An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term dawlah islāmiyyah (دولة إسلامية) it refers to a modern notion associated with political Islam (Islamism). Notable examples of historical Islamic states include the State of Medina, established by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arab Caliphate which continued under his successors and the Umayyads.
The concept of the modern Islamic state has been articulated and promoted by ideologues such as Sayyid Rashid Rida, Mohammed Omar, Abul A'la Maududi, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Israr Ahmed, Sayyid Qutb and Hassan al-Banna. Implementation of Islamic law plays an important role in modern theories of the Islamic state, as it did in classical Islamic political theories. However, most of the modern theories also make use of notions that did not exist before the modern era.
Today, many Muslim countries have incorporated Islamic law, wholly or in part, into their legal systems. Certain Muslim states have declared Islam to be their state religion in their constitutions, but do not apply Islamic law in their courts. Islamic states that are not Islamic monarchies are mostly Islamic republics.
Majid Khadduri gives six stages of history for the Islamic state:
City-state (622–632)
Imperial (632–750)
Universal ( 750–900)
Decentralization ( 900–1500)
Fragmentation ( 1500–1918 )
Nation states (1918–present)
Caliphate and Muhammad in Medina
The first Islamic State was the political entity established by Muhammad in Medina in 622 CE under the Constitution of Medina. It represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah (nation). It was subsequently transformed into the caliphate by Muhammad's disciples, who were known as the Rightly Guided (Rashidun) Caliphs (632–661 CE). The Islamic State significantly expanded under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) and consequently the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258).
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The Khilafat movement (1919–22) was a political campaign launched by Indian Muslims in British India over British policy against Turkey and the planned dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by allied forces. Leaders participating in the movement included Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Abul Kalam Azad some of whom were seeking to restore the caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate, while others promoted Muslim interests and brought Muslims into the national struggle.
( المجلس, pl. مجالس ) is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries. The Majlis can refer to a legislature as well and is used in the name of legislative councils or assemblies in some of the states where Islamic culture dominates. Majlis is the Arabic word for a sitting room. Its Semitic root is the Arabic verb جَلَس jalas meaning 'to sit', (cf.
Islam (ˈɪslɑːm; ۘالِإسْلَام, al-ʾIslām ʔɪsˈlæːm, ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam, called Muslims, number approximately 2 billion globally and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians. Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets such as Adam (believed to be the first man), Ibrahim, Moses, and Isa (Jesus), among others.