The Inevitable Caliphate?: A History of the Struggle for Global Islamic Union, 1924 to the Present - Softcover

Pankhurst, Reza

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849042519 ISBN 13: 9781849042512

Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 2013

Synopsis

While in the West the idea of the Caliphate evokes overwhelmingly negative images, throughout Islamic history it has been regarded as the ideal Islamic polity. In the wake of the Arab Spring, and the removal of long-standing dictators in the Middle East whereupon the dominant discourse appears to be one of the compatibility of Islam and democracy discussion about reviving the Caliphate has continued to exercise the minds of its opponents and advocates alike. Reza Pankhurst's book contributes to our understanding of Islam in politics, the path of Islamic revival across the last century, and how the popularity of the Caliphate in Muslim discourse waned and later re-emerged. A comparative analysis highlights the core commonalities as well as differences between the various movements and individuals. Pankhurst shows why, as movements struggle to reestablish a polity which expresses the unity of the ummah (global Islamic community), the Caliphate has alternatively been ignored, reclaimed and promoted as a theory and symbol in different ways, or had its significance minimised and denied, yet continues to serve as a political ideal for many.

About this title

Product Description:

Inevitable Caliphate?

Review:

'Reza Pankhurst provides a unique and probing examination of modern thinking on the caliphate. ... This detailed analysis of the ways in which the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and al-Qaeda as well as smaller groups reformulate and use the concept today is both judicious and informed. It provides the most reliable guide avail- able to an idea and political symbol that holds attraction for many Sunni Muslims while inciting anxiety, even fear, among others, including many non-Muslims and Shi'a. ' ----Professor James Piscatori, Durham University

'Over the course of the past decade, interest in the institution of the Caliphate has been revived among Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to an extent not seen since the tumultuous 1920s. But until now, no scholar has tried to examine systematically how the Caliphate has actually animated and inspired Islamic intellectuals and activists, or how alternative conceptions of the Caliphate have been formulated and fought over. Against this backdrop, Reza Pankhurst's new book provides a carefully crafted and well documented treatment of the diverse ways in which the Caliphate has figured in the global politics of Islam over the past ninety years. Scholars and other readers interested in the possibilities for a truly transnational Islamic ummah should make sure to read this very illuminating and instructive book.' ----John T. Sidel, Sir Patrick Gillam Professor of International and Comparative Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science

'Reza Pankhurst s deftly argued, thought-provoking book addresses the significant yet neglected topic of the Islamic Caliphate, focusing on the attempts of Muslim thinkers and activists to resuscitate the institution following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s. What stands out is the author s ability to situate the contributions of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Al-Qaeda, and other advocates of the Caliphate within the context of normative Islam, rather than weigh them against the yardstick of liberal democracy. This important book, which examines the Caliphate on its own terms, will challenge the way scholars and other observers of political Islam conceive their subject.' --John Calvert, Associate Professor of History, Creighton University and author of Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism

About this edition

• Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1849042519
• ISBN 13: 9781849042512
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256