Comparison of Governance in Islamic States

Comparison of Governance in Islamic States
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Comparison of Governance in Islamic States
IntroductionSubstantive law as contained in the Quran governs most Islamic republics. Being a Holy book, the Quran has its own standards that leaders are supposed to adhere to in governing the general public. Most significantly, merit is stressed as the main characteristic to be followed when electing or choosing leaders to serve in public offices. What should be understood is that, merit does not only refer to performance. If looked from an ethical lens of egoism, merit refers to actual performance of duties at everyone`s expense and, also at the expense of everything. The Islamic approach to merit is slightly different though. Merit in Islam is considered as, that which is based in a person`s submission to Allah, the rule of Law, trust, emphatic justice, promise keeping and, integrity. Islamic Leaders who are considered excellent have to adhere to some standards. These standards include:
1 Submission to Allah and conducting governance according to his EdictsAllah`s directions which are supreme ensure the rule of law is checked and that the governing powers are cautiously checked. Allah expressly states that "Anyone who does not govern in ways consistent to Allah`s direction is a wrongdoer" (Quran 5:45).
2 Forgiving, emphatic and, in their decision making they use Shura. This is expressed in the Quran thus: "And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you; so pass over their faults, and ask Allah`s Forgiveness for them; and consult them in the affairs. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah, certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust in Him" (Quran 3:159).
3 Truthful and, they should avoid bribes at all costs. Reference can be drawn from the Quran in: "And do not devour your wealth among yourselves through falsehood, and offer it not as a bribe to the authorities that you may knowingly devour a part of the wealth of other people with injustice." (Quran 2:189).
4 Reprimand those who break their word, and, they [leaders] should also keep their word. The Quran supports this: "If you fear treachery from any people throw back their covenant to them so as to be on equal terms that there will be no more covenant between you and them. Certainly Allah likes not the treacherous". (Quran 8:58).
All Muslim states purport to follow the teachings of the Quran which is the ultimate constitution. However, is this case in all Muslim states? With uprisings in the Arab world, the answer points in the negative. The citizens of the respective countries feel a lapse in government and, they have lost confidence in the legitimacy of their governments and, they regard their governments as humiliation agents (Khouri, 2011). However, to discern the position, this paper is going to compare three Islamic countries and derive the validity of Justice, Peace, Diversity and Good Government in Islamic States. These tenets will be observed form a governance point of view.
NigeriaInternational relations between Nigeria and other countries has always been guaranteed. However, internal peace is not a guarantee in Nigeria.Nigeria over the past few decades has been rocked with violence. Surprisingly, the violence is all based on religious conflicts. The diversity of Nigerians has always been based on their religious differences. Mainly it is between Christians, and Muslims. With both groups claiming peace as the foundation of their faiths it sometimes beats logic why then they have to fight each other and consequently kill each other. Both the Islamic leaders and Christian leaders have failed in settling the dispute between the two groups. The application of Sharia Law in some parts of Nigeria has contributed to these frequent wars with both groups wanting to reign supreme over the other. The effects of the Christian Muslim war are profound with many people being displaced. In essence, it is implied that the Islamic leaders on their part do not adhere to the first requirement that was spelt out in the beginning of this paper. They override the law and they act according to how they think best fits them. They lack compassion to fellow human being [even though not Muslims]. In fact in 2004, the then Nigerian president, Olesegun Obasanjo had to declare a state of Emergency in Central Nigeria after Muslims massacred Christians. This act led to killings [reprisal killings] of other Christians in Kano. Governance in Nigeria has always been rocked with corruption (Afolabi, 2010). When the country gained independence in 1960, the citizens expected that project Nigeria would ensure good governance (Popoola, 2011). However, this was not to be the case. The country has been engulfed in to much corruption. This occurrence, is not new at all, in fact since Nigeria incepted public administration, the country has always been rocked with scandals with public officials being accused of looting public coffers for their own enrichment. Therefore, it is true to say that corruption can be linked to the poor state of governance in the country (Agbiboa, 2012). Since the fourth republic began in 1999, the country still struggles to deliver justice, equity, democratic governance, equal distribution of resources, social welfare, and, ensuring equal access to power and, natural resources (Olu-Adeyemi, 2012). Natural resources have been abused by the leaders too. So rampant is corruption in the country that out of 182 countries, Nigeria has been ranked at position 143 in the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International ("2011 Corruption Perceptions Index", 2001). This has been blamed on poor credit administration as well as poor practices of corporate governance (Nigeria: Financial services report, 2010). One of the causes of rampant corruption in the country is pegged diversity [through the different ethnic tribes]. Nepotism is the main cause of poor governance in Nigeria. Without construing so much from formal documents, it is very evident that Justice in the Nigerian concept is what really favors the ruling class. The ethnic tribes that have been suppressed definitely do have access to justice to see that the social wrongs are corrected. Point in example is Abacha Administration. Investigations done revealed that his government received bribes from French companies so that they would allow construction of a gas plant in Nigeria. This led to freezing of accounts that contained more than $100million (Hector, 2004). After Abacha`s death, More than $600 Million were found in Swiss banks, additionally, more than $1 billion were discovered in other accounts in Europe.
TunisiaGovernance in Tunisia can be summed up by the recent revolt that shook the country. Needless to say, the country is an Islamic state and therefore governed by Sharia law. Therefore, it is expected that the leaders in Tunisia would adhere to the teachings of Allah in governing the country. But so is not the case. The grievances addressed by the Tunisian people represent the position felt across the Arab world (Khouri, 2011a).The Tunisian government has always hidden in a cocoon of a reformed political system ("Tunisia: Human rights lip service". 2008).The country abolished life presidency, and for the first time it opened up parliament for opposition parties. Amnesty International is of the view that the government of Tunisia has succeeded in misleading t...