Islamic Political Thought after the Arab Uprising: Post-“Islamic Democracy” and the Role of the Theory of the “Objectives of Shariah （Maqāṣid al-Sharī ‘a）” in Khaled Abou El Fadl’s Political Thought

• Published in: Ritsumeikan Annual Review of Asia-Japan Research Vol. 3; pp. 124 - 132
• Main Author: KURODA, Ayaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University 2022
• ISSN: 2435-421X; 2435-4228
• DOI: 10.34389/ritsumeikanasiajapan.3.0_124

This brief research report explores the development of Islamic political thought in thepost-Arab Spring. While investigating “the moderate Islamic school” in Egypt, theauthor found that many Arab Muslim intellectuals have raised their voices in theWest. Intellectuals who have migrated to the West, in particular, have been providingcritical insights into the religious and political situations in their native countries. Theauthor of this research report overviews Khaled Abou El Fadl, a prominent Egyptianthinker living in the US, and his intellectual career and ideas.Abou El Fadl is particularly concerned about the decline of Islamic scholarlytradition as a result of the modernization, westernization, and colonization that Arab-Islamic countries have experienced. Furthermore, this decline has resulted in a lack ofa critical culture within the Muslim world, a decline in the persuasiveness of Shariahas a common law, and the wide acceptance of a superficial understanding of Shariah.These points are reflected in his critique of Salafism and, by extension, his politicalthought.