Modern Islamic political thought : the response of the Shii and Sunni muslims to the twentieth century

The revival and power of religious feelings among Muslims since the Iranian revolution presents a complicated and often perplexing picture of the politics of modern Islam. What are the ideas which have influenced the direction of these trends? Here, Hamis Enayat provides an answer by describing and interpreting some of the major Islamic political ideas, especially those expressed by Iranians and Egyptians, as well as thinkers from Pakistan, India, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. He examines the political differences between the two main schools in Islam - Shi'ism and Sunnism. Also covered in the book is: the concept of the Islamic state; and the Muslim response to the challenge of alien and modern ideologies such as nationalism, democracy and socialism - as well as notions of Shi'i modernism.

Author Notes

Hamid Enayat was Reader in Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford University and Fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford. Prior to his death in 1980 he was also Professor of Political Science at Tehran University where he chaired the Department of Politics.

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowldgements	p. xiii
On Transcription, Dates, etc.	p. xiii
Introduction: The relevance of the past	p. 1
1 Shi'ism and Sunnism: conflict and concord	p. 18
I The spirit of Shi'ism	p. 18
II The Polemics	p. 30
2 The crisis over the Caliphate	p. 52
3 The concept of the Islamic state	p. 69
I Muhammad Rashid Rida	p. 69
II Fundamentalism	p. 83
4 Nationalism, democracy and socialism	p. 111
I Nationalism	p. 111
II Democracy	p. 125
III Socialism	p. 139
5 Aspects of Shi'i modernism	p. 160
Background	p. 160
I Constitutionalism	p. 164
II Taqiyyah	p. 175

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