Absolute rule in the model Khalifate.

Bismi'llah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim...for the sake of Prophet Muhammad saws and Sheikh Nazim may Allah protect his secret.

There's been a lot off discusssion and sparking about Islamic political models over at BL. People that are born and raised in a republic (or even a democracy) find it hard to understand the idea of a Khalifa and absolute rule as they are so scared of "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (Thanks to Lord Acton for that!) .. I suppose that fear is more overwhelming when there is no real faith in Allah and His ever-watchful eye (Al Basir) and Justice.

There's some quite nice stuff here about the Ottomans .. and, reading on one gets a picture of the Khalifate ideal in the person of Suleyman The Magnificent.

Perhaps this quote from the above article sums it up best;

"For the Ottomans, the ruler could only guarantee this justice if he had absolute power. For if he was not an absolute ruler, that meant that he would be dependent on others and so subject to corruption. Absolute authority, then, was at the service of building a just government and laws rather than elevating the ruler above the law as Europeans have interpreted the Sultanate. "