Othman Bin Affan Quotes
Allah clothed me with a robe. If He wills He will take it away from me, and if He wills He will keep it on me.
The modern Islamic interpretation of this statement is no corrupt sovereign can be removed without a divine edict -- in other words, he ceases to rule only upon his death, because he does not abandon his palace unless he is on his way to the grave. The result is that many Muslims do not countenance revolution.
Othman Bin Affan, 574–656, 3rd Islamic Caliph, Statement to rebels who tried to force him from the throne
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The last Caliph of the Muslims was removed in 1924 as part of the Turkish Reform. The position has had attraction for many Muslim leaders who saw themselves in the role, but since 1924, nationalism and modernism and the lack of an effective international Muslim leader has precluded it. This anti-revolutionary sentiment of the Islamic political state that is so traditional, may in part account for the Islamic tolerance of autocratic regimes. Note that the distinction between religious responsibilities and civil are important. Tyranny must be tolerated but not blasphemy or heresy. Traditional Muslims provide more tolerance and forbearance for a leader’s civil failings than religious. But Muslims were not the only people to do this. A British prime minister had a view with the same conservative logic. See {639130}. The ancient Jewish Macabean revolt against the Jewish king was all based on failure to perform required religious duties of sacrifice as opposed to tyranny and poor government which also existed. Popes excommunicated Kings for religious reasons, not because of their civil failures at governing. Holding rulers accountable for civil performance is a relatively new concept yet is indispensible in a modern democracy.
There is a striking similarity of speech between Menelik and the monarchs of Europe with respect to his Divine right of rule and dependence on God. Ethiopia, in contrast to the rest of Africa, was a Christian kingdom and had been so for centuries. Menelik mobilized his people and produced a humiliating defeat for the Italians at Adowa in 1896 who never forgot and returned to conquer Ethiopia in the early part of World War II.
He was in many ways centuries ahead of his time with constructive ideas for any people and age. However, this was one of the exceptions. Unfortunately it became the norm for most Islamic countries even to modern times. Essentially, a bad ruler in this Islamic doctrine can be removed only if he does not follow Islam. For just being unjust or incompetent, revolution is not allowed and prayer is the only recourse. That is one of the major reasons that there have been so few Arab uprisings and revolutions although there have been many assassinations for alleged religious apostasy or insufficiency.
Uthman ibn Affan, also spelled by the Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the third of the Rāshidun, or "Rightly Guided Caliphs". Born into a prominent Meccan clan, Banu Umayya of the Quraysh tribe, he played a major role in early Islamic history, and is known for having ordered the compilation of the standard version of the Quran. When Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab died in office aged 59/60 years, Uthman, aged 64/65 years, succeeded him and was the second-oldest to rule as Caliph.
