ABSTRACT
Establishing a new model of governance from certain metaphysics-oriented ontology and epistemology may be viewed by some people as a construction of just another dream. Therefore, some might perceive that the axioms developed and the way the ideal of Islamic governance is articulated in this research is another imagined reality akin to Don Quixorte’s. It has been found through experience that the normal consequences of such imagined reality is but another failure in the reality of the physical world. In order to moderate the ‘ideal’ of the proposition made in this study, this chapter aims to articulate the axioms in real life, specifically in the realm of contemporary governance operation. The axioms require a certain specific paradigm to ensure their articulation into the reality of the contemporary ideals of governance. For this reason, a comprehensive and holistic paradigm as a means of articulation and mechanism to translate a potentially operational realm is needed. After extensive scrutiny into the deep Islamic spirit of Shari’ah rulings through the literature and the practices of Muslims throughout history, the reader will see that the very foundation of efficiency of any Islamic ideals and teachings that derive from the ontology and epistemology are expected to operate only within the paradigm of tawhid. However, contemporary usage of the term ‘governance’ connotes the exercise of power or authority (political, economic, administration, etc.) to manage a country’s resources and affairs. The practice of governance, thus, comprises the mechanism, processes and institutions, through which people from all groups and social strata within society can articulate their interest, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences. Accordingly, good governance would imply the sets of rules (system) governing the actions of individuals and organizations (society) and the relations, transactions and negotiations of differences between them that could only be established and resolved through proper institutions (Van Dok, 1999). In the same spirit, the formulated axioms of Islamic governance cannot be relegated to work only through the individuals; instead they must be articulated through the comprehensive interconnection of all four main elements of governance: individuals, society, institutions and state. These four elements are expected to work as the articulator of Islamic governance through the typology of khalifah within the environment
and atmosphere (culture) of ihsani social capital, the expansion of which determines the nature of governance in terms of its quality.
