God's Rule: Government and Islam

God's Rule: Government and Islam

Author	Patricia Crone
Publisher	Columbia University Press
Publication date	2004
Pages	462
ISBN	0231132905

God's Rule: Government and Islam Six Centuries of Medieval Islamic Political Thought is a book written by scholar and historian of early Islam Patricia Crone.

God's Rule: Government and Islam provides a detailed analysis on the origins and development of Islamic religio-political practices and thought from the 7th to the 13th century. The author chronicles the development of the Islamic concept of Jihad, the justifications devised for ideological imperialisms, the debates about the subjugation of non-Muslims, and rulings toward forced conversions as well as views on the persecution of dissidents and non-conforming Muslims and the sanctioning of killings in dealing with such situations.^[1]

Contents

Part One: The Beginnings

• 1. The Origins of Government
• 2. The First Civil War and Sect Formation
• 3. The Umayyads

Part Two: The Waning of the Tribal Tradition, c.700-900

• 4. General
• 5. The Kharijites
• 6. The Mu'tazilites
• 7. The Shi'ites of the Umayyad Period
• 8. The 'Abbasids and Shi'ism
• 9. The Zaydis
• 10. The Imamis
• 11. The Hadith Party

Part Three Coping with a Fragmented World

• 12. General
• 13. The Persian Tradition and Advice Literature
• 14. The Greek Tradition and 'Political Science'
• 15. The Ismailis
• 16. The Sunnis

Part Four: Government and Society

• 17. The Nature of Government
• 18. The Functions of Government
• 19. Visions of Freedom
• 20. The Social Order
• 21. Muslims and Non-Muslims

(a) Infidels (b) Muslims as Infidels

• 22. Epilogue: Religion, Government and Society Revisited

References