ABSTRACT
The relationship between Islam, including Islamist movements, and civil society has been the subject of extensive academic debate, with some scholars under the impression that Islam and civil society remain fundamentally incompatible. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those who claim that, if properly implemented, Islam inherently leads to strong, effective and flourishing civil societies. In between the two poles, there are those who acknowledge the possibility as well as actual existence of “Islamic civil societies,” but posit no single and unequivocal relationship between Islam and civil society. Instead, they see positive as well as negative Islamic phenomena and tendencies in terms of civil society principles. Roughly speaking, since I am not in favor of essentialist observations regarding the relationship between Islam and civil society (wholly positive or definitively negative approaches simplify the matter equally), this thesis identifies with the middle path. In this chapter, an overview of (some of) these different approaches is given. This will be followed by my own analytical observations on the subject.
