History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.2

c12.2

The Muslim state in the middle ages was a theocracy. It was a state which aimed at serving the cause of God, and those who enlisted in its service were comrades united by the bond of a common faith and ideal. The Church exercised a powerful influence on the state. The orthodox legists called the 'Ulama expounded and interpreted the Holy law and upon their decisions often depended the weal or woe of millions of human beings conquered by the Muslim rulers. The ideal Muslim state according to them was that which waged war against the infidels, crushed their independence and reduced them to the status of Zimmis.¹ The repression of the Zimmi, the declaration of Jihād² for the extirpation of infidelity, the conversion of Dār-al-Harb into Dār-al-Islam³ was the highest service which a true Muslim could render to the cause of God. Those Muslim rulers whom the Muslim historians delight to honour were men who tried to approximate to this ideal according