The caliphate of Elizabeth Regina

A host of clichés on law and governance — religion has no place in politics, church and state must be separate, etc. — adorn our Op-Ed columns. They derive ostensibly from the English example, among others.

England is ruled today by “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.” These words have much history and meaning.

Elizabeth is the Queen “by the Grace of God”— not by birth, human selection, or election, but as a gift from God. In the reign of James I (1603-1625) sessions of the Commons (our National Assembly) opened with the announcement “that kings were visible gods and God an invisible king”— which is why judicial petitions ended with a ‘Prayer’ (as they still do in Pakistan). Although the Whig Revolution (1688-1689) substantially diluted the rights of the monarch over her subjects, her divine selection and related spiritual claims were not altered.

Her coronation in 1953 was a long Church ceremony, with recitation from the Bible, prayers, supplications, incantations, and rituals, affirming her earthly and spiritual roles. In her oath, Elizabeth swore, inter alia, to maintain the Laws of God (shariah), the Protestant Reformed Religion, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the Church of England. While the Archbishop sang a hymn and prayed aloud, she was anointed with a cross on her two palms, breast, and head, by holy oil — the term ‘Messiah’ in Hebrew, translated as ‘Christ’ in Greek, means ‘the anointed one’.

Elizabeth is also the ‘Defender of the Faith’. As the supreme governor of the Anglican Church, she appoints archbishops and bishops who, along with parish priests, swear allegiance to her on appointment. The ‘Lords Spiritual’ sit in the House of Lords (our Senate).

She is the Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces, and the Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy, the only person authorised to declare war and peace. On enlistment, members of the army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Marines swear allegiance to her as the Head of the Armed Forces. Laws are made in her name. The acts of Parliament generally do not apply to her. She is above the law: civil and criminal proceedings cannot be initiated against her under the law (the source of presidential immunity in Pakistan today).

Clearly, the modern English Queen’s spiritual claims — and earthly privileges — far exceed those of even the first Muslim Caliph, 1,400 years ago, or of any Muslim caliph, imam, ayatollah, or amirul momineen, since then. These claims, and parliamentary “democracy” in England, rest firmly on Christian faith and institutions. That is why 150 years of experiment with secular law and governance, copying the English model — but without the religious foundations on which it rests in England — has been an unmitigated disaster in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2010.