Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

606 Governors at the time o f 'Ali ibn Abi Tdlib
following text is narrated concerning them: "And discuss a great deal
with the scholars, and talk with the wise people, so as to establish that
which serves the interests of your province and that which serves the
interests of the people."283
This text is a confirmation of the importance of bringing
together scholars and wise people in organised advisory committees.
They may be appointed by the governor or elected by the people.
There were no specific instructions from Amir al-Mu'mineen as to
how these committees were to be formed; he simply asked the
governors to "discuss a great deal with the scholars, and talk with the
wise people." As to how that was to he done, were they to meet on
the instrnctions of the governor, or were they to he elected by the
people? This is something concerning which Amir al-Mu'mineen
'Ali (&) did not give definitive instrnctions; he left it to be done
according to circumstances which dictated how these committees
were to he selected, either by appointment of the governor or election
by the people. As for the role of this committee, it was to study and
research in order to define the general policies with regard to two
issues:
(a) Defining policies which served the interests of the province.
(b) Defining policies which served the interests of the people.
This meant drawing up the basic guidehes for everything that
had to do with senring the interests of the land and the people,
whether it was with regard to how the wealth of the public treasury
was spent; appointments to different administrative positions; or
offering services to different classes of traders, craftsmen and
farmers. This committee was more like what is known as a local
council that is established in the type of states where the system is
based on decentrali~ation.~~~ Elsewhere, Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali
(&) mentioned the qualities required in these consultants and