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Mohamed was different from Jesus: not just a prophet, but also a ruler,
the founder and leader of a state.
The religious tradition he promulgated did not just limit itself to matters
of private conscience and intent and faith ...
D. Historical reality:
i. Mohamed's state:
Integration of religion and state was achieved under the
leadership ofthe Prophet Mohamed in the 7th century.
Mohamed's state:
They also sustained the Islamic ideal of investing the state with
proper moral purpose..
iii. After First Four Caliphs:
Succeeding caliphs were chosen not on the basis of religious
probity
passed out ofthe hands ofthe caliph and into the hands of
a special class of learned men, the ulema
With this degeneration in the religious probity of the Caliph
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Bi-cephalous rule
Military men took over the reigns of power/ serve as heads of state
(sultanlmalik)
II. Does Learned class endorse this separation of religious and political authority?
B. In practice, they did not use their religious authority to force religious
leadership on the state.
Did they call upon the people to revolt against impious leaders?
No. To the contrary. They were quite pragmatic.
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Why?
He was powerful
III. Does Shia Islam have a different take on the relationship between religion and
state?
A. Different conception of who has has right to rule after death of Prophet
Mohamed
Their defeat leads them to believe that all the caliphs who succeeded
Mohamed (except for the fourth Caliph, Ali) were illegitimate
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the last ofwhich vanished mysteriously in the late 9th century without
leaving an heir.
The Shia believe he will return in the future to establish a just rule on
earth
No!
In this way: the Shia religious elite advocated a separation of religion and
politics...
...and so they counseled the religious faithful to stay away from it.
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In the Shia case this meant living with regimes that were led by rulers
who were thoroughly illegitimate
3. Both Sunni and Shia elites counseled quietism in the face ofthis corruption
of the political ideal
V. Important Observations:
1. The historical practice of Islam is not all that different from other
Western religious traditions (e.g. Christianity and Judaism) in its de
facto separation of religion and politics.
they are in fact breaking with the traditional way Islam has been
practiced
for the past eight or nine centuries, if not longer