Book(print)2001

The history of Islamic political thought: from the prophet to the present

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Abstract

Verlagsinformation: Islam is enormously important today in both international and national domestic politics, but contemporary political Islam cannot be understood without an awareness of it roots. Yet, little attention has been paid to the way its political ideas originated, how they developed. The "History of Islamic Political Thought" offers a full description and an interpretation of political philosophy from early Islam to the current age of Fundamentalism (622 AD to 2000 AD). Antony Black takes the same approach as scholars usually do for the history of Western political thought, examining the mentality, cultural milieu, and political background of thinkers and statesmen. He covers the relationship of politics to religion, law, ethics, philosophy, and statecraft, as expressed through treatises, occasional writings, official rhetoric, popular slogans, and other evidence of how people thought about authority and order. This unique and ambitious book will appeal to students of Islamic studies and political theory, as well as readers interested in Islamic politics more generally.