Political Islam

Religion and Politics in the Arab World

Author: Nazih N. Ayubi
ISBN: 9780415103855

Islamic theocracy is now firmly established in fundamentalist Iran, and waves of fundamentalism are sweeping the entire Islamic world, and its diaspora.This book examines the claim of those Islamists who contend that, as a belief system and a way of life, Islam carries with it a theory of politics and the state which should be applied unquestioningly. Ayubi traces both the intellectual sources and the socio-economic bases of Political Islam, arguing that it is a modern phenomenon, dating back only to the inter-war period. He describes its major proponents as urban, educated and relatively young people, whose energies were mobilised, but whose expectations were not fulfilled by the post-independence `populist' regimes in the Arab World.Islamic movements in six countries are studied in detail. Ayubi's distinctively broad definition of politics encompasses innovative material on sex and the family, and on the emerging alternative economic and social networks of Islamic banks, schools, and

Publisher: Routledge
Publish Date: 1991

Subjects: Political Science / General, Religion / Islam / General

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: Religion/Spirituality (RLGN))