Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

The Caliph
The Caliph was the head of the whole empire. As we have already noticed, he was more a political head than a religious one although his authority was based on religious factors. The Prophet (PBUH) and, after him, all his successors have been delegating the exercise of their military function to a general (al-Emir), revenue administration to an Amil, and judicial power to a Qazi. In addition to these offices a very high office, that of the Minister (al-Wazir), was instituted by the Abbasids to whom the Caliph delegated his civil authority. In spite of delegating his several duties to the various functionaries of the State in this manner, the Caliph remained the final arbiter of all governmental affairs.
Although the Caliphate was not a purely religious office like that of the Pope, the Pious Caliphs, as the immediate temporal successors of the great Prophet (PBUH) and as the leaders of the pilgrimage (al-Hajj) and the prayer (as-Salat), had a good deal of the religious elements attached to their person and to their office. But much of the religious halo attached to the person of the Caliph and the sanctity attached to his office were destroyed under the Umayyads some of whom were indifferent to religion.
The Abbasids came to power backed by a strong movement for the revival of the pure and impartial state of the early Muslims, a revolution which demanded that a Qurayshi and Salman of Pars, a noble Arab and the Negro Bilal, an ordinary subject and a prince like Jabalah! should once more be treated as equals, a revolt against the discrimination made against the non-Arab Muslims, a mighty protest against the worldliness of the Umayvads. As creatures of a strong religious revival, the Abbasids took great care to lay much emphasis on the religious character and dignity of their office as an Imamat (religious leadership). In about a century after the establishment of the Abbasid dynasty, the Vicegerent of the Messenger of God (Khalifa-tu-Rasulillah) became the Vicegerent of God (Khalifatullah) and God’s shadow on the Earth (Zillullahi’ala’lard).
From the failure of the rule of Mu’awiya II, the Marwanids realized early enough that a boy ruler or a weak one was a danger to the dynasty itself and they invariably nominated more than one grown up successor. This led to a new set of evils. In the interest of the dynasty the Marwanids did not observe the strict rule of

578 Political and Cultural History of Islam

murdered as he acted in contravention of the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) and that he would hand over power to anyone whom the Muslims wanted to elect.
The same theory continued under the Abbasids also and alMa’mun’s answers to a Kharijite zealot recognized it in clear terms. The principle that eacn Caliph should be elected and that he should hold office during the pleasure of the people was recognized throughout, but no machinery was evolved or could be evolved at that stage of society by which the votes of millions of Muslims could be taken as often as the rulers changed or had to be changed.
All the early Abbasid Caliphs, with the exception of the unfortunate al-Amin, were men of great abilities and worked hard as the chiefs of the entire administration of a very vast empire. Many of them attended to the minute details of administration, led the armies in person and acted as the highest court of justice. The early Abbasid Caliphs were a part and parcel of the vast administrative machinery, and in that capacity they acquired themselves remarkably well.