Islamic Political Theology

Islamic Political Theology
Author: Massimo Campanini
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2021-05-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498590594

Can we affirm that a political theology exists in Islam? This apparently simple question is the core of Massimo Capanini and Marco Di Donato's edited collection of essays. Considering the wide range of meanings of political theology this book contains essays written by different authors having their own, specific, and specialized, point of view on the topics, from Shia and Sunni political thought, to Islamic classic philosophy, and philosophers until arriving at contemporary Muslim thinkers.

Religion and State

Religion and State
Author: L. Carl. Brown
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2001-08-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 0231529376

If Westerners know a single Islamic term, it is likely to be jihad, the Arabic word for "holy war." The image of Islam as an inherently aggressive and xenophobic religion has long prevailed in the West and can at times appear to be substantiated by current events. L. Carl Brown challenges this conventional wisdom with a fascinating historical overview of the relationship between religious and political life in the Muslim world ranging from Islam's early centuries to the present day. Religion and State examines the commonplace notion—held by both radical Muslim ideologues and various Western observers alike—that in Islam there is no separation between religion and politics. By placing this assertion in a broad historical context, the book reveals both the continuities between premodern and modern Islamic political thought as well as the distinctive dimensions of modern Muslim experiences. Brown shows that both the modern-day fundamentalists and their critics have it wrong when they posit an eternally militant, unchanging Islam outside of history. "They are conflating theology and history. They are confusing the oughtand the is," he writes. As the historical record shows, mainstream Muslim political thought in premodern times tended toward political quietism. Brown maintains that we can better understand present-day politics among Muslims by accepting the reality of their historical diversity while at the same time seeking to identify what may be distinctive in Muslim thought and action. In order to illuminate the distinguishing characteristics of Islam in relation to politics, Brown compares this religion with its two Semitic sisters, Judaism and Christianity, drawing striking comparisons between Islam today and Christianity during the Reformation. With a wealth of evidence, he recreates a tradition of Islamic diversity every bit as rich as that of Judaism and Christianity.

The Political Theology of ISIS

The Political Theology of ISIS
Author: Ahmad S. Dallal
Publisher:
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2017-03-15
Genre: Islam and politics
ISBN: 9781939067272

"More than any other actor on the contemporary Arab political landscape, ISIS represents the most expansive and potent threat to the territoriality of the modern Arab nation states, and it has exceeded the expectations of all observers in its expansiveness and resilience. While it is true that the rise of ISIS was enabled by a confluence of interests, it is now abundantly clear that ISIS has a dynamic project of its own and is not a mere proxy for such interests. ISIS entirely rejects the current order and its beneficiaries, and as such, it claims to carry the revolutionary project to its conclusion. The ISIS alternative to the failed Arab states is not just a normative Islamic cultural identity that guides the actions of the state, but an Islamic State that is itself the embodiment of the imagined new order. By examining the political theology of ISIS, this essay aims to understand the challenge posed by ISIS to the struggle for justice in the contemporary Arab and Muslim World"-- http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/26587/available-now_the-political-theology-of-isis-by-ah (as viewed on June 22, 2017.)

Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction

Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Adam J. Silverstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2010-01-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199545723

How did Islam arise from the obscurity of seventh century Arabia to the headlines of the 21st century? This introduction answers that question; exploring the cultural & religious diversity of Islamic history. Adam Silverstein explains its significance & considers its impact on Islamic society today.

Islam as Political Religion

Islam as Political Religion
Author: Shabbir Akhtar
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2010-10-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1136901434

This book provides a survey of contemporary Islam from a theological and philosophical perspective. Engaging with critics of contemporary Islam as he sets out an agenda of what his religion is and could be as a political entity, the author tackles philosophical, religious and political thinkers and covers a raft of issues faced by Muslims in an increasingly secular society.

Islam, Judaism, and the Political Role of Religions in the Middle East

Islam, Judaism, and the Political Role of Religions in the Middle East
Author: John Bunzl
Publisher:
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780813027005

From the foreword: "The 'clash of civilizations' thesis is a gimmick, like 'The War of the Worlds,' better for reinforcing defensive self-pride than for critical understanding of the bewildering interdependence of our time. This book, in focusing on the 'self' and the 'other' in Jewish and Muslim thought, is an attempt in this direction." Although the "politicization" of religion or "sacrilization" of politics is not restricted to the Middle East, this phenomenon found its most spectacular expressions in the region. These essays examine, in an original and innovative manner, the complex relation between political and national identity and the three major religions of the contemporary Middle East--Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Although the focus is on Palestinian-Israeli relations, the study is relevant to the entire history of the modern Middle East. Discussions of the Palestinian-Israeli arena include the conflictive relations between the two national communities and the political role played by religion in shaping the conflict, the escalation of the conflict, and possible avenues for reaching a peace agreement. The contributors, an international group of scholars from Israel, Palestine, Europe, and the United States, explore common theological and political ground shared by Jews and Muslims, a novel comparative approach that could lead to future dialogue along theological as well as political lines. Contents Foreword: Adrift in Similarity, by Edward Said Introduction, by John Bunzl Part I. On Islam and Judaism, Muslims and Jews 1. A Religion's Self-Conception of "Religion": The Case of Judaism and Islam, by Hans-Michael Haussig 2. Islam and Judaism: Cultural Relations and Interaction through the Ages, by Nissim Rejwan Part II. Negotiating Religions and Identities 3. National Identity and the Role of the "Other" in Existential Conflicts: The Israeli-Palestinian Case, by Herbert Kelman 4. The Politicization of Muslim-Christian Relations in the Palestinian National Movement, by Helga Baumgarten Part III. Progressive Potentials within Religious Traditions 5. Democracy without Secularism? Reflections on the Idea of Islamic Democracy, by Raja Bahlul 6. Religious Roots of Tolerance with Special Reference to Judaism and Islam, by Adam Seligman Part IV. On the Use of Religion in Contemporary Middle Eastern Politics 7. Imposed Normalization and Cultural Transgression: Cultural Politics in Egypt and Israel since the 1979 Peace Treaty, by Joel Beinin 8. Islamic Themes in Palestinian Political Thought, by Alexander Flores 9. Israel, Religion, and Peace, by Avishai Ehrlich John Bunzl is a member of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs

Defending Muḥammad in Modernity

Defending Muḥammad in Modernity
Author: SherAli Tareen
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
Total Pages: 638
Release: 2020-01-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 026810672X

In this groundbreaking study, SherAli Tareen presents the most comprehensive and theoretically engaged work to date on what is arguably the most long-running, complex, and contentious dispute in modern Islam: the Barelvī-Deobandī polemic. The Barelvī and Deobandī groups are two normative orientations/reform movements with beginnings in colonial South Asia. Almost two hundred years separate the beginnings of this polemic from the present. Its specter, however, continues to haunt the religious sensibilities of postcolonial South Asian Muslims in profound ways, both in the region and in diaspora communities around the world. Defending Muḥammad in Modernity challenges the commonplace tendency to view such moments of intra-Muslim contest through the prism of problematic yet powerful liberal secular binaries like legal/mystical, moderate/extremist, and reformist/traditionalist. Tareen argues that the Barelvī-Deobandī polemic was instead animated by what he calls “competing political theologies” that articulated—during a moment in Indian Muslim history marked by the loss and crisis of political sovereignty—contrasting visions of the normative relationship between divine sovereignty, prophetic charisma, and the practice of everyday life. Based on the close reading of previously unexplored print and manuscript sources in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu spanning the late eighteenth and the entirety of the nineteenth century, this book intervenes in and integrates the often-disparate fields of religious studies, Islamic studies, South Asian studies, critical secularism studies, and political theology.

The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology

The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology
Author: Sabine Schmidtke
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 833
Release: 2016-03-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191068799

Within the field of Islamic Studies, scientific research of Muslim theology is a comparatively young discipline. Much progress has been achieved over the past decades with respect both to discoveries of new materials and to scholarly approaches to the field. The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the current state of the field. It provides a variegated picture of the state of the art and at the same time suggests new directions for future research. Part One covers the various strands of Islamic theology during the formative and early middle periods, rational as well as scripturalist. To demonstrate the continuous interaction among the various theological strands and its repercussions (during the formative and early middle period and beyond), Part Two offers a number of case studies. These focus on specific theological issues that have developed through the dilemmatic and often polemical interactions between the different theological schools and thinkers. Part Three covers Islamic theology during the later middle and early modern periods. One of the characteristics of this period is the growing amalgamation of theology with philosophy (Peripatetic and Illuminationist) and mysticism. Part Four addresses the impact of political and social developments on theology through a number of case studies: the famous mi?na instituted by al-Ma'mun (r. 189/813-218/833) as well as the mihna to which Ibn 'Aqil (d. 769/1367) was subjected; the religious policy of the Almohads; as well as the shifting interpretations throughout history (particularly during Mamluk and Ottoman times) of the relation between Ash'arism and Maturidism that were often motivated by political motives. Part Five considers Islamic theological thought from the end of the early modern and during the modern period.

Political Theology and Islam

Political Theology and Islam
Author: Paul L. Heck
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2023-11-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0268207348

Paul L. Heck’s Political Theology and Islam offers a sophisticated and comprehensive analysis of sovereignty in Islamic society, beginning with the origins of Islam and extending to the present. This wide-ranging study sets out to answer an unassumingly tricky question: What is politics in Islam? Paul L. Heck’s answer takes the form of a close analysis of sovereignty across Islamic history, approaching this concept from the perspective of political theology. As he illustrates, the history of politics in Islam is best understood as an ongoing struggle for a moral order between those who occupy positions of rulership and religious voices that communicate the ethics of Islam and educate the public in their religious and moral devotions. In this sense, sovereignty in Islam is split between ruling powers and pious communities, whose interactions range from close cooperation to outright competition. Heck shows that it is precisely through these interactions that Islamic conceptions of sovereignty are constructed and negotiated. Political Theology and Islam’s first section spells out the concepts and methods for the study of politics in Islam as a struggle for a moral order, one not only involving varied claims to sovereignty but also a general determination to realize the righteousness of Islam that stands at the heart of the message that the Prophet Muhammad conveyed to his society in seventh-century Arabia. The following sections demonstrate, through examples from both the past and today’s worldwide Muslim community, the diverse ways in which the umma, the community of Muslims, has struggled for a moral order that recalls its prophetic message. Deftly moving in various political theaters and through a wide range of intellectual traditions, Heck’s book will emerge as a touchstone of scholarship in the field of Muslim politics and intellectual thought.