The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 223
PT. 5 AN-NISA' CH. 4 يَايُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَاَطِيْعُوا O ye who believe! obey. 60 Allah, and obey His Messenger الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنْ and those who are in authority تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللهِ among you. And if you differ in anything among yourselves, وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ refer it to Allah and His الْآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَاَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلان Messenger if you are believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is best and most commendable in the end. 533 a4:84. b4:66. Muslims, the Quran in the present verse proceeds to bid them entrust authority to such persons as possess the necessary qualifications to rule. Authority or power to rule has been here described as a "trust" of the people in order to point out that, truly speaking, it belongs to the people and is not the birth right of any particular individual or dynasty. The verse also draws the attention of the Muslim people to their heavy responsibility in respect of the very important matter of electing their Chief or Khalifah. They are warned that if in electing a Khalifah or a Chief they allowed considerations of personal liking or nepotism to prevail against the interests of the State or the community or those of religion and displayed lack of conscientiousness, they would be called to account like one false to his trust. The verse also condemns dynastic or hereditary rule and institutes instead a representative form of government. The Khalifah or the ruler is to be elected; and in electing him, the people are bidden to 663 vote for one best fitted for the office. The Khalifah or the ruler in his turn is bidden to be fair and just in his administration fair to individuals, fair to communities and fair to the State as a whole. The words, that you judge with justice, apply both to the head of the Muslim State and to all those persons who are entrusted with the work of administration. They are all enjoined to use their authority equitably and well. The addition of the Divine attributes of "All-Hearing and All- Seeing" at the end of the verse is meant to remind Muslims that if at any time they find it difficult to carry out His commandment, then instead of violating it, they should pray to God and He will hear their prayer and will see to it that they get their rights. (See General Introduction for the detailed discussion of the institution of Khilafat). 533. Important Words: those in authority) is made) اولى الامر up of two words: (1) which is