Finally, in order to justify in the fullest measure its claim to the citizens’ atlegiance, the State must assume active responsibility for their material welfare: other words.
It falls within the responsibility of the State to provide its citizens with such economic facilities as are necessary for the maintenance of human happiness and dignity.
Nothing could illustrate this principle better than the following saying of the Apostle of God (S.A.W.) which may be translated into English thus:
“Behold, every one of you is a shepherd; and every one is responsible for his flock. Thus, the Imam (i.e., the government) that has been placed over the people is a shepherd, and is responsible for his flock.
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And every man is a shepherd over his family, and is responsible for his flock; and the woman is a shepherdess over her husband’s household and his children, and is responsible for them; and the servant is a shepherd over his master’s property.
And is responsible for it. Behold, every one of you is a shepherd, and every one is responsible for his flock.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, on the authority of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar)
In short, Islam demands a society that is righteous not only in its moral outlook, but in its deeds as well; a society that provides not only for the spiritual needs of its members, but for their bodily needs as well.
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It follows, therefore, that a State, in order to be truly Islamic, must arrange the affairs of the community in such a way that every individual, man and woman, shall be guaranteed a minimum of material well-being without which there can be no human dignity, no real freedom and, in the last resort, no spiritual progress.
This, of course, does not mean that the State should, or ever could, ensure easy and care-free living to its citizens: it only means that in an Islamic State there shall be no soul-grinding poverty side by side with affluence.
Secondly, that all the resources of the State must be harnessed to the task of providing adequate means of livelihood for all its citizens; and, thirdly, that all the opportunities in this respect should be open to all citizens equally and that no person should enjoy a high standard of living at the expense of others.
It is, in short, the duty of every Muslim to prove to the whole world that we really intend to ltfe up to these words of the Qur’an:
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“You are the best community that has been sent forth to mankind (in that) you enjoin right and forbid wrong and have faith in God.” (3: 110)
Being a righteous community depends, therefore, on our being prepared to struggle, always and under all circumstances, for the upholding of justice and for the abolition of injustice for all people.
The head of the State as well as other authorities are accountable to the community; and the State strives to do right and combat wrong and is also constantly striving to create a dynamic social order based on the principles of justice, co-operation, brotherhood and self-sacrifice in the interests of the welfare of the entire community.
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The State as a politically organised Community has existed in human history since times immemorial. During this lengthy span, it assumed different forms and shapes at different times and the herd instinct of mankind always inclined it to follow a leader.
Similarly, the interest in the social consequences of religious beliefs and actions is as old as the interest in religion itself.
Looking back, we see that in the sixteenth century, Machiavelli gave, in his famous account “The Prince”, a functional analysis of Roman religion which had exercised considerable influence on the State.
In classical Latin, Circero’s res-publica (Commonwealth) was the most favoured expression, though Civitas (Community of Citizens) was also used.
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According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, medieval writers tended to prefer the term Civitis and regnum (realm or kingdom) over others.
The Greeks’ concept of the Polis included religious and cultural activities as well as government so that the later distinction between church and state could not be expressed in terms of church and Polis.
The Roman res-publica (Commonwealth) was a larger entity, as it extended beyond the city of Rome to Roman citizens throughout Italy and the provinces.
Another difference in Circero’s usage was that the Roman idea of res-publica emphasized the legal structure of political association.
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In medieval political writings, the words regnum and civitas were used sometimes indiscriminately but often with a distinction.
Civitas referring to the city-state that existed in some parts of Europe and Colonel Ghulam Sarwar, SI (M) National Defence College, Rawalpindi Especially Italy.
Regnum, on the other hand, referred to the larger type of monarchy that was growing up in other parts of Europe.
The term res-publica came to be used for a larger entity. Res-publica Christian stood for the community of Christendom.
In the political philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, the Polis was treated as the ideal form of community, because it was self- sufficient in providing in economic and social needs and in moral and religious development.
The ideas of values that were included in the Greek concept were continued in the connotations of res- publica and of its English translation “Commonwealth”
Spinoza, Montesquieu, Rosseau and Comte also developed the analysis of the political significance of religious commitment and the related problems of the influence of religious on personal morality and social solidarity.
However, the man who contributed most to the systematic understanding of the inter-relations between religion and state and who stimulated profound research on the subject was Max Weber.
History is a witness to the fact that there have been many States in the past that had wedded the mechanism of government to a particular sacred establishment.
They did so, not merely in a supportive way but also to create an identity between political and religious hierarchies.
The question of whether any state has ever existed completely free of religious ties is somewhat more difficult to answer, since it raises serious problems of definition.