Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Tilib 621
the one whom you have no reason not to obey on the basis of his
ignorance."323 if he is ignoraat, then they have no reason to obey
him, because he may lead them to doom. He also said: "There is no
obedience to any created being if it involves disobedience towards
the
The ignorant one, who bas no knowledge of
different issues, will end up committing disobedience towards the
Creator by doing something
2.4.3. Relationship between
the leader and the follower
This relationship is not to be based on hierarchy; rather it is to
be based on common interests between the leader and his followers.
Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&>) said to his governor when he sent him
to Egypt: "There are matters that you have to deal with directly, such
as discussing with your workers matters that could not be dealt with
by correspondence; and dealing with people's needs, which your
workers could not handle, as soon as you hear about them."326 Here
we see a situation that cancels out this hierarchy completely; if the
governor could not do this task, he may delegate this work to some
people whom he trusts. 'Ali (&) said: "Check on those people who
cannot meet you, people who are looked down on by others and to
whom people show disrespect; allocate to these people a man whom
you trust and who is pious and humble, and let him tell you about
their needs."327 This is clearly ignoring the bureaucratic attitudes that
assume that everything should be done in strict accordance with the
system, that no one has the right to go against the system, and that
whoever goes against it is seen as breaking the system.
Then Amir al-Mu'mineen (&) explained the harm that results
from irresponsible rigidity and adherence to procedure: "The
governors' creating a barrier between themselves and the people
represents a kind of hardship and lack of knowledge of what is