ABSTRACT

Muslim contexts have indeed experienced secularization in the sense of the functional social differentiation and that this has had, and continues to have, substantial political and legal implications, especially with the emergence of the nation-state. This chapter considers how in the history of Muslim societies religion, politics and law have been related both in theory and in practice. Muslim contexts encounter both intra- as well as inter-religious diversity. Most fundamentally, within Muslim contexts two sources are taken seriously and considered basic. One is the text of the Qur'anic revelation; the second is the person, example and traditions of Muhammad b. Abdullah that is the Prophet Muhammad. The chapter deals with Muhammad himself who, according to tradition, received his first revelation in 610 CE while he was in the city of Mecca, which was his home. Muhammad's death in 632 CE initiated a sort of crisis in the early Muslim community.