A constant theme of scholarly writing throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had been the need for Muslims to observe more scrupulously the legal and ethical demands of the sharīʿa. Most of this was framed as a general call to Muslims at large, but in some cases—and the writings of al-Maghīlī in the late fifteenth century are the earliest example—it was more specifically addressed to holders of political power. It was they who should set the example to their people in manners and morals, and they who should observe and uphold the commands and prohibitions of the sharīʿa. In add…