Islam as a political force: more than belief

The politicization of religion cannot be explained by the ideas of religious doctrines but by the interactions between religious and political actors, institutions and ideas argues Jocelyne Cesari. In the Muslim world, the nation-building process saw a decisive rearrangement of the society-state-religion nexus with state projects making use of Islamic terminology or vocabulary to legitimize state actors and policies. This resulted in redefining Islam within state institutions and thus politicizing it by turning it into a modern national ideology. Political approaches to religion should pay attention to historical processes and cultural transformations, rather than focus on unhistorical approach to belief and theology.