Chapter Eight:Security Policies
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Importance of Security
399. Imām Ali (a.s.): “The worst of countries is a country that has neither security nor prosperity.”1
400. Imām Ali (a.s.): “O God! You know what we did was neither to seek power nor to acquire anything from the vanities of the world. Rather we wanted to restore the signs of Your religion and to bring prosperity into Your cities so that the oppressed among Your worshippers might be safe and Your forsaken commands might be established.”2
401. Imām Ali (a.s.) – in his instructions to Mālik al-Ashtar: “By the will of God, the soldiers are the fortresses of the people, the adornment of the rulers, the honor of religion, the routes of security and the people’s affair will not be firm except through them. Never reject a peace treaty to which your enemy calls you to and which is accepted by God, for in peace there is ease for your soldiers, relaxation from your worries and security for your land.”3
402. Imām Ali (a.s.): “The fact is that people have no choice but to have a ruler, good or bad, in whose rule the faithful persons perform (good) acts, while the unfaithful enjoy (worldly) benefits until God would therein bring all to end. Through the ruler, public assets are collected, the enemy is fought,
roads are protected and the right of the weak is taken from the strong until the virtuous enjoys peace and protection from (the oppression of) the wicked.”4
1.. Ghurar al-Hikam, h. ۵۶۸۴, `Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawā`iz, p. ۲۹۴, h. ۵۲۵۳.
2.. Nahj al-Balāghah, Sermon ۱۳۱, Tadhkira al-Khawās, p. ۱۲۰.
3.. Nahj al-Balāghah, Letter ۵۳, Tuhaf al-`Uqul, p. ۱۳۱, Ibid, p. ۱۴۵. Also see: Da`ā'im al-Islām, vol. ۱, p. ۳۵۷.
4.. Nahj al-Balāghah, Sermon ۴۰.
