AL-Qadisiya Journal For Law and Political Sciences

"Religion and the State in Contemporary Islamic Discourse: Between Ideology and Ontology"The Guardianship of the Jurist as a Model

https://doi.org/10.63677/jqlap.2025.189997
Volume 16, Issue: 2 part 1 - Serial Number 2
Summer 2025
Pages 1333-1360
AL-Qadisiya Journal For Law and Political Sciences

Author

Abdullah Salman Hassani

Wasit University College of Law

Abstract
This study aims to analyze the complex relationship between religion and the state in contemporary Islamic discourse by exploring its representations along two main dimensions: the ideological, which seeks to instrumentalize religion as a political tool, and the ontological, which considers religion as a constitutive element of Islamic being and existential framework.
The research is based on the hypothesis that contemporary Islamic discourse—whether in its activist form (political Islam) or reformist (renaissance-oriented)—suffers from a methodological and conceptual duality when addressing the issue of the state. While some movements rely on a comprehensive ideology that views the establishment of an "Islamic state" as essential to achieving Shari'ah objectives, other currents adopt an ontological approach that sees religion as a value system that should serve as a moral and ethical reference for the state without manifesting as a theocratic political system.
The study examines the development of traditional Islamic concepts such as imamate and caliphate, and compares them with modern state concepts such as sovereignty, law, and pluralism. It also highlights how contemporary Islamic thinkers—such as Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri, Abdallah Laroui, Rached Ghannouchi, and Taha Abdurrahman—have approached the dilemma of the connection or separation between the religious and political spheres.
The research focuses on the tension between a religious discourse rooted in interpretive texts and the political reality imposed by the modern nation-state. It discusses how concepts like "Hakimiyya" (divine sovereignty), "Islamic reference," and "loyalty and disavowal" are employed to reshape the religion–state relationship according to balances of power, legitimacy, and identity.
The study concludes that the future of the religion–state relationship in the Islamic world depends on overcoming the instrumental ideological use of religion on the one hand, and developing an ontological understanding of religion as a spiritual and moral force capable of engaging with modernity without succumbing to alienation or political sanctification.

Keywords

Religion
State
Ideology
Ontology
Modernity
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  • Receive Date 11 November 2025

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