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Amir
Amir
Amir
Al-Ghazali, a political philosopher, renowned in East and West because of his versatile genius, harnessed his
thoughts into a proper channel for an efficient and systematic government in order to bring about progress and
peace in the state. He appears to be particular about the duties and functions of the sovereign, so that
administration of the state must not become unwieldy and dogmatic. He enumerates the necessary qualities of an
ideal ruler, and reverently expresses that he should have intellect, knowledge, perception, right proportion of
things, chivalry, loves for his subjects, diplomatic bend, foresight, strong will-power and must be well informed of
the news of the day and the past history of the kings. He must learn the lesson from the past kings. He should not
repeat the errors and failures of his predecessors. Amir must also vigilantly watch that his judges, secretaries,
viceroys and other officers did their work well, it is chiefly in these qualities which go to make a ruler the shadow
of God on earth
Al-Ghazali relates how a learned man once told the great Caliph, Harun-ar-Rashid, to beware that he was sitting
where Hazrat Abu Bakr (R.A.) once sat and be truthful, where Hazrat Umar (R.A.) once sat and differentiate
between right and wrong, where Hazrat Usman (R.A.) once sat and be modest and bountiful, where Hazrat Ali
(R.A.) once sat and be knowing and just. He puts forward the case of the Apostle of Islam, who himself fed his cattle,
tied his camel, swept his house, milked his goat, mended his shoes, patches his clothes, took meals with his
servants, ground his own corn in time of need and did his own marketing.
Oppression and tyranny were normally the salient feature of king’s life and the ruler had to become totalitarian in
order to create effective subjugation over the people. Complete arrest from freedom and political subjugation were
the normal orders of the day. But the sages of ages became the source of instrumental change of destinies. They
played a vital role in liberating the people from enslavement and cruel yoke. Beyond any praise such was the
greatness of Al- Ghazali in those fretful days that in spite of the great honor bestowed upon him, he replied that
he did not want anything from any of God’s creatures.
“In spite of those lofty ideals, Al-Ghazali seems to have rightly realized that time had changed since the early days
of Islam, and besides honest work there was something else, a certain amount of prestige which is wanted to exert
a psychological influence on the people and keep law and order in the hand, and he would desist from doing
anything which might result in the disintegration of the state through the lack of these factors.” (Sherwani)