The more pious scholars were reluctant to allow the caliphs to have too much authority. They considered that they, the ulama, were the true heirs of the Prophet, and that the law was found in their reasoning, not in a caliph’s decrees. It was they who should determine how people conducted prayers and rituals, how they should behave in markets and commercial ventures, and how they should act ethically as good Muslims. The duties of the caliph and his officers, in their view, were to maintain the mosques, preserve order in the market, and defend the frontiers of the realm.
