With the 13th General Election in Malaysia looming, issues revolving around power become even more pressing.
Power for its own sake, or its Malay parallel “budaya kuasa untuk kuasa kerana kuasa,” has been claimed by certain observers to be the epidemic besieging influential Muslim politicians in the second phase of Post-Independence Malaysia.
Despite power ultimately resting with God as He alone is the All-Powerful, power has so often been perceived with suspicions.
“Every man invested with power is apt to abuse it,” remarked Montesquieu (1689-1755) in The Spirit of the Laws.
Perhaps, no statement is as apt in capturing the negative reality of power as the famous Lord Acton’s (1834-1902) dictum “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Many, if not all of us now, may easily entertain the idea that political power and wealth combined and unbridled are sure enough to create Hell on this earth.
Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) recorded an interesting observation in his Science and the Urgent Revolutionary Task.
“Political Power and wealth,” he remarked, “are inseparable. Those who have power have the means to gain wealth and must center all their efforts upon acquiring it, for without it they will not be able to retain power. Those who are wealthy must become strong, for, lacking power, they run the risk of being deprived of their wealth.”
Power has never failed to mesmerize a lot of people.
So old indeed is the spellbinding nature of power that one can find good testimonies concerning it in the ancient texts.
“The lust for power never dies—men cannot have enough.” Such was the observation of the Argive elders of the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, the Greek tragedy of 6th/5th century B.C..
And to many, power tends to be tantalizing.
Yet, attempts have also been made to cast power in a somewhat more balanced manner.
One such effort may be observed in Jacques Maritain’s (1882-1973) Man and the State: “Power is the force by means of which you can oblige others to obey you. Authority is the right to direct and command, to be listened to or obeyed by others. Authority requests Power. Power without authority is tyranny.”
“Power is neither angel nor brute, but, like man, himself a composite creature, uniting in itself two contradictory natures.” So was Bertrand de Jouvenel’s (1903-1987) perception of it in On Power: Its Nature and the History of its Growth.
Similarly, Nietzsche (1844-1900) once stated that “the concept of power, whether of a god or of a man, always includes both the ability to help and the ability to harm.”
In fact, one finds it rather hard to disagree with such views as expressed by Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899): “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test.”
Paradoxically however, in order to prevent the abuse of power, some, like Montesquieu, thought it necessary that power should be a check to power.
With all the foregoing observations and many others by leading thinkers and renowned figures of the West, whatever one may think, one cannot help wondering what view, or views, concerning power the present-day Muslims have and are able to articulate.
In this regard, some of them may want to begin with what the Qur’an itself has revealed about Adam and Eve, vis-à-vis their nemesis, Iblis, in the two intimately-related groups of verses: al-Baqarah (2): 30-39; and Ta-Ha (20): 115-124.
Such verses supply us contrastable attributes and propensities in man.
From the former group of verses, it is crystal clear that compared to other creatures, particularly the angels, man derives his superiority from the epistemic ability which Allah endowed in him.
Yet, in the latter group of verses, one is told about negative elements in man, about factors that had led to the infamous Fall of Man.
Forgetfulness leading to negligence of one’s covenant with Allah, particularly concerning the duty to avoid matters which are harmful and grievous to one’s real happiness, coupled with one’s having no firm resolve in maintaining it, underlies Adam’s succumbing to the evil temptations and whispers.
As verse 115 of the aforementioned Chapter makes it clear: “We (that is, Allah) had already, beforehand, taken the covenant of Adam, but he forgot: and We found on his part no firm resolve.”
Of great significance as well is the highlight in verse 120 that such evil temptations and whispers basically pertain to the longing in man for perpetuity and incessant dominion.
“But Satan whispered evil to him (namely, Adam): he said, ‘O Adam! shall I lead you to the Tree of Immortality and to Power that never wastes away?'”
So, while knowledge is depicted in the Qur’an as a vital and determining factor of man’s superiority, the craving in him for everlastingness and absolute power intertwined is portrayed as being hazardous to his well-being.
As such, not only do we have to recognise the contrast between the two human dimensions but more importantly we also need to realise in ourselves as well as in our community a right mixture of both.
Otherwise, as Omniscience and Omnipotence are two essential Divine Attributes, we may unduly play god.