The Relation between Religion and the State: An Islamic Point of View

There has been an assumption that the Western attitude toward relation between religion and the state can be compatible with those approaches in Islamic territories. In this paper I am going to clarify some fundamental differences between Christianity as Western thinkers' account of religion and Islam in this respect. While Christianity is more ethical religion, Islam (like Judaism) has more attention to jurisprudence. While Christianity is more individual, Islam is more social. These differences and other cultural backgrounds in Islamic domain point to necessity of introducing some kinds of nonsecular models of relation between religion and the state. Based on those differences, I will point out to the reasons of need for some models of relation between religion and the state in Islamic domain. Then by referring to some characteristics of Islam I will try to show some specifications of successful models of relation between religion and the state in an Islamic political thought.