chapter 16
...................................................................................................................................................CHANGING
INTERPRETATIONS
OF MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY
ISLAMIC POLITICAL
THEORY
...................................................................................................................................................roxanne l. euben
1 Introduction
.........................................................................................................................................................................................
Political theory is often understood as aWeld and enterprise at once produced
by and coterminous with ‘‘the West,’’ yet there is a rich tradition of Islamic
political thought in which Muslims have long been engaged in their own
‘‘Great conversations’’ about the foundations of political life. 1 Threads of
1 Despite the frequency with which ‘‘the West’’ is invoked by peoples all over the world, and the
very real allegiances and enmities it may evoke among them, terms such as West and non-West carve