Political Science: An Islamic Perspective

241 Pages·1996·12.245 MB·English

by  Abdul Rashid Moten

POLITICAL SCIENCE: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
Also by Abdul Rashid Moten
ISLAM AND REVOLUTION: Contribution of Syed Maududi
FRONTIERS AND MECHANICS OF ISLAMIC ECONOMICS
(co-editor with R. I. Molia, S. Gusau and A. A. Gwandu)
NATURE AND METHODOLOGY OF ISLAMIC ECONOMICS
(co-editor with M. O. K. Bajulaiye-Shasi)
ISLAM IN AFRICA: Proceedings of the Islam in Africa Conference
(co-editor with Nura Alkali, Adamu Adamu, Awwal Yaduda and Haruna
Salihi)
Political Science:
An Islamic Perspective
Abdul Rashid Moten
Associate Professor and Head of Political Science
International Islamic University, Malaysia
tt
First published in Great Britain 1996 by
« MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN 0-333-64311-9
f# First published in the United States of America 1996 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 0-312-12711-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Moten, A. Rashid.
Political science : an Islamic perspective / Abdul Rashid Moten.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-312-12711-1
1. Islam and state/ I. Title.
JC49.M67 1995
320'.072017671 —<lc20 95-7827
CIP
© Abdul Rashid Moten 1996
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
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claims for damages.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xvi
1 Prologue: Islam, Secularism and the Muslim World 1
Western secularism 1
Marxist secularism 3
Third World secularism 5
Islam and secularism 6
The shaping of secularism 8
Colonialism and elite formation 10
Nationalism 12
Secular political institutions 12
The economic system 14
Conclusion 15
2 Politics in Islam 17
Politics defined 17
Politics in Islam 19
Islam and politics: the historical perspective 21
Encounter with the West and Muslim politics 25
Current trends 26
Conclusion 29
3 Islamic Methodology in Political Science 32
Major traits of empirical social science 32
Reason and revelation 33
Social sciences versus natural sciences 35
The instrumentalist conception of politics 36
The Islamic framework for analysis 37
Facts and values 39
The structure of Islamic values 40
Madinah as the norm 42
Conclusion 44
4 Shari'ah: The Islamic Legal Order 46
Shari'ah and the law 46
SharPah and fiqh 48
Shari'ah defined 49
V
VI Contents
Sources of the Sharp ah 51
The primary sources 51
The secondary sources 53
Rise and decline of Ijtihad 55
Essential features of the Sharl'ah 56
Shari'ah in the Muslim world 59
Conclusion 61
5 Ummah: The Islamic Social Order 63
Terminological confusion 63
Ummah in the Qur'an and the Sunnah 64
Essential features of the Ummah 66
Functions of the Ummah 68
Muslim Ummah: A historical perspective 71
The Periods of the Prophet (SAAS) and the Khulafa
al-Rdshidun 71
Ummah during the post-rashidun period 75
The Contemporary Ummah 77
Nationalism and Islam 77
Arab nationalism versus the Ummah 79
Conclusion 81
6 Khildfah: The Islamic Political Order 82
The state 82
Karl Marx on the state 83
Max Weber on the state 84
The notion of state compared with the Islamic system 85
The concept of 'state' in Islam 86
Essential principles of an Islamic political order 87
Islamic polity under the Prophet (SAAS) 90
The khulafa al-Rdshidun 91
Polity under the Umayyad and Abbasid rule 93
Early Muslim jurists and thinkers 95
Contemporary Muslim thought and the structures of
government 98
Organisation of the Islamic political system 99
Constitutional government 99
The executive 100
The legislature 101
The judiciary 102
Form of government 103
Conclusion 104
Contents vn
7 Muhdsabah: Accountability in Islam 107
The legislature: the representative body 107
Obedience to authority: the Qur'an and the Sunnah 108
The Khulafa' al-Rdshidiin 110
Muslim jurists and thinkers 111
Grounds for impeachment 113
Legality 113
Legitimacy 115
Institutional apparatus for impeachment 116
The judiciary 117
The leadership council 118
The consultative assembly 120
Conclusion 123
8 Nahdah: The Islamic Movement 126
Fundamentalism versus Nahdah 126
The Nahdah and the Islamic world view 128
The Salaflyah movement 130
The Sokoto Jihad 130
The Mahdiyah movement 131
Various Manifestations of the Muslim Nahdah 132
The Tabllghi Jama'at 133
The Jama'at-e-Islami 135
The revolution in Iran 136
A comparative perspective 138
Conclusion 138
Glossary 141
Appendix A: Framework of an Islamic State 155
Appendix B: Model of an Islamic Constitution 169
Appendix C: Profile of the Muslim World I 86
Notes 191
Select Bibliography 211
Index 218
List of Tables
1.1 Islam vs secularism 7
5.1 The Pair of Brotherhood instituted by the Prophet (SAAS) 73
5.2 Nationalism and Ummah compared 79
6.1 Essential principles of the Islamic political system 87
c.l Gazetteer of States in the Muslim World 186
vin
List of Figures
6.1 The Islamic political system: popularly elected executive 105
6.2 The Islamic political system: indirectly elected executive 105
IX