Islam Creator of the Modern Age
1. Islam: Creator of the Modern Age
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conditioned in the people, they developed the
concept of the god-king. In any society, the king is
the richest and most powerful. He is distinguished,
too, in many other respects from the common
people. Taking advantage of this distinctive status,
the kings instilled into the minds of the people that
they were superior to common men, that they were,
in fact, God’s representatives on earth. Some said
that they were a link between God and man. Others
went further and pretended to be incarnations of
God on earth. As such, they were supposed to
possess supernatural powers. They managed, in
consequence, to wield absolute power over their
subjects.
The
Encyclopaedia Britannica
(1984) says in its article
on sacred kingship:
At one time, when religion was totally
connected with the whole existence of the
individual as well as that of the community
and when kingdoms were in varying degrees
connected with religious powers or religious
institutions; there could be no kingdom that
was not in some sense sacred.
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