Islam and Politics: the Case of the Islamic State

What is it about?

This paper assesses the fundamental relation between the Islamic-political movements and establishment of the Islamic law (Shari'a). I argue against the critiques of western foreign policy and show that the Islamic State (Caliphate) is both a result of the historical process of the people of a region and the extreme interpretation of the text and Sunna which emphasizes on the traditional Sharia law and the concept of Jihad by fortifying political Islam qua militant Islam. I argue that the Islamic revival aims to a certain political order which threatens the world security and peace. Moreover, I argue that the structural violation of Human Rights is rooted in the traditional concept of Islamic law or Sharia, which obtains its immunity by an illegitimate power. This traditional Islamic law is the inalienable character of authoritarian/totalitarian regimes. This paper is based on the assumption that the extreme ideological/theoretical interpretation implies the empirical objectives of Militant Islamic community with or without any external influential elements. In this sense, we can address the question: how different interpretations and traditions in executing the Islamic Sharia give the social and political grounds a seed for the emergence of violence and terrorism. At the end, this paper ends with a propose which emphasizes on the role of international cooperation to find a resolution and also on the education as a long-term plan to defeat extremism and terrorism.

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Why is it important?

Terrorism, Sharia law, Islamic state, political power, education