Английская Википедия:Administrative policies of Ali
Administrative policies of Ali ibn Abi Talib highlights the policies of Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (Шаблон:Died in). Ali is recognized as the first Shia imam and the fourth Rashidun caliph. He was acclaimed as the caliph in 656 CE after the assassination of his predecessor Uthman, who was killed by Egyptian rebels amidst widespread accusations of nepotism, injustice, and corruption. Ali undertook radical changes upon accession and his strictly egalitarian policies garnered him the support of underprivileged groups while alienating the powerful Quraysh tribe, some of whom revolted against Ali under the pretext of revenge for Uthman in the Battle of the Camel (656) and the protracted Battle of Siffin (657). The latter fight ended in arbitration and led to the creation of the Kharijites, a member of whom is thought to be responsible for the assassination of Ali in 661. For some, the brief caliphate of Ali was characterized by his honesty, his unbending devotion to Islam, his equal treatment of the supporters, and his magnanimity towards his defeated enemies, while others criticize his policies for idealism and lack of political expediency.
Justice
The Islamicist Laura Veccia Vaglieri (Шаблон:Died in) describes Ali as deeply devoted to the cause of Islam,Шаблон:Sfn and her view is echoed by some others.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The brief caliphate of Ali was thus characterized by his strict justice, as suggested by some authors, including Reza Shah-Kazemi,Шаблон:Sfn Wilferd Madelung,Шаблон:Sfn Moojan Momen,Шаблон:Sfn Mahmoud M. Ayoub (Шаблон:Died in),Шаблон:Sfn John Esposito,Шаблон:Sfn and Hassan Abbas,Шаблон:Sfn among others.Шаблон:Sfn In his inaugural speech, Ali rebuked Muslims for straying from the straight path after Muhammad,Шаблон:Sfn and stressed the need to bring forth the virtuous and send back the unworthy.Шаблон:Sfn He also promised there to repossess the public lands gifted by Uthman during his caliphate.Шаблон:Sfn
Intent on restoring his vision of the prophetic governance,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Ali thus undertook radical policies during his caliphate,Шаблон:Sfn which the Shia scholar Muhammad H. Tabatabai (Шаблон:Died in) describes as "revolutionary."Шаблон:Sfn The caliph immediately dismissed nearly all the governors who had served Uthman,Шаблон:Sfn explaining that the likes of those men should not be appointed to any office.Шаблон:Sfn He replaced them with men whom he considered pious,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn largely from the Ansar and the Banu Hashim.Шаблон:Sfn Ali also distributed the treasury funds equally among Muslims, apparently following the practice of Muhammad.Шаблон:Sfn He is said to have shown zero tolerance for corruption, as apparent from his instructions for his commander Malik al-Ashtar (Шаблон:Died in),Шаблон:Sfn and also from his letters of admonition to his official Ziyad ibn Abihi,Шаблон:Sfn and his cousin Ibn Abbas.Шаблон:Sfn
Modern views
It was perhaps these radical policies of Ali which compelled the disgruntled to revolt under the pretext of revenge for Uthman,Шаблон:Sfn notable among them Mu'awiya, the former governor of Syria under Uthman.Шаблон:Sfn Veccia Vaglieri thus criticizes Ali for his "excessive rigorism," adding that he lacked political flexibility.Шаблон:Sfn Madelung similarly views the above policies of Ali as an indication of his political naivety and his unwillingness to compromise his principles for political expediency.Шаблон:Sfn Mahmoud M. Ayoub (Шаблон:Died in) says that Ali was not politically naive but idealistic,Шаблон:Sfn adding that the uncompromising uprightness of Ali and his strictly egalitarian policies alienated the Arabs and the powerful Quraysh tribe, in particular.Шаблон:Sfn Both authors, however, concede that these qualities of Ali also turned him into a paragon of Islamic virtues for his followers.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In his defense, Tabatabai and Ayoub propound that Ali ruled with righteousness rather than political expediency.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Yet Ayoub also suggests that political flexibility was a quality of Muhammad,Шаблон:Sfn though this is rejected by Tabatabai, who asserts that Islam never allows for compromising on a just cause, quoting verse 68:9,Шаблон:Sfn "They wish that thou might compromise and that they might compromise."Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn To support his view, Tabatabai notes that Muhammad repeatedly rejected calls for peace from his enemies in return for leaving their gods alone.Шаблон:Sfn In this vein, Shah-Kazemi writes that Muhammad indeed appointed some of his erstwhile enemies to leadership positions, but only to give them an opportunity to redeem themselves after accepting Islam, without compromising his principles. In contrast, confirming those whom Ali dismissed would have been tantamount to overlooking their corruption and undermining the moral basis of his caliphate.Шаблон:Sfn Alternatively, Ali Bahramian proposes that replacing the governors was the only available course of action for Ali, both on principle and in practice. He writes that injustice was the main grievance of the provincial rebels and they would have turned against Ali had he confirmed Uthman's governors.Шаблон:Sfn This is echoed by Shah-Kazemi, who adds that the equal distribution of the state wealth by Ali was a necessary change to address the inevitable societal impacts of the gross inequalities created under Umar and Uthman.Шаблон:Sfn
Religious authority
Ali viewed himself not only as the temporal leader of the Muslim community but also as its exclusive religious authority.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn This is evident in his inaugural speech as the caliph, writes Madelung,Шаблон:Sfn while the historian Hugh N. Kennedy adds that Ali saw the ruler as a charismatic figure who guides the Islamic community.Шаблон:Sfn Ali thus laid claim to the religious authority to interpret the Quran and Sunnah,Шаблон:Sfn and particularly the esoteric message of the script.Шаблон:Sfn He is reported by al-Tabari to have said, "We fought against them on the exoteric (Шаблон:Transl) content of the revelation and today we are fighting them for its esoteric (Шаблон:Transl) message."Шаблон:Sfn This claim of Ali distinguished him from his predecessors who have been viewed as merely the administrators of the divine law.Шаблон:Sfn
In return, some supporters of Ali indeed held him as their divinely-guided leader who demanded the same type of loyalty that Muhammad did.Шаблон:Sfn These felt an absolute and all-encompassing bond of spiritual loyalty (Шаблон:Transl) to Ali that transcended politics.Шаблон:Sfn The existence of this group is evidenced by Sunni and Shia reports from the Battle of Siffin (657) and some literary works dating to the First Fitna (656-661).Шаблон:Sfn Indeed, when the Kharijites broke with Ali after this battle, some forty-thousand of his supporters offered him a second Шаблон:Transl and pledged to be friends to the friends of Ali and enemies to his enemies.Шаблон:Sfn The ranks of these devoted supporters likely included the Ansar and the tribes from southern Arabia.Шаблон:Sfn These supporters may have justified their absolute loyalty to Ali on the basis of his merits, precedent in Islam,Шаблон:Sfn his kinship with Muhammad,Шаблон:Sfn and also the announcement by the latter at the Ghadir Khumm shortly before his death in 632.Шаблон:Sfn It is also probable that many of these supporters viewed Ali as the legatee (Шаблон:Transl) of Muhammad and thus his rightful successor after his death,Шаблон:Sfn as evidenced in the poetry from the period.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The word Шаблон:Transl also appears in Malik's address at the inauguration of Ali in Tarikh al-Ya'qubi.Шаблон:Sfn There is, however, a report by the Sunni historian al-Tabari (Шаблон:Died in) that links the notion of Ali as the Шаблон:Transl of Muhammad to the legendary figure of Abd-Allah ibn Saba. In turn, such a link is rejected by the Islamicist Maria M. Dakake, who believes that the term was widely used among the supporters of Ali by the time of the Battle of Siffin.Шаблон:Sfn Her view is close to that offered by Husain M. Jafri (Шаблон:Died in), another expert.Шаблон:Sfn At the same time, the Shia representation of Abu Bakr and Umar as usurpers of Ali's rights is absent in the (Sunni) historical discourse from that period.Шаблон:Sfn
Fiscal policies
Ali opposed centralized control over provincial revenues.Шаблон:Sfn He also equally distributed the taxes and booty amongst Muslims,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn following the precedent of Muhammad.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Ayoub and Jafri write that Ali distributed the content of the treasury of Kufa every Friday.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn This practice may indicate the egalitarian views of Ali,Шаблон:Sfn who thus attempted to unravel the social order established under his predecessors:Шаблон:Sfn Umar distributed the state revenues according to perceived Islamic merit and precedence,Шаблон:Sfn which nevertheless led to class differences in the Islamic community,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn placing the Quraysh above the rest of Arabs, and Arabs above non-Arabs.Шаблон:Sfn Umar apparently later came to regret this system, which replaced the Quranic principle of equality among the faithful.Шаблон:Sfn In turn, Uthman was widely accused of nepotismШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and corruption.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn During his caliphate, the tribal elites returned to power at the cost of the early Muslims.Шаблон:Sfn
The departure of Ali from the status quo on the distribution of revenues particularly appealed to the late immigrants to Iraq,Шаблон:Sfn among whom were the non-Arab converts in Kufa, for whom Ali championed a universalist vision of Islam which offered them equal rights.Шаблон:Sfn More generally, the egalitarian policies of Ali earned him the support of nearly all underprivileged groups, including the Ansar, who were sidelined after Muhammad by the Qurayshite leadership, and the Шаблон:Transl (Шаблон:Lit), who sought pious Islamic leadership.Шаблон:Sfn This latter group of early Muslims were interested in restoring the social order of Umar and saw Ali as their best hope for achieving that.Шаблон:Sfn In contrast, Talha and Zubayr were both Qurayshite companions of Muhammad who had amassed immense wealth under Uthman.Шаблон:Sfn They both revolted against Ali after the caliph refused to grant them favors.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Some other figures among the Quraysh also turned against Ali for the same reason, write Ayoub and John McHugo.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Ali is said to have even rejected a request by his brother Aqil for public funds,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn whereas Mu'awiya readily offered all of them bribes.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn By comparison, Ali continued to pay the Kharijites their shares from the treasury after they rose against him.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Regarding taxation, Ali instructed his officials to collect payments on a voluntary basis and without harassment, and to prioritize the poor when distributing the funds.Шаблон:Sfn Ali was concerned with agriculture, suggests Ann Lambton,Шаблон:Sfn and instructed Malik al-Ashtar in a letter to pay more attention to land development than short-term taxation.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Islamic sciences
Tabatabai contends that the Islamic sciences were largely overlooked during the Muslim conquests, with the immense material wealth they brought.Шаблон:Sfn He adds that it was also forbidden after Muhammad to commit his sayings (Шаблон:Transls) to writing,Шаблон:Sfn citing the Sunni al-Tabari and Ibn Sa'd (Шаблон:Died in).Шаблон:Sfn In contrast, Ali used his rule to disseminate Islamic sciences, writes Tabatabai,Шаблон:Sfn pioneering Arabic grammar and Islamic metaphysics.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Shah-Kazemi suggests that the public sermons attributed to Ali in Nahj al-balagha go beyond addressing the basic ethical and religious needs of the Muslim community, for they are replete with higher esoteric teachings.Шаблон:Sfn To show the dedication of Ali to knowledge (Шаблон:Transl), Shah-Kazemi highlights his answer during the Battle of the Camel (656) to a question about the oneness of God (Шаблон:Transl), "That which has no second (God) does not enter into the category of number."Шаблон:Sfn Ali also trained students, among whom are the first scholars in jurisprudence, theology, Quranic exegesis and recitation, and also the forefathers of Sufism, including Uways al-Qarani, Kumayl ibn Ziyad, Maytham al-Tammar, Roshaid al-Hajari,Шаблон:Sfn Hasan al-Basri, and al-Rabi' ibn Khaytham.Шаблон:Sfn
Rules of war
Ali is regarded as an authority on the rules of intra-Muslim war in Islamic jurisprudence.Шаблон:Sfn He forbade Muslim fighters from looting,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and instead equally distributed the taxes as salaries among his soldiers. This ruling probably became a subject of dispute between Ali and those who later formed the Kharijites.Шаблон:Sfn Before the Battle of the Camel (656), Ali also forbade chasing the fugitives, killing the prisoners, and dispatching the wounded.Шаблон:Sfn With these rulings, Ali thus recognized the rebels' rights as Muslims,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn even though they were considered a threat to order.Шаблон:Sfn Ali also pardoned them in victory,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and these practices were soon enshrined in the Islamic law,Шаблон:Sfn for instance in the rulings of the prominent Sunni jurist Muhammad al-Shaybani (Шаблон:Died in) about rebellions.Шаблон:Sfn
Beyond these measures, Ali has often been noted for his magnanimity to his defeated foes,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn preventing the enslavement of women and children in victory, even though some protested.Шаблон:Sfn He advised al-Ashtar not to reject any call to peace and not to violate any agreements,Шаблон:Sfn warned him against unlawful shedding of blood,Шаблон:Sfn urged him to resort to war only when negotiations failed,Шаблон:Sfn and to avoid commencing hostilities,Шаблон:Sfn which Ali himself observed.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn He forbade his commanders from disturbing the civilians except when lost or in dire need of food,Шаблон:Sfn and barred his troops from killing the wounded and those who flee, mutilating the dead, entering homes without permission, looting, and harming the women.Шаблон:Sfn Prior to the Battle of Siffin (657), Ali did not deprive the Syrians of drinking water, even though they had earlier done so to his troops.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In the opinion of Kelsay, the texts attributed to Ali and his practices indicate that he saw reconciliation as the final aim of intra-Muslim warfare, in line with verses 49:9-10 of the Quran.Шаблон:Sfn
Austerity
Ali lived an austere life,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and strictly separated his public and private spending.Шаблон:Sfn Hassan Abbas writes that Ali had a simple diet and mended his own things.Шаблон:Sfn In a letter to Uthman ibn Hunayf attributed to Ali, the governor of Basra is admonished for accepting an invitation to a banquet, asking how he could go to bed with his belly full, while there were people around him who are hungry.Шаблон:Sfn Also ascribed to Ali is the saying, "God has made it incumbent on true leaders to make themselves commensurable with the weakest people over whom they rule, so that the poverty of the poor will not engender covetousness."Шаблон:Sfn When he relocated to Kufa,Шаблон:Sfn as the new de-facto capital,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Ali refused to reside in the governor's castle, says Madelung, calling it Шаблон:Transl (Шаблон:Lit). Instead, he stayed with his nephew Ja'da ibn Hubayra,Шаблон:Sfn or in a small house next to the mosque.Шаблон:Sfn According to al-Ya'qubi (Шаблон:Died in), "Ali never wore a new garment, never acquired a state, never set his heart on wealth, and used his assets for giving alms to the needy people."Шаблон:Sfn The view of Shah-Kazemi is that Ali respected private property rights but did not allow the rich to add to their wealth at the expense of the poor. To justify this policy, Shah-Kazemi cites verse 59:7, which warns Muslims about their wealth "circulating only among the rich."Шаблон:Sfn
Minorities
Shah-Kazemi believes that Ali upheld the freedom of speech in his tolerance of the Kharijites as long as their protests remained peaceful. When some encouraged him to punish the Kharijites, Ali said that he would defend himself with his words as long they attacked him with words, with his hands if they attacked him with their hands, and with his sword only if they attacked him with their swords.Шаблон:Sfn A similar report is given by al-Shaybani,Шаблон:Sfn who also adds another report: Sawwar al-Manquri was brought to Ali for publicly cursing and threatening to kill him, Ali released the former. When the narrator apparently objected to this, Ali explained, "Shall I kill him even though he has not [yet] killed me?" The narrator then added that Sawwar had cursed the caliph, to which Ali replied that the former should then curse Sawwar or leave him alone.Шаблон:Sfn These reports set the precedent in Islamic law for a commensurate response to opposition, writes Kelsay. Unless the rebel party actually resorts to violence, the caliph must refrain from use of force. It is not even enough to know that the rebels intend to attack.Шаблон:Sfn There are indications that Ali considered the religious minorities (Шаблон:Transl) legally equal to non-Muslims, reputedly setting the same blood money for all citizens, regardless of their faith.Шаблон:Sfn For their tax ([[Jizya|Шаблон:Transl]]), letters attributed to Ali forbade his officials from pressing the Шаблон:Transl for payments.Шаблон:Sfn
Welfare state
Ali took some early measures toward the establishment of a welfare state. In his letter to al-Ashtar, he urged his commander to prioritize the needy, the afflicted, and the disabled, to assign a deputy to oversee their needs, and to attend to them personally.Шаблон:Sfn The Shia jurist Hossein Noori Hamedani cites an encounter between an old beggar and Ali, who reputedly gave the man a regular stipend from the treasury after reprimanding the man's neighbors, "You have employed him to the point where he is old and infirm, and now you refuse to help him."Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Praise
The Sunni Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Шаблон:Died in) famously said that Ali adorned the caliphate.Шаблон:Sfn Linda Jones holds the caliphate of Ali as a model for socio-political and religious righteousness that defies worldly corruption and social injustice.Шаблон:Sfn John Esposito has a similar view.Шаблон:Sfn Madelung writes that the caliphate of Ali was characterized by his honesty, his unbending devotion to Islam, his equal treatment of the supporters, and his magnanimity towards his defeated enemies.Шаблон:Sfn Moojan Momen and Veccia Vaglieri share similar opinions.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The latter adds that Ali fought against those whom he perceived as erring Muslims as a matter of duty, in order to uphold Islam.Шаблон:Sfn Shah-Kazemi says that Ali strived for justice and compassion for all, regardless of their religion.Шаблон:Sfn Ismail Poonawala writes that the sources are unanimous about the devotion of Ali to the cause of Islam and the rule of justice in accordance with the Quran and the Sunnah.Шаблон:Sfn Muhammad al-Buraey views the instructions of Ali for his governor of Egypt as a model for just Islamic governance, "where justice and mercy is shown to human beings irrespective of class, creed and color, where poverty is neither a stigma or disqualification and where justice is not tarred with nepotism, favoritism, provincialism or religious fanaticism."Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn A similar view is voiced by Shah-Kazemi.Шаблон:Sfn
Popular accounts
There are popular accounts and anecdotes about the caliphate of Ali and his character, some of which are summarized below:
- Ibn Abi'l-Hadid (Шаблон:Died in) quotes Sa'sa'a ibn Sohan, a companion of Ali, as saying, "He [Ali] was among us as one of our own, of gentle disposition (Шаблон:Transl), intense humility, leading with a light touch (Шаблон:Transl), even though we were in awe of him with the kind of awe that a bound prisoner has before one who holds a sword over his head."Шаблон:Sfn
- Uthman ibn Hunayf warned Ali that the equal distribution of the state revenues would alienate Arab nobles, who might turn to Mu'awiya, while the poor, the disabled, the widows, and the slaves, who benefited from the new policy, would not bring Ali any political advantage. Ali is reported to have responded that he was happy about the deserters (implying that those who prioritized material gains did not belong to his camp). As for the poor, Ali said his aim was to serve them by upholding their rights rather than benefit from them politically.Шаблон:Sfn
- When Ali was visited by private guests one evening at work, he turned off the candle and lit another one. When asked about it, he explained that the first candle was paid for by public funds while the latter was his own.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
- A sermon attributed to him in Nahj al-balagha mentions how Ali spared the life of Amr ibn al-As, the top enemy commander, when the latter exposed himself to Ali on the battlefield of Siffin in an attempt to save his life.Шаблон:Sfn
Footnotes
References
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