PDF Dosyası - Ankara Üniversitesi Kitaplar Veritabanı

eplaced by new and revised laws in the year 1734, which is stili the symbolicdate of the now existing law of the land. It is interesting to note thatin 1347 the Church refused to accept changes in its status and consequentlyin Sweden no new church law, valid for the whole country, couldbe promulgated. It is incontestable that the Church exerted a strong influenceon legislation but the example mentioned clearly illustrates how secularlaw was able to assert itself. It managed to do so not only against religiousdomination but also against the absolutism of kings. In westernsocieties there has been ali through history a medley of legal counterweightsto absolute power, be it from the side of religious or temporalpowers: local assemblies with judicial rights, feudal lords, parliaments,estates, guilds and similar institutions which managed to safeguard andlegalize inalienable rights for individuals as well as for corporations. Certainlythese rights could be violated or abrogated, as illustrated by e.g. theinquisition, but only temporarily. From these starting-points, in spite ofnumerous setbacks, development slowly proceeded along the line orstages: state governed by law -democracy- human rights.To explain this development two factors, related to religion, shouldbe highlighted. The first is Jesus's maxims "My kingdom is not of thisworld" and "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar'sand unto God the things which be God's". The second factor is thatChristianity started as the religion of the oppressed who during the firstcenturies were persecuted by the Roman state. Disobedience to overlordsas welll as the individual's right to protection against the state enjoyed religioussanction from the very outset. Violent oppression was neverthelessoften abused by both religious and temporal powers. But the dualismbetween State and Church encouraged propensity for change and facilitatedthe secularization process of Western countries. It was of paramountimportance that the religious establishment could not monopolize the educationalsystem. When universities were established they had separatefaculties for theology and for law.IIIBy contrast islam was the religion of the conquerors and the religioncomprised the law. From the very beginning the ruler's power and religionwere united. This meant a totaly different attitude to state power andto people of another opinion. The cold hard truth of these divergent attitudesis to be found, on the one hand in the original Christian sanction ofrebellion against state power and, on the other hand the claim of islam torepresent an order of state and law which is founded on divine revelation.The fundamental validity of this divergence must not be blurred bycontradictory historic events and circumstances. It is an undeniable factthat religious tolerance was much more characteristic of the world of islamthan of Christianity, as exemplifıed by the treatment of Jews and the206