Political Islam: The Conceptual Problematic and Re-evaluations of the Relationship between Religious Authority, State Legitimacy, and Democracy

Abstract

This research paper addresses the problematic of the concept of "political Islam" and its semantic transformations in contemporary Arab discourse, proceeding from a central hypothesis that what has commonly been called "the politicization of religion" is in essence "the religionization of politics."

The study seeks to construct a conceptual framework that transcends the preconceived binaries governing prevalent debate-such as "secularism versus Islamism" or "modernity versus fundamentalism"- through a critical review of six major conceptual axes: secularization, political Islam, modernity, fundamentalism, democracy, and the problem of readiness.

The paper adopts a critical analytical method based on the historical-conceptual and comparative approaches. The study concludes that the relationship between religion and politics in the Islamic world is neither linear nor static, but rather dialectical, intertwining historical, contextual, and normative dimensions. The desired intellectual revision of political Islam movements requires a methodological distinction between the authority of religion and the authority of politics, recognition of the nation-state as the framework for the peaceful transfer of power, and the adoption of the concept of equal citizenship.