Socio Political Thought Of Shah WaliAllah Rahmatullahi Alaihi

THE SOCIO-POLITICAL THOUGHT OF SHAH WAL~ ALL,;-\II 261
he said: "What a marvel of God's will it is that there are people who
enter the paradise in chains".17"
Besides, perfect mercy toward mankind requires that God guide
them to viriuous conduct, deter the oppressors among them from
their oppressive acts, and reform their modes of irtfaqdt, manners
of house-keeping and norms of statecraft. This is because corrupt
socio-political systems dominated by powerful predatory elements
are like a growing cancer in human body. And without cutting off the
sick part from the body, no human being can attain health. Anyone
who is concerned with improving the state of a man, and restoring
his ailing condition to normalcy, has no option but to cut off the sick
part. For, if little amount of strong action necessarily leads to greater
good, it ought to be taken inevitably.
274. In the history of Quraysh and their prominent men you can find an
example of this. They were farthest among God's creatures from
the virtuous ways of conduct, and were the worst of all oppressors
against the weak. There used to be internecine fights among
them in which they would try to capture each other. Most of these
people never pondered over the conclusive proof of the Religion furnished
by the Prophet (peace be upon him) nor did they ever think of
any reason to justify their stand vis-&\!is the Prophet. Therefore, the
Prophet (peace be upon him) fought against them, killing those of
them whose grip was strongest over the people and whose egos were
hardest until God's command ultimately prevailed and they surrendered
to it. Thus these people became included among virtuous men
and the affairs of their life were properly organised. Had there been
no scope for jihad against such people in the shari'ah, Divine grace
could not have materialized in their favour.
275. Also because of God was displeased with the Arabs and the Persians,
He decreed the fall of their empire and an end to their rule. It was
against this background that the heart of the Prophet (peace be upon
him) and through him the hearts of his Companions were inspired by
God to take arms in the way of God so that the required objectives
could be achieved. The Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions
through the accomplishment of this mission became like
angels who also strive for the execution of the Divine scheme. The
difference between angelic and human undertalungs is that the former
struggle without being guided by any universal principle, while