Surah An-Naml (27) — Ayah 32

(Ayah 32) ➊ { قَالَتْ يٰۤاَيُّهَا الْمَلَؤُا اَفْتُوْنِيْ فِيْۤ اَمْرِيْ … :} Before this, the discussion was about the Queen of Sheba, {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا الْمَلَؤُا اَفْتُوْنِيْ … ‘‘} is also her speech. Apparently, there was no need to bring in {’’ قَالَتْ ‘‘} in between. Baqa'i says: "There is a pause in the conversation, as the Queen of Sheba, after reading Solomon's letter, was waiting for the chiefs of her people to express their reaction to it, but when they heard the letter and remained silent and astonished, she said: 'O chiefs! Advise me in this matter of mine.'"

➋ This shows the wisdom and intelligence of the queen, that she used to do every work with the consultation of her chiefs, and also that although Sheba was a monarchy, its system was not despotic. The reality is that whatever the form of government—be it monarchy, caliphate, or democracy—it cannot succeed without consultation. Some people consider monarchy as absolute rule and democracy as consultation, but this is completely wrong. A king can be one who does everything by consultation; just rulers are like this, and a democratic leader can be the worst absolute autocrat, who, due to the desires and weaknesses of the members of parliament, makes them tainted and forces them to follow his will. At present, almost all democratic leaders of the world are like this, in fact, democracy, in which the word "people" is repeated like the remembrance of Allah, gives the people the right to vote only once, then for four or five years they helplessly suffer the wounds of the absolute rule of their chosen representatives. In Islam, there is neither absolute monarchy nor democracy. Here, whether it is a caliph or a king, he is bound to enforce the commands of Allah, which are in the Qur'an and Hadith, whether anyone likes it or not, in every situation. After that, in other matters, he is bound to consult, as He said: «{ وَ اَمْرُهُمْ شُوْرٰى بَيْنَهُمْ }» [ الشورٰی : ۳۸ ] "And their affairs are (decided) by mutual consultation among themselves." And He said: «{ وَ شَاوِرْهُمْ فِي الْاَمْرِ}» [ آل عمران : ۱۵۹ ] "And consult them in the matter." But for this, it is not necessary to consult everyone, nor is he bound by the opinion of the majority, rather, in every matter, he will consult those who are qualified for it, and since he is responsible for the benefit or harm of the decision, the final decision will be his, which sometimes can be according to the opinion of the minority, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them): [ لَوْ أَنَّكُمَا تَتَّفِقَانِ عَلٰي أَمْرٍ وَاحِدٍ مَا عَصَيْتُكُمَا فِيْ مَشْوَرَةٍ أَبَدًا ] [ فتح الباري، الاعتصام بالکتاب والسنۃ، باب قول اللہ تعالٰی: «و أمرھم شورٰی … » : 341/13] "If you both agree on a matter, I will never oppose you in that matter." An example of consultation is the assembly of the chiefs of the Queen of Sheba, that after consulting, they said: «{ وَ الْاَمْرُ اِلَيْكِ فَانْظُرِيْ مَا ذَا تَاْمُرِيْنَ }» [ النمل : ۳۳ ] "And the matter is in your hands, so see what you command."

The exegesis of this verse has been done along with the previous verse.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).