Sunni Islam and the State

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Understanding the role of the state in Islamic theology requires beginning with an understanding of the basis upon which Allah chooses who will be taken to paradise and who will be sent to hell—a much disputed topic in early Islamic theological circles. The debate revolved, in part, around the power of man’s reason. Of the early schools of theology the Mu‘tazili argued that through rational thinking man could make the right choices in life and Allah was then obliged to take with Him those who had chosen well as He Himself is rational. The Ash‘ari disputed this and argued that man can only know right and wrong by way of revelation and even if we were to abide by the laws revealed to man Allah has no obligation to save those who lived accordingly. A third school, Maturidi, took the middle ground and argued that revelation guides man and reason helps to bring clarity to its meaning. In addition, they disagreed with there being any obligation upon Allah to accept those who lived righteously, but they believed in His wisdom and that there would be some rhyme and reason to the choices that He made. While Maturidi thought has largely stayed true to its foundations the Ash‘cari school softened its stance on some issues becoming, by the fourteenth century, less distinguishable on this matter from the Maturidi view.1