Political Islam and emancipatory politics: snapshots of Islamic liberation theology

Abstract

ABSTRACT As a growing corpus of academic literature is taking notice of the plural geographies and trajectories of liberation theologies across diverse faith traditions, inquiries into the relationship between political Islam and liberative praxis are garnering renewed attention. Some scholars, casting doubt on the possibility of an Islamic liberation theology (ILT), have regarded political Islam as being devoid of liberative potential. Others, designating Islamism as the Muslim equivalent of liberation theology, have argued the emancipatory potential of Islamic political theology came to an end with the rise of fanatical renditions of Islamist militancy. Challenging these narratives, this article contributes to a recent stream of scholarship which tracks the historical and ongoing articulation of an ILT that overlaps with but is irreducible to Islamism. The article defines ILT as a manner of Islamic political theology that came into being in the context of the global emergence of liberation theologies, and one whose commitment to liberative praxis is anchored in a humanist and anti-oppression interpretation of Islamic precepts.