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Legitimacy; the Consent of the People or the Divine Standards
Friday, 3 April, 2026. Permalink
Political legitimacy is the acceptance and authorization of a government’s authority to rule, transforming power into voluntary compliance rather than coercion. It signifies that citizens grant their government the right to make binding decisions and govern on their behalf. A system that lacks legitimacy, no matter how powerful its tools, cannot endure and will ultimately face internal decline.
The issue of legitimacy in contemporary political thought is largely linked to the will and consent of the people. It is believed that any system that has the support of the majority is inherently legitimate. However, this notion is not fully consistent with the fundamental philosophy of Islam, because Islam does not link legitimacy solely to human will or consent, but rather defines it within the framework of divine standards.
In the Islamic concept, sovereignty is the exclusive right of Almighty Allah and human is responsible for implementing this sovereignty. Here, politics is not a game of gaining power, but rather the fulfillment of a trust. When legitimacy is limited to the demands of the people, right and wrong become the taste of the majority, while the majority is not always the guarantor of truth. History shows that the majority often makes decisions under the influence of emotions, propaganda, and short-term interests, which leads the system towards moral deviation.
In contrast, the divine standard is fixed, clear, and above human inclinations. This standard is based on justice, piety, trustworthiness, and responsibility, and is not subject to the limited intellect and changing desires of human being. When a system derives its laws from the principles of Sharia, it does not merely seek to maintain order, but also provides a profound intellectual framework for the reformation of human and the balance of society. So, legitimacy is not only a license to acquire power, but also an obligation to enforce the law.
If a system enjoys widespread support from the people but is in conflict with the explicit principles of the Islamic Sharia, this support cannot give it real legitimacy. The consent of the people might give a system popularity, but legitimacy is meaningful only when that popularity is under the shadow of divine standards. Popularity is a variable mode, which might change due to circumstances, propaganda, and economic conditions, but legitimacy is a constant principle that draws the line between right and wrong.
The will of the people is still important in Islamic politics, as they play key and practical role in the structure of the system, the selection of the leader, and the management of affairs. Such will shifts the system from imposition to participation and gives it stability and legitimacy, but this role has its limits. In the Islamic concept, principles come from the source of revelation and are superior to human will; therefore, the will of the people does not have the authority to determine the principles. If this power is given to the people, then truth and justice will be subordinate to the majority and stability will be destroyed. However, within the framework of these fixed principles, the will of the people is active in the field of implementation, management, and selection, meaning that the people determine the form of the system, the method of selecting the leader, and the ways of organizing affairs, but within the same framework, not by creating their own framework.
A system that subordinates itself solely to the demands of the people has the appearance of flexibility and participation, but in practice it soon faces the challenges of instability because the demands of the people are not fixed; emotions – propaganda, economic pressures, and the political atmosphere change these demands every day. What the majority wants today, can reject it tomorrow, and this constant change somehow forces the system to constantly change its course. In this case, the law loses stability, economic decisions become unsustainable, and the social structure faces chaos.
In contrast, a system that is based on fixed principles is clear in direction and stable in identity. This stability means that even if circumstances change, the foundation not broken. In this way, the system neither remains static nor changes without root, but maintains a reasonable balance between stability and evolution. The experience of the contemporary world shows that systems that rely solely on the will of the people, although they claim legitimacy through elections and majority rule, face deep crises in practice. Concentration of power, economic inequality, and moral decline are signs that majority vote alone cannot guarantee justice. When legitimacy originates solely from human will, this will itself becomes subject to pressure, propaganda, and interests, and the result is a system that ostensibly represents the people – but in reality represents limited interests.
In contrast, the Islamic system defines the concept of legitimacy within a balanced framework, both firmly grounded and actively participatory. With this, the divine guidance is considered the principle, the standard that draws the line between right and wrong, justice and injustice, and does not allow man to change these foundations at will. However, at the same time, the will of the people is not left without influence, but is used as a means of implementing, regulating, and implementing these principles.
This combination gives the Islamic system a special character; on the one hand, it is stable, because its foundation does not change; on the other hand, it is popular, because people feel a sense of belonging to it. People adhere to a system that both meets their real needs and does not conflict with their natural and moral values. To this end, will is neither absolute nor ineffective, but rather active under the shadow of principles, and this balance becomes the basic condition for justice and continuity.
Legitimacy finds its true meaning when it is based on the laws of Almighty Allah and the consent of the people is ensured within this framework. If this balance is lost, the system either moves towards tyranny or towards chaos. The Islamic concept solves this problem in a way that both keeps the principles stable and leaves the door open for human participation, so that politics does not remain an instrument of power – but becomes an orderly system of justice and responsibility.
Sayed Sharif
Courtesy of the Kabul Times.
