seean error, a weakness or a deficiency, they can check it and voice a protest, and if they do notsee any change for the better, they can change their rulers. To conduct the people’s affairs bykeeping them silent and un-informed is sheer dishonesty which no one can regard as adherence tothe principle of consultation in Islam.
(2) The person who is to be entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the collectiveaffairs, should be appointed by the people’s consent, and this consent should be their freeconsent, which is not obtained through coercion, temptation, deception, and fraud, because inthat case it would be no consent at all. A nation’s true head is not he who becomes its head bytrying every possible method, but he whom the people make their head by their own free choiceand approval.
(3) The people who are appointed as advisers to the head of the state should be such as enjoy theconfidence of the nation, and obviously the people who win representative positions bysuppression or by expending wealth, or by practicing falsehood and fraud, or by misleading thepeople cannot be regarded as enjoying the confidence in the real sense.
(4) The advisers should give opinion according to their knowledge and faith and conscience andthey should have full freedom of such expression of opinion. Wherever this is not the case,wherever the advisers give advice against their own knowledge and conscience, under duress ortemptation, or under party discipline, it will be treachery and dishonesty and not adherence tothe Islamic principle of consultation.
(5) The advice that is given by a consensus of the advisers, or which has the support of themajority of the people, should be accepted, for if a person (or a group of persons) behavesindependently and acts on his own whims, even after hearing the advice of others, consultationbecomes meaningless. Allah does not say: They are consulted in their affairs, but says: Theyconduct their affairs by mutual consultations. This instruction is not implemented by mereconsultation, but for its sake it is necessary that the affairs be conducted according to whatis settled by consensus or by majority opinion in consultation.
Along with this explanation of the Islamic principle of consultation, this basic thing alsoshould be kept in view that this consultation is not independent and autocratic in conductingthe affairs of the Muslims, but necessarily subject to the bounds that Allah Himself has set byHis legislation, and is subject to the fundamental principle: It is for Allah to give a decisionin whatever you may differ, and if there arises any dispute among you about anything, refer itto Allah and the Messenger. According to this general principle, the Muslims can holdconsultations in Shariah matters with a view to determining the correct meaning of a text orverse and to find out the ways of implementing it so as to fulfill its requirements rightly butthey cannot hold consultations in order to give an independent judgment in a matter which hasalready been decided and settled by Allah and His Messenger.
62. It has three meanings:
(1) They spend only out of what lawful provisions We have given them, they do not touch unlawfulthings for supplementing their expenditure.
(2) They do not set aside the provisions granted by us, but spend them.
(3) They spend out of what they have been given in the cause of Allah also, they do not reserveeverything for personal use only.
The first meaning is based on this that Allah calls the lawful and pure provisions only as theprovisions granted by Him. He does not call the provisions earned in impure and unlawful waysHis provisions. The second meaning is based on that whatever Allah provides for man is providedso that he may spend it and not that he may set it aside and hoard it up like a miser. The thirdmeaning is based on that according to the Quran, spending does not mean spending merely on hisown self and for his personal needs, but it also contains the meaning of spending for the sakeof Allah in His way. On account of these three reasons Allah here is counting spending of wealthamong the best qualities of the believers because of which the blessings of the Hereafter havebeen reserved only for them.