Ummah

Katrin A. Jomaa

Description

How can we live together without alienation, avoidance, and fear? How can we complement one another such that each of us can uniquely contribute to the making of our societies? To address these and other questions, Katrin A. Jomaa examines the moral, political, and spiritual understanding of the Qur'anic term ummah, which is commonly used to refer to the worldwide Muslim community but is employed more broadly in the Qur'an itself. Drawing on theology, history, philosophy, and political science, Jomaa argues that ummah, while often defined as a group of people united by ethnicity or religion, is, in its ideal sense, a community that demands active commitment and a conscious and continuous dedication to the highest moral ideals of that community rather than mere affiliation with a particular set of religious doctrines and practices. Jomaa begins by chronologically and thematically analyzing the word "ummah" in the Qur'an, a comprehensive study currently missing from Islamic scholarship, in order to propose a novel understanding of the term that connects all its different meanings. She then compares this new definition to the Aristotelean polis, which highlights the political features of ummah, thereby situating it within contemporary discourses on liberal politics and community and creating the space for an alternative sociopolitical order to the nation-state, both as a local unit and a global system.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Conceptual Meaning of Ummah in the Meccan Verses of the Qur'ān
Ummah in the Literature
Analysis of the word ummah in the Meccan verses of the Qur'ān
Ummah, Appointed Term (ajal), and Associated Responsibility
Ummah, Religion, and Forefathers
Ummah and al-Kitāb
Ummah and Imām
Ummah and the Covenant (al-Mīthāq)
A Possible Order of a Global Ummah Composed of Different Umam?
Ummah, Ummī Prophet, and the Global Ummah
Ummah and Sovereignty
Leadership, the Book, and Justice
Land (Territory)
Ummah and Nation-State
Al-Ummah al-Wāḥidah and Its Differentiation across Human History
Ummah of the Prophets
Dealing with Religious Diversity
Confederates of Evil (al-Aḥzāb)
The Reformers (Muṣliḥūn)
Conclusion

2. Ummah in the Medinan Verses of the Qur'ān
The Notion of a Shared Ummah: Rights and Obligations
Prophet Abraham (Ibrāhīm) Was an Ummah
Defining the Ideology and Outlook of the Muslim Ummah through Prophet Abraham
The Best Religion (Dīn) is Following Millat Ibrāhīm "al-Ḥanīf "
Al-Manāsik (the Rituals)
The Middle Ummah (al-Ummah al-Wasaṭ) and the Witness (Shahāda)
Ummah from Ahl Al-Kitāb ( Jews and Christians)
The Best Ummah (Khayr Ummah) Ever Raised Up for Humankind
Ummah of the Book and Governance
Conclusion

3. Ummah in the Medina Constitution
Al-Muʾminūn ("The Believers")
Decrees Addressing the Believers
Decrees Addressing the Jews
Decrees Addressing Ahl as-Ṣaḥīfah (the People of the Constitution)
Sacred Land (ḥaram)
Conclusion

4. The Ummah and Political Governance—Comparative
The Ummah and the Aristotelian Polis
Khalīfa and Political Animal
Khalīfa
Khalīfa in Early, Classical, and Modern Exegesis
Khilāfa in Islamic Literature
Aristotelian Polis and Qur'anic Ummah
Polis and Ummah: Medium Whereby Citizens Exercise Virtuous Activity
Difference between Law and SharīʿahRule of Law (Polis and Ummah)
Resolving Conflict by Invoking Competing Virtues in Aristotle and the Qur'ān
Community and State in Contemporary Political Theory
Polis and Constitution versus Ummah and al-Kitāb
Introducing Reforms through the Constitution
The Characters of Constitution and the Citizen Mirror Each Other
Constitutional Law Transformed into Community Norm
Polis and Justice versus Ummah and Wasaṭiyyah
Justice as a "Mean" and the Concept of "Wasaṭ"
Understanding "Prophet Abraham Was an Ummah" through Aristotle's "Unity of Virtues"
Ummah Attains Justice through Shūra (Collective Judgment of Khulafāʿ)
Justice Is Manifested in the"Common Good" Resulting from Collective Judgment
Ummah and Political Power
The Just Leadership versus Ṭāghūt
ʾUlū 'l-amr (Those Entrusted with Authority)
ʾUlū 'l-amr in the Medina Constitution
ʾUlū 'l-amr in the Modern Period

Concluding Remarks

Appendix
Bibliography
Index
Index of Qur'anic Citations

Sujets

• Islam
• History of religions
• Theology

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 5
• EAN13: 9781438482064
• Langue: English

Extrait

Ummah
Ummah
A New Paradigm for a Global World
K ATRIN A. J OMAA
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Jomaa, Katrin A., author.
Title: Ummah : a new paradigm for a global world / Katrin A. Jomaa, author.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781438482057 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438482064 (ebook)
Further information is available at the Library of Congress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Prophet Mohammad and his family, with love

I dedicate this work to every human being who struggles and hopes for a just, integrated, and peaceful world
For seekers of truth and lovers of wisdom wherever they find it
“O humankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble among you in the sight of God is the best in conduct (most pious). Indeed, God is All-knowing and All-aware.” (Qur ʾā n 49:13)
“Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not of living together. Hence they who contribute most to such a society have a greater share in it than those who have the same or a greater freedom of nobility of birth but are inferior to them in political excellence; or than those who exceed them in wealth but are surpassed by them in excellence.” 1
“Let there be from among you ( minkum ) an Ummah inviting to goodness ( khayr ) and enjoining righteousness and deterring wrongness ( ya ʾ murūna bil-ma ʿ rūf wa yanhawna ʾ an al-munkar ) and those are the successful.” (Qur ʾā n 3:104)
Im ā m Ali says: “He who has a despotic opinion will perish and he who consults men shares with them their minds.” 2
“… To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way ( shir ʿ atan wa minh ā jan ). If Allah willed, He would have made you one ummah , but that (He) may test you in what He has given you; so strive as in a race in all virtues. The return of you (all) is to Allah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to differ.” (Qur ʾā n 5:48)
“My sense is that multicultural societies can be held together by a political culture, however much it has proven itself, only if democratic citizenship pays off not only in terms of liberal individual rights and rights of political participation but also in the enjoyment of social and cultural rights. The citizens must be able to experience the fair value of their rights in the form of social security and the reciprocal recognition of different cultural forms of life.” 3

1 . Aristotle, Politics (1281a 3–8).
2 . Ali Bin Abī Ṭā lib, Nahju-l-Bal ā gha , Sermon 161, ed. Muhammad ʿ Abduh (Beirut: Mu ʾ assasat al- ʾ A ʿ lamī lil-Ma ṭ bū ʿā t, 2003), 500.
3 . Jurgen Habermas, “The European Nation-State: On the Past and Future of Sovereignty and Citizenship,” 409.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Conceptual Meaning of Ummah in the Meccan Verses of the Qur ʾā n
Ummah in the Literature
Analysis of the word ummah in the Meccan verses of the Qur ʾā n
Ummah , Appointed Term ( ajal ), and Associated Responsibility
Ummah, Religion, and Forefathers
Ummah and al-Kit ā b
Ummah and Im ā m
Ummah and the Covenant ( al-Mīth ā q )
A Possible Order of a Global Ummah Composed of Different Umam ?
Ummah, Ummī Prophet, and the Global Ummah
Ummah and Sovereignty
Leadership, the Book, and Justice
Land (Territory)
Ummah and Nation-State
Al-Ummah al-W ā ḥ idah and Its Differentiation across Human History
Ummah of the Prophets
Dealing with Religious Diversity
Confederates of Evil ( al-A ḥ z ā b )
The Reformers ( Mu ṣ li ḥ ūn )
Conclusion
Chapter 2 Ummah in the Medinan Verses of the Qur ʾā n
The Notion of a Shared Ummah : Rights and Obligations
Prophet Abraham ( Ibr ā hīm ) Was an Ummah
Defining the Ideology and Outlook of the Muslim Ummah through Prophet Abraham
The Best Religion ( Dīn ) is Following Millat Ibr ā hīm “al- Ḥ anīf”
Al-Man ā sik (the Rituals)
The Middle Ummah (al- Ummah al-Wasa ṭ ) and the Witness ( Shah ā da )
Ummah from Ahl Al-Kit ā b (Jews and Christians)
The Best Ummah ( Khayr Ummah ) Ever Raised Up for Humankind
Ummah of the Book and Governance
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Ummah in the Medina Constitution
Al-Mu ʾ minūn (“The Believers”)
Decrees Addressing the Believers
Decrees Addressing the Jews
Decrees Addressing Ahl as- Ṣ a ḥ īfah (the People of the Constitution)
Sacred Land ( ḥ aram )
Conclusion
Chapter 4 The Ummah and Political Governance—Comparative
The Ummah and the Aristotelian Polis
Khalīfa and Political Animal
Khalīfa
Khalīfa in Early, Classical, and Modern Exegesis
Khil ā fa in Islamic Literature
Aristotelian Polis and Qur ʾ anic Ummah
Polis and Ummah : Medium Whereby Citizens Exercise Virtuous Activity
Difference between Law and Sharī ʿ ah
Rule of Law (Polis and Ummah )
Resolving Conflict by Invoking Competing Virtues in Aristotle and the Qur’ ā n
Community and State in Contemporary Political Theory
Polis and Constitution versus Ummah and al-Kit ā b 222
Introducing Reforms through the Constitution
The Characters of Constitution and the Citizen Mirror Each Other
Constitutional Law Transformed into Community Norm
Polis and Justice versus Ummah and Wasa ṭ iyyah
Justice as a “Mean” and the Concept of “ Wasa ṭ ”
Understanding “Prophet Abraham Was an Ummah ” through Aristotle’s “Unity of Virtues”
Ummah Attains Justice through Shūra (Collective Judgment of Khulaf ā ʿ )
Justice Is Manifested in the “Common Good” Resulting from Collective Judgment
Ummah and Political Power
The Just Leadership versus Ṭā ghūt
ʾ Ulū ’l-Amr (Those Entrusted with Authority)
ʾ Ulū ’l-amr in the Medina Constitution
ʾ Ulū ’l-amr in the Modern Period
Concluding Remarks
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
Index of Qur ʾ anic Citations
Illustrations Figure 1.1 The networked global structure of the ummah Figure 1.2 Difference between nation-states and umam Figure 1.3 The one ummah and its differentiation, and the way to achieve unity Figure 3.1 The embracing united ummah ( ummah w ā ḥ idah ): the Islamic ummah Figure 4.1 Ummah and its different parts Table 4.1 Spheres of governmental and religious authority
Acknowledgments
I am very grateful to God for giving me the patience to learn and complete this project, and for putting in my way the gifted teachers and enlightened scholars who help us open new horizons in our thinking process.
I am indebted to Professor Aurelian Craiutu, whose encouragement and enthusiasm inspired me to carry out this project.
A special word of gratitude to Professor Maria Dakake for her generosity and her time reading and thoroughly editing this manuscript in its initial stage. Her suggestions and advice helped me better organize the book and enriched its content. I am also very thankful to all those who gave their time to read or edit this book and whose valuable feedback and contributions made this book richer. Special thanks to Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina, Professor Khaled abou el-Fadl, Professor Asma Afsaruddin, Professor John Walbridge, Professor Cyrus Zargar, Professor Cheryl Foster, Aisha Sharif, Levin Arnsperger, and Daniel Shorr.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the support of my family—my parents, the most intriguing people ever; my mother, Zein; my father, Abdo; and my siblings, whose prayers kept me going. I would also like to acknowledge my loving and supportive husband, Mohammad, who encouraged me to push through the final stages of editing this book and for our valuable discussions, which helped me refine many ideas and table 4.1 in this book.
Introduction
Purpose and Focus of the Book
What alternatives are there to the current global order, competing nation-states within a dominant economic and political order in which powerful nations thrive on the remnants of weaker ones? Sovereign nation-states tightly secure their borders against the “alien other.” Diversity, whether racial, ethnic, or religious, is deemed a threat against a peaceful order governed by a central power. Tolerance and pluralism are celebrated as long as they don’t intervene with the integrity and power of the state. Controlled inclusion of diversity within nation-states creates “politics of the visual,” constructing images of pluralism rather than a serious engagement with diverse political actors.
This book attempts to explore an alternative sociopolitical unit to the nation-state—namely, the ummah , based on the Qur ʾā n and prophetic Sunnah. Inspired by the Qur ʾā n, the foundational source for Islamic thought, it first pursues a meticulous analysis of the word ummah in the Qur ʾā n. Historically before the rise of the modern