..It (Islam) conferred on the State a flexible constitution, based on a just appreciation of human rights and human duty. It limited taxation, it made men equal in the eye of the law, it consecrated the principles of self-government. It established a control over the sovereign power by rendering the executive authority subordinate to the law-- a law based upon religious sanction and moral obligations. "The excellence and effectiveness of each of these principles, " says Urquhart, "(each capable of immortalising its founder), gave value to the rest; and all combined endowed the system which they formed with a force and energy exceeding those of any other political system.. While it retained its primitive character, it was irresistible." (Urquhart, The Spirit of the East, vol. i, intro. xxvIII, Syed Ameer 'Ali, The Spirit of Islam, p 277) (38:3)

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