The publication of this essay in Egypt in 1925 took the contemporaries of 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq by storm. It was the focus of much attention and the seed of a heated debate. At a time when the Muslim world was in great turmoil over the question of the abolition of the caliphate by Mustapha Kamal Ataturk in Turkey, Abdelraziq, a religious cleric trained at Al-Azhar University, argued in favour of secularism. The abolition of the caliphate had re-ignited the issue of Islam and politics, as traditional political systems were dissolving under pressure from European powers while most Muslim countries had lost their sovereignty. This essay gave rise to a series of 'refutations' of which three were published the same year. It also unleashed the Arab world's first great public debate with polemics supporting or refuting Abdelraziq's ideas published all over the press. Eventually he was tried by the Al-Azhar court, denounced, stripped of his title of 'alim and barred from future employment in education and the judiciary.

Abdou Filali-Ansary is Director of the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations.

Maryam Loutfi formally worked in the Ministry of Finance and Economy and is presently working in the area of Education.

About the Author

A Tribute to Ali Abdel Razek Amr Hamed

Preface, Abdou Filali-Ansary

Introduction, Abdou Filali-Ansary

Foreword, Ali Abdel Razek

Book One: The caliphate and Islam
1: The nature of the caliphate
2: The status of the caliphate
3: The caliphate from the social point of view

Book Two: Islam and government
4: The system of power at the time of the Prophet
5: Prophecy and power
6: Islam: a message from God rather than a system of government
a religion rather than state

Book Three: The caliphate and the government throughout history
7: Religious unity and the Arab people
8: The Arab State
9: The nature of the caliphate

Bibliography
Appendix