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The expert essays in this volume deal with critically important topics concerning Islam and politics in both the pre-modern and modern periods, such as the nature of government, the relationship between politics and theology, Shi´i conceptions of statecraft, notions of public duty, and the compatibility of Islam and democratic governance.

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Introduction; A.Afsaruddin Medieval Section Justification of Political Authority in Medieval Sunni Thought; H.Yucesoy Alfarabi and the Foundation of Political Theology in Islam; M.Campanini Alfarabi´s Goal: Political Philosophy, not Political Theology; C.Butterworth Prophecy, Imamate, and Political Rule among the Ikhwan al-Safa; C.Baffioni Responsibilities of Political Office in a Shi´I Caliphate and the Delineation of Public Duties under the Fatimids; P.Walker Ibn Taymiyya on Islamic Governance; B.Malkawi & T.Sonn Modern Section Theologizing about Democracy: A Critical Appraisal of Mawdudi´s Thought; A.Afsaruddin The Political Philosophy of Islamic Resurgence; M.Khan Rethinking the Relationship between Religion and Liberal Democracy: Overcoming the Problems of Secularism in Muslim Societies; N.Hashemi Minarchist Political Islam; A.Malik Wilayat al-Faqih and Democracy; M.Kadivar Anwar al-´Awlaqi against the Islamic Legal Tradition; A.March

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´This edited volume is a model collection. Its title identifies clearly its subject matter, political authority in the Islamic world. The chapters focus in varied and useful ways on that obviously pressing subject matter.´ - Journal of Shi´a Islamic Studies

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ASMA AFSARUDDIN Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, USA.

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