ABSTRACT
In the discussion of the emergence of Islam in the seventh through tenth centuries, three matters were isolated that provided the key elements of Islamic identity. Theology, law and ritual were crucial to those activities which would serve to identify Islam as a religion over against other faiths (primarily Judaism and Christianity) and to provide Muslims themselves with a sense of commonality with one another. This motif has remained stable throughout Islamic history down to current times, although the background against which that identity must be read is now much more multifaceted than in previous centuries. It is still possible to isolate the same three elements as crucial, although theology perhaps has taken substantially more of a back seat to law, which now manifests itself primarily within the arena of politics and the role of Islam within it. Ritual, on the other hand, remains a very important aspect, both from the perspective of self-identity and for identity from the outside.
