ABSTRACT
In an influential article on the "Separation of State and Religion in the Development of Early Islamic Society", Ira Lapidus has argued, for instance, that the function of al-amr bi'l-ma'rilf came to be effectively taken over from the caliph by religious leaders and vigilante groups in the wake of the civil war between al-Amin (r. 193-98/809-13) and alMa'mun (r. 198-218/813-33), and that the loss of this function in turn signifies the end of the caliph's role in the religious sphere of the community's life. The failure of the Mi~ma, the "Inquisition" instituted by al-Ma'mun to have thefuqahii' and qiic;lfs conform to the doctrine of the "createdness" of the Qur'an, only confirmed this separation between religion and state, a separation which also entailed one between society and state. 1 Tilman Nagel sees the ideological initiatives of the early 'Abbasid caliphs as ultimately unsuccessful efforts to build their authority on the idea of the sunna or of the imiima (or both), with the
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resultthatSunniIslamdevelopednotjustinseparationfrom,butin oppositionto,the'Abbasids.2WhileNagelconsidersdevotiontothe sunnaandtheideaoftheimiimaas"Ersatzinstitutionen"intendedto substitutefortheProphet'sinimitableauthority,PatriciaCroneand MartinHindsarguethatreligiousauthoritydidnotdiewiththeProphet butrathercontinuedinthepersonof"God'scaliph".3Ontheirshowing,theUmayyadcaliphsenjoyedreligiousauthority,asalsodidthe early'Abbasids.However,itisarguedthatbythetimethe'Abbasids cametopower,the'ulama',armedwiththeconceptofanimmutable sunnaoftheProphetofwhichtheyaloneclaimedtobethesole interpreters,werealreadywell-advancedonthewaytoterminatingthe caliph'sreligiousauthority.Theshowdowndidcomewithal-Ma'miin, but"thefactthatthe'ulama'hadmanagedtoproduceevenal-Shafi'i beforethecollisioncameevidentlymeantthatai-Ma'miin'schancesof winningwereslim";4itwasnotlongbefore"thevulgarmasseslactingJ ...undertheleadershipofIbnI:Ianbal...rejectedcaliphalguidancein religiousmattersonceandforall."5
