Dawlet As-Sultan (The Sultan’s State) by Ahmed Mohammed

Dawlet As-Sultan (The Sultan’s State) by: Ahmed Mohammed Salem, Cairo: General Organisation for Culture Palaces (GOCP), 2012. 240pp. In his newly released book, Islamic philosophy professor Ahmed Salem provides a sober analysis of the roots of tyranny throughout Islamic history and literature, tracking the famous text of Al-Adaab As-Sultaneya (Sultanas Literatures) as a main source for his research. The book, subtitled “Tyranny and Authoritarian Roots in the Islamic Experience,” excavates Islamic history looking for the roots of tyranny to explore a future free from tyranny. The book contains only one chapter (Study on the Roots of Tyranny) and an epilogue in which the author concludes that the worst thing Sultanas Literatures did in the history of Islam was to reduce the state to the ruler’s personality, the very thing which has enthralled the current hierarchy of authority in the Islamic states.