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WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD WAS RULED by autocrats, dictators, and usurpers of different types, the only democratically elected leader of a polity of his time, Caliph Abu Bakr (ruled 632-634), laid out how he will lead and govern, without the benefit of direct Divine revelation. As the first Head of State and Government of the political community that the Prophet Muhammad had founded, Caliph Abu Bakr delivered his first (inaugural) sermon (khutbah) in a few sentences. Each sentence of his short inaugural address - his sermon - was a succinct expression of a timeless leadership paradigm encompassing a quality a leader should possess.
"O People! I have been put in authority over you and I am not the best of you. So if I do the right thing, help me and if I do wrong then put me straight. Truthfulness is a sacred trust and lying is a betrayal. The weak amongst you is strong in my sight. I will surely try to remove his pain and suffering. And the strong among you is weak to me. I will, Allah willing, realize the right from him fully. No people abandon jihad in the path of God save that He strikes them with humiliation. When obscene things spread among any nation, calamities generally continued to descend upon them. As long as I obey Allah and His messenger, you should obey me, and if I do not obey Allah and His messenger, then obedience to me is not incumbent upon you. Now stand for prayer."(Ibn Hashim's al-Sirah al-Nabawiyah about Saqifah bani S'ada - sermon of Abubakr - 2/661)
I suggest that we consider using the structure below to determine who we should vote for in these upcoming elections. We can score the two main candidates on key relevant pronouncements of Khalifa Abu Bakr. Pretty easy.
Read and reflect on these selected numbered items. Then, on a sheet of paper, for each item assign a score to Trump and a score to Harris and a score to anyone else you wish to vote for. [With all respect to those who want to vote for a third-party candidate, voting for a third-party candidate will be like voting for Trump or Harris, in my opinion, so you might just as well vote directly for one or the other of these two.] Then total the score for each candidate. Then decide.
Score: 5 (very high)....1 (very low).
- HUMILITY:
O People! I have been put in authority over you and I am not the best of you. - ACCOUNTABILITY:
So if I do the right thing, help me and if I do wrong then put me straight. - BEING TRUTHFUL:
Truthfulness is a sacred trust and lying is a betrayal. - FAIRNESS IN JUSTICE:
The weak amongst you is strong in my sight. I will surely try to remove his pain and suffering. And the strong among you is weak to me. I will, Allah willing, realize the right from him fully. - DECENCY:
When obscene things spread among any nation, calamities generally continued to descend upon them. - OBEDIENCE TO RULE OF LAW:
As long as I obey Allah and His messenger, you should obey me, and if I do not obey Allah and His messenger, then obedience to me is not incumbent upon you.
I hope this makes sense and will help focus on characteristics that matter in choosing our leaders in these troubling times.
WHAT ABOUT?
One might ask, what about the economy, inflation, jobs, abortion, even immigration, etc.? Do we discount these issues in our decision making. The answer is 'No.'
However, we do need to recognize that these are not isolated issues. At their core they are different facets of social justice. They are in their essence about rights that are owed to individuals, privileges that are apportioned to the deserving. A balanced society is based on a balance of rights and privilieges between the weak and the strong, the poor and the rich, the deprived and the privileged. Caliph Abu Bakr commits himself to secure that balance by being fair in the administration of justice.
We also need to ask ourselves: are we willing to trade humility, accountability, truthfulness, fairness in justice, decency and obedience to the rule of law for paltry gains in the economy, for example? That would be a rather disappointing trade, one might say.
For a detailed discussion of Caliph Abu Bakr's inaugural sermon, please see my book A Caliph for Our Time: How Abu Bakr's Inaugural Address Can Transform Leadership Today.
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