Westerners tend to think of Islam as a “political religion,” or at least as a religion which has an important political component. We speak too about “Islamic history” and “Islamic civilization” and we know that what we are referring to is not purely ecclesiastical or purely religious. Perhaps at the basis of this way of thinking and speaking is the fact that Muhammad was not only a prophet but also a statesman and political leader, and that his influence gave birth to a social entity which is both religious community and body politic.

Nonetheless, it is not altogether correct to think of Islam as a political religion.