Advice to Rulers and Leaders

This is advice from Allah, may He be exalted, to those who are in positions of authority. They should rule according to the truth and justice revealed from Him, they should not turn away from it and be led astray from the path of Allah. Allah has issued a stern warning of a severe punishment to those who go astray from His path and forget the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibrahim Abu Zur`ah, who read the Scripture, reported that Al-Walid bin `Abd Al-Malik said to him: "Does anyone have the right to question the Khalifah You have read the first Scripture and the Qur'an, and you have understood them." He replied, "May I speak, O Commander of the faithful" He said, "Speak, for you are under the protection of Allah." I said, "O Commander of the faithful, are you more dear to Allah, or Dawud, peace be upon him For Allah gave him both prophethood and rulership, then He warned him in His Book:

يدَاوُودُ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَـكَ خَلِيفَةً فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَى فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

Commentary

Not only that Allah Ta’ ala had made Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) a prophet, He had also placed a government and state at his command. Accordingly, in this verse, he has been entrusted with a basic guideline for the conduct of governance and politics. Three things have been said in this guideline