Exploring the Relation between Legitimacy and Allegiance in Alawid's Government

One of the main questions for which any political theory is bound to provide an answer is the legitimacy and justification of a government. the question is "Where does the legitimacy of government come from?" For any government needs to be legitimate to form and survive. If the legitimacy of any system of government is strong and reasonable, this will contribute to its efficiency in a significant way. Now, regarding the importance and role of legitimacy and its relation to the idea of allegiance or acceptabiity in view of political behaviour of the people under the rule of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (may peace be upon him), it is necessary to explore the issue and analyse the relation between the two. Drawing upon the descriptive-analytic method, this research which is at once based on the studies on the political structure in the area of legitimacy, came to a conclusion that, from the viewpoint of Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, the legitimacy of government is dependent on the will of God, the Almighty, on the one hand and the people's choice or acceptance of a government as a sign of their allegiance to a Muslim ruler can be effective in realizing a government. Thus, allegiance had nothing to do with legitimacy and was based on the political structure of society in the Arab world at that juncture in history. In Alawid government, allegiance, though it seems something necessary, but, in reality, supports people's capability and right to back up a religious government but in no way legitimizes and justifies it.