Ebook: Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism

The history of Sunni theology (kalam) is little known, but the impact of its demise has profoundly shaped modern Islam. This book explores the correlation between anti-theological thought and the rise of Islamism in the twentieth century. It focuses specifically on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and the leadership of Umar al-Tilmisani (d. 1986). In doing so, the sociopolitical implications of anti-theological creedalism and its postcolonial intermarriage with the modern nation-state are analyzed. Ultimately, this study seeks to know whether a revival of Sunni theology, as a rational discourse on religion, can dilute the absolutism of increasingly pervasive Islamist thought in the contemporary Muslim world.