Islam & Politics

What does an authentic Islamic government look like, and how is it meant to function? In this concise yet wide-ranging work, the esteemed scholar Muftī Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī offers an authoritative overview of the guidance provided by the foundational Islamic sources on political life. Across six chapters, he examines the nature and purpose of politics in Islam through the lens of the Qurʾān and the Prophetic Sunnah; the principles governing the formation of a government; the rules and procedures for administering it; the Islamic directives regarding defence and foreign policy; and the conditions under which it may become permissible to remove a ruler or government from office.

The book concludes with two additional essays by the author addressing political matters with particular reference to Pakistan. Islam and Politics is indispensable reading for anyone seeking a clear, accessible, and reliable exposition of Islam’s fundamental teachings on governance and political engagement.

Muftī Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī is among the world’s most distinguished scholars of the Islamic sciences and a former Justice of the High Court of Pakistan. Born in 1943 in Deoband, India, he pursued his studies with leading ʿulamāʾ in Karachi and beyond. His primary fields of expertise include ḥadīth, jurisprudence, Ṣūfism, and Islamic economics. He has authored numerous works- in Urdu, Arabic, and English-covering these and other areas of Islamic scholarship.