because government is one of the intellectual works and, accordingly, based on the intellect and has no purpose but to achieve good and ward off evil for the public, while the opinion of the majority of people is neither rational nor necessarily based on the intellect, and it is not considered a criterion for knowing good and evil, and therefore, government based on it often leads to defeating the purpose; especially in societies where the intellects of the majority of people are less developed, and the impediments to cognition are prevalent among them; because government in them based on the opinion of the majority of people leads to achieving evil and warding off good for the public as an inevitable result; while government based on the opinion of the majority of people in societies where the intellects of the majority of people are sufficiently developed and they are less afflicted with the impediments to cognition, is more likely to achieve the purpose than to defeat it, and therefore, the permissibility of consultative government in such societies is not unlikely; as God Almighty has considered consultation to be the manner of the righteous and said: ﴿وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ ۝ وَالَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ وَإِذَا مَا غَضِبُوا هُمْ يَغْفِرُونَ ۝ وَالَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَمْرُهُمْ شُورَى بَيْنَهُمْ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ ۝ وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَهُمُ الْبَغْيُ هُمْ يَنْتَصِرُونَ ۝ وَجَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِثْلُهَا ۖ فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ﴾[1]; “And what is with God is better and more lasting for those who believe and trust in their Lord; and those who avoid great sins and indecencies and forgive when they are angry; and those who responded to their Lord and established prayer, and their work is consultation among themselves, and they spend from what We provided for them; and those who defend themselves when they are wronged; and the recompense of an evil is an evil equal to it, so whoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is with God, for He does not like oppressors”; but to be fair, administering the affairs of society based on consultation does not necessarily mean government based on the opinion of the majority of people; because it can mean government based on the most rational opinion of people, which is discovered through the exchange of opinions in consultation, and this is the requirement of the intellect being the criterion of cognition;