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AnIslamic state has aform of government based onsharia. As a term, it has been used to describe various historicalpolities and theories ofgovernance in theIslamic world.[1] As a translation of the Arabic termdawlah islāmiyyah (Arabic:دولة إسلامية) it refers to a modern notion associated withpolitical Islam (Islamism).[2][3] Notable historical examples include thefirst Islamic state inMedina, established by the prophetMuhammad, and theArabcaliphates which continued under his successors, such as theRashidun andUmayyads.
The concept of the modern Islamic state has been articulated and promoted by ideologues such asRashid Rida,Mullah Omar,Abul A'la Maududi,Ruhollah Khomeini,Israr Ahmed,Sayyid Qutb andHassan al-Banna. Implementation of Islamic law plays an important role in modern theories of the Islamic state, as it did in classical Islamic political theories. However, most of the modern theories also make use of notions that did not exist before the modern era.[1]
Today, manyIslamic countries haveincorporated Islamic law, wholly or in part, into theirlegal systems. Certain Muslim states have declared Islam to be theirstate religion in theirconstitutions, but do not apply Islamic law in their courts. Islamic states that are not Islamic monarchies are mostlyIslamic republics.
Majid Khadduri gives six stages of history for the Islamic state:[4]
Thefirst Islamic state was the political entity established by Muhammad in Medina in 622 CE under theConstitution of Medina. It represented the political unity of the MuslimUmmah (nation). It was subsequently transformed into thecaliphate by Muhammad's disciples, who were known as the Rightly Guided (Rashidun) Caliphs (632–661 CE). The Islamic State significantly expanded under theUmayyad Caliphate (661–750) and consequently theAbbasid Caliphate (750–1258).
The essence or guiding principles of an Islamic government or Islamic state is the concept ofal-Shura. Several scholars have different understandings or thoughts, with regard to the concept al-Shura. However, most Muslim scholars are of the opinion that Islamical-Shura should consist of the following:[5]
Muhammad himself respected the decision of the shura members. He is the champion of the notion of al-Shura, and this was illustrated in one of the many historical events, such as in the Battle of Khandaq (Battle of the Trench), where Muhammad was faced with two decisions, i.e. to fight the invading non-Muslim Arab armies outside of Medina or wait until they enter the city. After consultation with thesahabah (companions), it was suggested bySalman al-Farsi that it would be better if the Muslims fought the non-Muslim Arabs within Medina by building a big ditch on the northern periphery of Medina to prevent the enemies from entering Medina. This idea was later supported by the majority of the sahabah, and thereafter Muhammad also approved it.
Muhammad placed great emphasis on agreement about the decision of the shura because the majority opinion (by thesahabah) is better than a decision made by one individual.
The OttomanSultan,Selim I (1512–1520) reclaimed the title of caliph which had been in dispute and asserted by a diversity of rulers and shadow caliphs in the centuries of the Abbasid-Mamluk Caliphate since theMongols' sacking of Baghdad and the killing of thelast Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, Iraq 1258.
TheOttoman Caliphate as an office of theOttoman Empire was abolished underMustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1924 as part ofAtatürk's Reforms. This move was most vigorously protested in India, asMahatma Gandhi andIndian Muslims united behind the symbolism of the Ottoman Caliph in theKhilafat Movement which sought to reinstate the caliph deposed by Atatürk. The movement leveraged the Ottoman resistance against political pressure fromBritain to abolish the caliphate, connecting it withIndian nationalism and themovement for independence from British rule. However, the Khilafat found little support from the Muslims of the Middle East themselves who preferred to be independent nation states rather than being under the Ottoman Turkish rule. In the Indian sub-continent, although Gandhi tried to co-opt the Khilafat as a national movement, it soon degenerated into a jihad against non-Muslims, also known as Moplah riots, with thousands being killed in theMalabar region of Kerala.[6]
The Arabic worddawla comes from the rootd-w-l, meaning "to turn, come around in a cyclical fashion". In theQuran, it is used to refer to the nature of human fortunes, alternating between victory and defeat (3:140). This use led Arab writers to apply the word to succession of dynasties, particularly to the overthrow of theUmayyads of Damascus by theAbbasids.[7] The first Abbasid caliphs themselves spoke of "ourdawla" in the sense of "our turn/time of success".[8] As Abbasids maintained their power, the dynastic sense ofdawla became conflated with their dynastic rule,[7] and in later timesal-Dawla was used across the Islamic world as a honorific title for rulers and high officials.[8]
Like their Christian contemporaries, pre-modern Muslims did not generally conceive of the state as an abstract entity distinct from the individual or group who held political power.[7] The worddawla and its derivatives began to acquire modern connotations in theOttoman Empire and Iran in the 16th and 17th centuries in the course of diplomatic and commercial exchanges with Europe. During the 19th century, the Arabicdawla and Turkishdevlet took on all the aspects of the modern notion of state, while the Persiandavlat can mean either state or government.[8]
According to Pakistani scholar of Islamic history Qamaruddin Khan, the term Islamic state "was never used in the theory or practice of Muslim political science, before the twentieth century".[9][10] Sohail H. Hashmi characterizesdawla Islamiyya as a neologism found in contemporary Islamist writings.[7] Islamic theories of the modern notion of state first emerged as a reaction to the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924. It was also in this context that the famous dictum that Islam is both a religion and a state (al-Islam din wa dawla) was first popularized.[1]
The modern conception of an Islamic state was first articulated by the Syrian-Egyptian Islamic theologianMuḥammad Rashīd Riḍā (1865–1935). Rashid Rida condemned the 1922abolition of the Ottoman sultanate, which reduced thekhilafa into a purely spiritual authority soon afterWorld War I. In his bookal-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-Uzma (The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate), published in 1922, Rida asserted that the caliphate should have the combined powers of both spiritual and temporal authority. He called for the establishment of an Islamic state led byArabs, functioning as akhilāfat ḍurūrah (caliphate of necessity) that upholdsSharia and defends its Muslim and non-Muslim subjects.[11]
Another important modern conceptualization of the Islamic state is attributed toAbul A'la Maududi (1903–1979), a Pakistani Muslim theologian who founded the political partyJamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and inspired other Islamic revolutionaries such asAyatollahRuhollah Khomeini.[12] Abul A'la Maududi's early political career was significantly influenced by anti-colonial agitation in India, especially after the tumultuous abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924 stoked anti-British sentiment.[13]
The Islamic state was perceived as a third way between the rival political systems of democracy and socialism, which was also noted byIslamic modernism.[14] Maududi's seminal writings onIslamic economics argued as early as 1941 againstfree-market capitalism andstate intervention in the economy, similar toMohammad Baqir al-Sadr's 1961Our Economics. Maududi envisioned the ideal Islamic state as combining the democratic principles of electoral politics with the socialist principles of concern for people with low incomes.[15]
Today, many Muslim countries have incorporated—albeit to varying degrees—Islamic law into their legal systems. Certain Muslim states have declared Islam to be their state religion in their constitutions, but do not apply Islamic law in their courts. Islamic states that are not monarchies are usually called Islamic republics,[16] such as the Islamic republics of Iran,[17]Pakistan, andMauritania. Pakistan adopted the title under theconstitution of 1956;Mauritania adopted it on 28 November 1958; and Iran adopted it after the1979 Revolution that overthrew thePahlavi dynasty. The Iranian form of government is known as aGuardianship of the Islamic Jurists. Afghanistan was run as an Islamic state (Islamic State of Afghanistan) in thepost-communist era after 1992; it was ade facto Islamic totalitarian state under theTaliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) in areas controlled by the group from 1996 to its 2001 overthrow. The country was known as theIslamic Republic of Afghanistan between 2004 and 15 August 2021, when aTaliban offensive resulted in a return to Islamic totalitarianism.
Pan-Islamism is a form of Internationalism and anti-nationalism withinpolitical Islam which advocates the unification of the Muslim world under a single Islamic state, often described as a caliphate or ummah. The most famous, powerful and aggressive modern pan-Islamic group that pursues the objective of unifying the Muslim world and establishing a worldwide caliphate is the Wahhabi/Salafi jihadist movementIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
TheLibyan interim Constitutional Declaration as of 3 August 2011 declared Islam to be the official religion of Libya.
Brunei is an absolute Islamic monarchy. With the constitution in 1959, Islam became the official religion of the country.[18]
Leading up to theIranian Revolution of 1979, many of the highest-ranking clergy in Shia Islam held to the standard doctrine of theImamate, which allows political rule only by Muhammad or one of his true successors. They were opposed to creating an Islamic state (see AyatollahHa'eri Yazdi (Khomeini's own teacher), AyatollahBorujerdi,Grand AyatollahShariatmadari, and Grand AyatollahAbu al-Qasim al-Khoei).[19] Contemporary theologians who were once part of the Iranian Revolution also became disenchanted and critical of the unity of religion and state in the Islamic Republic of Iran, are advocatingsecularization of the state to preserve the purity of the Islamic faith (seeAbdolkarim Soroush andMohsen Kadivar).[20]
Per Supreme leader, Islamic state is the 3rd phase of Iranian Islamic Republic program and is in and of itself part ofNew Islamic Civilization.[21]
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic absolute monarchy. TheBasic Law of Saudi Arabia contains many characteristics of what might be called a constitution in other countries. However, theQur'an and theSunnah is declared to be the official constitution of the country which is governed on the basis ofIslamic law (Shari'a). TheAllegiance Council is responsible to determine the new King and the new Crown Prince. All citizens of full age have a right to attend, meet, and petition the king directly through the traditional tribal meeting known as themajlis.[22]
TheConstitution of Yemen declares thatIslam is thestate religion, and thatShari'a (Islamic law) is the source of all legislation.
TheIslamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in theMaghreb region of westernNorth Africa.[23][24][25] Mauritania was declared an independent state as the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, on November 28, 1960.[26] The Constitutional Charter of 1985 declares Islam as the state religion andsharia the law of the land.
Pakistan was created as a separate state for Indian Muslims inBritish India in 1947, and followed the parliamentary form of democracy. In 1949, the firstConstituent Assembly of Pakistan passed theObjectives Resolution which envisaged an official role for Islam as the state religion to make sure any future law should not violate its basic teachings. On the whole, the state retained most of the laws that were inherited from the British legal code that had been enforced by the British Raj since the 19th century. In 1956, the elected parliament formally adopted the name Islamic Republic of Pakistan, declaring Islam as the official religion.
After the fall ofDemocratic Republic of Afghanistan (Soviet occupation), Afghanistan has gone through several attempts to set up an Islamic state:
Syria was previously ruled by itsBa'athist regime from 1963 until 2024 when itcollapsed. Following the fall of the Assad regime, the IslamistHay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) declared Syria an Islamic state from 2025 which it will govern for five years under itstemporary constitution.[27][28][29]
[Islamic State] Modern ideological position associated with political Islam.
One also finds in contemporary Islamist writings the neologismdawla Islamiyya, orIslamic state.
The claim that Islam is a harmonious blend of religion and politics is a modern slogan, of which no trace can be found in the past history of Islam. The very term, "Islamic State" was never used in the theory or practice of Muslim political science, before the twentieth century. Also if the first thirty years of Islam were excepted, the historical conduct of Muslim states could hardly be distinguished from that of other states in world history.
The Pakistani writer Qamaruddin Khan, for example, has proposed that the political theory of Islam does not arise from the Qur'an but from circumstances and that the state is neither divinely sanctioned nor strictly necessary as a social institution.
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, situated in western North Africa [...].
We have, by contrast, chosen to include the predominantly Arabic-speaking countries of western North Africa (the Maghreb), including Mauritania (which is a member of the Arab Maghreb Union) [...].
The Magrebian countries or the Arab countries of western North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) [...].
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