ABSTRACT
A common starting point to discuss the notion of 'Islamic state', or, more precisely, 'Islamic governance' in the pre-modern period is the assertion that Islamic sources say precious little about norms of governance and the state. Students of Islamic law, even when disregarding the historians' caution, must remember that the difference between a pre-modern state and the 'modern state' is not merely one of quantity, but of quality. Despite its diversity in different times and places, pre-modern Islamic governance was based on a number of distinctive administrative institutions and practices. In hindsight, the 'political system' hit its first snag in the succession of the Prophet, for which, according to the mainstream Sunni account, there was no specific guidance except if the general command to consult, shura, is extended to cover this situation. The Sunni caliphate discourse had been created almost exclusively by Ashari theologians as Sunni polemics against the Muʿtazila, the Shiʿa and the Kharijis.
