Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s1.64.2

c5.s1.64.2

the murder and assassination of kinsmen, however, repugnant to the sense of religion or humanity, were committed without much sense of shame or fear of public opinion.⁴ In other respects, the working of the Sultanate super-imposed upon Muslim law quite novel features, hard to reconcile with the dictates of the *Shari'at*, but essential for the ‘exigencies of better government’.¹ Similarly, the Sultanate violated many well-known laws of Islam, for instance, the principle of electing a monarch, the law of inheritance defining the shares of inherited property and the principles of apportioning them, the strict distinction between what is permitted (*halal*) and what is forbidden (*haram*). In fact, as a shrewd statesman of the age observed, the Sultanate had formulated its own laws, which were on a different footing from those of Islam. The laws of the Sultanate could be summarised in one phrase—the will of the Sultan.² Any, even the loosest interpretation of political ideals of the Qur’an, could not be reconciled with this glaring and bare-faced absolutism. However, there was no power in the hands of religious people to compel the Sultanate to modify its political ideals. The division between practical politics and the religious ideals of Islam became as clear as can be imagined. There were only two courses left for religious-minded people to follow : either to leave the Sultan severely alone in his undisputed possession, or to come to terms with him.