Early history Scholar
Bernard Lewis points out that during its "first formative centuries", Christianity was separate from and often oppressed by the state, while "from the lifetime of its founder Islam
was the state ... Islam was thus associated with the exercise of power from the very beginning".
Evidence of separation of religion and state A number of scholars have argued that a separation of religion and political power is not inconsistent with early Islamic history. The Sudanese-born Islamic scholar
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im has argued that a secular state built on constitutionalism, human rights and full citizenship is more consistent with
Islamic history than modern visions of an
Islamic state. According to Jakir Al Faruki, secularism was found "for centuries" under the "tolerant and liberal" reign of most of the Mughal rulers "in particular, Akbar's regime (1556-1605)" Researcher
Olivier Roy argues that "a defacto separation between political power" of sultans and emirs and religious power of the caliph was "created and institutionalized ... as early as the end of the first century of
the hegira". Nonetheless, what has been lacking in the Muslim world was and is "political thought regarding the autonomy of this space." No positive law was developed outside of sharia. The sovereign's religious function was to defend the Islamic community against its enemies, institute the
sharia, ensure the public good (
maslaha). The state was an instrument to enable Muslims to live as good Muslims and Muslims were to obey the
sultan if he did so. The legitimacy of the ruler was "symbolized by the right to coin money and to have the Friday prayer (''
Jumu'ah khutba'') said in his name." The
Umayyad caliphate was seen as a secular state by many Muslims at the time, some of whom disapproved of the lack of integration of politics and religion. This perception was offset by a steady stream of wars that aimed to expand Muslim rule past the caliphate's borders. In
early Islamic philosophy,
Averroes presented an argument in
The Decisive Treatise providing a justification for the emancipation of science and philosophy from official
Ash'ari theology. Because of this, some consider
Averroism a precursor to modern secularism.
Colonial and post colonial era Muslim modernists and secularism The concept of secularism was imported along with many of the ideas of post-Enlightenment modernity from Europe into the Muslim world, namely the Middle East and North Africa. Among Muslim intellectuals, the early debate on secularism centered mainly on the relationship between religion and state, and how this relationship was related to European successes in science, technology and governance. In the debate on the relationship between religion and state, (in)separability of religious and political authorities in the Islamic world or status of the
Caliph, was one of the biggest issues. Many
Islamic modernist thinkers (especially from the late 19th century to the 1970s) argued against the inseparability of religious and political authorities in the Islamic world and described the system of separation between religion and state (along with concepts like freedom, nationalism, and democracy) within their ideal Islamic world. (The search for harmony in a multi-confessional population by
Baathists, other nationalists, including non-Muslim
Arabs, was also part of support for secularism.)
Muhammad ʿAbduh (1849–1905), a prominent Muslim modernist thinker, claimed in his book
Al-Idtihad fi Al-Nasraniyya wa Al-Islam (Persecution in Christianity and in Islam) that no one had exclusive religious authority in the Islamic world. He argued that even the
Caliph did not have religious authority over common Muslims because the caliph was neither infallible nor the person to whom divine revelation had been given. ʿAbduh argued that the Caliph should have the respect of the umma but not rule it; the unity of the umma is a moral unity that does not prevent its division into national states.
Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi (c. 1854–c.1902), in his book ''Taba'i' Al-Istibdad'' (The Characteristics of Tyranny), discussed the relationship between religion and despotism, arguing that "while most religions tried to enslave the people to the holders of religious office who exploited them, the original Islam was built on foundations of political freedom standing between democracy and aristocracy." Al-Kawakibi suggested that people can achieve a non-religious national unity, saying: "Let us take care of our lives in this world and let the religions rule in the next world." As seen above, these arguments about the separability of religious and political authorities in the Islamic world were greatly connected with the presence of the
Caliphate. Therefore, the abolishment of the Caliphate by the Turkish government in 1924 had considerable influence on such arguments among Muslim intellectuals. A work even more controversial than those mentioned above is a 1925 tract,
Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm (Islam and the Foundations of Governance) by
Ali Abd al-Raziq (1888–1966), an Islamic Scholar and
Shari'a judge. He argued that there was no clear evidence in the
Quran and the
hadith, which would justify a common assumption—that to accept the authority of the caliph is a religious obligation. Furthermore, he claimed that it was not even necessary that the
ummah should be politically united and that religion has nothing to do with one form of government rather than another. He argued that nothing in Islam forbids Muslims from destroying their old political system and building a new one on the basis of the newest conceptions of the human spirit and the experience of nations. This publication caused a fierce debate especially as he recommended that religion can be separated from government and politics; and he was later removed from his position.
Franz Rosenthal argued that in Abd al-Raziq "we meet for the first time a consistent, unequivocal theoretical assertion of the purely and exclusively religious character of Islam".
Taha Hussein (1889–1973), an Egyptian writer, was also an advocate for the separation of religion and politics from a viewpoint of
Egyptian nationalism. Hussein believed that Egypt always had been part of
Western civilization and that Egypt had its renaissance in the nineteenth century and had re-Europeanized itself. For him, the distinguishing mark of the modern world is that it has brought about a virtual separation of religion and civilization, each in its own sphere. It is therefore quite possible to take the bases of civilization from Europe without its religion, Christianity. Moreover, he believed that it is easier for Muslims than for Christians, since Islam has no priesthood, and so in his view, there was no vested interest in the control of religion over society.
21st century Muslims and secularism Writing ,
Mansoor Alam argues that the "plunge into bloodshed" between Shias, Sunnis and other sects in Pakistan since the mid-1980s have "made mosques, imambargahs and even cemeteries unsafe places to visit". The "only antidote" the polarization of sects is the one Christians learnt after "a few hundred years of internecine bloodshed", i.e. secularism. Faisal Al Yafai, a columnist for
The National, wrote in 2012 that secularism in the Arab World had declined and that "There is no major political party in the Arab world that would today be understood as secular." Khaldoun H. Shami, a scholar and researcher in media and secularism at the
University of East Anglia argues that Secularism is problematic in the region, often associated with atheism, colonialism, or westernization. He emphasizes a “Middle Eastern model” of secularism — not simply importing Western categories, but a version that is responsive to local culture, religious diversity, social and political norms. He also situates it as connected with, or in tension with, issues such as minorities, militarism, and state-religion relationships.
Establishment of secularism John L. Esposito, a professor of international affairs and Islamic studies, points out: the post-independent period witnessed the emergence of modern Muslim states whose pattern of development was heavily influenced by and indebted to Western secular paradigms or models. Saudi Arabia and Turkey reflected the two polar positions. [...] The majority of Muslim states chose a middle ground in nation building, borrowing heavily from the West and relying on foreign advisers and Western-educated elites. Esposito also argues that in many modern Muslim countries, the role of Islam in state and society as a source of legitimization for rulers, state, and government institutions was greatly decreased, though the separation of religion and politics was not total. However, while most Muslim governments replaced Islamic law with legal systems inspired by western secular codes, Muslim family law (marriage, divorce, and inheritance) remained in force.
Questions of suitability Opinion polls indicate a majority of Muslims believe that Islam does not separate religion from the state, unlike Christianity, and many Muslims around the world welcome a significant role for Islam in their countries' political life. Historian
Bernard Lewis argues secularism developed in Europe as a reaction to bitter and devastating religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth century—a malady Islam did not suffer from. Islamic history has had "regional, tribal, and dynastic wars with ... a religious coloration", "great power rivalries" such as between
Sunni Ottoman Empire and Shia Persian one, but not religious wars; religious discrimination but not persecution, prosecution of disloyal apostates but not campaigns against heresy and the burning of heretics;
Opposition from Islamic revivalists The resurgence of Islam/Islamic revival, beginning with the Iranian revolution of 1978–9, defied the illusions of advocates of secularization theory. The resurgence of Islam in politics in the most modernizing of Muslim countries, such as Egypt, Algeria and Turkey, betrayed expectations of those who believed religion should be at the margins not the center of public life. Furthermore, in most cases, it was not a rural but an urban phenomenon, and its leaders and supporters were educated professionals. A striking example of the power of the religious revival to reverse secularism was in Iraq where in 1990-1991 the leader of the putatively secular
Arab nationalist Ba'ath Party (
Saddam Hussein), "finding himself at war, inscribed
Allahu Akbar on his banner and, after seeing the Prophet in a dream, proclaimed
jihad against the infidels." Scholars like
Vali Nasr argue that the secular elites in the Muslim world were imposed by colonial powers to maintain hegemony.
Islamists believe that Islam fuses religion and politics, with normative political values determined by the divine texts. It is argued that this has historically been the case and the secularist/modernist efforts at secularizing politics are little more than
jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic ignorance),
kafir (unbelief/infidelity),
irtidad (apostasy) and
atheism. Mawlana Mawdudi, founder of Jamaat e-Islami, proclaimed in 1948 that those who participated in secular politics were raising the flag of revolt against God and his messenger.
Opposition from Conservative Muslims Saudi scholars denounce secularism as un-Islamic. Prior to the reign of Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian Directorate of Ifta', Preaching and Guidance, issued a directive decreeing that whoever believes that there is a guidance (
huda) more perfect than that of the Prophet (as spelled out in hadith and other literature), or that someone else's rule is better than that of the Prophet's, is a
kafir. It lists a number of specific tenets which would be regarded as a serious departure from the precepts of Islam, punishable according to
Sharia/Islamic law. For example: • The belief that human-made laws and constitutions are superior to
Sharia/Islamic law. • The opinion that Islam is limited to one's relation with God, and has nothing to do with the daily affairs of life. • To disapprove of the application of the
hudud (legal punishments of
Sharia/Islamic law) that they are incompatible in the modern age. • And whoever allows what God has prohibited is a
kafir (unbeliever). In the view of
Tariq al-Bishri, "secularism and Islam cannot agree except by means of talfiq [falsification, i.e. combining the doctrines of more than one school of Islam], or by each turning away from its true meaning." Mansoor Alam argues that the because the Ottoman and the Mughal empires were disintegrating at the same time as Britain, France and Russia were colonizing areas of the Muslim world, this:
Questions of connection with authoritarianism A number of scholars have argued that secular governments in Muslim countries at the end of the 20th century, have become more repressive and authoritarian to protect their rule (and their secularism) and from the spread of
Islamism, After Islamists won elections in the secularist, nationalist states of
Turkey and
Algeria, the elections were overturned by the militaries in order to "protect secularism". In Algeria, a military coup followed the sweeping 1991 victory of the
Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). The FIS supporters rose up and a bloody
civil war followed. but was forced to resign from the office by the Turkish military in February 1997 with a military intervention which is known as "post-modern coup". No civil war followed that intervention but a later version of the Welfare party, (the AKP), went on to win power in 2001 and has become known for both its authoritarianism and its elimination of secularists from positions of power. (see below) In some countries, the fear of
Islamist takeover via democratic processes has led to
authoritarian measures against Islamist political parties. "The Syrian regime was able to capitalize on the fear of Islamists coming to power to justify the massive clampdown on the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood." When American diplomats asked
Hosni Mubarak to give more rights to the press and stop arresting intellectuals, Mubarak declined and said, "If I do what you ask, the fundamentalists will take over the government in Egypt. Do you want that?" When President Bill Clinton asked
Yasser Arafat to establish
democracy in
Palestine in 2001, Yasser Arafat replied similarly, claiming that with "a democratic system Islamist
Hamas will surely take control of the government". Fred Halliday and others have pointed out that increasing authoritarianism has also left the mosque the only safe place in much of the Muslim world to voice political opposition.
Secular feminism Azza Karam described secular feminists in 1988 as follows: Generally, secular feminist activists call for total equality between the sexes, attempt to ground their ideas on women's rights outside religious frameworks, perceive Islamism as an obstacle to their equality and a linkage to patriarchal values. They argue that secularism was important for protecting civil rights. == Secular states with majority Muslim populations ==