Religious claims overstated the unity of religion and politics in Islam

Evidence

While this was the reality of the relationship between religion and politics, leading theologians went out of their way to demonstrate the opposite as a way to uphold their credibility. They have consistently done so through history, thereby creating the impression that religion and politics were more closely intertwined than they actually were. Not surprisingly, Orientalists—whose view of the world is driven by texts—fall easily into the trap of not separating religious claims from actual reality. That said, there are examples of more practically minded theologians, such as al-Ghazali (1058–111), who openly advocated a division of labor between the caliph and the sultan. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 294

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Kumar’s larger thesis about dismantling Orientalist myths, and to Grosfoguel’s critique of epistemic coloniality. — connects to: Sunni jurisprudence mirrored common-law limits on reasonable chastisement — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 8175; Islam unified warring Arab tribes through shared ideology rather than blood ties.; Historical scholarship overstates Christianity’s unity against adversaries. — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople: A Critical…, 62 (+19 more)

Broader Connections

• Political Islam’s rise stems from modern politics, not seventh-century Islam #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 313