Appoint a Leader

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “When three people go on a journey they must appoint one of them as their ameer (leader).” [Abu-Dawud]

Every successful organization is headed by a single leader. Having multiple leaders results in clashing wills and efficiency and the purpose of organization is lost. This hadith indicates the necessity of being organized at all times, even if it is only three people on a journey. Leadership in Islam is to be entrusted to the most capable and Allah fearing, whose job it is to take counsel from those around him. It is the duty of the rest to give good counsel but obey their leader in whatever he decides.

It must be remembered though that obedience to any human being is subject to Allah’s obedience. He who disobeys Allah for the sake of obeying a person is then enslaved by that person as a punishment from Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). One example of this is the enslavement of our countries to the back breaking and poverty engendering laws of the IMF and World Bank. We disregarded Allah’s prohibitions on interest (riba) and thus we are now in their clutches.