Article 21

The Quran had enjoined “Verily, Allah commands you” that administration should be carried on through the exercise of the franchice (4:59) and in consultation with the representatives of the people (3:160). It had warned that this was “the most excellent method” and should, therefore, not be departed from. But a shift towards monarchy started after the first four Khalifahs, and the Khilafat took on more and more the complexion and trappings of monarchy. Among the lines of Heads of State in Damascus and Baghdad, and later in Cordova. Granada, Fez, Cairo, Delhi, Istanbul and several other capitals, there followed a whole galaxy of brilliant, wise and beneficent rulers and administrators, simple, pious, devoted and God-fearing; they “enjoined equity and forbade iniquity” and proved themselves righteous servants of Allah. They illustrated in their lives and example the saying of the Prophet, “The Chief of a people is truly their servant.”1 Their annals illumine and adorn whole chapters and volumes of history. But the increasing disregard of the fundamentals laid down by the Quran, mentioned above, began to effect other values also and this could be perceived not only in the deteriorating standards of administration but also in the decline in the social, economic and intellectual spheres. Over wide regions freedom and independence were forfeited or mortgaged. It was a case of, “Then there came after them successors who neglected Prayer and followed evil desires. So they will meet with ruin” (19:60).

While, however, a neglect of the values taught by the Quran was bound to entail loss and damage in every sphere, a return to those values would revive beneficence, progress and prosperity for all in every direction. These values have been tried over long periods in vast regions of the earth by men of all races, colours and conditions, and have proved their total beneficence. “This is a perfect Book; there is nothing in it partaking of doubt or harm; it is a guidance for the righteous, who believe in the unseen and observe Prayer, and spend out of whatsoever We have bestowed on them; and who believe in that which has been revealed to thee, and that which was revealed before thee, and they have firm faith in what is yet to come. It is they who follow the guidance of their Lord and it is they who shall prosper” (2:3-6).