Qur’anic Constitutionalism and Moral Governmentality
Further Notes on the Founding Principles of Islamic Society and Polity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.v8i1-2.1Keywords:
Qur’ān, ethics, Islamic Law, Orientalism, constitutional law, separation of powers, technologies of self, moral governmentalityAbstract
A sequel to earlier publications on the subject, this article argues that the Qur’an not only saw itself and was seen as exclusively authorized to adjudicate matters in the social realm but also that it was directly responsible for the origination of constitutive epistemic and political structures in the Shari‘a. Specifically, through a study of certain paradigmatic concepts, it attempts to show that the Qur’an laid the foundations for three constitutive features of the Shari‘a, namely, (1) its constitutional organization and the practice of the rule of law; (2) its landmark features of jurists’ law and ijtihadic apparatus; and (3) its moral governmentality.
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