Religion and State

Religion and State PDF Author: L. Carl. Brown
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231529376
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
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.

Religion and State

Religion and State PDF Author: L. Carl. Brown
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231529376
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought

Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought PDF Author: Roxanne L. Euben
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400833809
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
The most authoritative anthology of Islamist texts This anthology of key primary texts provides an unmatched introduction to Islamist political thought from the early twentieth century to the present, and serves as an invaluable guide through the storm of polemic, fear, and confusion that swirls around Islamism today. Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman gather a broad selection of texts from influential Islamist thinkers and place these figures and their writings in their multifaceted political and historical contexts. The selections presented here in English translation include writings of Ayatollah Khomeini, Usama bin Laden, Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, and Moroccan Islamist leader Nadia Yassine, as well as the Hamas charter, an interview with a Taliban commander, and the final testament of 9/11 hijacker Muhammad Ata. Illuminating the content and political appeal of Islamist thought, this anthology brings into sharp relief the commonalities in Islamist arguments about gender, democracy, and violence, but it also reveals significant political and theological disagreements among thinkers too often grouped together and dismissed as extremists or terrorists. No other anthology better illustrates the diversity of Islamist thought, the complexity of its intellectual and political contexts, or the variety of ways in which it relates to other intellectual and religious trends in the contemporary Muslim world.

Shia Islam and Politics

Shia Islam and Politics PDF Author: Jon Armajani
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793621365
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
This book argues that ever since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, which established a Shia Islamic government in Iran, that country’s religious and political leaders have used Shia Islam as a crucial way of expanding Iran’s objectives in the Middle East and beyond. Since 1979, Iran’s religious and political leaders have been concerned about Iran’s security in the face of the hostility and expansionism of the United States and other western countries, and the threats from powerful neighboring Sunni leaders and countries. While Iran’s government has attempted to align itself with Shia Muslims in various countries, such as Iraq and Lebanon, against American and Sunni expansionism, the Iranian government has attempted to religiously nourish and politically mobilize those Shias as a matter of principle, not only because of the Iranian government’s desires to protect Iran from external threats. The book analyzes Shia Islam and politics in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon which have among the largest proportional Shia populations in the Middle East and are vibrant centers of Shia intellectual life. The book's clear and jargon-free approach make it especially accessible for students and general readers who would like an introduction to the book's topics.

Islam Instrumentalized

Islam Instrumentalized PDF Author: Jean-Philippe Platteau
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107155444
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 547

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Book Description
This book challenges the widespread view that Islam is a reactionary religion that defends tradition against modernity and individual freedom. Jean-Philippe Platteau shows how Islam is vulnerable to political manipulation and how the threat of religious extremism is especially high because Islam is not organized as a centralized church.

Compulsion in Religion

Compulsion in Religion PDF Author: Samuel Helfont
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190843314
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Compulsion in Religion investigates religion and politics in Saddam Hussein's Iraq as well as the roots of the religious insurgencies that erupted in Iraq following the American-led invasion in 2003. In looking at Saddam Hussein's policies in the 1990s, many have interpreted his support for state religion as evidence of a dramatic shift away from Arab nationalism toward political Islam. While Islam did play a greater role in the regime's symbols and Saddam's statements in the 1990s than it had in earlier decades, the archival records and the regime's internal documents challenge this theory.

Mugabe

Mugabe PDF Author: Stephen Chan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1838608877
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
On 21st November 2017 Robert Mugabe resigned as President of Zimbabwe after 37 years in power. A week earlier the military had seized control of the country and forced him to step down as leader of the ruling Zanu-PF party. In this revised and updated edition of his classic biography, Stephen Chan seeks to explain and interpret Mugabe in his role as a key player in the politics of Southern Africa. In this masterly portrait of one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, Mugabe's character unfolds with the ebb and flow of triumph and crisis. Mugabe's story is Zimbabwe's - from the post-independence hopes of idealism and reconciliation to electoral victory, the successful intervention in the international politics of Southern Africa and the resistance to South Africa's policy of apartheid. But a darker picture emerged early with the savage crushing of the Matabeleland rising, the elimination of political opponents, growing corruption and disastrous intervention in the Congo war, all worsened by drought and the HIV/AIDS crisis. Stephen Chan's highly revealing biography, based on close personal knowledge of Zimbabwe, depicts the emergence and eventual downfall of a ruthless and single-minded despot amassing and tightly clinging to political power. We follow the triumphant nationalist leader who reconciled all in the new multiracial Zimbabwe, degenerate into a petty tyrant consumed by hubris and self-righteousness and ultimately face an ignominious endgame at the hands of his own army.

Shi'ism and Social Protest

Shi'ism and Social Protest PDF Author: Juan Ricardo Cole
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300035537
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
This timely and important book presents the first overview of Shi'i political activism in the countries where it has been most significant-from Iran and Lebanon to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The contributors present up-to-date information on the factors involved in Shi'ism's recent movement away from quietism and toward an active involvement in politics. They also discuss how Shi'i political activism will affect the struggle in and for Lebanon; the Iran-Iraq war; Soviet attitudes toward Afghanistan and Iran; and U.S. policies toward the Middle East.

Salafism in Jordan

Salafism in Jordan PDF Author: Joas Wagemakers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316776816
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Since the events of 9/11, Salafism in the Middle East has often been perceived as fixed, rigid and even violent, but this assumption overlooks the quietist ideology that characterises many Salafi movements. Through an exploration of Salafism in Jordan, Joas Wagemakers presents the diversity among quietist Salafis on a range of ideological and political issues, particularly their relationship with the state. He expounds a detailed analysis of Salafism as a whole, whilst also showing how and why quietist Salafism in Jordan - through ideological tendencies, foreign developments, internal conflicts, regime involvement, theological challenges and regional turmoil - transformed from an independent movement into a politically domesticated one. Essential for graduate students and academic researchers interested in Middle Eastern politics and Salafism, this major contribution to the study of Salafism debunks stereotypes and offers insight into the development of a trend that still remains a mystery to many.

Islamic Political Thought

Islamic Political Thought PDF Author: Gerhard Bowering
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691164827
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
A concise and authoritative introduction to Islamic political ideas 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. 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. Written by leading specialists and incorporating the latest scholarship, the alphabetically arranged chapters cover the topics of authority, the caliphate, fundamentalism, government, jihad, knowledge, minorities, modernity, Muhammad, pluralism and tolerance, the Qur'an, revival and reform, shariʿa (sacred law), traditional political thought, ‘ulama' (religious scholars), and women. Read separately or together, these chapters provide an indispensable resource for students, journalists, policymakers, and anyone else seeking an informed perspective on the complex intersection of Islam and politics. The contributors are Gerhard Bowering, Ayesha S. Chaudhry, Patricia Crone, Roxanne Euben, Yohanan Friedmann, Paul L. Heck, Roy Jackson, Wadad Kadi, John Kelsay, Gudrun Krämer, Ebrahim Moosa, Armando Salvatore, Aram A. Shahin, Emad El-Din Shahin, Devin J. Stewart, SherAli Tareen, and Muhammad Qasim Zaman. A new afterword discusses the essays in relation to contemporary political developments.

Islam, Justice, and Democracy

Islam, Justice, and Democracy PDF Author: Sabri Ciftci
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1439921504
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
"Explores Islam and democracy through historical and empirical treatments of Muslim political attitudes and conceptions of justice, focusing on Muslim agency and placing values at the center of its inquiry"--