Political Theology and Islam : From the Birth of Empire to the Modern State / Paul L. Heck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Heck, Paul L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theology, Doctrinal--History--20th century.

Theology, Doctrinal.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (531 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Notre Dame, Indiana : University of Notre Dame, [2023]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Cover

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Preface

Part One: The Study of Politics in Islam

Chapter 1. A Moral History

Chapter 2. Political Theology Revisited

Part Two: The Age of the Umayyads

Chapter 3. Righteous Dominion

Chapter 4. Imperial Blessing and Prophetic Righteousness

Part Three: The Age of the Abbasids

Chapter 5. Leading by Certainty

Chapter 6. The Politics of Certainty

Part Four: The Age of the Seljuqs

Chapter 7. The Sovereign Bodies of Kings and Scholars

Chapter 8. The Sovereign Bodies of Saints

Part Five: The Age of Postcolonial Rule

Chapter 9. Liberty as the Order of Islam

Chapter 10. The Struggle for Democratic Culture

Conclusion: Politics in Islam Revisited

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-268-20734-8

0-268-20737-2

OCLC:

1407437360