Why is Accounting the Rulers a Shariah Obligation?

When you appoint someone to carry out a task that was in origin entrusted to you, this means that it is your Shariah obligation to monitor him and hold him accountable if he is negligent, makes a mistake, does wrong, or is unjust, and so on. It is natural for the Ummah to remain watchful over the ruler. This is both its Shariah obligation and its Shariah right, at the same time. The meaning of its Shariah obligation are that the Ummah will be sinful if it neglects this. Its Shariah right is that the ruler will sin if he prevents it from carrying out the obligation of accountability, monitoring, and advice, and so on. Just as the Ummah chooses a ruler to represent it in implementing the Shari’ah, its Shariah obligation is to remain in a state of monitoring him, following him up, in a mode of advice and suggestion, and in a mode of accountability, if he made a mistake, fell short, or was unjust, and so on. It may reach the point that this ruler’s Shariah legitimacy is lost and he must be removed. Of course, this removal also has a Shariah mechanism, which we may discuss in later constitutional articles, Allah ﷻ willing. As for what is related to accountability and monitoring, the evidence for this matter is abundant, such as the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ who said, “You must order the rulers upon the right, and confine the rulers to the truth.” In general, the hadiths that command enjoining good and forbidding evil naturally include, and from the angle of priority (baab ul-oolah) include, the rulers, because if the rulers do good, their goodness reflects good on all the subjects, and if they do evil, their evil reflects evil on all the subjects, and even on the integrity of Islam, since the Islamic Ummah is entrusted with applying Islam, presenting it to the people, and calling people to Islam. So the rulers must be at the top of the priorities in enjoining good and forbidding evil. I think that a famous saying was transmitted from Imam Malik or one of the other great Imams, so that I am not mistaken, he said, “If I knew that a certain Dua will be answered, I would have restricted it to the rulers,” because he knows how dangerous it is for the ruler to deviate, and for his actions or practices to be wrong. The error here is not only against himself, but it is against an entire Ummah, indeed against nations, as it is concerned with presenting Islam to them pure, clean, and radiant, as Allah ﷻ loved it and was pleased with it for us.

From the Constitutional Insights series
“The Authority is for the Ummah”
Produced by AlWaqiyah TV

محاسبة الحكام

حين تنيب أحدا عنك ليقوم بأمر فوّد إليك في الأصل فهذا يعني أن واجبك أن تراقبه وأن تحاسبه إن هو فرط أو هو أخطأ أو هو أساء أو ظلم إلى آخره فالأمر الطبيعي أن تبقى الأمة رقيبة على الحاكم هذا واجبها وحقها في آن معاني واجبها لأنها تأثم إن قصرت فيه وحقها لأن الحاكم يأثم إن منعها من أن تقوم بواجب المحاسبة والمراقبة والنصح إلى آخره فكما أن الأمة اختارت حاكما لينوب عنها في تطبيق الشرع فإن واجبها أن تبقى في حالة مراقبة له