ފައިލު:Mullahs.jpg

Chief mullahs in their clerical robes during the final days of the absolute monarchy 1930s. Under the absolute monarchy that existed in the Maldives from antiquity until 1932, the Maha Sangha (pre 1153) , the Church (in the 1550s to 1570s), the Mosque and the state were strictly separated. In Islamic times the mullahs had jurisdiction only over the mosques and certain civil and moral trials. Civil life was free from their control and therefore Islam had a limited role. Under constitutional rule the demarcation between mosque and state became progressively blurred. Now the mosque has control over almost all aspects of civil life