64
TheIslamicateContext
all. Islam
requires
agovernment
run
by
Muslimsbecause
the
fulfillmentofaproperreligious
life
depends
onthis
enforce-
ment;
noother
agency
canmaintaintheSharfCa,represent
the
umma,
or
wagejih(d.
Thus,while
.Jews
andChristiansinthe
practice
of
theirreli-
gions
canignore
theauthoritiesabovethem,
Muslimscannot.
Jews
formed closed
minority
communities
for thousands of
years
without
attaining
sovereigncontrol;
onthe
contrary,
the
Churchhasbeen
so
powerful
thatithasonoccasion
threatened
totakeover
thestate.More
dependent
on
government,
Islamis
vulnerabletoitsvicissitudes;a
failure
by
Muslimstoattainthe
public
ideals
required
by
their
religion
wouldhaveserious
con-
sequences
fortheirattitudestoward
government
andinvolve-
mentwithit.Thecontrastbetweenideals
andtheactualitiesof
public
lifehasthusbeen
especiallysignificant
forMuslims.
Umma,Caliphate,
lihd:
TheIdeal
The
political
and
military
idealsofIslamare
we]]known:
they
arethe
subject
ofintroductory
coursesinIslamandoffull-
length
studies,
22
so
they
neednot
detainus
long.
Three
Arabic
words
may
be used to sumup
theseideals:um,caliphate
(=khilgfa),
and
jihd,
referring
tothecommunity
ofIslam,its
politicalleadership,
anditswarfare.
TheummaofIslamemerged
inMedinaunderMu
.hammad.
It
developed
in
opposition
to the communities of
the other
monotheistic
religions
andto theArabian
tribes.The Islamic
ummaaimedtomaketheMuslimsintoboth
a
religious
commu-
nity
likethoseof
the
Jews
andChristiansandintoa
supratribal
unit
inwhichIslam
replacedkinship-based
affiliations.
Thecon-
vertto Islam
put prior
affiliationsaside
whenhe
joined
the
umma. As Islam became universalistic,
when non-Arabians
joined,
theummabecame
universalistictoo.Fromhumblebe-
22.Someofthese
studiesinclude:L.Gardet,LaCitmusulmane:viesocialeet
politique
(Paris,1954);
Khadduri;E.
I.J.
Rosenthal,Political
Thought
i.n
Medieval
Islam:AnIntroductoryOutline(Cambridge,England,
1958);
Tyan.
Thefollowing
discussion
ignores
financialand
judicial
ideals,although
the
same
argument
appliesequally
tothem
(e.g.
zakgh,Haarmann,
pp.
10-14).