Ali Abdarrazik. Islam and the Foundations of Political Powe

Abstract

Ali Abdarrazik (1888–1966) is a famous Muslim Egyptian scholar and religious thinker. His book
“Islam and the Foundations of Political Power” (1925) has become a manifest of secularism in
Islam. It was published in a period following the famous secular reforms undertaken by the Turkish
president Kemal Ataturk, in the course of which the caliphate, the Muslim theocratic state, had been
abolished. Ali Abdarrazik argues against the predominant view on caliphs and caliphate, approved
by Muslim ulemas and widely spread in public circles. The author also proclaimed that Prophet
Muhammad hadn’t regarded the exercise of political power as merely accidental to his main task
of prophetic mission. After Muhammad’s death the caliphs didn’t continue his prophetic mission,
acting only as political leaders.