Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

How Does One Say 'Queen' in Islam? 11
passions checked, while the king recognizes no superior law. As a
result, the caliphate has another advantage that mulk lacks. Mulk
deals solely with the management of earthly interests, while the
caliphate, given its spiritual nature, is also in charge of the Beyond:
Mulk pursues only the interests of this world. . . . But the aim of
the inspired jurist [al-shari', he who applies al-shari'a], as it concerns
people, is to assure their well-being also in the next world. Therefore
it is an obligation under divinely inspired laws to influence the community
to obey the prescriptions of these laws in matters that concern
its interests in this world and the next. This power belongs to the
guardians of divine law, namely al-anbiya [prophets] and those who
fill their place, that is, the caliphs. 2
The caliph, who deputizes for the Prophet, the Messenger of God
on earth, therefore has lost the freedom of the despot, the king.
He is tied by the shari'a, which is, of course, enforced on the
persons under his jurisdiction, but which also binds him. And,
according to Ibn Khaldun, that is what is new and specific about
Islam as a political system. Not only is the caliph tied by divine law,
but he may also not change it, because the prerogative of legislating
is not his. In fact, the lawgiver is Allah himself. As powerful as the
caliph may be, he does not have the right to make the law. It is
God who is the lawgiver. The caliph's mission is to apply it. 3 Then
what is the problem, we may ask with Ibn Khaldun (who suffered
from despotism), since the caliphate is so different from mulk? The
problem is that the caliphate necessarily includes mulk as one of its
components, since it has to be concerned with the interests of the
community on earth. This detail is important for understanding not
only contemporary Islam but also the past, and especially why the
queens could only claim earthly power. Mulk, the power of the
leader to coerce people by the use of violence, exists, but Islam as
a political system is protected from it by subjecting it to the shari'a,
religious law. Muslims are protected from mulk, which is despotic
by nature, if, and only if, the shari'a is followed to the letter by the
spiritual leader, the caliph. It is through the caliph's submission
to the shari'a that the miracle of ideal government is achieved:
'Everything in mulk that is done through coercion and domination
is nothing more than iniquity and aggressiveness, acts which are
reprehensible in the eyes of the Lawgiver ... for they are decisions
taken without the help of the light of Allah.' 4 And, according to
Ibn Khaldun, this is what makes the caliphate an institution specific
to Islam, for it binds the will of the leader by the shari'a, divine