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Quranic teachings and John Locke: two compatible approaches to good government — Stephen B. Young

SEPT 2 — Is British constitutional democracy consistent with Quranic guidance? A positive answer would have great importance for the future of Malaysian politics, permitting the emergence of a single civic community of Malaysians sharing common preferences for their political institutions.

In his 1689 “Essay Concerning the True, Original, Extent and End of Civil Government”, John Locke set forth a number of famous propositions on limited government. For Locke, public power was to be held in trust for certain beneficiaries; for him government was stewardship.

Locke arrives at his conclusions that government consists of powers held in trust for the benefit of the people by starting with certain assumptions about the natural conditions into which all people are born. Locke starts not with religious teachings or a moral code of right and wrong but with observations about the natural order.

It is sometimes alleged that John Locke’s arguments for limited, responsible constitutional government reflect a parochial cultural framework about human possibilities. It is true that Locke was Western European, Protestant, humanist, as well as rational and scientific in the Enlightenment way of thinking. But that does not mean that his conclusions are necessary irrelevant to other cultures and peoples who do not share that fundamental view of how to think about the world. In fact, it is a matter of collective common sense that conclusions may be supported by different arguments and either inferred from a variety of propositions or deduced from a range of premises.

When we seek to establish governments in a global community of many nations and cultures, it is the conclusions that should matter most. Agreement on the ends of government permits cooperation and mutual respect.

Quranic revelation, for example, starts from a set of understandings about the circumstances in which we live that were not completely shared by John Locke. Nonetheless, Quranic revelation provides us with analogous concepts to those used by Locke that carry us to very similar conclusions about the proper role and nature of government.

In short, for different reasons, Quran teaches us that government is a trust that should not be abused.

Quran reveals a proper destiny for humanity in that it should be wisely responsible in the use of power. It presents five inter-related aspects of that destiny, which are the nature of humanity, the assumption of trust responsibility, the office of khalifah, the necessity of wise discernment, the use of good counsel, and the seeking of justice.

First, Quran teaches that each human is born possessing something of God’s life force. According to Quran, God provided humans with remarkable potential by breathing into the first created human some holy spirit. Humans are therefore not just made in the image of God, but with God’s life force within them. Humans, according to Quran, are specially created by God to serve a divine purpose and so are possessed with something of the Creator’s energy, will, capacity and purpose.

Second, Quran relates that humanity accepted God’s offer of executing a trust for the betterment of creation. The abilities and potentials that the Creator afforded to humanity and to each human being, Quran teaches, are given in trust – amanah – so that God’s purposes can be served on earth.

Of course, trust can be abused and many passages of Quran discuss how humans do and most likely will abuse the various amanah given to them by God. Quran is most explicit at how easily humanity turns from its higher potential to acts of unrighteousness because of temptation, or excessive pride, narrow fixations, lack of patience or too much sensuality.

Third, Quran reveals that the office holding the amanah given to humanity is that of khalifah, or vice-regent for God on earth. The role and responsibilities of serving as khalifah are not to be understood as reserved for only one person seeking to govern the Muslim Ummah, but as expectations for each human to contribute to the achievement of God’s right order.

Fourth, Qur’an requires that as each human executes his or her amanah and serves God as khalifah, he or she must use some of what has been given as part of the amanah – the capacity to observe, think, reason and judge – in order to take proper and correct action. The capacity of ijtihad, or practical application of the human mind to reality, was given, it seems, in order that an individual’s khalifate can be successfully undertaken in the execution of the am?nah held by that person.

Fifth, Quran recommends use of institutions of consultation – shura – as a means for the application of individual ijtihad. The wisdom and thoughts of others function as a check on the possible corruption and selfish biases our own minds are prey to out of temptation and petty jealousies. The Quran realizes only too well the limitations that may infect ijtihad with ignoble purpose or misunderstanding.

The conclusion that government too is a trust – an amanah – seems a necessary one given Quranic teaching that we as humans were created for certain ends and that everything that comes our way – money, education, power - is to be used constructively, thoughtfully, and responsibly. We cannot be in government and escape our responsibilities (1) for acting as if we hold an amanah from God, (2) for thinking wisely in fulfillment of that amanah, and (3) for seeking to be a good khalifah.

Thus, Quranic guidance may provide more compelling reasons to support John Locke’s conclusions about democratic constitutionalism than Locke’ enlightenment rationalism did.

Quran provides an additional ground for support of Locke’s recommendations; the need for justice. Justice – not abuse or oppression - is to be gained by the establishment of government. Government is an agency dedicated to service of the good, which includes acting as khalifah in its own right, using its ijtihad as an amanah, and helping people achieve their highest potentials as God made it possible for them to do.

Justice serves as a check on the actions of government. When government abuses its duty to seek justice, or fails to do so, then, through intention or negligence it forfeits its claim to our support and loyalty. The failure of government to act as a proper agent for justice dissolves its authority just as Locke argued using his different premises.

Faithful believers in Quranic teachings may fully embrace as part of their khalifhaship on earth in this life the principles of democratic constitutionalism as advocated by John Locke. It might even be argued more broadly that democratic constitutionalism is the most appropriate form of good Quranic government.