Islam And Political Legitimacy

Islam and Political Legitimacy Islam and Political Legitimacy explores one of the most challenging issues facing the Muslim world: the Islamisation of political power. It presents a comparative analysis of Muslim societies in West, South, Central and South East Asia and highlights the immediacy of the challenge for the political leadership in those societies. Islam and Political Legitimacy contends that the growing reliance on Islam for justifying power across the Muslim world, even in states that have had a strained relationship with Islam, has contributed to the evolution of Islam from a social and cultural factor to an entrenched political force. The geographic breadth of Islam and Political Legitimacy offers readers a nuanced appraisal of political Islam that transcends parochial eccentricities. Contributors to this volume examine the evolving relationship between Islam and political power in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Researchers and students of political Islam and the growth of radicalism in the Muslim world will find Islam and Political Legitimacy of special interest. This is a welcome addition to the rich literature on the politics of the contemporary Muslim world. Shahram Akbarzadeh is a Senior Lecturer in Global Politics at the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Australia. His research interests focus on the politics of Central Asia, Islamic radicalism and the Middle East. He is co-editor of Global Change, Peace and Security. Among his latest publications are Muslim Communities in Australia (with Abdullah Saeed) and the Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan (with Kamoludin Abdullaev). Abdullah Saeed is Associate Professor and Head of the Islamic Studies Programme at the Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, the University of Melbourne. Among his recent publications are Islamic Banking and Interest, Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam and Islam in Australia. Islam and Political Legitimacy Edited by Shahram Akbarzadeh and Abdullah Saeed First published 2003 by RoutledgeCurzon 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeCurzon 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group Editorial Matter © 2003 Shahram Akbarzadeh and Abdullah Saeed Individual chapters © the authors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in