The necessity of commitment to the political covenants

one of the biggest and most important moral virtues that is very important in the area of policy and political power is the issue of commitments and the necessity of implementing to commitments and according to the word of Amir of believers, Imam Ali peace upon him there is no divine obligatory whose importance would be more than the covenant. (1) The principle for maintaining the social order and the international system lies in the commitment to obligations and contracts. In contemporary international law, there is no basic principle that was more important than adhering to commitments and agreements. The international judicial branch that is the judicial system of the United Nations organization is the first source in solving the disputes among governments and other sources like the international custom, the legal main principle, the judicial process and the doctrine of lawyers have lied in next orders of credibility. In Islam and Islamic law in the area of social and political issues, there is no important principle such as the principle of adhering to commitments and agreements. Adherence to obligations and contracts is a general, universal and rational principle that Islam has confirmed and strengthened it.
In many verses of the Holy Quran the importance of adhering to all commitments has been emphasized. The most comprehensive verse in this regard is the first verse of Surah Ma'edeh in the holy Quran that Allah says:
“O those who have faith, be faithful to your commitment and covenant.
As the great commentators have noted there are several important points about this verse that are remarkable and thinkable.
1. according to other verses and the provisions and stories that have been mentioned in this surah, the main goal of this surah is the general invitation to commitment to all covenants and contracts and not breaking our covenants. (3) And in the public and in particular hadiths it is mentioned that" they are Nasekheh "(4). This chapter is with no different the last chapter that has been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny), so at the end of his life and the mission of holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) the almighty God has further stressed on keeping the covenants and agreements in all spheres of life, including private - public-political and even internationally.
2. The contract is a term that literally means to close and tie two things together in a way that separating them from each other is hard. It began as a spiritual metaphor and allegory that has been used in credit matters like contracts of sale, lease and marriage.
3. The almighty God has emphasized in the holy Quran and even in the verses that are revealed on Pagans after the conquering of Mecca not to fight with the pagans and non-Muslims with whom they have covenants and in the verses of surah Tobe God has pointed his hatred from them and at the same time He says:
Translation: "Except those idolaters with whom you made a covenant and (the provisions of the Treaty) they preserved on your right and they have not supported anyone against you, count their covenant as a honorable pact until the completion of the contract. The Lord loves the righteous. "
The exception in the above verses emphasizes the need to respect the feet of all contracts in all situations and with all people, even enemies and pagans are highlighted. Allameh Tabatabai with his rational and explicit statements on his valuable commentary says on the subject:
The holy Quran has stated the necessity of commitment to all covenants in their all meanings and with repeated emphasize and the almighty God has severely reproached those people who break their covenants and He has praised those who commit to their covenants In numerous verses. "
In the Islamic law the commitment of covenants is absolutely obligatory namely the people benefit or lose in their contracts because treaties preserve the social discipline and they are the source of people’s right in the society and governments in the international community. In today's world the international law adheres to agreements and international conventions.
The commitment to covenants and contracts in Islam is so important and in the historical books related to the custom of holy prophet of Islam peace upon him it has been mentioned that after the peace of Hodaybiyah upon which an agreement was signed between the holy prophet and Qoraysh. Abu Basir was one of the Muslims, who was held in Mecca escaped and came to the Messenger of Allah to Medina, the pagans of Qoraysh wrote a letter to the Prophet and sent the letter along with two pans to Medina to tell the Prophet under the terms of the agreement between them, the holy prophet should return Abu Basir. Though Abu Basir had escaped from the cruelty of Qoraysh but the holy prophet told him about the covenant and said that it is not good to break the covenant so he returned Abu Basir with the same two people. (8)
Biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the commitment to the covenant; however, it harms him or even Muslims at some point. As mentioned in the Treaty of Hodaybiyah there was an agreement that every one of the Qoraysh (though Muslim) comes to the Prophet (in Medina) without the permission of the supervisor, the holy Prophet would return him to Qoraysh. In the tradition of Ibn Hisham it is stated that another person who was returned by the holy prophet according to the law of the contract between them was "Abu Jindal ". Abu Jindal was Muslim and came to the Prophet in Medina. When the holy Prophet, according to the contract decided to return him, he was very upset and it is mentioned in the biography of Ibn Hisham, who cried aloud and said O Muslims! Do you want to bring me on the pagans? The holy Prophet (peace upon him) addressed him and said: “O Abu Jindal wait, verily God has opened a way for you and people that are poor and disabled. Among us and Qoraysh a peace treaty has been signed whose issues have been approved and accepted by us and them (the translation of the occupation). Verily, we do not betray with them.

1. The importance of adhering to commitments and promises even with the enemy in traditional sources

As mentioned, the Islamic and religious policy is based on honesty and loyalty to the covenant and promise, however, with the pagans and enemies, and even there are bottlenecks and problems for Muslims. However, in worldly politics that aim is simply to preserve the political power, the promise and ethics can be easily and with seemingly reasonable justification would be broken, but in reality these justifications are unreal and immoral. In general, the distinction between the religious policy and secular politics is in commitment or lack of commitment to these principles. There are so many traditions about the need to fulfill that promise even with the enemy, in the Shia and Sunni traditions. The holy Quran also mentions and approves the necessity of commitment to all covenants and sometimes openly emphasizes the commitment to contracts with unbelievers and pagans. The holy Quran in verse 8 of surah Mo'emenoon has mentioned one of the characteristics of the faithful people their commitment to covenants. In many traditions of the holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) and the Imams (peace be upon them), especially Imam Ali (peace upon him) Muslims have been kept away from any breach of contract and entering the element of deception and deceit. The verses of holy Quran and traditions that have mentioned the examples of treaty and betray have determined the framework of religious policy in Islamic teachings as well, provided that the authenticity would be accompanied with maintaining and adhering to Islamic teachings, not political expediency. 1. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) narrated that the holy Prophet said:
"Everyone who give shelter to a man for his safety, then he betrays him (and kill him) I hate him and I reject him, however, the victim's killer is someone who belongs to hell (and deserving of fire).
2. Mohammad Ibn Yaqoub says:
Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) narrated that:
"Anyone who give shelter to a man in order to protect his life and blood and then kills him, in the Day of Judgment he will be entered into infidelity while carrying the flag of betrays."
This narrative has been stated by Saduq (RA), according to the story of Ibn Abdu al-Rahman that has said.
Translation: "Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked the meaning of the words of the holy Prophet who said:" try to commit to the covenant of the lowest people in position " Imam answered: if an army of Muslims surrounded a group of pagans and then one of them requested to be given a safe shelter to talk to your head of army and then the lowest people in degree who was a simple soldier sheltered and protected him, the highest echelons of the army of the Muslims is obliged to adhere to the covenant of the lowest soldier. "
4. Imam Baqir (peace upon him) narrated that he said there are three things that Allah did not permit to leave them:
"The first one is honesty in consignment both for good and evil people, the second commitment to covenant, both about the good and evil people, and third good temper with parents, both good parents and evil ones.”
5. Another important Hadith of the Prophet (peace upon him and his family) is a very important tradition in this regard has been entered. The holy Prophet said: There are four characteristics; anyone who has all of them is a hypocritical and anyone who has one of these characteristics, he has one characteristic of hypocritical people until he leave this characteristics.
1. When he starts talking, he lies, (2) when he promises, he does not keep his promise, 3- When he closes the Treaty He betrays the Treaty, (4) when he starts fighting He stands guilty and (violation of moral and religious limits. "
6. The Prophet (peace upon him) also narrated that he said: ”truly there is a flag for the betrayer in the Day of Judgment and it is said that this betrayer is son of x.”

2. Absolute commitment to obligations on the teachings and guidance of Imam Ali (Peace upon him)

Amir al Mo’emenoon, Ali peace upon him in his letter to Malik Ashtar has emphasized on the importance of commitment to covenant even with enemies and has mentioned some important guidance:
Translation: "o, Malik if you made a friendship treaty among you and your enemy and you give him a shelter, be faithful to your covenant, because no divine obligation is more important that commitment to covenant. Surely the pagans consider the covenant obligatory among themselves. Do not make a treaty that can be interpreted, and after making the covenant do not break it. And commitment to the covenant that you hope its ambiguous end is better than breaking the covenant and it is better than that Lord punishes you and the way of forgiveness will be closed to you in this world and the hereafter. "
About this important part of the letter of Imam Ali peace upon him to Malik Ashtar that is an eternal covenant in order to explain the relationship between ethics and politics from the perspective of Islam, there are several noteworthy points:
A) As Imam Ali (peace upon him) reminds, the commitment to the covenant is God's commandment and it is a Privacy position that God has determined for relatives or legal persons and legal entities, thus breaking the limit to any excuse even with enemies and non-Muslims is not allowed and the guilty one has closed the way of forgiveness in this world and in the hereafter as the great interpreters of holy Quran have mentioned the obligatory of commitment to covenants even in cases where the loss is the absolute result. (18)
B) prior to the conclusion of treaties and agreements, any consultations and expert review should be made, especially in treaties and agreements between countries or international conventions that have a lot of consequences. But after the contract is signed and approved by the parties, excuses are not accepted for breach of contract. Even if the conditions are difficult and cumbersome (in the special case) is included in the Treaty as such a situation happened more or less at peace of Hodaybiyah and despite protests from some Muslims, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) did not violate his pact with enemies and he did not allow the violation of the provisions of the contract by Muslims.
C) As mentioned earlier we should seek the difference between the secular and religious politics due to the commitment to the same ethical principles such as commitment to promise, lack of betrayal, avoidance of deception and deceit, otherwise not only the nature of religious politics takes immoral aspects, but because the commitment to the principles is rooted in reason and human nature, the religion and religiosity is placed in conflict with the wisdom, in the words of Kant, "moral conscience".