By Imam Mashood Dagbo, PhD
Islam prioritizes citizen wellbeing by asking a simple but profound question: does governance protect what people need most to live with dignity? The answer lies in three minimum social contracts between ruler, community, and citizen: physical health and soundness of body, safety and security of life and honour, and daily provision that removes hunger. These are not optional benefits granted at the ruler’s discretion. They are the foundation upon which worship, work, family life, and social order are built. When a state neglects them, every talk of development becomes theoretical and unrealizable.
1. Preservation of health: Islam ranks health at the very top because health is life itself. Without a sound body and a clear mind, no meaningful worship, economic activity, or social service is possible. Allah says: “Whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved all of mankind” [Q 5:32]. Imam Fakhr Al-Din Al-Razi explains in Mafatih Al-Ghayb that protecting health is the foremost duty of authority because the intellect and body are the instruments for fulfilling every other obligation [Vol. 11, p. 177]. This means public healthcare, preventive medicine, clean water, and health education are not luxuries. They are religious and civic necessities. A sick population cannot build a strong nation.
2. Security and peace of mind: Material blessings mean very little without safety. Allah reminds Quraysh: “Who fed them against hunger and made them safe from fear” [Q 106:4]. Notice the order: food first, then security. Imam Al-Qurtubi notes that security is mentioned after food because fear destroys the enjoyment of blessings and paralyzes both work and worship [Vol. 20, p. 125]. When people live under threat, markets close, children miss school, and families live in anxiety. Al-Mawardi adds that protecting territory from external aggression and suppressing internal crime is a primary duty of the ruler so roads stay safe, farms are cultivated, and markets function [p. 18]. Security creates the environment where citizens can plan for the future without dread.
3 Daily livelihood: Islam prioritizes sustenance as a direct means of fighting poverty and despair. Allah says: “There is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision” [Q 11:6]. The verse removes despair but does not cancel the command to seek lawful earning [Ibn Kathir, 11:6]. The focus is sufficiency for present need, not hoarding or wasteful accumulation. This is the root of contentment in Islamic economics. Al-Shatibi argues in _Al-Muwafaqat_ that Shari‘ah secures necessities first, then needs, then improvements. When rulers allow wealth to concentrate while basic needs go unmet, they invert the order of revelation [Vol. 2, p. 8]. Umar bin Al-Khattab, recorded by Ibn Abi Shaybah, institutionalized this principle. He established stipends from the public treasury for the weak, declaring that the state must prevent hunger [Al-Musannaf, Vol. 7, p. 418].
These three priorities are inseparable in practice. Health fails without security because fear, violence, and displacement increase injury, disease, and chronic stress. Security fails when hunger is widespread because desperation pushes people toward crime and unrest. Livelihood fails when people are sick or unsafe because they cannot work, trade, or invest their energy productively.
Supporting my weekly piece with hadith, as my tradition, it is sufficient to relate it to the narration of Salamah bin ‘Ubaidullah. The Prophet (SAW) said: “Whoever among you wakes up physically healthy, feeling safe and secure within himself, with food for the day, it is as if he acquired the whole world” [Sunan Ibn Majah 4141]. The Hadith is further explained to itemize its lessons and jurisprudential implications for better applications below:
1. Gratitude for basic blessings outweighs chasing excess; health, safety, and daily provision equal “the whole world”.
2. Contentment means sufficiency for today — “food for the day,” not luxury stored for years.
3. Physical and mental wellbeing enable both spiritual devotion and worldly responsibility.
4. Focus on present blessings, not paralyzing anxiety about the future; providing this stability is a duty of authority.
5. True wealth is not accumulation. One lacking riches but possessing these three owns the world.
6. Reliance on Allah does not contradict striving for daily provision; the believer works while trusting Allah for tomorrow.
7. This is a direct call to the Nigerian government to prioritize healthcare, security, and food, and a reminder that leadership is a sacred trust for which leaders will be questioned.
Prayers:
O Allah, as we witness the third Jumu‘ah in Muharram 1448 AH, grant us good health, security, and abundant lawful provision. Forgive our sins, ease hardship, guide our leaders to justice, alleviate poverty, and save us from bad governance. Protect Muslims in troubled lands and restore Nigeria and the world from corruption, insecurity, hunger, banditry, kidnapping, war, and all social evils. AMIN.
Imam Yusuf Mashood Dagbo, PhD, is the Chief Imam, Government Girls Day Secondary School, GGDSS Central Mosque, Okesuna, Ilorin, Kwara State and Director, YUMAD Consults
