117Prophet was reported to have included non-
Muslims in his defi nition of ummah upon au-
thoring a document— known as the Covenant of
Medina— that regulated the rights and duties of
those residing under his authority. Dr. Hasan’s
pamphlet exploring the nature of citizenship,
ummah, and Muslim and non- Muslim cohabita-
tion will be useful here.
Such scriptural reform must involve denying
those who approach texts vacuously— albeit
plausibly— from absolute certainty that theirs is
the correct view, as I attempt to do in our dialogue
above.
Moving on to the Islamic State, this scourge must
be militarily and culturally defeated. Nothing but
total defeat will suffi ce for a group that is so cer-
tain that it speaks for God. The Islamic State being
able to claim victory against the entire world order
is their biggest recruitment sergeant. It “proves”
that God is on their side against all the odds. Defeat
will demonstrate to the world’s Muslims that the Is-
lamic State speaks for nothing but medieval de-
pravity. A military defeat will be but a short- term
success. It must be coupled with a cultural defeat
of what they stand for. But this is the hard part, for
the Islamic State has not emerged from a vacuum.
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