The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c8.43

c8.43

Ghazzālī thinks of the state as a living organism and compares it to the human body. In working out the details of the analogy, he calls the sultan the heart of the system.⁵ His existence is the primary necessity of social life, for without a ruler to guide the affairs of mankind, all order would vanish and the very existence of the human race would be endangered.⁶ It is he whose sword cleanses the world of anarchy as well as of evil.⁷ Very great is his responsibility, for he will be questioned on the Day of Judgment regarding the condition of his people and about all acts of justice and injustice committed by him. Great, too, is the reward awaiting the just monarch, for he will find a place under the banner of the Prophet on the Day of Reckoning.⁸ Later writers, in spite of the protests of the jurists, insisted that the righteous monarch was ‘the Vicegerent of God’ and ‘His Shadow on the Earth.’¹ A monarch should make it possible for every man to attain the fullest perfection of which he is capable, otherwise his government is an engine of oppression.² Dominion can lead a man to sublime heights or abysmal depths.³ The Hindus had even more exaggerated notions about the greatness of kings. A monarch is the centre of the state, the ruler, protector and benefactor of the people.⁴ Royalty is superhuman energy embodied in a human institution.⁵ Even though the king be a child, a monarch should not be despised, for he is a powerful divinity in human form.⁶