Quest for justice: Islamism, social justice, and civility in Islamic history

This article examines Islamism as phenomenon and category in the context of the study of religion. It enquires about the experience of Islam in modernity at the juncture of Islam, justice, and civility in order to problematise the discourse on Islamism as political Islam. The argument is made that Islam is not a political religion, but a religion that has historically seen political power as part of its religious project. Further, that Islamism as a modern religio-political and socio-economic experience of Islam is inspired by contact between Islam and Marxism

The Parallel Power System as an Alternative to Revolution and Passivity

The idea of the parallel power system within the Shi’ite political thinking emerged during the 16th century. It was when worldly rulers offered the Shi’ite legal scholars influence in the judiciary, education and social care. In exchange they wanted religious legetimacy for their worldly power. The parallell power system was a compromise in Shi’ite political thinking. It was a third option between political passivity, quietism, and revolutionary ideas based on judicial and theological arguments. It was a compromise that found a model for cooperation with worldly power. This was a power distribution system that lasted in four hundred years, but was abandouned during the interwar period in early twentinth century. The abandounment of this compromise was one of the main reasons to the revolution in Iran in 1979.    The purpose of this chapter is to show how this compromise was formed, what theological and judicial arguments the Shi’ite legal scholars used to legimate their cooperation with worldy rulers who did not fullfil their ideal of worldly rulers, and how its abandounment led to the revolution in Iran. This chapter conclude with an overview of the religious criticism directed at the revolutionary model that replaced the parallel power system