Islam Beyond Borders: The Umma in World Politics. By James Piscatori and Amin Saikal (Review)

Abstract

<p>Professor James Piscatori and Professor Amin Saikal are the established names in the field of political Islam. Piscatori and Saikal offer a nuanced, sophisticated, and well-researched argument to show that the Islamic concept of umma (a community of all Muslims) continues to influence a popular symbolic appeal of Muslim unity and an exclusive Muslim identity, although umma fails to provide a monolithic idea as a concrete project for all Muslims. Consequently, this has become a powerful "tool for a variety of social and political actors" (p. 160) to advance their (Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Islamic State) local authoritarian and global imperialistic agenda. The authors argue this based on three case studies of major actors, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Islamic State, and diverse theological interpretations of the umma. To the authors, the concept of umma is much contested among even Muslims and non-Muslims. While western imperialists find it a threat to their interests, Muslims differ in their interpretations of the concept, from national to transnational to radical internationalism.</p>