Introduction , A. K. S. Lambton; Part I ON CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC STUDIES; Chapter 1 THE PURPOSE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES, Christopher Toll; Chapter 2 THE CONTEMPORARY DEBATE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD ON THE DEFINITION OF “;HUMAN RIGHTS”, Jan Hjärpe; Chapter 3 THE SOCIO-POLITICAL ASPECTS OF THE MODERN ISLAMIC MISSION, Gasym Mamed Ogly Kerimov; Part II AUTHORITY AND THE STATE; Chapter 4 THE CONCEPT OF AUTHORITY IN ISLAMIC THOUGHT, Mohammed Arkoun; Chapter 5 The Origins of the Islamic State, Hichem Djaït; Chapter 6 ADMINISTRATION IN THE ISLAMIC STATE: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE TERMS “;DHIMMA” AND “;JIZYA”, Jøurgen Bæk Simonsen; Chapter 7 State and Politics in the Philosophy of Sh?h Wal?y All?h, Mahmood A. Ghazi; Part III SECULARIZATION: NATION-STATE AND MODERNIZATION; Chapter 8 ISLAM AND CIVIL SOCIETY, Mehd? Mozaffari; Chapter 9 NATION-STATE BUILDING IN SYRIA: BA'TH AND ISLAM — CONFLICT OR ACCOMMODATION?, Annika Rabo; Chapter 10 ISLAM: WHAT IS ITS POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE? THE CASES OF EGYPT AND SAUDI ARABIA, Gorm Rye Olsen; Chapter 11 WHEN MUSLIM IDENTITY HAS DIFFERENT MEANINGS: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN CONTEMPORARY AFGHANISTAN, Asger Christensen; Chapter 12 AFGHANISTAN: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN STATE, Asta Olesen; Chapter 13 LABOUR ORGANIZATION IN LIBYA, Maja Naur; Chapter 14 CULTURE AND MINORITIES IN THE ARABO-ISLAMIC IDENTITY OF ALGERIA, Tuomo Melasuo; NOTES;