Ummah Or Nation

This survey of the literature on the development of nationalism in Muslim countries also examines the status of the ummah in Muslim nation states as well as activities of Muslim nations through the OIC.

Turkey's enthusiastic embrace of the Arab Spring set in motion a dynamic that fundamentally altered its relations with the United States, Russia, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran, and transformed Turkey from a soft power to a hard power in the tangled geopolitics of the Middle East. Birol Başkan and Ömer Taşpınar argue that the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) Islamist background played a significant role in the country's decision to embrace the uprisings and the subsequent foreign policy direction the country has pursued. They demonstrate that religious ideology is endogenous to—shaping and in turn being shaped by—Turkey's various engagements in the Middle East. The Nation or the Ummah emphasizes that while Islamist religious ideology does not provide specific policy prescriptions, it does shape the way the ruling elite sees and interprets the context and the structural boundaries they operate within.

Politics is taking care of the affairs of a nation (Ummah), internally and externally. This is conducted by the state and the Ummah. The state conducts that practically; whilst the Ummah takes the state to task over that. Taking care of the affairs of the Ummah, internally and externally, by the state is discharged through the implementation of the ideology internally; and this represents the domestic policy. As regards to taking care of the affairs of the Ummah externally by the state, it consists of her relations with other states, people and nations, and propagating the ideology to the world; and this represents the foreign policy. Understanding of the foreign policy is fundamental for safeguarding the entity of the state and the Ummah; it is essential for the enablement of conveying the da'wa to the world; and it is indispensable for the sound regulation of the relations of the Ummah with others. This 182 page book is the English translation of the Arabic revised edition of the same title published in 2005 CE by Hizb ut-Tahrir. It highlights key factors in understanding the international political situation. It addresses various topics including: -How the ideology of a nation shapes its internal and foreign policy.-How political plans and styles are utilized in order to achieve the interests of nations.-The international situation and the balance of power.-International conventions and international law.-The motives behind the struggle amongst nations.-The current major issues in the world and the nature of the major powers.-The main causes for the misery in the World-The manner how political parties and politicians influence world politics-The importance of political awareness for Muslims and how to influence world politics

How can we live together without alienation, avoidance, and fear? How can we complement one another such that each of us can uniquely contribute to the making of our societies? To address these and other questions, Katrin A. Jomaa examines the moral, political, and spiritual understanding of the Qur'anic term ummah, which is commonly used to refer to the worldwide Muslim community but is employed more broadly in the Qur'an itself. Drawing on theology, history, philosophy, and political science, Jomaa argues that ummah, while often defined as a group of people united by ethnicity or religion, is, in its ideal sense, a community that demands active commitment and a conscious and continuous dedication to the highest moral ideals of that community rather than mere affiliation with a particular set of religious doctrines and practices. Jomaa begins by chronologically and thematically analyzing the word "ummah" in the Qur'an, a comprehensive study currently missing from Islamic scholarship, in order to propose a novel understanding of the term that connects all its different meanings. She then compares this new definition to the Aristotelean polis, which highlights the political features of ummah, thereby situating it within contemporary discourses on liberal politics and community and creating the space for an alternative sociopolitical order to the nation-state, both as a local unit and a global system.

Considers the question: what does it mean to be Muslim and American? In Islam Is a Foreign Country, Zareena Grewal explores some of the most pressing debates about and among American Muslims: what does it mean to be Muslim and American? Who has the authority to speak for Islam and to lead the stunningly diverse population of American Muslims? Do their ties to the larger Muslim world undermine their efforts to make Islam an American religion? Offering rich insights into these questions and more, Grewal follows the journeys of American Muslim youth who travel in global, underground Islamic networks. Devoutly religious and often politically disaffected, these young men and women are in search of a home for themselves and their tradition. Through their stories, Grewal captures the multiple directions of the global flows of people, practices, and ideas that connect U.S. mosques to the Muslim world. By examining the tension between American Muslims’ ambivalence toward the American mainstream and their desire to enter it, Grewal puts contemporary debates about Islam in the context of a long history of American racial and religious exclusions. Probing the competing obligations of American Muslims to the nation and to the umma (the global community of Muslim believers), Islam is a Foreign Country investigates the meaning of American citizenship and the place of Islam in a global age.