Distinguishing Between Islam, Islamism and Violent Extremism: A Philosophical-Legal Guide

In the context of political upheaval, terrorist violence and theological-legal confusion in the Muslim-majority world, that impacts upon the whole world, there is an urgent need for a clear philosophical-legal differentiation of different types of religious-legal phenomena that all have an Islamic complexion.

This book draws on critical realism in order to set out a typology and analytical framework to enable distinctions to be made between phenomena which all have an Islamic complexion and yet are philosophically, theologically and legally different, namely: traditional Islam, political Islamism and violent Islamist Extremism. Matthew Wilkinson explores the differences in beliefs and religious legal practices manifested by the different phenomena before going on to look at how this typology relates to terrorist activity and legislation.

The book also considers the legal-philosophical implications of bringing to justice Muslims who claim not to accept the grounds of justice in non-Muslim courts through an analysis of the relationship between the principles of national and international law and the objectives of Islamic law (maqasid ash-sharia'). The book is aimed at non-Muslim professionals and teachers in Muslim-minority settings who are required to understand different types of phenomena that all have an Islamic complexion for the conduct of their professional duties as well as scholars and researchers in law and religious studies.