Islam and the Politics of Secularism

The abolition of the caliphate was one of the most radical changes undertaken in the Islamic world in the early twentieth century. When the last caliph, Abdülmecid, was deposed by republican Turkey in 1924, however, this caused only wrangling at the caliphate conferences in Cairo and Jerusalem and reactions among a few other Muslim communities. The lack of widespread outcry proves that the caliphate as a political and religious institution had ceased to function as a viable entity for Muslims around the world. Nurullah Ardıç from Istanbul City University (Istanbul Şehir University) has written a highly readable, informative, and analytical book on the secularization of Ottoman polity and society through institutional and legal measures. He presents a discourse analysis of the traditional and modernist Islamists as well as secularists in the late Ottoman and early republican periods. This is a theoretically and empirically grounded study with meticulous research into primary sources that utilizes the writings of Ottoman scholars as well as contemporary social science literature. The book is relevant to the fields of sociology, religious studies, history, and political science.

Ancient history · Archaeology · Caliphate · Islam · Modernization theory · Muslim world · Political science · Politics · Polity · Secularism · Secularization · Sociology · History · Islamic Studies and History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Turkey's Politics and Society