Political-religious fusion is neither unique to Islam nor proof of anti-modernity.

Evidence

It is true that Islam came into being as both a political and religious ideology. However, since at least the eighth century there has been 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. When George Bush launched the war on terror, he called it a “Crusade.” More broadly, the United States remains a society where religious rituals are enacted within the state. Elected representatives swear allegiance to the nation on the Bible; a similar mandate to tell the truth in court proceedings has the ritual of placing one’s hand on the Bible or other religious texts, and presidential speeches end with invoking God’s blessings on the American people. However, the existence of religion in state spaces needs to be distinguished from its actual role in various societies at specific historical moments. Not unlike Christianity, Islam transformed itself to adapt to the needs of the societies in which it was practiced. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 328

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Theologians’ claims of religion-politics fusion served their own credibility, not historical reality.; Islam’s early fusion of religion and politics was not unique among world religions — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 316; Islam traditionally makes no compartmental separation between religion and other life domains

Broader Connections

• Islam’s early fusion of religion and politics was not unique among world religions #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 316
• Islam traditionally makes no compartmental separation between religion and other life domains #qualifies (0.78)