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Radical Separation of Powers by Wael Hallaq

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Radical Separation of Powers

A History of Islamic Constitutionalism

Wael Hallaq, Wael B. Hallaq

Oneworld Publications · Print & ebook · February 24, 2026

Reading lane: Islamic Theology

Two centuries of Orientalist scholarship have denied that Islam has a constitutional concept.

At a Glance

Who It's For

Good for readers who enjoy Islamic TheologyGood for readers interested in historyGood for fans of Islam

Book Details

Authors
Wael Hallaq, Wael B. Hallaq
Publisher
Oneworld Publications
Published
February 24, 2026
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Islamic Theology · Islamic History
Reading lane
Islamic Theology

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • Administrative Law

  • Constitutional Law

  • Eastern Philosophy

  • Religion & Philosophy

Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Political Ideologies

  • Islam - General

  • Islamic Rituals & Practice

  • Sufism

About This Book

Two centuries of Orientalist scholarship have denied that Islam has a constitutional concept. Premodern Islamic political practice has been subject to mistranslation, misinterpretation and condescension through the eyes of colonisers, and judged inferior to the norms of Western liberalism. Wael Hallaq, a leading scholar of Islamic law, sets the record straight in this groundbreaking volume. Traumatised by the tyranny of absolute monarchies, Europe came to see in Islam everyt...

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Two centuries of Orientalist scholarship have denied that Islam has a constitutional concept. Premodern Islamic political practice has been subject to mistranslation, misinterpretation and condescension through the eyes of colonisers, and judged inferior to the norms of Western liberalism. Wael Hallaq, a leading scholar of Islamic law, sets the record straight in this groundbreaking volume. Traumatised by the tyranny of absolute monarchies, Europe came to see in Islam everything that it despised about itself. By seeking to understand Islamic governance from within its own tradition of reason, Hallaq reveals premodern Islam to have a rich and distinctive constitutional tradition: starting from the individual as a political subject up to the power of executives.

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