The Theocrat: A Modern Arabic Novel (Modern Arabic Literature)

by Bensalem Himmich

  The Commander of the Faithful hereby recites to you a verse from God’s clear Book: There is no compulsion in religion. Yesterday with all its events is now passed, and today is now with us along with its own requirements. You community of Muslims, we are the leaders, you are the people. It is not permitted to kill anyone who has pronounced the two statements of faith or to break the bond between the two, united as they are by this brotherhood that God uses to protect those He protects and to forbid what He has forbidden regarding blood, property, and marriage. Righteousness and piety among believers are the best solution, whereas corruption and depravity are to be condemned. The events of the past should be buried and forgotten, neither mentioned nor spread abroad. Things past, practices of former times, events from the days of our enlightened forefathers—God’s peace be upon them all!—al-Mahdi, al-Qa‘im, al-Mansur, al-Mu‘izz in al-Mahdiya and al-Mansuriya, all these are not to be broached, in those days the situation in Qayrawan proceeded in the open with no concealment, people fasting and then breaking the fast as they saw fit, with no enlightened people raising any objections as they fasted and broke fast. As the religion stipulated, Thursday saw them praying the noon prayer and the Ramadan prayer, once again with no one objecting or blocking them. The pronouncement “God is Great” was repeated five times during funeral ceremonies; no one prevented believers from pronouncing God is Great or muezzins from performing the call to prayer, nor did anyone harm those who did not. No one ever cursed any ancestors or sought to punish anyone for the revered names they mentioned in their prayers or for the substitutions they made. Every Muslim may exercise individual judgment regarding his religion. His resort should be to God, his Lord, and to his holy Book; with Him also is his recompense. So from today onward let God’s servants behave this way: no Muslim should claim precedence over another because of his beliefs, and no one should object to his colleague’s views regarding this sanction that I now issue. Following this decree of the Commander of the Faithful there comes this quotation from the Qur’an: O you who believe, you are responsible for yourselves. Anyone who goes astray cannot hurt you if you offer him guidance. God is the point of reference for you all. It is He who will inform you of what you were doing.8

  This is followed by other decrees. Among them are the following:

  Determining the right to practice hermeneutics:

  The principles of theology involve hypotheses, leading to interpretations. As a result we hereby abolish all assemblies gathered for hermeneutical speculation and all other conduits for sectarian monopoly.

  Just as I do not advocate the cause of one faction over another, I will not support the right of sectarian monopolies regarding interpretation.

  Let there be competition to devise the best theology and the strongest readings and to compose the most cogent proofs. It may well be that those of you who are closest to the truth and to me—though he be a mere slave—will sow the seeds of reinvigoration and useful change in these lands.

  Anyone who stands in the way of those who strive, interpret, and dispute, will be regarded by me no differently from a monopolistic tradesman or a highway robber. I have no part of him, nor he of me.

  If anyone abuses my name or distorts my words, get rid of him and take him back to his seething pits and roaring follies.

  Decree releasing earnings and abolishing taxes:

  From al-Hakim to Husayn ibn Zahir al-Wazzan, Chief Secretary:

  Praise be to God as He deserves:

  I have become so that I now beseech and fear

  None but my God in whom is all virtue.

  My grandfather is Prophet, my imam my father

  And my faith is loyalty and justice.

  “All property belongs to God, may He be glorified! The people are God’s servants, and we are his trustees on earth. So release the people’s earnings and do not cut them off. Peace.9

  “From today onward, all taxes on grain, rice, market tariffs, dates, soap factories are abolished. Judicial fees on wine, Ramadam alms, and complaint filings are also cancelled. I will be annulling other taxes too, once the level of the Nile improves and the river reaches its normal height.”

  Decree on abrogation and occlusion:

  I, al-Hakim bi-Amr Illah, have heretofore decreed that you should post insults about ancestors on street-gates and mosques and that you should also daub insults on shop walls, in the desert, and in graveyards. I have previously instructed my governors to do the same thing in their various provinces.

  I now totally forbid you to do so.

  Up till now I have permitted fermented drinks as a way of easing your concerns and melting some of your ice-cold miseries. As of today, I forbid you to consume any alco holic beverage even though the content be only one third. Even if the entire Nile consisted of alcohol, it would not be any more helpful to you. So dig up all vines and destroy all grapes and their byproducts. As long as you reside in my territories, make sure that you remain absolutely sober.

  I have forbidden you to eat some foods favored by the exoterics, but as of today I find no difference or source of rancor between them and you. Eat what you wish and what is good for you. After all, every stomach will eventually taste death.

  Decree forbidding flattery and seeking benefits:

  Did I not tell you that I hated dogs?

  Have you not realized that I issued a decree ordering that they be killed and that our kingdom be rid of them?

  As a consequence I forbid anyone to kiss the ground beneath my feet. Anyone who does so will find me placing him in his own grave while still alive.

  I have already instructed you not to pray for me in sermons and correspondence. Now I order you to make do with greetings to the Commander of the Faithful.

  This then is my decision. So forget about me; take me out of your prostrations and fawnings. You will be free of my face, and yet you will find my aura even closer to you than your own jugular.

  The decree is followed by a marginal note: No subject may demand of the Commander of the Faithful any increase in salary, additional position, ownership or exploitation of an estate, or any other kind of benefit beyond the demands of need and necessity.

  As a consequence of these admirable decrees, the root causes of the tension and conflict that people had felt disappeared. They were able to resume their normal eating habits and pastimes. They revived their evening parties in the Qarafa Park, frolicked in the Nile waters, and played backgammon and chess. Women were able to dress up again and to sing …

  Al-Hakim now became even keener than before to hold festivals over which he could preside. He attended the opening of the canal and the construction of its barrage, and allowed the Egyptians to use the occasion in order to celebrate and revere life in a variety of amazing ways, all accompanied by lavish banquets and the scents of musk and ambergris.

  In the thirteenth year of al-Hakim’s quarter century, he was seized by a frenzied desire to bolster the Islamic faith, a move that was accompanied by expressions of a vicious hatred toward the People of the Book—Jews and Christians—and other protected citizens. He composed and published a decree in which he laid out his orders and his reasoning. He called it: The Decree restoring deference to the community of Unity. Among its contents is the following:

  God is great, there is no deity but He. God is great, Praise be to Him, praise to the Possessor of glory and honor, the Creator of the universe and mankind, who alone determines death and eternity, who governs in matters of dispute, bringer of the dawn, creator of spirits, I praise Him and acknowledge His divinity and unity; I witness that Muhammad is His servant and prophet. O God, pray for Your radiant saint, Your great companion ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, bearer of the burdens of hope, destroyer of evil and the anti-Christ. O God, pray also for the Prophet’s pure grandsons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn, for the pious imams and the purest of the pure.

  You have asked me to explain why I have ordered the destruction of the Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem and other churches in Egypt and Syria….
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  No, it is not because the sound of ringing bells, just like barking dogs, interferes with my intimate contacts with the kingdom of the heavens here in Egypt and in my other domains. No, it is not that, but much worse. I can see for myself, just as you can, the proliferation of crosses around us; church towers with crosses on top and people who carry them, they have all increased in number. I now ask myself whether this land is the land of Islam and the community of Unity or a haven for Christians and other sinners? Is this country for Muslims or non-Muslims? I have started to worry that the Trinitarian faith is gaining ground over us, that Christians will seek to do us harm and violate the honor of our community and its territories.

  So, in the name of prevention, start with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; reduce it to rubble and bring its roof to the ground. Then maybe …

  In the margins we find:

  To Copts and those Muslims who join in their festivals: From now on you will not celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.

  Anyone caught playing by jumping into the Nile will find himself consigned to the bottom of the river in chains.

  From now on you will not celebrate the Feast of Norouz.

  No water may be thrown on the streets, no fires lit at night, no boat trips, and no tents set up by the Nile or near the Nilometer. You may not throw wine or eggs at each other. Spare me such scandals.

  In the same year decrees of the same import were issued regarding Christmas, Shrove Tuesday, and Palm Sunday. In this year, Ya’qub ibn Nastas, the personal physician of al-Hakim, died drunk in a water pool.

  Just a week later an additional codicil was appended to the above decree, saying:

  The Muslim is a Muslim, and the Jew is a Jew. They will not intermingle The Muslim is a Muslim, and the Christian is a Christian. They will not intermingle.

  O people of the religion of Unity, in such a critical period I am not content merely to forbid you marrying Jews and Christians and eating their meat. Beyond that I have determined that the faiths cannot be equal or co-exist. The Islam of my community is either the faith that seals the prophetic progression and abrogates other faiths that oppose it, or else it does not exist.

  And so all Jews and Christians under our protection must wear a mark.

  For Jews, that means wooden stars around their neck and black turbans; for Christians, crosses.

  Every mark must be fully visible.

  Jews and Christians will have their own baths where they can be cleansed of their particular contaminations.

  They may not ride horses, but only mules and donkeys with wooden saddles.

  Anyone who does not wish to wear the mark can renounce his error and become a Muslim, released thereby from all suspicion and taxation.

  In this same year a decree was announced forbidding people to meddle in matters that did not concern them. They were ordered to pray at the proper times, to encourage what is good and forbid what is bad. They were also forbidden to interfere in the sultan’s affairs and decrees or in the secret matters of authority.

  Al-Maqrizi tells us that in this year, “Many diseases spread among the populace, and death was widespread. People were scared of al-Hakim, so he penned a number of assurances of protection to a variety of people.”10

  During the fourteenth year of al-Hakim’s quarter century, i.e. A.H. 400, the caliph’s religious sensitivities became increasingly perturbed and extreme. The following comes from accounts of historians for this year:

  In this year al-Hakim sent someone to the home of Ja‘far al-Sadiq in al-Madina with word to open it up and bring back everything inside; this included a copy of the Qur’an, a bed, and some utensils. The person who opened the house was one of al-Hakim’s devotees, named Khatkin al-‘Adudi. He also took with him registers of the Prophet’s own family. With all this he returned to Egypt, accompanied by a group of ‘Alawite shaykhs. When they arrived, al-Hakim gave them a small payment, let them have the bed, but kept the rest for himself. “I deserve it the most,” he said. They all left muttering imprecations against him. Word of what he had perpetrated spread abroad, and people started cursing his name at the end of prayers without any attempt to conceal it. That made him relent, and he became scared. He ordered a House of Learning to be constructed and furnished, then had the most precious volumes sent there. He ordered two Sunni shaykhs to reside there, one of whom was Abu Bakr al-Antaki. He bestowed on them robes of honor, granted them frequent audiences, and charged them with attendance at his council sessions and convening jurisconsults and hadith scholars. He also ordered that the righteous deeds of the Prophet’s Companions were to be recited there (in so doing, he lifted the prohibition on such acts). At the same time, he again permitted the Ramadan and noon prayers and altered the call to prayer, replacing the phrase “Come to the best of works” with “Prayer is better than sleep.” He himself rode to the Mosque of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As and prayed the noon prayer there. He began to show a preference for the doctrines of the Maliki school; in the mosque he placed a silver stove lit by 1,100 wicks inside and two others underneath. The procession consisted of guards, trumpets, and cries of joy and praise to God, all accompanied by drums; this all took place on the night of mid-Sha’ban. On the first day of Ramadan he attended the grand mosque in Cairo; all kinds of furnishing were brought there, including gold and silver chandeliers. The populace prayed devoutly for him. That year on the tenth day of Ramadan he wore a woolen garment, rode on a donkey, made a public display of his self-denial and filled his arms with notebooks. On Friday he preached the sermon and led the prayer. He prevented anyone from addressing him as “My Lord,” or from kissing the ground in front of him. He gave contributions to the poor. Qur’an reciters, strangers, and travelers who sought refuge in mosques. He had a large niche [mihrab] of silver made for the mosque; it had ten candle holders and was encrusted with jewels. For three years he continued this way, carrying perfumes, incense, and candles to mosques, things no one had ever done before. Then suddenly he had a change of heart: he killed the jurisconsult. Abu Bakr al-Antaki, and the other shaykh with him, along with a great number of other Sunnis. and for no justifiable reason. All this he carried out in a single day. In addition, he closed the doors of the House of Learning, revoked everything he had done, and went back to his old ways, killing scholars and jurisconsults and so on. He continued this way until he was murdered.11

  In the eighteenth year of al-Hakim’s quarter century, a number of decrees were issued aimed at Egyptians and. in particular, women, singers, and astrologers, which had a debilitating effect. There follows a sample selection of them:

  Decree against astrologers and singers:

  I have come only to refute the stars and disrupt their purity and predictive power. My method involves filling my kingdom with incidents and exceptional circumstances and thwarting the power of principles and expectations.

  On such a basis, anyone who practices astrology or predicts by the stars sets himself in opposition to me. I will exile anyone who opposes me, or else I shall cause his star to fall from the skies. Did not ‘Ali, the Prophet’s own trustee, say: “Beware of the science of astrology, except whatever may guide you through the dark regions of earth and sea. The astrologer is like the magician; magicians are soothsayers, unbelievers roasting in hellfire.”

  My decision is irrevocable, even for those astrologers who strive to convert the pearls of heaven to my benefit and service.

  Singers should be banished from my sight.

  My people are innate dancers. What need do they have of people to play instruments or sing?

  I have proclaimed all-out war against all kinds of debauched transvestitism and effeminate behavior. Singing belongs in that category, since it tempts and corrupts the body. As long as I live and am your pastor, singing is forbidden.

  In this same year astrologers left the country, except for those who claimed to be blind or mad and a few others who took refuge in deserted towers or underground storehouses.

  All musical instruments were collect
ed and burned. No one was allowed to ride boats to the Canal; all gates leading to it and all balconies and windows looking out on it were closed.

  Decree concerning the proper cloistering of women:

  By Fatima the radiant, what I have to say about women is nothing but good!

  How can I possibly despise them or defame them when beneath the feet of my mother lies my own paradise. My own state gets its name and its foundation from a blessed woman, Fatima, daughter of the Prophet and wife of Ali, His own trustee and legatee of their secrets?

  I have indeed commanded that all cloistered women should remain inside their houses. They are to be prevented from going outside or looking out of windows or balconies. I have given orders that any cobbler who makes them shoes, any bath-owner who opens his doors to them, is to be punished. This is not a cruel act on my part, but is meant to prevent the anti-Christ from involving himself in a war of sexual provocation. Such a conflict will be futile and accursed, since it only serves to make men and women alike forget the real war that we have all to fight against that enemy who is ever on the watch for our foibles and slips.

  In this same year the chancellery was inundated with requests from women for special dispensations: maidservants, women with grievances, midwives, washers of corpses, widows, yarn-sellers, and those who needed to travel.

  Some women were locked up inside public baths and suffocated.

  That year a pregnant sheep was sacrificed, and, when the inside was opened up, historians are prepared to swear on the most solemn of oaths that the foetus inside had human features.

  In this year, and, some say, the year before as well, “Al-Hakim sent a letter to Sultan Mahmud ibn Subuktakin, the ruler of Ghazna, inviting him to submit to his authority. The latter ripped it up, spat on it, and then forwarded it to al-Qadir, the Abbasid Caliph.”12