ABSTRACT
Introduction Modern political perspectives in the Muslim world cannot be depicted regardless of ‘historical development of Muslim political thought’. In fact, classification and typology of political thought among Muslims need specific research projects which have fortunately been carried out from different angles in various parts of the world. In my book, Faith and Thought in the Grip of Tyranny, which is an overview of the Muslim political thought in the context of the vicissitudes of Islamic civilization, I have carried out this important task by means of a particular classification of the chronological development of politics in the Muslim world. There I have argued that:
If we look at Muslim society and history, regardless of theological and sectarian differences among Muslims, we can divide the actual politics and political thought in the Muslim world into three distinct periods:
First, the period that began by the establishment of Madina al-Nabi and came to an end at the end of the reign of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. It ought to be said that the beginning and the end of this era were of particular significance. In my view, the nature of politics during this period was remarkably different from what had happened before it and what happened afterwards and also concurrent with it during the era of prophethood in other parts of the world. I believe that to find out about the nature of Islamic politics, actual events during those few decades should also be studied in a careful and scholarly manner along with the Qur’an and documented traditions (sunnah) which are the sources of inference and analysis of Islamic principles and standards.
