The history of the Islamic movement in Jordan displays glaring contrasts with its counterparts like Egypt, Iran, and Syria. In a marked departure from the frequent and bloody confrontations that have characterized Islamic opposition in these countries, the Jordanian Muslim Brothers have been nonviolent and often defended the state vis-à-vis the challenges of radical ideologies. This book explains the state-religion relationship in Jordan in terms of ideology, politics, class formation, and the relationship between the dominant classes and the Muslim Brothers.

Addressing values and politics in the Muslim world, this pioneering volume examines attitudes towards democracy and politics, self-expression and traditional values, convergence and divergence of values between the elite and the publics of Islamic and European countries, political and economic consequences of religious beliefs, perceptions of outsiders and xenophobia, family and health, all topics of interests to sociology, political science, history, and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

Addressing values and politics in the Muslim world, this pioneering volume examines attitudes towards democracy and politics, self-expression and traditional values, convergence and divergence of values between the elite and the publics of Islamic and European countries, political and economic consequences of religious beliefs, perceptions of outsiders and xenophobia, family and health, all topics of interests to sociology, political science, history, and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

With resurgent interest in the Muslim world and in particular political Islam, this collection of original essays by major Muslim thinkers from the Middle East and South Asia demonstrates the ongoing and contentious debate between modernizers seeking to adapt Western ways and fundamentalists who rejected them. From Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Sayyid Ahmad Khan in the 19th century to Sayyid Qutb and Ayatollah Khomeini in the 20th, the essays provide an opportunity to examine a diversity of Muslim thinkers' thoughts on important topics like jurisprudence, politics, relations with the West, and women, in their own words.

The history of the Islamic movement in Jordan displays glaring contrasts with its counterparts in other Islamic countries like Egypt, Iran and Syria. In a marked departure from the frequent and bloody confrontations that have characterized the relationship between the state and Islamic opposition in these countries, the Jordanian Muslim Brothers have been nonviolent, and often defended the state vis-a-vis the challenges of radical ideologies. Following the democratization process by late King Hussein, the Muslim Brothers participated in the 1989 elections. To reconcile their belief in the sovereignty of the shari'a with the secular framework established by the state, the Brothers formed the Islamic Action Front Party with the sole objective of participating in the democratic process. This provocative move had also the benefit of providing additional political space for the more pragmatic and moderate minded Islamic activists, hindering the possibility of a split and thus maintaining the overall unity of the movement. This phenomenon is remarkable because the Jordanian Brothers have ideological and organizational affinities with the Muslim Brothers of Egypt and Syria. Further, the Jordanian state shared with the Egyptian, Iranian, and Syrian states certain structural features. Yet a peaceful cohabitation characterized the relationship between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Muslim Brothers. This book explains the state-religion relationship in Jordan in terms of the state's ideology and policies, class formation and the relationship between the dominant classes and the Muslim Brothers.