State Islam and Communal Plurality

The historical Islamic state developed interesting methods of quasi-consociational and semi-corporatist aggregation of communities. From quite early on, Sunnism became the religion of the ruling elite and of the state as well as part of the state's legal and cultural system. Subsequently, the geographical distribution and the political economy of the Islamic sects and of the religious minorities manifested quite distinct features that were mainly a function of their relationship to the state. Whereas the Islamic sects did not come to terms ideologically and organizationally with the state, the religious minorities, on the whole, adjusted themselves mentally and behaviorally to its requirements. By comparison, the contemporary Middle Eastern state, both the secular and the Islamic, is achieving less success in dealing with its communal problem. Certain groups are excluded in the former type in spite of the secularist slogans, and certain groups are excluded in the latter because of the ideological or religious nature of the state. Improvisation is needed, and Muslim statesmen and intellectuals may need to go beyond, and even outside, conventional Islamic jurisprudence in order to deal with this issue.