The Possibility or Impossibility of a Theory of the State: The Liberal State Schema in the Political Thought of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
Keywords:
Abu Zayd, religious reformism, state, historicity, democracyAbstract
The political thought of Abu Zayd is founded upon secularism and humanism. He views government as a worldly, non-religious, and non-sacred phenomenon. From his perspective, democracy represents the most appropriate system within the current discourse, as it safeguards the interests of the majority. He asserts that the principle of shura (consultation) in the Qur’an possesses the capacity to evolve along the path of democracy. It should be noted that several theories have been proposed regarding the origin of the state, the most prominent of which include: divine creation, coercive foundation, genetic determinism, establishment based on human nature, and emergence through the social contract. The present question, therefore, is whether Abu Zayd formulated a systematic theory of the state. Our hypothesis is that within Abu Zayd’s political thought, the theory of the state appears only in the form of a schema of the liberal state.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Aabedin Faghih Nasiri (Author); Behrooz Daylam Salehi (Corresponding Author); Saeed Eslami (Author)
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