In a democracy, leaders are elected by the people in a society to lead and govern that certain society. The basic elements of a democratic election is such:
1. The people go and vote for the candidates in an election
2. There is a counting process to see how many votes each candidate received
3. The candidate who garners the most votes wins and becomes the elected leader
As you can see, the concept is quite simple actually. And being in Malaysia, a country where Islam is the official religion, I think it is appropriate to see the relevance of the religion in the governance of the country, even if we see ourselves as secular.
And when a leader has been elected, he or she then has the responsibility and obligation to serve the entire society. I would like to stress here that it is the ENTIRE society that he is responsible for.
The Quran states in Surah Al Hud:
"No one except Allah has to give me my reward. I do not drive away those who have faith (in my teachings), they will all receive mercy from their Lord."
Islam actually forbids a leader (or anyone, for that matter) to practice partiality and differentiate one group of human being from the other as if one is more deserving than the other.
In Surah Al Abassa, the Quran states:
"He frowned and turned away, because a blind man came to him. And what made you think he might not grow in virtue?"
And the Prophet Muhammad was quoted in a hadis saying:
"Whenever God makes a man responsible for other people, whether in greater or lesser numbers, he will be questioned as to whether he ruled his charges in accordance with God's decrees or not. And that will not be all. God will question him even about his family members."
And with all this responsibility, a person still needs to be fair and serve justice the way it is supposed to be served.
Surah Al Maidah states:
"Let not a group's hostility to you cause you to deviate from justice. Be just, for it is closer to peity. Have fear of Allah. He is aware of what you do."
So what does it mean when a high-ranking elected leader (hint: he's the country's number 2 and comes from Johor) says that he will prioritise assistance to only those who supported his party in the election?
Surah Al Shura states:
"The blame is only against those who oppress men with wrongdoing and insolently transgress beyond bounds through the land, defying right and justice; for such there will be a penalty grevious."
Zan Azlee
Wed Jun 12 2013
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