but whoever forgives and amends (matters thereby), his reward is with Allāh; surely He loves not the wrong-doers. And whoever defends himself after his being oppressed, these it is against whom there is no way (of blame). The way (of blame) is only against those who oppress men and revolt in the earth unjustly. For such there is a painful chastisement. And whoever is patient and forgives — that surely is an affair of great resolution” (42:39-43). These excellent rules for the defence of the Muslim community which was being oppressed and persecuted at that time, and for the forgiveness of the enemy that was bent upon its extirpation, clearly show that the basis was herein being laid of the Muslim State, because forgiveness could only be exercised towards a vanquished enemy. It was in their sufferings that the Muslims were being told to exercise forgiveness when their turn should come to take revenge upon a fallen enemy. The passion for revenge was thus being obliterated from their hearts from the very beginning and the physical force of the state was spiritualized by making it subject to moral considerations.

The Islamic State is a democracy in the truest sense of the word. The first successor to the Holy Prophet was Abū Bakr, who was elected the head of the state by the agreement of all parties, and so were the three successors that followed him. Why the state organization was needed and what the constitutional position of the head of the state was, was explained by Abū Bakr in his very first address: “You have elected me as Khalīfah, but I claim no superiority over you. The strongest among you shall be the weakest with me until I get the right of others from him, and the weakest among you shall be the strongest with me until I get all his rights … Help me if I act rightly and correct me if I take a wrong course … Obey me so long as I obey God and His Messenger. In case I disobey God and His Messenger, I have no right to obedience from you”.

The head of the state was a servant of the state who was paid a fixed salary for maintenance out of the public treasury, like all other public servants. It was Abū Bakr, the very first successor of the Holy Prophet, who acted on this rule (Bu. 34:15). The head had no special privileges and in his private capacity he could be sued in the court like any other member of the community. The great ‘Umar appeared as a defendant in the court of a judge. Some of the orders given by