Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Bernard Lewis' "The Middle East"
This is a cracking historical work - at least it is up to about one third of the way through. Before I lose and forget them, let me crank out a few quotes:
In a profound sense, the advent of Islam had itself been a kind of revolution. ...
In Islam, unlike the ancient world, a slave was no longer a chattel but a person, with a recognized legal and moral status. Women, though still subject to polygamy and concubinage, were accorded property rights not equalled in the West until modern times. Even the non-Muslim, despite some fiscal and social disabilities, benefited from a tolerance and a security in sharp contrast with the lot of non-Christians ...
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(Re the) relationship (in Islam) between religious orthodoxy and political stability:'Islam and government are twin brothers. One cannot thrive without the other. Islam is the foundation, and government the guardian. What has no foundation, collapses; what has no guardian perishes.'
(The constitutional distinction between the British monarchy and parliament) applies very well to the medieval Islamic situation. The caliph (like the monarch) represented authority, the sultan (like parliament) power. The sultan empowered the caliph, who authorized him in return. The caliph reigned but did not rule; the sultan did both.
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Islam assigns 4 things to government: justice, booty, the Friday prayer and jihad.
Chosroes said: Do not stay in a country which lacks these 5 things: a strong rule, a just judge, a fixed market, a wise physician, and a flowing river.
Umar ibn al-Khattab said: He alone is fit to rule, who is mild without weakness and strong without harshness.
