"O you believe, obey God and obey the messenger and those with authority among you"
4:59
This glorious ayat has been subject to deliberate manipulation by the Muslim scholars in many Muslim countries. They have used the words "those with authority among you" in order to claim that the religious guru's have a right according to the Quran to have authority over the people and that they should be obeyed without question.
In order to analyse this claim we must research the Quranic content with regards to this issue.
The first part of this ayat is straightforward, as in numerous other ayat we read the command to obey God and obey the messenger. It has been shown on other pages that obeying God and obeying the messenger are one and the same thing since the messenger's sole duty is to deliver God's message (5:92), hence we do not need to elaborate on this issue here.
This leaves us with the task of understanding the words "those with authority among you". Do these words rightly give the religious guru's their claimed right to control the people and be entitled to receive the total obedience of the believers?
Well, for a start, the term "those with authority among you" covers a wide variety of people. In order to determine who is actually entitled to have rightful authority over us, it would be quite logical to assert that this authority must be in accordance to God's law, in other words authority given by God, and not authority that is self claimed.
The following are some examples of rightful and righteous authority that is in harmony with the Quranic teachings:
1- For a young boy/girl they should obey their parents who have authority over them.
2- For a wife, she must obey her husband (in righteousness) as God commanded the wife to obey her husband.
3- For an employee, he/she must obey their boss who has authority over them (within the framework of the profession).
4- For citizens, they must obey those in authority (e.g. the rulers, the courts, the police ... etc) .... also in righteousness and in accordance to God's law.
Other cases may also be made that relate to authority in righteousness and in harmony with God's law.
Now we ask, do the clergy and the religious guru's have authority over the believers in accordance to 4:59?
It can be easily demonstrated with the aid of the Quran that the authority God speaks of in 4:59 does NOT cover the men of religion (e.g. Imam's, guru's .. etc).
The religious figures (e.g. Imams, gurus, ... etc) have NO AUTHORITY over the believers.
First, the Quran stresses the fact that it is forbidden to follow any law except that of God, that being the Law of the Quran:
"Shall I seek other than God as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book (the Quran) fully detailed ?" 6:114
Second, the Quran makes it very clear in numerous ayat that there is no compulsion in religion:
"There is no compulsion in religion." 2:256
What this means is that the sole duty of the Imam or religious figure is to preach God's way and God's laws, but never to force the people or be entitled to blind obedience.
The prophet himself was warned very clearly by God that he is to deliver the message and then if the people do not accept it or follow it, that he should leave them alone and that he has no authority over them.
"And if God had willed, they would not have worshipped idols, We have not appointed you a keeper over them, and you are not placed in charge of them" 6:107
If the prophet himslef was given no authority over the people in religious matters, I dont see how any religious Imam or guru should give himself authority over the believers (as they do) !!!
As usual, the corrupt Imams have corrupted the meaning of this ayat 4:59 and specifically the words "those with authority". They have manipulated the meaning so as to claim for themselves blind obedience from the believers.
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