Araştırma Makalesi

Kur’ân’da İdeal Devlet Başkanı/Yönetici Vasıfları

Cilt: 15 Sayı: 1 30 Haziran 2024
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The Qualities of an Ideal State Leader/Administrator in the Qur'ān

Abstract

The Qur'ān, serving as a life guide for believers, demands actions that benefit humanity. Since its inception, humanity has sought good living conditions both individually and collectively. In societal life, the system providing these conditions is primarily the state and its administrators. In this context, the qualities, character, and administrative attitudes of leaders are significant. Societies living under positive conditions when these traits are virtuous, and negative conditions when they are not, have continuously sought a better system. Throughout history, this search has manifested in turning towards divine truths or, frequently, in deviating into falsehoods. During this process, Almighty Allah sent prophets and their scriptures, calling people to divine truths and showing the path to true happiness. It is known that political structures and state leaders are among the essential elements ensuring the happiness of people living in communities, solving problems, and keeping them united under common goals and ideals. As indicated in the Qur'ān, both prophets and individuals with exceptional qualities, who we define as "ideal" public servants, are mentioned, and messages are conveyed through their characteristics and actions. Therefore, it is crucial for societies to show sensitivity in selecting those who will perform public duties and to consider divine criteria. This article focuses on the typology of state leaders praised and condemned by the Qur'ān through words and concepts, aiming to illustrate the positive and negative outcomes societies may face based on their choices of leaders through some exemplary comparisons. Besides the Qur'ānic exegesis, this article also benefits from various scientific disciplines, distinguishing itself by its conceptual approach and interdisciplinary connections. The study aims to explain the qualities of an ideal state leader through Qur'ānic concepts and to highlight the serious responsibility of performing public or administrative duties. The article intends to convey that a true believer should not undertake public duties entrusted to them as a trust if they lack competence, and Muslim societies should not assign public duties to those who are not qualified for their future's sake. As stated in a hadith, when tasks are not entrusted to experts/authorities, in other words, when appointments to public duties are not made justly, societal disintegration occurs. In Islamic history, works on ideal governance and leaders began with books in the fields of Islamic philosophy and law, such as "al-Madina al-Fadila" and "al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya," followed by numerous political and advisory works. This article conducts research on characters and concepts in the Qur'ān, identifying the criteria of ideal leaders through verses and exegesis related to eleven leaders with the characteristics of state leaders. Most of these leaders, possessing the morality and competence of an ideal administrator, are prophets or their followers. Among the mentioned leaders in the Qur'ān, the foremost is the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who served as the head of state in Medina. Previous prophets include Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, and Solomon; kings and queens include Saul, Dhul-Qarnayn, and the Queen of Sheba; and advisors include Asaf ibn Barkhiya, the advisor to Solomon, and the person described as the "believer who concealed his faith" in the Qur'ān, the advisor to Pharaoh, Harbil/Hezekiel. This study, determining the criteria of how a state leader should be based on Qur'ānic verses, aims to maintain thematic integrity by comparing the findings with negative leader personalities, identifying the ideal leader profile through exemplary state leader qualities and topics, showing how this is done conceptually, and highlighting the intended message. The personalities mentioned in the article, along with the above eleven state leaders praised by the Qur'ān's principles and methods of governance, include those whose governance styles are condemned: Nimrod, Pharaoh, Korah, Haman, Goliath, Walid ibn Mughira, Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl, and Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul.

Keywords

Qur'an , State , Ideal Statesman , Character , Politics

Kaynakça

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Kaynak Göster

ISNAD
Akgün, Yusuf. “Kur’ân’da İdeal Devlet Başkanı/Yönetici Vasıfları”. Mesned İlahiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 15/1 (01 Haziran 2024): 86-110. https://doi.org/10.51605/mesned.1481551.