The Islamic umma is a theological space of discipline, not an imagined political community
Evidence
The practices of these movements presuppose the existence of a di.. vine plan for human life-embodied in the Quran, the exegetical literature, and the moral codes derived therefrom-that each individual is responsible for following. Participants in the mosque movement are summoned to recog.. nize their moral obligations through invocations of divine texts and edifi .. tory literature. This form of morality, however, is not strictly juridicaL There are no centralized authorities that enforce the moral code and penalize infrac.. tions. Rather, the mosque movement has a strong individualizing impetus that requires each person to adopt a set of ascetic practices for shaping moral con.. duct. — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 230 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: The umma is a theological space, not a nation awaiting political unification.; The umma differs from nations in what it predicates, not in being imagined. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 960; Islamic religious duties are partly constitutive of social relations, not abstract — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 1173 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Islam is politically constitutive yet positioned outside the political
#complicates(0.75) - Mosque-movement morality is individualizing but not juridical, lacking centralized enforcement.
#complicates(0.74) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 230