A comprehensive overview of Islamic political thought, stretching from Early Islam (c.622-661) to the Age of Fundamentalism (c.1920-2000). The book encompasses religion, law, ethics and statecraft as expressed in systematic treatises, occasional writings, official rhetoric, and popular slogans. The chapters cover a broad range of subjects including: the restoration of Persia; the ethics of power; philosophy in Spain; the science of civilization; the beginnings of the modern great powers; India under the Mughals; the decline and reform of the Ottoman state; and the Age of Modernism.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Early Islam: the messenger/the mission of Muhammad; the notion of monarchy under the Umayyads and Abbasids c.661-900; the development of the Sunni way c.700-900; Shi'ism; political culture in the Persian renaissance c.850-1050; the early Falasifa (philosophers) - Plato without the Polis. Part II Religion and state power (din wa dawla): Sunni doctrine and the state c.900-1220; the theory of the Caliphate; the order of the realm; Ghazali's balance; the ethics of power - advice-to-kings (nahisat al-muluk); political philosophy in the 12th century; Sufism and politics. Part III The Shari'a and the sword c.1220-1520: the rape of Asia; Mamluk ideology and the Sultan-Caliph; Nasir al-Din Tusi (1263-1328) - shara'a governance (al-siyasa al-shari'yya); the Delhi sultanate and al-Barani - statecraft and morality; Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) - the science of civilization and the governance of Islam; the decline of classical Islamic political thought. Part IV Islam and the west: the Age of Modernism - c.1830-1920; the Age of Fundamentalism c.1920-2000.

Author Biography

Professor Antony Black has lectured in Politics at University of Dundee from 1963 until retirement in 2000, covering most aspects of political theory from Plato to contemporary international relations and social philosophy. Done research on and published on wide range of topics from medieval ecclesiastical theories to contemporary political philosophy. 1975-76 Visiting associate professor, School of Government and Public Administration, The American University, Washington DC., USA. 1980-81 Senior Research Fellow, Nuffield Foundation. March-April 1993 Visiting Professor, Faculty of Jurisprudence, University of Trento, Italy. 1993-7. Head of Dept. of Politics, University of Dundee 1995-9 Book Review Editor of Early Modern History: Contacts, Contrasts and Comparisons (Brill).