Political Islam By Charles Butterworth and I. William Zartman, eds. Annuls of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, no. 524 (November 1992).

Abstract

This volume surveys the complex roles Islamic ideologies play in the
politics of the Muslim world. The authors are distinguished scholars in
Islamic history, philosophy, and law as well as specialists in the sociology
and politics of various Muslim countries. Despite their varied disciplinary
backgrounds and the vastness of their subject, the book features a
remarkable degree of interconnection and does not sacrifice the analytical
specificity needed for each essay.
The volume's fourteen articles ate grouped into six broad categories:
History of Islamic Political Theory and Practice. These essays offer two
interpretive histories of the evolution and cutrent status of Islam's role in
the political sphere. Ira Lapidus argues that Islamic political theory has
been governed by two paradigms, each grounded in a separate vision of
the Islamic "golden age." The first paradigm is the "seamless" Islamic
ethos, a holistic conception of law, politics, and personal morality that
existed at M a d i i under the Prophet and his four immediate political
successots. Even though this period lasted for barely four decades, it continues
to serve as the vision of the Islamic ideal, especially for the recurrent
revivalist movements and thinkes who have based their appeals
upon this "first golden age." The second paradigm is chatactenzed by diffemtiated
religious and secular institutions. Despite attempts by medieval
jurists to maintain the theoretical church-state unity, Islamic Societies developed
tacit and clearly articulated spheres of religious and secular
authority. This made it possible for the early Islamic empires to absorb
and then live with non-Islamic traditions and peoples (i.e., Persians and
Turks). This "second golden age" is epitomized by the Ottoman Empire,
which nxognized Islam as the "official" religion and whose ruler was accepted
as the titular caliph. Nevertheless, the fusion of teligion and
politics was never complete, as reflected in the emergence of distinctly
"religious" institutions parallel to those of the state.
Modem Muslim states, Lapidus argues, are proof of the triumph of
the second over the first paradigm. "Modern states can be seen as an
expression of the historical separation of state and Islam .... All hope of
salvation has been concentrated in the nonstate realm, in the religio-civil
community, and in personal piety" (p. 23). As a result, states are not
viewed by their own people, by and large, as the bearers of their religious ...