EAN: 9780231162579

THE IMPOSSIBLE STATE - WAEL B HALLAQ KARTONIERT...

Wael B. Hallaq boldly argues that the Islamic state  judged by any standard definition of what
the modern state represents  is both impossible and inherently self-contradictory. Comparing
the legal  political  moral  and constitutional histories of premodern Islam and Euro-America 
he finds the adoption and practice of the modern state to be highly problematic for modern
Muslims. He also critiques more expansively modernity's moral predicament  which renders
impossible any project resting solely on ethical foundations. The modern state not only suffers
from serious legal  political  and constitutional issues  Hallaq argues  but also  by its very
nature  fashions a subject inconsistent with what it means to be  or to live as  a Muslim. By
Islamic standards  the state's technologies of the self are severely lacking in moral substance
and today's Islamic state  as Hallaq shows  has done little to advance an acceptable form of
genuine Shari'a governance. The Islamists' constitutional battles in Egypt and Pakistan  the
Islamic legal and political failures of the Iranian Revolution  and similar disappointments
underscore this fact. Nevertheless  the state remains the favored template of the Islamists and
the ulama (Muslim clergymen). Providing Muslims with a path toward realizing the good life 
Hallaq turns to the rich moral resources of Islamic history. Along the way  he proves political
and other crises of Islam are not unique to the Islamic world nor to the Muslim religion. These
crises are integral to the modern condition of both East and West  and by acknowledging these
parallels  Muslims can engage more productively with their Western counterparts.

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