Cover -- Contents -- Preface to the English Language Edition -- Preface -- Part One: From the Nation State to the State of the Khilafah -- 1. The State of the 'Tanzimat' or the State of Reason and al-Shar (Islamic Law) -- The State and Reform -- The Context of the Nation State in the Islamic Reformist Consciousness -- Heralding the State -- What is the Position of al-Shar (Islamic Law)? -- 2. For the Sake of the Nation State: A Criticism of Political and Religious Autocracy -- Introduction -- The Last Cry of Reform -- On the Criticism of Autocracy -- On the Criticism of Religious Justifications for Autocracy -- On Autocracy, the Destroyer of Civilization -- 3. The Conditional State: The Constitutional Question in Modern Political Fiqh -- Introduction -- Al-Imamah (the imamate) and Authority in the 'Age of Occultation' -- From 'Permission' for Illegitimate Political Authority to Theorizing Legitimate Political Authority -- On Legitimate Political Authority: from 'Infallibility' (al-ismah) to the Constitution -- 'Constitutional Fiqh' -- 4. From the Nation State to the State ofthe Khilafah: Renewal of 'Islamic Legal Politics' -- Introduction -- On the Causes of the Return to the Idea of the Khilafah -- On the Islamic Legal Causes -- On the Political Causes -- On the Renewal of 'Islamic Legal Politics' -- On the Meaning of the Khilafah -- On the Concept of Ahl al-Hal wa al-Aqd -- The Khilafah of Necessity, the Necessity of the Khilafah -- 5. On the Theoretical Criticism of the Khilafah -- The Blessed Khilafah: Theoretical Tragedy and Political Impediment -- A Khilafah Without an Islamic Legal Origin: The Thesis of Abd al-Raziq -- The Absolute Sultanate or 'Sublimity in Politics' (al-Taali bi-l-Siyasah) -- The Khilafah in the Measure of Islamic Law -- Brute Force is the Basis of the Khilafah -- Government in Islam is Political.

Criticism of the Khilafah…from Afar -- Part Two: From the Islamic State to the Religious State -- 6. On the 'Islamic State' - Religious and Political Aspects -- The Birth of the Problematic of the 'Islamic State' -- On the Need for a State -- The Islamic State and the Religious State -- The Islamic State in the Discourse of Hasan al-Banna: Divergences in Understanding -- The State and the Constitution -- The Multiplicity of Political Parties or the Specter of Civil Strife (al-Fitnah) -- 7. The State and al-Shariah in the Criticism of the Secular Idea -- The Shariah of the State -- A Debate Against the Secular Idea -- On the Subject of 'Implementation of the Shariah' -- Shariah and Ijtihad -- The Rulings of the Shariah: Descent and Gradual Implementation -- 8. Al-Shura and Democracy - Connection and Disjuncture -- On the Meaning of al-Shura -- The System of al-Shura -- Al-shura and Democracy: On Relations of Proximity -- Al-Shura is Religious and Democracy is Secular -- 9. Pseudo-Theocracy in the Rule ofAllah - 'al-Hakimiyah' -- On the Destinies of the Expression 'Islamic State' -- The Jahili Society and the Muslim Society -- On the Concept of 'al-Hakimiyah ' -- 10. Pseudo-Theocracy: On the 'Wilayat al-Faqih' -- From 'Conditional' to the 'Imamate': The Context of Retreat -- On the Renewal of Subjects of the Fiqh of the Imamate -- The Imamate and its Designation -- The Invalidation of al-Shura -- On the 'Wilayat al-Faqih' -- On the Need for Government -- On the Functions of the Fuqaha -- On the Model of Islamic Government -- 11. On the Criticism of 'Divine Right' -- On the Criticism of Religious Authority -- On the Criticism of 'al-Hakimiyah' -- On the Criticism of the 'Wilayat al-Faqih' -- 12. Is there a Contemporary Islamic Thought? -- On the Application of the Term 'Islamic' to 'Islamic Thought'.

On the Conceptual Affiliation to Contemporary 'Islamic Literature' -- Epilogue -- References -- Index.