Politics: An Islamic Perspective

Abstract

Muslim societies in all of their social and cultural variety are, as Donald E. Smith points out, ‘organic’ societies characterized by organic religious systems. In these societies, religion tends to permeate all institutions rather than to be differentiated and/or autonomous. The vast body of literature produced since the departure of the colonialists from the Muslim lands suggests, however, either the implicit existence of the dichotomy or at least the feasibility and advisability of radical separation between the spiritual and temporal realms. The seriousness of the issue, evidenced by an outpouring of studies, calls for an examination of the linkage between the two realms through textual (Qur’an and Hadith), intellectual (ideas of Muslim thinkers) and historical evidence. Only in such a manner can the dynamics of the relationship between Islam and politics be understood and a determination made of what has changed and what has remained unchanged. This entails, first, an understanding of the meaning and nature of politics from the Western perspective to facilitate a comparison...