Muslim empires separated religious from political authority from their start.

Evidence

It is by now a truism that in Islam there is no distinction between church and state. In Christendom the existence of two authorities goes back to the founder of Christianity, who enjoined his followers to render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s. There are two powers: God and Caesar. They may be associated, they may be separated; they may be in harmony, they may be in conflict; one or the other may dominate; one may interfere, the other may protest, as we have recently been reminded. But always there are two; God and Caesar, Church and state. In classical Islam, that is to say in pre- Westernized Islam, there is no such distinction. There were not two powers but one, and the question of separation did not therefore arise. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1474 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

This section sets out to demonstrate why this is an erroneous reading of the history of Islam. While Islam came into being as both a political and religious ideology, since at least the eighth century it has had a de facto separation of political and religious power. Furthermore, there is nothing unique in Islam’s political potential. When the papacy sought to unite Europe under the banner of Christianity, it unleashed the Crusades in the name of God. Christianity too has been political since at least the fourth century (when Rome adopted Christianity as its official religion), if not since its founding. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 284 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Religious institutions were instruments of imperial political consolidation, not faith — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 117; Early Islamic empire required separating clerical from political authority — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 322; Political and religious authority separated de facto within the early Muslim empires — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 318 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Empire-building forced a de facto separation of religious and political power in Islam. #corroborates (0.95)
• Islamic high religion structurally separated legislation from executive power. #expands (0.90) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2052
• Classical Islam recognized one religious-political power rather than a church-state division #contradicts (0.90) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1474
• Islam has practiced de facto separation of religion and politics since the eighth century #corroborates (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 284
• Religious claims overstated the unity of religion and politics in Islam #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 294