Islamic political thought an introduction. Reading : Islamic Political Thought An Introduction 2022-11-09
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Islamic political thought is a broad and complex subject that has evolved over the centuries and continues to evolve today. At its core, it is concerned with the application of Islamic principles to the governance and organization of society.
One of the foundational texts of Islamic political thought is the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam, which contains guidance on how Muslims should live their lives and interact with others. The Qur'an emphasizes the importance of justice, compassion, and fairness in all aspects of life, including politics.
In the early days of Islam, the Caliphate, or the political and religious leadership of the Muslim community, was seen as a model of Islamic governance. The Caliphate was based on the principles of consultation (shura), justice, and the rule of law. The Caliph, or leader of the Muslim community, was expected to be a just and fair ruler who sought the counsel of others and ruled in accordance with the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
Over time, various schools of thought emerged within Islamic political thought, each with its own interpretation of how to apply Islamic principles to the governance of society. Some of these schools, such as the Sunni and Shi'a traditions, are primarily concerned with issues of leadership and authority within the Muslim community. Others, such as the Mu'tazilite and Ash'arite traditions, focus more on the nature of God and the role of reason in interpreting the Qur'an.
In modern times, Islamic political thought has been shaped by a variety of factors, including the impact of colonialism, globalization, and the rise of nation-states. Many Muslim scholars have sought to adapt Islamic principles to the modern world, while others have advocated for a return to more traditional forms of Islamic governance.
Despite the diversity of opinions within Islamic political thought, there are certain core principles that are widely accepted. These include the importance of justice, the rule of law, and the need to balance individual and community rights. Some scholars have also emphasized the importance of democracy and participatory governance as a means of ensuring that the needs and views of all members of society are taken into account.
Overall, Islamic political thought is a rich and complex field that encompasses a wide range of ideas and approaches to governance. While it is shaped by the teachings of the Qur'an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, it is also constantly evolving and adapting to changing political and social circumstances.
Reading : Islamic Political Thought An Introduction
Download as many books as you like Personal use New Books and articles every day. Tolerance entails recognition of individual self-determination in diverse fields of life, including the free choice of lifestyle and religion, the right to practice this lifestyle or religion, and the right to either change or relinquish them altogether. It allows for recognizing the existing plurality and diversity of opinion and interest without abandoning the ideal of unity. Sign in through your institution Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Here, too, modern authors can build on the Islamic scholarly tradition. With regard to politics, some authors argue that the protection accorded non-Muslims under Islam is the same as what is today described as nationality or citizenship They interpret the jizya as an equivalent of zakat or a substitute for military service. Many writers do indeed view differentiation as fragmentation, entailing a weakening of the community of Muslims, as exemplified by the first and second civil wars, or of the first century after the hijra the migration of the Prophet and his Companions from Mecca to Medina.
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Differing opinions and interests should be balanced and harmonized to reflect the ideals of the equilibrium and the juste This limits both plurality and pluralism, though the actual imposition of restrictions may be subject to pragmatic considerations, including political reason weighing the options in light of the public interest, or what is identified as such. At the other end of the spectrum are those scholars, intellectuals, and political activists who recognize Christians and Jews as citizens of the Muslim or Islamic nation-state with equal rights and duties, grant them autonomy in personal-status matters, and bar them only from the office of president, to which only male Muslims can be appointed. The conceptual framework is shaped by the territorial state, and the non-Muslims concerned are by and large local Christians. Many would not rule out plurality and diversity altogether but still perceive them as destructive and divisive. According to him, the apostate does not simply abandon the community; he joins the enemy, an act not to be tolerated. Qaradawi acknowledges the historical embeddedness of fiqh and the controversies of its practitioners.
Opposition to Islamist violence also informs reflections on the status of pluralism and tolerance among Muslims and between Muslims and non-Muslims. Discussions of tolerance accorded to non-Muslims under Islam, therefore, tend to be limited to the People of the Book in general and to Christians and Jews in particular. Statements on the status of Jews must be seen in light of political conflict with Zionism and Israel rather than the principle of religious tolerance only. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account. Through this rich and varied discussion, Saeed presents a fascinating depiction of how Islam was lived in the past and how its adherents practise it in the present. Tribal factions in seventh-century Arabia are not the same as modern political parties, the treatment of Jews in the oasis of Khaybar cannot be taken as a timeless model of tolerance, and the so-called Constitution of Medina is no blueprint for organizing the state of law in the modern period. Respect for the Other as a different expression of toleration and tolerance presupposes a certain degree of familiarity among the different parties, especially concerning their religious beliefs and practices.
At the same time, most authors would rule out the possibility that political parties explicitly representing non-Muslims such as Christian parties be recognized in the framework of an Islamic order. Selected from the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, and focusing on the origins, development, and contemporary importance of Islamic political ideas and related subjects, each chapter offers a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to its topic. However, these discussions are largely limited to academic circles. Most Muslim authors regard the sunna as part of revelation and look to the Prophet as well as members of the early Muslim community, the salaf as role models for Muslims. Reception is slightly better among Muslim intellectuals and activists residing in the West. There is a widely shared feeling that Muslims should overcome internal divisions and restore the pristine unity of the age of the Prophet. However, there is little agreement even among Islamists concerning institutionalization.
In a monograph on Islamic penal law he argued that the Islamic concept of personal freedom is entirely opposed to that of the post-war generation in the West. The same applies to anti-Semitism, which in certain milieus has arisen mainly as an element of the critique of Zionism and Israel or Israeli state policies. Still, this is a minority view, mostly to be found among militant Islamist groups and theoreticians. I do not worship what you worship, nor do you worship what I worship; nor will I ever worship what you worship, nor will you ever worship what I worship. Thus in a tract devoted to the issue of apostasy, Qaradawi claimed that the Muslim who openly declares his apostasy transfers his allegiance from his own community and homeland to another and thereby threatens the foundation of collective identity. Abstract In sixteen concise chapters on key topics, this book provides a rich, authoritative, and up-to-date introduction to Islamic political thought from the birth of Islam to today, presenting essential background and context for understanding contemporary politics in the Islamic world and beyond.
Heck, Roy Jackson, Wadad Kadi, John Kelsay, Gudrun Krämer, Ebrahim Moosa, Armando Salvatore, Aram A. Under the conditions of modern mass society, debate may have to be institutionalized in voluntary associations and political parties to become effective. Just as Islamic history both preserved its tradition and reshaped its internal culture con-sistently over this period of expansion, so did. Signed in but can't access content Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. These shall meet with terrible torment. Selected from the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, and focusing on the origins, development, and contemporary importance of Islamic political ideas and related subjects, each chapter offers a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to its topic. But this does not exclude the possibility of cooperation under certain circumstances, notably under conditions of duress, in which the established legal principle of necessity, or can be invoked.
This includes understandings of pluralism and tolerance as core elements of modernity and good governance. Modern authors are heirs to a legacy of conceptionalizing the community, homeland, and nation that was created by Salafi authors and activists, from Afghani 1838â97 to Hasan al-Banna 1906â49 , largely in opposition to colonial domination. In 2014, the year 1435 of the Muslim calendar, the Islamic world was estimated to account for a population of approximately a billion and a half, representing about one-fifth of humanity. Abdullah Saeed, a distinguished Muslim scholar, traces the development of religious knowledge in Islam, from the pre-modern to the modern period. Society Members Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways: Sign in through society site Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. Chaudhry, Patricia Crone, Roxanne Euben, Yohanan Friedmann, Paul L. But next to them, and often in competition with them, other voices employ different modes of expression, some of them decidedly modern.
Global power relations clearly affect the style of writing and the thrust of the argument, giving it a defensive ring. These chapters were designed to integrate and contextualize the contemporary political and cultural situation of Islam while also examining in depth the historical roots of that situation. The Arabic tasÄmuḼ does not distinguish between toleration on the one hand and tolerance on the other. . The important distinction between plurality and pluralism is not always made, though the key termsâdifference or divergence of opinion plurality and pluralism such a differentiation. Toleration can be based on pragmatic considerations and made contingent on certain conditions; it is thus revocable.