Criticism of Islamism - Unification of Religion and State

Unification of Religion and State

One of the most commonly quoted slogans in the movement is that of the Muslim Brotherhood: `al-islam dinun was dawlatun` (Islam is a religion and a state). But, as one critic complains, the slogan "is neither a verse of the Qur'an nor a quote from a hadith but a 19th century political slogan popularised by the Salafi movement that emerged in opposition to Western influence in Egypt" —a 19th century political origin being no problem for many other ideologies, but a severe handicap for a belief system predicated on following the scripture revealed, and the ways of those who lived, twelve centuries earlier.

Read more about this topic:  Criticism Of Islamism

Famous quotes containing the words religion and/or state:

    In this great association we know no North, no South, no East, no West. This has been our pride for all these years. We have no political party. We never have inquired what anybody’s religion is. All we ever have asked is simply, “Do you believe in perfect equality for women?” This is the one article in our creed.
    Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)

    What satire on government can equal the severity of censure conveyed in the word politic, which now for the ages has signified cunning, intimating that the state is a trick?
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)