In Memory of Hans Küng, whose work continues to inspire me to integrate the theological understanding of Islam with its sociological study, all within the framework of the Axial Age
Abstract
In this second article of the series, I examine Islam through a sociological study of axial religion. By developing the concept of the religious construction of sociocultural reality, a historical-critical approach to the two distinct models of Mecca and Medina highlights the primacy of the Meccan model as a source of immanent critique, Muslim identity, and emancipation. Through a historical and sociological analysis of the elective affinity between religious discourse, material interests, and power structures in the course of political development, I aim to provide a thick description of the constellations within Islam’s paradigm—particularly in the areas of legal science and rational thought as manifested in traditional legal schools and their relationship to power. This study offers an intellectual foundation for understanding Islamic civilization in critical and constructive dialogue with the Nahda, the Arabic renaissance, as shaped by Western European influence during the colonial period.
Islam and the Comparative Study of Axial Religion
In addressing Islam as a living tradition, I use “Muslim” as an adjective to refer to both men and women who profess the religion of Islam. The term “Muslim” can also describe societal or historical phenomena with religious content or character. Meanwhile, the term “Islamic” refers to aspects of cultural life and civilization that are shared even by non-Muslim people within Muslim societies—such as in art, music, film, literature, theology, and philosophy.[1]
Within the context of Islam, Muslims seek to find God in history, living in accordance with God’s will. The Qur’an, along with other scriptures (such as the Sunna and Hadith), provides them with a historical mission and a primary duty: to create a just community and ensure political well-being. All members of society, even the weakest and most vulnerable, should be treated with recognition and respect.
Social concern has always been an essential part of the visions of the great world religions. According to Karen Armstrong, this vision developed during what historians call the Axial Age (c. 700 BCE to 200 BCE), a period that saw the emergence of key religious and philosophical traditions: Taoism and Confucianism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent, Jewish monotheism in Palestine, Zoroastrianism in Iran, and the rise of philosophy and rationality in Greece. The Axial Age faiths focused on a single deity or supreme symbol of transcendence, each addressing the fundamental injustices of their societies. Armstrong categorizes Islam as one of the Axial religions.[2]
In all these civilizations, a profound tension existed between political powers and intellectual movements. “New models of reality—whether mystically, prophetically, or rationally apprehended—were proposed as a criticism of, and an alternative to, the prevailing models. We are in the age of criticism.”[3]
The significant terms ‘criticism’ and ‘alternative path’ represent new developments in the realm of thought, encompassing political, ethical, religious, and philosophical dimensions. This calls for a sociological study of religion, rather than an existential one. If I understand alternative modernity as the beginning of a new Axial Age in the comparative study of world religions at the level of global encounter, I seek to examine Islam’s breakthrough in the historical course of development. This involves questioning Muslim activities and their contributions to a new meaning and innovation, especially in relation to the Western Renaissance.
In developing Islam within the framework of axial religion, I aim to interpret it through the lens of the religious construction of reality. This approach explicates religious ideas or discourse in terms of elective affinity, linking them with material interests within a broader spectrum, and examining their relationship with power structures in the course of political development.
Intentional Circle: Questioning Back and Forward
In the religious construction of Islamic reality, archaeological clarification focuses on examining the discursive traces of past systems of knowledge (episteme). It explores how knowledge is produced and organized through language, institutions, and practices. Prolepsis, in the sense of understanding the future, is not separate from the archaeological clarification of how past societies dealt with the religious construction of reality, including aspects like agency, status stratification, institutions, governance, and power structures.
This approach also informs our understanding of how contemporary societies might address similar issues in the future. It involves questioning forward through a deeper understanding of potential solutions, fostering constructive thinking and dialogue in exploring future possibilities. Questioning back to religious sources cannot be separated from questioning forward, as seen in the intentional circle or spectrum.
In this context, prolepsis involves understanding how current systems of knowledge shape the present while anticipating their influence on future developments. Knowledge systems are embedded within the transcendental reality of the life-world, which underpins a proleptic practice in addressing the religious construction of reality toward the future.
Religious sources and cultural practices can serve as an intellectual framework to redefine and reinforce the Islamic signifier of modernity, particularly in reference to Nahda. The Nahda, or Arab Renaissance, influenced by European modernity, represents a significant intellectual and cultural movement in the Arab world during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This movement revitalized Arab societies, with Islamic intellectual and cultural activity embracing new ideas about politics, society, culture, literature, and education from Europe, while also drawing on Islamic traditions and a sense of shared identity. The Nahda was, in fact, a complex and multifaceted movement engaging with modernity.
In this regard, religion is understood as a system of meaning, while being deeply involved in the discourse of reform and power relations—particularly in relation to the West. It is explicated in light of the life-world within the Islamic context.
Religion: Inside Out
Religion, as defined by al-din and its covenantal dimension, provides social integration, democratic reason, consensus, and moral solidarity. In approaching Islam, I highlight the Qur’an’s definition of its religion as al-din—a term that refers to the yawm al-din(Day of Judgment) in an eschatological context, signifying the general resurrection. This concept is closely tied to the ideas of obligation and law.
God sends to the Prophet Muhammad the same religion (din) that was given to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: “You shall uphold the religion, and be not divided therein” (Q 42:13).[4]
The covenantal dimensions of religion in monotheistic or Abrahamic traditions are centered around religious narrative and practice—such as the Five Pillars of Islam: the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage. This framework synthesizes the shared values of modern society (ethos) with the religious worldview, facilitating semantic retrieval in both individual life and the public sphere.
From a sociological perspective, this approach allows us to construct a viable notion of public theology in Islam, understood as a cultural system—or a system of meaning—rooted in religious worldview and ethical values. It can be expressed and embodied in various forms of Muslim practice and political discourse across the world.[5]
Religious Discourse and Political Power
In the study of religious discourse and power relations in Islam, it is crucial to investigate religious sources as sources of inspiration and authentic meaning for immanent critique, self-renewal, and emancipation from the prejudices, obscurities, and hierarchies that have been ingrained and sedimented in the historical development of Islam. A type of political dominion cannot be fully understood in isolation from the formation of religious discourse.
In Durkheim’s view, the soul of Islam is the soul of its society and culture. Religious ideas or representations are intertwined with their ritual and legal authority, shaping and determining how people see and understand the world through collective representations. “If religion gave birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion.”[6]
Muhammad was born around the year 570–579 CE into one of the less prosperous clans of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, a city in modern-day Saudi Arabia. He began receiving revelations from Allah at around the age of forty. At about age twenty, he started working as a merchant, reportedly making long journeys to Syria, where he is said to have met a Christian monk named Bahira, who prophesied Muhammad’s future greatness.[7]
Later, Muhammad worked as a merchant for a wealthy widow, Khadijah, whom he married. Her wealth and status significantly elevated his position in Meccan society. At around forty years old, an angel appeared to him and said:
“Recite in the name of your Lord who created, Created man from a blood clot.
Recite, for your Lord is most magnanimous, Who taught by the pen,
Taught man that which he knew not.” (Q 96:1-5)
Muhammad’s monotheism came into conflict with the polytheistic beliefs of Mecca, where the Kaaba, a shrine, was associated with numerous gods. At the time of Muhammad, the Kaaba was still filled with images and statues of these gods. In 619CE, the controversy reached a critical stage. Around 620 CE, a group of six men from Yathrib were persuaded by Muhammad’s revelation and became his steadfast companions. The following year, in 622 CE, an agreement was reached between Muhammad and a group of converts in Yathrib (later known as Medina). However, in the same year, Muhammad and his followers were forced to leave Mecca.
After long negotiations, Muhammad was invited to arbitrate between two feuding tribes in Yathrib. His emigration from Mecca to Medina is known as the Hijrah in Arabic (or Hegira in English), marking the beginning of a new polity. 622 CE is considered the official start of Islamic history and the beginning of the Muslim calendar.
Living in Medina for ten years, Muhammad adopted several Jewish practices, including observing Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and facing Jerusalem during prayers. However, the Jews rejected Muhammad’s claim as a prophet and the Qur’an as a sacred book. The fast of Yom Kippur was later abandoned in favor of the fast of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Muslim calendar. The qiblah (direction of prayers) was also changed from Jerusalem to the Kaaba in Mecca.[8]
Muhammad’s triumph over Mecca in 630 CE is marked by his forgiveness of all his enemies, who, in turn, embraced Islam. Muhammad, with his religious and ethical standards, organized the Islamic society in the city. He worked primarily through persuasion rather than by exercising political power.
During the first Meccan period, Muhammad developed his religion in pietistic urban conventicles, in withdrawal from the world. In the subsequent developments in Medina and the unfolding of the early Islamic communities, the Medinan model of power and dominion continued to shape Islamic history through conquest and the subjugation of non-Muslims. The transition from the Meccan to the Medinan period reflects a shift from underprivileged to powerful dominion. Therefore, Max Weber argues that Islam was transformed into “a national Arabic warrior religion.”[9]
Given the core sources of the Islamic faith, it is essential to uphold the so-called FivePillars of Islam. The first pillar is the testimony of faith: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is His messenger.” The second pillar is the worship of God five times a day, praying in the direction of Mecca. The first muezzin (caller to prayer) was Bilal, a black Abyssinian slave who was tortured by Muhammad’s enemies but was rescued by Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s companion. Bilal later converted to Islam and lived in Medina, becoming one of the Prophet’s close companions.
This story highlights that Islam accepted people of all races from the outset. The third pillar is to abstain from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity between sunrise and sunset during the month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Muslim calendar. The fourth pillar is to give alms (zakat) to the poor annually, which supports the establishment of schools, hospitals, libraries, and mosques, among other community needs. One of the most notable charitable acts involved the creation of public drinking fountains in medieval times, freely available to all passers-by.
The fifth pillar is to undertake a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime. This pilgrimage is connected to the Prophet Ibrahim (the biblical Abraham) and centers around the Kaaba.[10]
In fact, Prophet Muhammad undoubtedly enjoyed considerable authority. This authority stemmed from his charismatic power rather than from the power of a “warrior religion.” Muhammad accepted the full legitimacy of all the authorities that ensured the reproduction of the social system. The authorities that governed these societies cannot be reduced solely to religious leaders. These religious leaders (the ulama among Muslims) were tasked with ensuring that the ‘true religion’ was upheld.
A sociological thesis of the equation of God and society can be understood in the sense that God spoke through the Prophet Muhammad. An Islamic society, therefore, cannot be separated from its faithfulness to the divine will of Allah.[11]
Muhammad sought to unite all people into a single monotheistic community (ummah) dedicated to the service of the one God, based on his teachings and practices. The special significance of the ummah has nothing to do with race or nation: “You are the best community, singled out for people: you enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and you believe in God” (Q 3:110).
In Chapter 112 of the Qur’an, one of the first verses revealed during the early Meccan period reads: “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Caring. He is God, one and forever. God does not beget, nor is He begotten, and there is none like unto Him.”
The Meccan model demonstrates that the Prophet Muhammad relied solely on the power of persuasion and preaching the faith in the one compassionate God, leveraging his charismatic authority. In distinguishing the Meccan model from the Medinan model, David Marshall suggests focusing on the Meccan stage of Muhammad’s life and the corresponding Meccan passages of the Qur’an. According to Marshall, the Medinan paradigm necessarily involves Muslims holding power over non-Muslims, shaping its model around God’s triumph over them.[12]
Axial Age and Religious Source
To address the two distinct yet interconnected models of Mecca and Medina, I adopt a sociological approach to Islam as a prophetic type of religion, drawing on the hypothesis of Axial Age religion.
In Max Weber’s comparative study of world religions, a concept similar to the Axial Age hypothesis is seen in his reference to a prophetic age. This age, spanning the eighth and seventh centuries BCE and extending into the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, includes prophetic movements in Israel, Persia, and India, with analogous developments in China. These movements seem to form the backdrop for the later emergence of the world religions.
S.N. Eisenstadt placed the Axial Age at the center of his comparative historical sociology, focusing on the fundamental tension between the transcendental and mundane orders. This era saw the rise of a new type of intellectual elite—an elite group that sought to restructure the world according to a transcendental vision and moral framework, using reflexivity and criticism of prevailing social conditions.[13]
When I approach Islam as a category of Axial religion, I value the narrative style of thought alongside analytic or theoretical thinking. The narrative serves as the source of Muslim politics, ethics, meaning, and worldview construction, deeply influencing how they understand both personal and collective identities.[14]
The central, shared characteristic of all Muslims is their belief in a God who sent a verbal revelation called the Qur’an through the human prophet Muhammad. Muhammad’s religious vision was not focused on building a private fortune, but on creating a society where the weak and vulnerable (including women and the lower classes) would be treated with care and respect. Social justice became the foundational virtue of Islam, with Muslims seeing their primary duty as building a community (ummah) characterized by practical compassion, goodness, and social justice under the guidance of God.[15]
Mecca had become a thriving trading city on the Arabian Peninsula, heavily influenced by the merchant class. Instead of caring for the weaker members of society, the Quraysh tribe became focused on making money at the expense of poorer families or clans. The new sect would be called Islam (meaning “surrender”); a Muslim was a man or woman who had fully submitted their being to Allah. In Islam, human beings are called to treat one another with justice, equity, and compassion. This attitude was reflected in the prostrations of the ritual prayer (salat) performed five times a day. Social justice became the cornerstone virtue of Islam, aimed at building a community (ummah) characterized by practical compassion and a fair distribution of wealth.
Muhammad’s preaching in Mecca emphasized the abolition of slavery and all forms of social oppression, particularly those that victimized women. This was in contrast to his preaching in Medina, where the Prophet formed an alliance with the ruling classes who rallied to Islam.[16]
Historical Critical Study and the Qur’an
The Qur’an was revealed (or “sent down” – munzal in Arabic) and is regarded as co-eternal with God. The Qur’an is believed to have been collected in its present form within two years of Muhammad’s death under the leadership of his friend and successor, Abu Bakr (d. 634). However, some argue that it was Caliph Umar (d. 644) who was the first to compile the Qur’an. The written text Muslims use today was completed between 650 and 656 CE, during the reign of Umar’s successor, Caliph Uthman. A close companion of Muhammad, Zayd ibn Thabit (d. 655 CE), collected written records of Quranic verses, and the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656 CE), is credited with commissioning Zayd and other respected scholars to establish the authoritative version of the Qur’an—often referred to as Uthman’s unitary Qur’an. This version is a scriptio defectiva, accompanied by various editions. Finally, the standard edition of 1923 was completed based on the Iraqi textual edition produced by scholars at al-Azhar University.[17]
In the historical critical edition of the Qur’an, the places of origin of the surahs are divided into two periods: Meccan surahs (610-622) and Medinan surahs (622-632). The periods of revelation are further classified into four stages:
- The first early Meccan period (610-615), which consists of relatively shorter verses. These surahs focus on the existence of God with an emphasis on His unreachable generosity, the use of oath formulas, God as the Creator, ethical concerns for the poor, and an eschatological message.
- The second middle Meccan period (615-620).
- The third late Meccan period (620-622).
- The Medina period (622-632), with surahs such as chapters 89-94, 96-102, and 104-110.[18]
In the critical edition of the Qur’an, it is essential to place the Meccan model alongside (rather than in opposition to) the Medinan model. In chapter 112 of the Qur’an, one of the first verses, believed to be revealed during the early Meccan period, states:“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Caring. He is God, One and Forever. God is not begetting, nor unbegotten, having none as an equal.”
God, the Merciful, is present within the religious community and shapes it according to God’s covenant, which embraces all. “The Merciful! God taught the Qur’an and created human beings, permeating the universe. God established the balance of justice, that you may not transgress” (55:1-13).
In the Meccan phase, the emphasis is placed on God’s mercy and compassion, which corresponds to the Muslim response of gratitude and obedience, as confessed in the name of God,the Compassionate, the Merciful. The Qur’an often expresses rhetorical amazement at the capacity of human beings who deny God’s generosity and mercy, despite the wonders God has created.[19]
The special significance of the ummah (community) is not tied to race or nationality: “You are the best community that ever emerged for humanity: you advocate what is moral, and forbid what is immoral, and believe in God” (Q 3:110).
Differences of opinion within the community should not be dismissed but rather appreciated as a sign of God’s generosity. This underscores the importance of Shura (consultation) in the community, which serves to uphold moral integrity and practice. A great deal of freedom and ingenuity was exercised by the early scholars of Islam and community leaders in interpreting the Quran, particularly through the use of ijtihad (independent reasoning) and qiyas (analogical reasoning).[20]
In 624, the Prophet Muhammad defeated the Meccan troops at Badr, a victory that significantly boosted his prestige, much like the miracle of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. As the Early Islamic communities developed, the Medinan model of power and dominion continued to shape Islamic history, particularly through warrior conquest and the subjugation of non-Muslims, especially under the leadership of Umar, the second rightly-guided caliph (634-644).
When the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 638, taking it from the Byzantines, Caliph Umar ensured the safety of the Christian inhabitants, their property, and their churches.
Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad’s religion (al-din) is grounded in respect for the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). Social life thus became deeply intertwined with an Islamic identity and cultural authenticity, rooted in the religious construction of reality, which draws upon narrative, meaning, and power.
In contrast, the Christian wars of religion were first waged under the Augustinian formula “coge intrare” (compel them to come in)—unbelievers or heretics must choose between conversion and extirpation. This ideology reemerged during Pope Urban II’s instigation of the Crusades, where Muslims were demonized as “an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from God.”[21]
In the First Crusade (1096-1099), European Christians captured Jerusalem in 1099, and they slaughtered most of the inhabitants—men, women, and children, both Muslim and Jewish. In drawing a comparison, I turn to Durkheim’s thesis of the ‘God and society equation’, which is crucial for understanding Islamic identity and cultural authenticity. According to this equation, God is intimately bound up with the ummah (the community), and this theo-political and ethical framework is expressed through the confession of Tawhid (the oneness of God) and the belief in God’s will.
This perspective implies a worldview in which the universal unity of existence—God, nature, and humanity—is ontologically and harmoniously interconnected. It presents existence as a living, interconnected system, while still maintaining an epistemological distinction between the unseen and the manifest. Such a position integrates society as an objective reality with human responsibility and the collective will of the people.[22]
Authority in Conflict and Political Development
The ambiguities surrounding the nature of authority during the Medina Caliphates (the so-called ‘rightly-guided’ caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali) were swiftly addressed following the Umayyad victory and the subsequent conquest of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Iran.
From the outset, there was a faction that believed Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, was the rightful successor. Ali’s supporters argued that Muhammad had personally chosen him as his successor and cited various prophetic traditions (hadith) to support this claim. This belief aligns with the genealogical-personal principle central to Shiism, which holds that leadership should stay within the Prophet’s family, specifically the descendants of Ali.
In 661 CE, Ali was attacked at the door of a mosque in Kufa by a poisoned sword and died after enduring a painful death. Because of his marriage to Fatima, Muhammad’s daughter, Ali’s followers believed that his son, Husayn, was the rightful heir to continue the authority within the Prophet’s lineage. In 680 CE, Husayn and his followers were killed by Umayyad forces while en route to Damascus in an attempt to reclaim the caliphate. Husayn’s martyrdom left an indelible mark on Shiite Islam.
From its inception, the Shiite community was led by a series of rulers known as Imams, each tracing their lineage back to Ali. This community’s eschatological faith centers on the Twelfth Imam, who disappeared in 940 CE and is believed to return on the Day of Judgment. This belief is a defining characteristic of Twelver Shiism, which is the largest sect of Shiite Islam, especially prominent in modern Iran.[23]
Others resisted this idea and eventually seized control of the caliphate, establishing the Umayyad dynasty. This marks the origin of the Sunni branch of Islam, which today constitutes the overwhelming majority of the Muslim community.
The Umayyad Arab Empire was founded by Muawiyyah, the governor of Syria from the Umayyah clan, who rebelled against the fourth caliph, Ali. Damascus, a cultural hub in Syria, became the political center of this new Arab dynasty during the Umayyad period (661-750).
Religious Scholars, Legal Science, and Political Development
The Umayyad caliphate (661-750), established in Syria, drew on the Byzantine traditions and emerged after the defeat of Ali and his supporters. Following the rise of the Umayyads, the vast majority of the Muslim world, with the exception of Iran, came to be dominated by Sunni Islam, which became the “orthodox” tradition.
During this time, the major theological debates within early Islamic circles stemmed from the political crises that followed the assassinations of the Caliphs Umar, Uthman, and Ali, as well as the civil wars that ultimately led to the split between the Sunni and Shiite sects.
With the fall of the Umayyads, the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258) ushered in a more cosmopolitan era, establishing its capital in Baghdad. However, the Abbasids were later subordinated to the Buwayhid dynasty (945-1055) and then the Seljuk Turks (1055-1258) before Baghdad was sacked by the Mongols.
The Abbasids de-emphasized ethnic Arab identity, shifting the Muslim caliphate toward a multiethnic entity, with Baghdad serving as its cosmopolitan heart. While trying to reconcile the Sunni-Shii schism, they were also active patrons of scholarship, the arts, and the broader cultural flourishing of the Islamic world. This period, known as the Classical Islamic Age, witnessed unprecedented intellectual and cultural prosperity. Its mythic legacy is immortalized in works like The One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights).
Baghdad and the Development of Islamic Thought
Baghdad, established during the Abbasid period, adopted a Persian architectural and cultural style, reflecting the influence of Ctesiphon, the capital of the last indigenous Iranian dynasty, the Sassanids (224-651 CE).
In fact, the Sassanian Empire fell during the broader early Muslim conquests between 633 and 651 CE. However, its legacy continues to shape Iranian identity, alongside the profound influence of Islam. This period marks a transformative era that integrates Islamic culture with Persian heritage, sparking a new age of cultural and intellectual flourishing.
The city’s design and educational systems during the Abbasid period were deeply rooted in Persian traditions, embedding Persian modes of thinking and scholarship. In this environment, Islam reached its classical form as a world religion, blending Arab and Persian intellectual and cultural traditions to create a cosmopolitan culture.
While Sunni Islam dominated for several centuries, the Safavid dynasty (1501–1736) later converted Iran to Shia Islam, leaving a lasting impact on Persian history and culture. The Safavids established Shia Islam as the state religion, unifying Iran and fostering the arts.
Rise of Religious Scholars and Islamic Thought
Under the Umayyads, religious scholars were primarily private figures. However, during the Abbasid era, they were publicly recognized as a professional class, essential to the philosophical and theological foundation of the new Islamic state and society. The period marked a transformation in the role of scholars, from being informal teachers to official custodians of religious and philosophical knowledge.
Islamic theology (Kalam) and Islamic philosophy diverged in their origins. Kalam refers to the theological discussions on faith, God’s nature, and human action, rooted in Islamic principles, while Islamic philosophy derives from Greek thought, particularly the works of Aristotle, Plato, and Plotinus. The term Falsafa (Arabic for philosophy) is itself an adaptation of the Greek word philosophia, symbolizing the synthesis of ancient Greek ideas with Islamic intellectual traditions.
By the end of the 8th century, theological schools emerged, with Mutazila being the most prominent. The Mutazila were recognized as the official theology of the Abbasid state during the reign of al-Mamun (813-833). They emphasized the use of reason and rationality in interpreting the Qur’an and human existence, an intellectual tradition that predated Latin scholasticism by several centuries. The Mutazila’s rational approach to the Qur’an and God’s attributes brought a distinctly philosophical dimension to Islamic thought.
However, when the Mutazila lost their state sponsorship, they were replaced by the Ash’ari school, founded by al-Ashari (d. 935), who initially studied as a Mutazilite but later reverted to a more traditionalist position. The Ash’arites differed significantly from the Mutazila in their conception of God’s attributes. While the Mutazila saw God’s attributes (e.g., mercy, power, knowledge) as distinct from His essence and thus non-eternal, the Ash’arites held that God’s attributes were eternal and inseparable from His essence.
Differences Between the Mutazila and Ash’ari Schools
- Mutazila: They emphasized that nothing was equal to God and that the Qur’an was created. They subordinated the Qur’an to the transcendence, unity, and oneness of God, interpreting God’s attributes as non-eternal.
- Ash’ari: In contrast, the Ash’arites maintained that God’s attributes (knowledge, speech, mercy, etc.) were eternal, and inseparable from His divine essence. They took a more traditionalist approach, emphasizing the importance of revelation over reason.
In the school of the Mutazila, the fundamental principle is that nothing is equal to God.
The created nature of the Qur’an is subordinated to, or bound up with, “the transcendence, unity, and oneness of God.”[24]
But the Ashʿarī school regarded the Qur’an as the eternal speech of God, while the Muʿtazila were hesitant, fearing it might be replaced at some future date. The Muʿtazila placed great faith in the powers of human intellect and refused to accept certain matters that lay beyond human understanding.[25]
The school of al-Ashʿarī, the Ashʿarīyah, ultimately triumphed in the great debate with the Muʿtazila. Later, al-Ghazālī developed the Ashʿarī position, establishing it as the dominant dogmatic theology.
Hadith and Schools of Legal Science
The traditional legal framework in Islam developed from the Quran and Sunnah (the collection of sayings and customary practices of the Prophet). The Quran, as a direct message from Allah, and the Sunnah became the two primary sources of Islamic theology and law.
The earliest collections of Hadith were compiled by respected scholars such as Ibn Hanbal (d. 855). These collections were later categorized based on their transmitters, including al-Muslim (d. 875) and al-Bukhari (d. 870). In Islamic terms, Hadith refers to the recorded actions and sayings of the Prophet and his companions. It became the second source of Islamic jurisprudence, with Islamic law regarded as the divine prescriptions for the running of the universe.
Sharia, the Islamic legal system, is derived from religious precepts, primarily from the Quran and the Hadith. Religious scholars codified Sharia as a system governing every aspect of daily life, both socially and individually. As new situations arose, it became necessary to develop a method for addressing them. This system is known as Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), which is grounded in Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence). The four primary sources of Fiqh are: the Quran, the Sunnah, reasoning by analogy (qiyas), and the consensus of the community (ijma).
Religious scholars who studied the Quran and Hadith formed legal schools supported by patrons and adherents rather than by the state. As a result, Islamic civilization became recognized as a civilization of Fiqh, where jurisprudence played a central role in human understanding and the guidance of Sharia.
Religious scholars, or ulama, played a significant role in shaping and influencing daily life. Considering the influential role of these scholars, Islam can be seen as a religion of knowledge and authority, with less focus on military conquest and violence.[26]
Sunni Muslim jurists belong to four schools that differ in interpretation of legal issues in regard to situations. These schools are called the Maliki, Hanbali, Hanafi, and Shafici. The Maliki school is traditionally strongest in North Africa and considers the “living Sunna” of the community to be more reliable than human reason. The Hanbali school is strongest in Saudi Arabia; it has historically given a great deal of weight to the literal interpretation of written texts; some Hanbali scholars insisted that an unreliable hadith should be preferred over a strong example of reasoning by analogy.
In the Islamic legal–moral traditions the five categories are conspicuous: wajib (mandatory), mandub (recommended), mubah (permissible or indifferent), makruh (reprehensible) and haram (illicit, forbidden). “It offers a sophisticated yet handy tool of orientation of moral action accessible to all practitioners and facilitates determining the degree of permitted creative interpretation versus undue innovations.”[27]
On the other hand, the Shafii and Hanafi schools together account for the majority of Sunni Muslims and have a broad geographical distribution. The Shafii school is more popular among the Arabs of the Middle East and in Indonesia, while the Hanafi school is more widely accepted in South and Central Asia, as well as in Turkey.
For instance, the Ash-Shafii school—founded by Ash-Shafii (767-820)—synthesized the doctrine of the four principles, or usul (sources, roots) of legal science (fiqh): the Quran, the Sunnah, analogy (qiyas), and consensus (ijma). Ash-Shafii elevated the Sunnah to a level equal to that of the Quran, considering the prophetic tradition as the foundation for juristic reflection. Although analogy and consensus are subordinated to the Sunnah—contrasting with the Abu Hanifah school—Ash-Shafii emphasized that jurists must consider the details of each case. This is because the circumstances of every individual are unique and different.
Hans Küng compares Ash-Shafii’s hermeneutics to the Roman Catholic system, in which “the Bible is to be interpreted in light of the tradition by the ‘authentic magisterium.’”[28]
The Shafii legal school reached its apex in Egypt between the Abbasid and Ottoman periods, becoming the intellectual foundation for leading theologians such as al-Ashari and al-Ghazali.
In contrast, the Abu Hanifah school (699-767) was fundamentally rational and democratic in its orientation. It based decisions about proper practice on local consensus (ijma`) and independent reasoning (ijtihad) when interpreting the Quran and the Sunnah, allowing for greater freedom of decision-making by judges.
The Shafii school became the official law school under the Abbasids (whose political power ended in 945 and was further diminished by the Mongol invasion of 1258) and later gained prominence in the Ottoman Empire. Following Sultan Mehmet II’s conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottomans adopted certain Byzantine practices, framing their identity as the successors of the Byzantine Empire. After the imprisonment of the last Mamluk ruler in Cairo in 1517, the Ottomans solidified their imperial authority, grounded in a cosmopolitan culture and dominion.
However, under Ottoman rule, religious scholars became entirely dependent on Ottoman Kanun (secular law). Despite significant reforms that often contradicted Sharia, the ulama did not resist these changes. Instead, they supported them as part of Islamic reformism. Senior ulama sanctioned the reforms through fatwas (legal opinions), acknowledging the Sultan’s absolute power and autocratic rule. In this system, the official Islam, as a state religion, effectively transformed religious intellectuals into government functionaries. In this subordinate role, the ulama helped enforce the law to uphold the absolute monarchy and its bureaucratic structure.[29]
Since the sixteenth century, the Hanafi school has largely replaced the Shafii school as the most influential legal tradition in the Islamic world. The Hanafi school emphasizes the principle of ijtihad (independent reasoning) to a much greater extent than the Hanbali and Maliki schools, in which independent opinion is largely closed due to their more literalist and rigorous adherence to the Sunnah.
By the fourteenth century, many parts of the Islamic world had developed specialized offices for the practice of law. Scholars who engaged in the theoretical study and interpretation of Islamic law were known as faqihs. People seeking legal guidance would consult a mufti, who was often a highly respected faqih with a reputation among the local community. The mufti’s response to legal questions was called a fatwa, which can be best understood as a legal opinion or decree.[30]
Islamist thought in the late Ottoman period called for a return to the Qur’an and the Sunnah, advocating a path rooted in the example of the righteous predecessors. This thought was built on two foundational pillars: Salafism, which sought a return to the fundamentals of Islam, and modernism, which interpreted Islam in rationalist terms. The opening of the gate of jurisprudence (ijtihad) became a key instrument in finding solutions to the challenges that arose between religious tradition and contemporary issues.[31]
[1] Jamal J. Elias, Islam (London: Routledge, 1999), 9.
[2] Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History (New York: Modern Library, 2002), 7-8.
[3] Arnaldo Momigliano, Alien Wisdom: The Limits of Hellenization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 8-9.
[4] The Quran, trans. Talal A. Itani (Dallas, Beirut: ClearQuran, 2009-2012).
[5] Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 141.
[6] Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, trans. Karen E. Fields (New York: The Free Press, 1995), 421.
[7] Mahmoud M. Ayoub, Islam: Faith and History (Oxford: Oneworld, 2004), 18.
[8] Ibid., 24.
[9] Max Weber, The Sociology of Religion, trans. E. Fischoff (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1964), 262.
[10] Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair, Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 2002), 35-38
[11] Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, 208.
[12] David Marshall, God, Muhammad and the Unbelievers: A Qur’anic Study (Richmond, U.K.: Curzon, 1999), 195.
[13] Robert N. Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press), 271-272.
[14] Ibid., 280.
[15] Amstrong, Islam, 15.
[16] Marshall, God, Muhammad and the Unbelievers, 195.
[17] Kűng, Islam, 69.
[18] Ibid., 72. Tamara Sonn, Islam: A Brief History, 2nd Ed. (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), 4-5.
[19] Elias, Islam, 19.
[20] Rahman, Islam and Modernity, 18.
[21] David Chidester, Christianity: A Global History (New York: HaperSanfrancisco, 2000), 175.
[22] Ali Shariati, On the Sociology of Islam, trans. H. Algar (Berkeley, CA: Mizan Press, 1979), 51. 84.
[23] Bloom and Blair, Islam, 52.
[24] Kűng, Islam, 292.
[25] Elias, Islam, 47.
[26] Mahmoud M. Ayoub, Islam: Faith and History (Oxford: Oneworld, 2004), 228.
[27] Armando Salvatore, “Tradition and Modernity within Islamic Civilization and the West,” in Islam and Modernity, Key Issues and Debates, eds. Muhammad Khalid Masud, et al (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009),20.
[28] Kűng, Islam, 274.
[29] Ibid., 418.
[30] Elias, Islam, 49.
[31] Ahmet Yildiz, “Transformation of Islamic Thought in Turkey Since the 1950s,” in The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought, ed. Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘ (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006), 42.