Foundations and Principles of Administrative Governance in Islam

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Research Institute of Islamic Culture and Thought, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The objective of this research is to explain the distinction between Islamic administrative governance and the governance commonly referred to in public administration theories. Essentially, there are three paradigms or theories in the field of public administration,
the newest of which is "governance." Governance involves the participation of the government with the private sector and civil society in managing society. "Good governance" is infused with the values of broad participation in society, effectiveness, efficiency, economy, transparency, accountability, justice, and responsiveness to the needs of all people. The question is whether Islamic administrative governance is the same as the commonly referred governance (government participation with the private sector and civil society). The research methodology is analytical and inferential, focusing on Islamic texts and a doctrinal strategy. This method is essentially traditional Islamic jurisprudence (ijtihad). The primary source is Nahj al-Balāgha, especially Letter 53 of Imam Ali, known as the Covenant of Mālik al-Ashtar. In addition to ijtihad in deriving propositions, thematic analysis is also used. In this process, all derived data or propositions are considered basic themes. Subsequently, the organizing and encompassing themes (fundamental elements of governance) are identified. In the next step, the propositions are classified into two categories: fundamentals and principles, according to their nature. The findings indicate that Islamic administrative governance possesses fundamentals and principles that distinguish it from conventional governance. These fundamentals and principles are related to the main elements of the administrative system: management, managers, people, rationality, and family. Together, they form the structure of Islamic administrative governance. In this structure, the participation of the government and the people in administration is a given; however, the people are not necessarily limited to the private sector. The fundamentals related to management and managers emphasize the necessity of competence, merit-based selection, and performance evaluation of managers, giving a central role to managers rather than structures. Additionally, the fundamentals and principles related to the people highlight their significant and central role in governance. The overall fundamentals and principles indicate that while people must be cared for, their serious role in governance is also considered. In this view, people are not clients, customers, or citizens (as they are in the theory of governance); rather, they are subjects. Furthermore, the fundamentals and principles related to rationality make governance defensible and align it with Islamic values, making it reasonable and logical. The final influential element in administrative governance is the family. The fundamentals and principles related to the family require governance to consider the needs of the family and establish the administrative system based on family stability. Moreover, in Islamic administrative governance, the criterion of growth is preferred over the economic criterion governing Western governance (efficiency). The policy-making approach in Islamic administrative governance is also different from its counterparts, and most importantly, the goal of conventional governance is material and economic development, while the goal of Islamic administrative governance goes beyond material development, with its governance elements being richer than those of conventional or good governance. Consequently, Islamic administrative governance is entirely distinct from the theory of conventional governance.

Keywords

References

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