King of the Castle: Choice and Responsibility in the Modern World

by Charles Le Gai Eaton

This book examines closely many of the unquestioned assumptions by which we live our lives, comparing them with the beliefs that have shaped and guided human life in the past. It begins with a consideration of how secular societies attempt to possess their citizens, body and soul and how, as a consequence, the necessity of redefining human responsibility becomes an ever more urgent imperative. The book continues with a presentation of the traditional view of man as 'God's Viceroy on Earth', with an eye to its practical implications in a world that has all but forgotten, under the pressure of mass social persuasion, that man must always be free to choose his own ultimate destiny. The author's thesis is a passionate yet incisive plea for the restoration of the sacred norms of religion, as against the debilitating and falsifying aims of a profane world-view based on no more than recent scientific and technological achievements.

Genres: Islam, Philosophy, Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality

216 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1977

About the author

Charles Le Gai Eaton (Hasan le Gai Eaton or Hassan Abdul Hakeem) (1 January 1921 – 26 February 2010) was born in Lausanne, Switzerland and raised as an agnostic by his parents. He received his education at Charterhouse and at King's College, Cambridge. He worked for many years as a teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt. He then joined the British Diplomatic Service.
Eaton converted to Islam in 1951. He served as a consultant to the Islamic Cultural Centre in London. In 1996 he served on a committee that drafted the constitution of the Muslim Council of Britain
He was however often critical of mainstream British Muslim opinion, and felt that Muslims themselves should have sorted out Saddam Hussain. Regarding the invasion of Iraq, in an interview with emel magazine he said, "I am very torn either way and I cannot quite make up my mind what I think... He was our monster, it should have been for us to deal with him.” In the same article Eaton also called for the creation of a British Islamic identity, "it is time for the Muslims in Britain to settle down, to find their own way, to form a real community and to discover a specifically British way of living Islam... This is no curry-island.”
His books include Islam and the Destiny of Man (listed on Q News' list of "10 books to take to university"), King of the Castle, and Remembering God. Many converts to Islam in the United Kingdom have been inspired by his books, which are also expositions of Islam for Western readers, secular or believing. He also frequently contributed articles to the quarterly journal on comparative religion and traditional studies, Studies in Comparative Religion.
There is a short autobiography at Salaam Books[8]. His last book and autobiography A Bad Beginning and the Path to Islam was published by Archetype in January 2010. He is the father of Leo Eaton, a director and producer of documentary films.[10]

Reviews

[Loubna | لبنى · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most incredible and most profound reads of my life so far. I had to stop myself and slow down the reading to digest what my mind was capturing. He combines beautifully poetry, critical thinking, Islamic theology and a deep understanding of the 'modern mind'. It is as he was speaking directly to our generation. My book is now full of annotations, and I know I will want to go back to it in a few years, God willing. Absolutely life changing book, and full of beauty.

[Samiullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book by Charles Le Gai Eaton, I found myself with Leonardo DiCaprio at Shutter Island, but what makes me different from Dicaprio, is the fact that, now i know my delusions very well !!!
A must read.

[Razi Shaikh · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Of all the changes that have taken place in the human condition over the past hundred years none is more significant than the increasing difficulty we now have in tracing acts to their owners. In earlier times and in more simple societies each act was branded with its owner's name. In the complex societies of today it might take the combined efforts of a detective and a moral philosopher to trace any given act to any one person. The State, the society or the organisation acts. 'They' act. But 'they' cannot be loved or blamed or touched. The need to attribute acts to men or women like ourselves finds no satisfaction.
‘It has become essential to redefine the idea of human responsibility in relation to a society of jobholders and civil servants, a world in which the majority of men are absorbed into vast collectivities and appear to have as little personal stake in their own actions as the slaves or bondmen of other times. This has become all the more necessary because, so far as it is possible to make any predictions about the future, there are good reasons for believing that our world is moving towards ever more complex degrees of organisation and that the man who is neither a jobholder nor, directly or indirectly, a servant of the State will soon be regarded as a complete eccentric if not as an outcast. For socialist societies this is the acknowledged aim. Under capitalism it is the unintended but nonetheless unavoidable outcome, witness the fact that in that home of 'free enterprise', the United States, ninety per cent of the employed now work in organisations of one kind or another, whereas at the beginning of this century ninety percent were self employed.
‘The survival of the kind of world we have made for ourselves —in the context of advancing technology and of the growth of populations—depends upon a high degree of organisation and increasing collectivism, whatever the ideological flag under which it may sail. This world will try to survive for as long as it can, whatever the cost that has to be paid in loss of freedom and destruction of values.’

Such a brilliant book. My copy groans under the weight of the many markings it was subjected to. If the failings of the modern mind, and the sad bewilderment it finds itself in is your kind of read, this book shall click for you.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of interest only to those who have never been exposed to readings on the modern world, its problems and its more complete critiques in general.

King of the Castle starts and expands from the social point of view, i.e. from the opposite side of Guénon's "Crisis" (which goes from principles and lets you extrapolate yourself, therefore it is more efficient). Gai Eaton is very diplomatic here and tries to get the point across gently. It is possible that this book may be an adequate and very soft introduction for some people.

However I would personally advise to read Guénon's more complete"Crisis of the Modern World" instead.

[Samir Firdovsioglu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books highlights problems of modernity and material outlook of the modern world. It points out to differences between ancient people and modern people, he shows that ancient people were not as ignorant as it is presented today. He rejects the evolutionary representation of the human history and provides a well-substantiated arguments for the opppsite case. The book is full of wisdoms save that the author has inserted some heresies of the perennial philosophy that muslims need to be aware of.

Reading is recommended...

[Maaz Khaled · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book compelled me to question the direction that modern society is heading towards, as well as to reconsider the ideals that we are taught to aspire towards achieving. It puts accepted contemporary ideas to the test and presents valid arguments to make clear, the contradictions present within them.

A very interesting quote from the book:-
“The rationalism of a frog at the bottom of a well consists in denying the existence of mountains”

[Suleiman Arabiat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A life changing book for sure. A great study of the modern day and the modern man's struggle within the prevailing materialistic culture and its numerous challenges and its hostility to the spiritual.

In the author's own words in his introduction, this work cannot be classified into a certain category, nor does it cover a single topic. It touches upon social sciences, history, spirituality and philosophy; weaving them together into a strong mesh of ideas, thoughts, and calls for personal and communal action to change these strange times towards the better, or rather steer them away from this materialistic decline, towards a spiritual incline.

Man as Viceroy; an Islamic concept of the human mission is the core of this book (and the name of a chapter).

Highly recommended as a book to calibrate one's inner compass towards a better living in this world and the next.

[Hande · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me much longer than expected as the book is more of the author’s thought journey upon which the reader is taken - at times it was difficult as it was too allegorical and I could not concretely understand the essence of what he is saying. But overall, it contained important and useful reminders, critiques and a plea to action - to reconnect with the One and become Awake.

[Eiman]

‘Squatting in this place, this little pool, and hungry for certainties, people hold on with a kind of desperation to the current notion of what is (or what is not) 'rational'; and yet, 'the rationalism of a frog at the bottom of a well consists in denying the existance of mountains'; this is logic of a kind perhaps, but it has nothing to do with reality.'

[Razin Zainal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing elaboration about the modern world from Islam perspectives.

[Desmond Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful book, with many passages stirring deep and uneasy feelings. The author is a convert to and authority on Islam; but regardless of one's religious beliefs or political sentiments, a reader can profit from these words of wisdom from one who casts an unsentimental and critical eye on religion and faith in the modern world. Some of the arguments made in this book, published in 1978 under the auspices of the Iranian Academy of Philosophy, read differently now, with all that has passed between Islam and the West. His critique of modernism is unsettling in light of what we have since seen from the Taliban, Al-Queda, and Isis. But it is part of a longstanding tension with modern ideas that is found in Catholic and Protestant evangelical circles as well. This part of his argument is not one I agree with. There are many memorable metaphors used to illustrate his points, and he exhorts Catholics and Buddhists as well as Muslims.

There are echos of other commentators on religion and faith. Charles Taylor's book A Secular Age addresses in great detail the process of "disenchantment" by which man's understanding of the world changed. Thomas Merton wrote about how the "real" world that men live in is illusory, and that the only meaningful reality is experienced through religious faith, in terms very similar to those that Gai Eaton uses. The author references Simone Weil as well as C.S. Lewis.

I picked up this book on the recommendation of Steven Georgiou/Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam. Here is a heartwarming story about his return to performing after many years away:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cul...

[Shazwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book clarifies the job of man as a viceroy in this world. Divided into 8 sections, each section dwells on the problems of human in the 21st century and how it is important for men to wake up to their true niche. The book I think tops Gai Eaton's Islam and the Destiny of Man. Much of what I've been questioning in my life has been in this book and it is clarified in a way that only certain people can. There is no inch of a doubt that this man's grasp of the English language will affect you and his intellect will astound you.

[Seema · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first ever book by someone who was connected to the word 'sufi'. Thought provoking book, may have ideas that others read and have come across in other places. But for me, this was a huge eye opener at the time.

[Umar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing as Gai Eaton is. Thought he couldn't out-do Destiny but he did here! Each line is worthy of expansion and exploration with one's imagination.

excerpts available

[Hammad Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eaton takes all our illusions (and delusions) and puts them in front of us. Slight feel of unease reading this because everything he says hits home.

[Munir Ahmed]

ghoohj gdfga

[Ali Asad Naqvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an off-road Experience, 4x4 (like MudRunner Video Game)