• The best books on Islam and the State - Islam and the Foundations of Political Power by Ali Abdel Razek
  • The best books on Islam and the State - The Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun
  • The best books on Islam and the State - The Venture of Islam, Volume 3: The Gunpowder Empires and Modern Times by Marshall Hodgson
  • The best books on Islam and the State - Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia by Robert W. Hefner
  • The best books on Islam and the State - Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany by J. Christopher Soper & Joel S. Fetzer

The best books on Islam and the State, recommended by Ahmet T. Kuru

It’s widely assumed that in the ideal Muslim society there is no separation between religion and the state, but even in some of the earliest caliphates, the secular and the religious were rarely as closely aligned as religious conservatives would have us believe. Here Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University, recommends books that help trace the historical relationship between Islam and the state—and points to strands of secularism that may hold the key to a happier relationship between Islam and liberal democracy.