Theories of State and Problems of Sociology as expounded by an Indian Muslim Divine [Shah Waliullah] of the Eighteenth Century

by Muhammad Abdul Baqi

The Islamic Review (UK), October 1950 Issue (Vol. 38, No. 10, pp. 9–14)

Note: Muhammad Abdul Baqi, M.A., is a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Madrasah-e-Aliya at Dacca [Dhaka], Pakistan [now Bangladesh].

Shah Waliullah (died 1758 C.E.), a Forerunner of many Sociopolitical Theories of Today:

In this essay I make an attempt to present to readers the socio-political thoughts of a Muslim savant of the 17^th century. Most of his ideas may be identified in many respects with the most modern theories on the subject. It strikes one with wonder how a theologian, quite in the dark about the political theories of his age, could have dealt with the subject so minutely and scientifically.

The propounder of these theories, Shah Waliullah, was born in Delhi, India, in the year 1104 A.H. (1692 C.E.) in a family of celebrated scholars, and died at the age of 68 in 1172 A.H. (1758 C.E.). A born genius, having succeeded to the professorial chair of his father at the early age of seventeen, he dedicated his whole life to the cultivation and propagation of the different branches of learning which were then in vogue among the Muslims. The number of his works exceeds thirty, most of which exhibit his profound scholarship. It is his originality and thoroughness that mark him out of all the Indian literary luminaries whose contributions to the different branches of knowledge are of a permanent value. The following few pages are a summary of the third discourse of one of his most highly esteemed books written in Arabic, the Hujjatul-Lahi al-baligha.

Ibn Khaldun and Shah Waliullah:

The book deals with the moral and political philosophy of Islam, and is completed in two volumes. The first volume consists of several discourses. Each of these discourses is devoted to the critical study of a certain aspect of human life, on which are founded such universal laws as control and guide human destiny, and as form the basis of the general principles of the welfare of human society. In the second volume of the book, like al-Ghazali (died 1111 C.E.), the author gives a realistic interpretation of numerous religious rituals in order to bring out clearly their real worth and utility and their bearing upon the development of the various faculties of human beings.

The book as a whole may be called an objective study of man as a social and religious being. It is in this book that Shah Waliullah has fully displayed his encyclopaedic knowledge, his thorough grasp of the subject matter, his acute critical power, and above all his originality. Shah Waliullah’s name may justly be added to those of Machiavelli, Vico and others who were, according to the late Professor R. A. Nicholson, the “intellectual descendants” of Ibn Khaldun (died 1406 C.E.), the greatest Arab historian and sociologist.

In the prolegomena to his celebrated history, Kitab al-Ibar, Ibn Khaldun has also devoted some chapters of the first book to the brief discussion of the main problems of sociology. Ibn Khaldun based all his arguments on the principle of the sociability of human nature — al-Insan madaniyyun bi ’l-tab‘i (i.e., Man is a social being by nature). He held that the various social and political developments of human society were the fruit of what was implanted in man’s nature. But he did not explain how this development gradually took place. Shah Waliullah, on the other hand, has both given the reason and illustrated the ways how human civilization gradually grows.

“The need for food, shelter and sexual intercourse,”

says Shah Waliullah,

“are common to all men in general. A knowledge of the various methods for the fulfilment of these minimum natural demands is inborn with every human being.

“The tendency to fulfil these primary demands,”

he concludes,

“is the chief motive, and the instinctive knowledge for the same, which is further expanded by experience, is the mainspring of human progress. Had a man grown up at a lonely place far from man’s habitation and had he not learnt any convention whatsoever from anybody, even then he would certainly have found in himself the tendency to satisfy his hunger, thirst and sex appetite. He would have, then, surely coveted a female by whom children would have been born. Thus, they would have multiplied and gradually all the various stages of human society would have come into existence.”

In this way the author has accounted for the various stages of human society — from a family to a State. He has further explained how, from the idea of adorning life in its various branches, human wants are gradually multiplied and new devices are discovered in order to meet them. Human civilization and progress, according to the learned author, is, therefore, the sum total of man’s achievements in the different directions which men are unanimously prompted to have recourse to, either in order to remove a natural want, or to adorn life in its various branches. The unanimity of the people in accepting the general principles from which are deduced the various methods of livelihood, remarks the learned author, is due to some deep-rooted causes and is not the result of a mere accident.

“What would be a greater folly,”

says Shah Waliullah,

“than to think that this unanimity is a matter of mere accident? Sound judgment points out clearly that people, in spite of being scattered and of differences in religion and disposition, are agreed on the acceptance of these principles simply because they follow harmoniously from the nature of the species to which they belong.”

Throughout his treatment of these problems, Shah Waliullah shows a thorough grasp of the subject with its details. While Ibn Khaldun has given the causes of the development of society in a nutshell, devoting more space to the symbol of its perfection and dissolution, Shah Waliullah discusses the origin, development, perfection, dissolution and all other accompaniments of human society thoroughly and methodically.

Shah Waliullah rejects the Theory of Divine Origin of the State:

A careful study of the third discourse of this book shows that Shah Waliullah not only had a clear conception of all the various theories regarding the genesis of the State which are generally supposed to have originated in Europe at a much later period, but also a thorough knowledge of their due importance and proper application. The Historical or Evolutionary theory, the Force theory and the Social Contract theory — all these have been discussed by him and to each of them he has assigned its due place. Here he appears indeed as a most modern sociologist far in advance of his age. Discussing the origin of the State, though he lays much stress on the Historical or Evolutionary theory, he admits at the same time that there is also some truth in both the theories of Force and Social Contract in helping the development of the State under particular circumstances. At the stage of petty chieftaincy, for example, he contends that the theory of Social Contract plays the main part. But at the stage of sovereignty, he thinks, it is sometimes the theory of Social Contract and at others the theory of Force that has been at work.

Though a theologian, the theory of Divine origin did not find any favour with him. He neglected this theory in such a way that we do not find any mention of it in this connection. This cannot be ascribed to his ignorance of this theory, as it had been found in so many books of the early and mediaeval Muslim writers. The theory of the Divine origin of the State was an established theory of the ancient races of Persia. The Persians retained their faith in this theory even after their conversion to Islam. Their adherence to the Alids was due to their firm faith in the hereditary and divine nature of the pontiff of Khilafat. This theory gained great popularity during the Middle Ages and was diffused among the Muslims through the writings of the Batinites — believers in esoteric meaning of the Quran. Shah Waliullah, therefore, cannot be supposed to have been ignorant of this theory. He did not pay any heed to it because he found it quite unreasonable, based on mere superstition. This brings him, undoubtedly, nearer to us in his free thinking. As a faithful researcher for truth, he made an objective study of everything and deduced his unbiassed conclusions impartially and fearlessly.

Shah Waliullah’s Views on the Functions of the State:

His discussions of the various functions of the State, of the qualifications of the chief, and of the ministers and other State officials, and of their political importance, are highly creditable. He was aware of the complexity of the State machinery and was also equally aware of the importance of diplomacy, which is indispensable for smooth running of a State. A careful analysis of the arguments put forward by him in dealing with the State machinery reveals unmistakably that he believed in the organic theory of the State. Very anxiously, indeed, he prescribes, every now and then, directions to keep up the balance and the normal disposition of the State.

“As a stag-hunter first studies thoroughly the nature of his prey and then changing guise after guise catches it at last, similarly,”

he says,

“a ruler should study first the nature of his subjects and then, in order to bring them under his subjugation, he should advance, retreat, stop, tempt, and change his guise as occasion may demand.”

In all these he advises a ruler to follow the principle that

“the bond of love is stronger than that of iron.”

He had also an idea of the force of “public opinion”. He reminds the State of its duty to impart liberal and technical education to the people, and to see that, owing to the citizen’s inclination to industry, agriculture does not suffer. Referring to the maintenance of good relations between the employer and the employee, between the master and the slave, the author brings to our notice that, until each party realizes its dependence on the other, no real and permanent good relations between them can be established, and without these there can be no peace in society.

He is not a mere idealist in his outlook. There are frequent references to the political condition of his time. He has boldly discussed the causes of the degeneration of the Government and of the poverty of the masses; and has not failed to suggest remedies for them.

“The abuse of public treasury by the so-called privileged classes, who receive large annuities at the hands of the rulers without rendering any service to the State, and the assessment of heavy taxes and duties upon the cultivators, artisans and tradesmen, under which they groan and their industries suffer,”

remarks the sympathetic author,

“are the two main causes of the ruinous condition of the State in our times. A State can prosper only when the taxes are light and the number of the officials (i.e., the burden of administrative expenses) is not more than necessary.”

How modern are these ideas! More than two centuries have passed since his book, the Hujjatul-Lahi al-baligha, first saw the light. But most of his thoughts on the various political theories and on the main details of administration hold good even today. It is a great pity that the thoughts of such a great and original thinker have not yet been made known to the modern world. I, therefore, take this opportunity of presenting in English for the first time his main ideas on Sociology, contained in the third discourse of his monumental work, the Hujjatul-Lahi al-baligha.

How the Various Devices of Human Civilization are Discovered and how they are Gradually Developed:

The need for food, shelter and sexual intercourse is common to all men in general. A knowledge of how to meet these various needs is revealed to every human being by his very instinct. So, unless one is born defective, one possesses an inborn knowledge of such methods, as follow harmoniously from the very nature of the species one belongs to and after which one is created (i.e., one’s surat nauiyya). An instinctive knowledge of how to meet these natural demands is possessed, likewise, even by the insects, birds and other lower animals. The building of a hive by a swarm of bees, their working under one common chief, their sucking the flowers and gathering honey — all these are the fruits of their instinctive knowledge in these methods. The small birds know similarly by their very instinct what to live upon, how to build nests, how to defend themselves and to multiply. In short, for every species there are certain laws that regulate its life and control its destiny, of which an instinctive knowledge is breathed into its individuals by their own nature. On submission to those laws depends the continuity of their race.

Man also, like other animals, is favoured with an instinctive knowledge of the methods of the fulfilment of his primary needs.

But at the same time, he is also endowed with some other motives for his actions, which differentiate him from the lower animals. While natural pressure is the only motive for an action in the case of the latter, the former, as a rational creature, has also three other motives for his actions:

1. Sound reasoning: The conclusion arrived at and found useful from any point of view other than the grossly materialistic. To elucidate, it may be said that, in the case of the lower animals, the direct realization of some material end, such as the satiation of hunger and thirst, etc., is the only motive for their action. But in the case of man the realization of these low material ends is not all in all. In many cases the consideration of some higher and nobler end is his chief motive. For example, the establishment of good order in the State; the attainment of perfection in character and culture, salvation in the next world, and the acquisition of name and fame — these considerations very often prompt a man to action, though they do not satisfy any of his natural demands in the sense already mentioned.
2. Refinement: The bare fulfilment of a need is the only motive with the lower animals. But man is not always contented with bare fulfilment of his natural wants. He wishes to do a thing in a polished and refined manner, so that it may be more pleasant and delightful. For example, he seeks palatable dishes for his food; palatial buildings for his residence, whereas herbs and caves can serve the main end.
3. Perception of utility: Human wants are endless and the methods of meeting them in the best possible way are not known to every individual. It is only the most intelligent among them who, after continuous experiment for centuries, discover these methods; and as soon as they are discovered they are adopted, without hesitation, by all the various people. Most of the implements of human civilization discovered in different ages by the different people have been adopted by all humanity in this spirit.

Centuries must have passed before people could have gradually discovered the advanced methods of cultivation, cookery and dressing, etc.

A general knowledge of the fulfilment of the necessities of human life is breathed, no doubt, into every individual by his very instinct, but details and progressive methods are discovered by the scientific researches of ages and centuries. Thus, instinctive knowledge supplemented by the empirical knowledge of the scientists and great thinkers of the different ages form the code of human knowledge which is followed unhesitatingly by the people because on this code depend their life and prosperity.

This instinctive knowledge, however, is the mainspring of all progress. Without it empirical knowledge is impossible. And since it is an essential factor, it exists in one form or another in every individual, and is subject to further development by experience. As breathing is an essential condition for life, so is the existence of this instinctive knowledge indispensable for human progress. It indicates the life of civilization as the beating of the pulse indicates the life of an animal.

The Two Stages of Civilization:

But the aforesaid motives are not found in an equal degree in all the individual human beings because of their difference in character and intellect. The devices of human civilization, therefore, are not the same everywhere. They vary in type as well as in degree in the various stages of human society, in the different stages of civilization. These stages of civilization manifest themselves in the various devices which differ sometimes in class as well. Roughly speaking there are two early stages of civilization:

1. Primary: This stage of civilization is attained even by the most primitive societies, such as those of the Bedouin, the mountaineers and people living at a distance from advanced countries. This is what we call the primary stage, in which the wants and requirements of the people are few and simple.
2. The Secondary: This stage is attained by the people of the towns, populated villages and advanced countries, where intelligent men of high moral character are born. In such places there live various groups of people with common professions, tastes, and ideas. Their needs are naturally varied and large. Among them are evolved elaborate codes, customs and conventions, to which they hold fast in the various aspects of their life. This stage, in its most developed form, is the secondary stage proper.

The perfect development of this secondary stage leads necessarily to a third one. The overflow of wealth as a result of material progress breeds jealousy and contempt among the citizens. The greedy and violent among them create disorder in the society, as a result of which the common interest falls into great danger. But no individual can put these things right, so they are collectively compelled to have a chief to rule over them with justice, punish the culprits, control the strong, collect from them revenue and spend it for the common good. This is the third stage of civilization which may be called the stage of petty chieftaincy.

This stage leads to a further one. When individual chiefs become the sole masters of their subjects, their wealth abounds and their forces become numerous; they begin to quarrel with one another to gain supremacy. Their mutual quarrels and wars lead, in the long run, to the establishment of an empire, because to secure the establishment of order all the petty chiefs are forced to submit to one of them

• (a) either by common consent, or
• (b) because one overcomes the rest by his superior strength. Such a powerful monarch is the virtual possessor of the real sovereignty (Khilafat kubra).

The Contrivances of Civilization in the Primary Stage of the Civilized Society:

There are certain devices which are to be regarded as necessary parts of civilization even in its primary stage. They may be enumerated, roughly, as follows:

1. Language: A vehicle to express what is within the human mind. Originally, language is a sound which resembles or results from certain actions, mental phenomena, or external bodies. This sound is represented by words. This is how language originated. And gradually by means of inflexion and conjugation it has been made capable of conveying different thoughts and ideas. It is further developed in the course of time, by the inventions of metaphors and other forms of speech.
2. Cultivation, plantation, water supply, etc.
3. Pottery and the manufacture of other important utensils such as water-carrying vessels, etc.
4. Taming animals and breeding cattle in order to derive benefit from them.
5. Building of houses and huts as a protection against heat and cold.
6. Making dresses out of the skin of animals or leaves of the trees or of cotton yarn, etc.
7. Having a female companion as wife. Getting her reserved by way of marriage, so that she may be exclusively devoted to him, may preserve the sanctity of his home, and may render him every possible help in the management of domestic affairs and in bringing up children, etc.
8. Inventions of the implements on which depend the arts of agriculture, plantation, irrigation, etc.
9. The system of exchange and barter.
10. A committee of firm and strong persons to preserve order.
11. A code unanimously followed by the people in deciding their quarrels, punishing culprits, repressing rebels and defending the community against intruders.
12. It is also necessary for every nation to have some such persons as should scheme for the fulfilment of their necessities, and that there be among them some wise, eloquent, brave and philanthropic persons as well in each civilized society.

The Contrivances of Civilization in the Secondary Stage:

The devices of human civilization in the secondary higher stage are more or less the same as that of the primary stage. But while, in the primary stage, the devices are crude and unpolished, in the secondary stage they are more refined and polished. By means of dividing them into different classes such as Domestic, Social and Political, etc., and testing them in the light of sound experience, high morality and the common welfare, they are rendered into such forms as make them better, more beneficial and less harmful. Thus, the chief difference between the devices of the two stages is one of degree rather than of kind.

(The following is a brief discussion of the articles of civilization in its advanced stage. They are discussed under several heads in a systematic way. Truly speaking, each topic is such a prominent branch of sociology that it may be treated as a subject by itself. But here we shall give only the outlines of the few chapters.)

Essential Devices for Livelihood:

In this chapter are discussed the various articles for, as well as the means of, meeting the necessities that human beings have to face in the secondary stage of civilization, in the different branches of life. Here the main and basic principle is that the various contrivances of the primary stage are to be judged by the standard of

• (a) valid experience,
• (b) high morality, and
• (c) common welfare.

Now the forms that appear to be comparatively free from doing any harm, capable of rendering greater good, and nearer to the liking of persons of sound judgment, are to be accepted and the rest are to be rejected.

The main problems of this chapter that are universally accepted by people of all nationalities, in some form or other, may be roughly enumerated as follows: the devices and manners of eating, drinking, walking, sitting, sleeping, travelling, enjoying conjugal life, dressing, housing, observing the rules of cleanliness, the style of adornment, of conversation, of medical treatment, of foresight, of festivities, of fellow-feeling and of removing the dead.

The above-mentioned items are observed in some form or other by all civilized people. All great thinkers have tried to find out the best possible form of observing those conventions from their respective angles of vision. The naturalist, for example, has given more importance to the natural side of these conventions. The astrologer has put much stress on the effects of the stars, while the divines have applied the principles of good and evil to decide which is the best form. This is why there are so many ways followed by different people.

The Management of Domestic Affairs:

By this is meant the ways and means of preserving good relations amongst the different members of the family (society) in the secondary stage of civilization. The main problems of this chapter come under the following four heads:

Mutual Dealings:

The necessities of life are ever increasing. The project of fulfilling these necessities in the best possible way leads people to be divided into different groups — each one engaged in the supply of a need of one kind only. This, however, necessitated the various systems of exchange, sale, hire, lending and other forms of mutual help. Many professions also are the outcome of the above idea. Taken all together, they are to be called muamalat or mutual dealings.

When one group of citizens produced any kind of goods in excess of their needs, they exchanged them with those produced by others, in order to fulfil their other requirements. This (i.e., the exchange of goods for goods, or barter), was the only form of sale at the early stage of civilization when money had not come into use. Money was introduced at a later stage in order to remove the inconveniences of barter. Gold and silver were universally recognized as standard metals on account of their

• (a) portability,
• (b) cognizability, and
• (c) utility.

The main sources of earning are as follows:

1. Agriculture.
2. Cattle-breeding.
3. To acquire useful things from the land, the sea, mines, trees and animals.
4. Industries, such as (a) carpentry, (b) blacksmithery, (c) weaving and such other arts as give anything a form of utility.
5. Trade.
6. State service.
7. Supply of all sorts of human wants (order-supply).

Specialization of Industries:

With the progress of civilization and refinement, specialization began. Everyone directed his whole-hearted energy to the production of an article for which he had the best efficiency. Considerations of place also played a great part in the specialization of industries.

The management of the State cannot attain perfection until all its citizens are bound together with the tie of sympathy and fellow-feeling, which demanded that the needy should be given opportunities to fulfil their needs gratis. Thus originated the systems of giving gifts (hiba) and loans (ariat). There is, however, in every State a group of citizens who are extremely poor. In order to help such people the system of sadaqa or public charity came into existence.

The mutual dealings of the citizens in the transaction of worldly affairs gave rise to the introduction of the various systems of tenancy, partnership, lease, company and agency. The needs for the execution of debts, deposits, etc., gave rise to the systems of witness, documents, mortgage, and surety, etc.

These various branches of mutual dealings, in some form or other, are to be found among the citizens of every civilized State.

This second stage leads to a third one in which politics becomes the most absorbing topic: but this we shall deal with in another article.

Footnotes:

1. Before a divorce suit is executed it has been made obligatory on the part of the husband to exert all his nerves to come to an understanding with his wife; failing that he is next asked to refer the task of reconciliation to a committee of arbitrators consisting of the guardians of both the parties; failing that he is next asked to pronounce the first divorce as a warning and then the second and then the third respectively after one month. If the wife is reconciled before the third divorce is pronounced she can be taken back by the husband (Cf. The Quran, Chapters 2 and 5). ↩︎

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