Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 223
Political Peace 223 O ye who believe, obey Allah and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority among you. Then if you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger if you are believers in Allah and His Messenger and the Last Day. That is the best and most commendable in the end. 4 We have chosen this verse not only to enumerate the categories of sovereignty but to emphasise that according to the Holy Quran, sometimes democratic choices are not necessarily always the right ones. It is quite likely that the overwhelming majority of people fail to recognise the essential qualities of great leadership in a person and protest against his election if he is imposed upon them. By all political criteria, his appointment would be decried as dictatorial. The choice may be against popular will but is certainly not against public interest. The inherent weakness in the democratic form of elections is that the masses make their choice on superficial impressions and latest assessment and are incapable of judging for themselves the sound qualities of leadership which are best suited for their ultimate benefit. It seems that in the history of God’s favoured people, there have been times when their political survival required Divine intervention. At such times, God takes the choice of a king, sovereign or leader into His own hands. It should not be inferred from this that all monarchs or leaders are divinely chosen by God or sanctified as such. This misconception which has been common in the medieval Christian system is not shared by the Holy Quran. For instance, King Richard laments: