Statelessness and Leaderlessness

Abstract

Given the dependence of human communities on secure territorial borders and the stability provided by governing institutions, territorial and institutional collapse inevitably cause traumatic ramifications in any society. For better or worse, Islamic societies of all sects have gone through several such jarring historical moments, producing new identities, new ideologies, new communities, and new institutions. In Islamic societies, where religion plays a major inspirational role, the eclipse of charismatic religious and political leaders leaves a devastating void. The death of the Prophet Muhammad was such a trauma, planting the seed of the first theological and political divisions within the Muslim community. Similarly, the end of the high caliphate era can be considered as the precursor to jurisprudential plurality, and the dissolution of the caliphate was undoubtedly a defining historical moment for individual and group identity.