Even Good Guys are Despots
Najhid Gabriaan
I recently saw an article that was published on the Crescent wherein the staff were wishing the Sultan a happy birthday. Seems innocent enough. But as I read it, I was surprised by the superlatives. This wasn’t just simple praise, it was a hypersycophantic proverbial shoe kissing. Then one of the article’s contributors posted a link to a book called luUj or the Pilgrimage that was written by Sultan Thumim V while he was Regent. The book contained extracts from his personal diary during a pilgrimage he did several years ago.
He speaks about how he travelled from the Sacred Majhids in Ashura and went to visit Majhids around the country that allegedly comprised part of the journey of Prophet Besmali. At each place, he learns something about kindness, mercy, faith and hope. Frequently, he or the characters in the story cite verses from the Bas Magdamar. Towards the end, he exhorts the reader to be benevolent, generous, forgiving and just. All the good stuff. Even though I am not Paxist, reading this book, it felt written by someone who went through a difficult life experience but found some peace in a highly romantic journey across the desert. It felt written by a genuinely good person.
I would not be surprised if Thumim left out details that could be embarrassing or exaggerated the whole exercise. But, based on the evidence that this trip did indeed happen and the subtle noticeable shift in his character suggests that for the most part the story is true. Assuming the book is entirely true, it makes what we know about Thumim is all the more chilling.
Thumim is the ruler of two countries, one of which is a global super power and the symbolic figure of one of the largest religions in the world. But, he’s not known for being a democrat. He’s serious but congenial in person and seemingly sincere in his personal convictions. Yet, his regime is known for sapient rights abuses, and endemic corruption. Is it that he is a good guy fighting a difficult problem of patronage, highly misogynistic, queerphobic, xenophobic, and racist political beliefs or is there something deeper?
He inherited his position. He was destined to rule and trained for the post. He was born to preside over a brutal regime the likes of which barely exists on Urth. So, either he is powerless to meaningfully upend the brutal habits of his government or he is complicit in its actions or dare I say, a driver of its actions.
Whatever the answer, we learn something from Thumim: personal convictions do not make public policy. It is possible to at once be a believer in freedom while enforcing restrictions on self-actualisation, professional development, reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. It seems almost like he is compelled by forces bigger than him to administer policies that are obviously morally and ethically objectionable in the modern world. Nevertheless, it is clear from his willingness to bring down powerful political foes and defy social expectations to marry a human, that he has agency and efficacy of his own.
Thumim serves a warning to the citizens of democratic countries. Likeability is not a premise for building opinions about someone’s decisions and policies. It is possible to at once care deeply for a person and on the hand condemn and distance yourself from their actions. In that same way, we should be vigilant against our own inclinations towards brutality and hatred that lie masked beneath the surface of our genuine desire to be good people. Whether its the obstacles to equal marriage or free speech in ostensibly free Norgsveldet or the unhinged invasion of Sayyed, the road to a world free of violence and oppression is ahead of us and rulers whether elected or not are enabled or restrained by systems and public vigilance and not by personal convictions and individual morality.