We emphasized the above point in order to ascertain that the only government that can claim to have followed the example of the government of Imām Ali (a.s.) and his way of conduct (sira) is a government whose authorities attach more importance to justice than anything else and spare no efforts in spreading justice and the development of equity, not merely in words and speech –which is the top motto of many claimants today– but in action, behavior and in relations with people of all levels of society. Such justice is as rare as an elixir. Only a government that does not sacrifice justice in favor of expediency, by means of interpretation and justification, can indeed claim the establishment of justice.
In the government system of Imām Ali (a.s.) and in the teachings of that ‘manifestation of justice’, there is no expedient, higher than the establishment of justice. The only ruling system that can claim to be a follower of Imām Ali (a.s.) is that which gives priority to justice over interests and insists on implementing it, and despite the hubbub and troubles, aims at holding a permanent rule over the ‘hearts’ rather than a transient rule over ‘bodies’, which is the result of giving preference to unfounded and vain interests.
2. Safeguarding People’s Rights
The psychological factors in the people’s support of governments are as numerous as their different spiritual needs. One of the most important factors of public support is the safeguarding of people’s rights by that government.
One of the most important factors that contributes to securing the content of the masses is how the government views them and itself, whether it regards them as its slaves or as its masters and guardians, or whether it considers the people as possessing legitimate rights and itself only as their trustee, agent and representative. In the first case, whatever service a government may render to the people is nothing more than the care an owner would take of his animal. In the second case, the service presented is like the act of a loyal trustee fulfilling his duty. Among the foremost conditions of securing the confidence and goodwill of the people is the state’s acknowledgement of the genuine rights of the people and the avoidance of any kind