Government should operate impartially and with integrity. Its
leaders should be honest, moral, and virtuous people, who will not
take bribes or act corruptly. Because people look up to a
nation's leaders as role models, they should set a good example for
the people.
The notion that a leader may rule by moral force is widespread
in many religions, but it is particularly central to the
Confucian ideal of government. On the other hand, the Islamic
view of leadership is more pessimistic: people should not expect
the ruler to be any different from themselves; they should rather look
to God for guidance.
God has promised such of you as believe and do
good works that He will surely make them to succeed the present
rulers in the earth, even as He caused those who were before them
to succeed; and he will surely establish for them their religion
which He has approved for them.
1. Islam. Qur'an
24.55
Duke Ai: "May I ask what is the art of government?"
Confucius: "The art of government simply consists in making
things right, or putting things in their right places. When the
ruler himself is 'right,' then the people naturally follow him in
his right course."
2. Confucianism.
Book of Ritual 27
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Book of Ritual 27: The Confucian doctrine of Rectification of
Names teaches that people at every position of life should live up
to the proper responsibilities of their offices. It should begin
with the ruler. See note to Analects 12.11, p. 614; also Doctrine
of the Mean 14, p. 615; Mencius I.B.8, p. 887.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Chi K'ang-tzu asked Confucius about government, saying,
"Suppose I were to slay those who have not the Way in order
to help those who have the Way, what would you think of it?"
Confucius replied, saying, "If you desire what is good, the
people will at once be good. The essence of the gentleman is that
of wind; the essence of small people is that of grass. And when a wind
passes over the grass, it cannot choose but bend."
3. Confucianism.
Analects 12.19
Concerned alone with the upholding of the world, You should
act. Whatever the best man does, others do that also. The world
follows the standard he sets for himself.
4. Hinduism.
Bhagavad Gita 3.20-21
When the king is deceitful, who will not be deceitful? When
the king is unrighteous, who will not be unrighteous?
5. Jainism.
Somadeva, Nitivakyamrita 17.183
Confucius said, "Those rulers whose measures are
dictated by mere expediency will arouse continual discontent."
6. Confucianism.
Analects 4.12
Confucius said, "If a ruler himself is upright, all will
go well even though he does not give orders. But if he himself is
not upright, even though he gives orders, they will not be
obeyed."
7. Confucianism.
Analects 13.6
When cattle are crossing, if the old bull swerves, They all
go swerving, following his lead. So among men, if he who's reckoned
best Lives not aright, much more do other folk. If the ruler be
unrighteous, the whole land dwells in woe.
When cattle are crossing, if the bull goes straight, They all
go straight because his course is straight. So among men, if he who's
reckoned best Lives righteously, the others do so too. The whole
land dwells in happiness if the ruler lives aright.
8. Buddhism.
Anguttara Nikaya ii.75
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Analects 12.19: On not propagating one's religion by force, see
Qur'an 2.256, p. 586. The position that the state has the right and
duty to use the sword in order to enforce correct thinking has
had a long history in China, from the Legalists of the Ch'in dynasty
to Mao Tse Tung in the twentieth century. Analects 13.6: Cf.
Analects 4.5, p. 807.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,
temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher, no drunkard,
not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money. He
must manage his own household well, keeping his children
submissive and respectful in every way; for if a man does not
know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's church?
9. Christianity.
1 Timothy 3.2-5
Emperor Kotoku proclaimed to his ministers, "In
governing, let us do truly as was done by the emperors of old in
ruling the realm. Let us govern with true sincerity."
10. Shinto.
Nihon Shoki 25
God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, He dawns
on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth upon a
cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the
earth.
11. Judaism and
Christianity. 2 Samuel 23.3-4
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Nihon Shoki 25: Cf. Kojiki, Preface, p. 897. 2 Samuel 23.3-4:
These are from the last words of King David. Cf. Joshua 1:1-9,
pp. 891f.; Deuteronomy 17.14-20, p. 898.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The Emperor Yao was reverent, intelligent, accomplished,
sincere, and mild. He was sincerely respectful and capable of modesty.
His light covered the four extremities of the empire and extended to
Heaven above and the earth below. He was able to make bright his
great virtue, bring affection to the nine branches of his
family... and harmonize the myriad states. The numerous people
were amply nourished and prosperous and became harmonious....
The emperor said, "Oh you Chief of the Four Mountains, I
have been on the throne for seventy years. If you can carry out
the mandate, I shall resign my position to you." The Chief
of the Four Mountains said, "I have not the virtue. I would
only disgrace the high position." The emperor said,
"Promote someone who is already illustrious, or raise up
someone who is humble and mean." They all said to the emperor, "There
is an unmarried man in a low position called Shun of Y." The emperor
said, "Yes, I have heard of him. What is he like?" The
Chief said, "He is the son of a blind man. His father is
stupid, his mother deceitful, his half-brother Hsiang is
arrogant. Yet he has been able to live in harmony with them and
to be splendidly filial. He has controlled himself and has not
come to wickedness." The emperor said, "I will try him;
I will wive him and observe his behavior towards my two
daughters." He gave orders and sent down his two daughters
to the bend of the Kuei River to be wives in the House of Y. The
emperor said, "Be reverent!"...
The emperor said: "Come, you Shun, in the affairs on
which you have been consulted, I have examined your words; your words
have been accomplished and capable of yielding fine results for
three years; do you ascend to the imperial throne." Shun
considered himself inferior in virtue and was not pleased. But in the
first month, on the first day, he accepted the abdication of Yao
in the Temple of the Accomplished Ancestor. Then he made lei
sacrifice to the Lord-on-High; he made yin sacrifice to the six
Venerable Ones.... He delimited the twelve provinces and raised
altars on twelve mountains and he deepened the rivers.
12. Confucianism. Book of History 1.1.3 and
2.1.2-3
As you are so will you have rulers put over you.
13. Islam.
Hadith of Baihaqi
Refrain from exalting the worthy So that the people will not
scheme and contend; Refrain from prizing rare possessions, So that
the people will not steal; Refrain from displaying objects of
desire, So that the people's hearts will not be disturbed.
Therefore the sage rules his people thus: He empties their
minds, And fills their bellies; He weakens their ambitions, And strengthens
their bones.
He strives always to keep people innocent of knowledge and
desires, and to keep the knowing ones from meddling. By doing nothing
that interferes with anything, nothing is left unregulated.
14. Taoism. Tao
Te Ching 3
By God, any official who takes anything from the public funds
without justification will meet his Lord carrying it on himself
on the Day of Judgment.
15. Islam.
Hadith of Muslim
Bribery is the door through which come all manner of sins.
Those who live by bribery cut off their mother's breasts.
16. Jainism.
Somadeva, Nitivakyamrita 17.184
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Book of History 1.1.3 and 2.1.2-3: Yao and Shun were revered by
Confucius as among the ideal rulers of ancient China because of
their personal righteousness. Tao Te Ching 3: This Taoist passage disagrees with
the Confucian wisdom that the route to honest government requires
that men of ability be sought out and promoted. The Taoist sages
recognized that rivalry between 'worthy' advisors was a serious corruption
in the state. To feed ambition is to bring out the worst in
people and is contrary to the Tao. Cf. Tao Te Ching 12, p. 801;
18-19, p. 260.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
He who receives office in order to profit from it is like an
adulterer, who gets his pleasure from a woman's body. God says,
"I am called holy, you are called holy; if you have not all
the qualities which I have, you should not accept
leadership."
17. Judaism.
Midrash, Pesikta Rabbati 111a
Neither for the sake of oneself nor for the sake of another,
not desiring son, wealth, or kingdom, should a person seek his own
success by unjust means. Then only is a man indeed virtuous,
wise, and righteous.
18. Buddhism.
Dhammapada 84
Do not ask for the position of authority, for if you are
granted this position as a result of your asking for it, you will
be left to discharge it yourself; but if you are given it without
asking you will be helped [by God].
19. Islam.
Hadith of Muslim
"Your Majesty," answered Mencius. "What is the
point of mentioning the word 'profit'? All that matters is that
there should be benevolence and rightness. If Your Majesty says,
'How can I profit my state?' and the counsellors say, 'How can I
profit my family?' and the officials and commoners say, 'How can
I profit my person?' then those above and those below will be
trying to profit at the expense of one another and the state will
be imperiled. When regicide is committed in a state of ten
thousand chariots, it is certain to be by a vassal with a
thousand chariots, and when it is committed in a state of a thousand chariots,
it is certain to be by a vassal with a hundred chariots. A share
of a thousand in ten thousand or a hundred in a thousand is by no means
insignificant, yet if profit is put before rightness, there is no satisfaction
short of total usurpation. No benevolent man ever abandons his
parents, and no dutiful man ever puts his prince last. Perhaps
you will now endorse what I have said: 'All that matters is that
there should be benevolence and rightness. What is the point of
mentioning the word "profit"?'
20.
Confucianism. Mencius I.A.1
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Mencius I.A.1: Cf. Book of Ritual 7.1.2, pp. 259f. Asa Ashtapadi
M.1: Nanak attributed the invasion by the Mughal conqueror Babur
to God's judgment on the misrule of the kings of India. See Asa,
M.1, p. 920.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Rulers lost their senses in levity and frivolity; [Therefore]
Babur's command has gone abroad, That even princes now go about without
a crust of bread.
21. Sikhism. Adi
Granth, Asa Ashtapadi M.1, p. 417
You will be eager for the office of commander, but it will
become a cause of regret on the day of resurrection. It is a good suckler
but an evil weaner.
22. Islam.
Hadith of Bukhari