Early Community Politics and the Marginalization of Women in Islamic Intellectual History

Islam’s theological history interfaces with political developments in the post-Prophetic era. The roots of many discussions in Islamic theology are found in Islam’s political history. Yet a closer analysis of this history reveals that the dynamics of Islamic theology’s development do not so much reflect Qur’anic or Prophetic teachings as they mirror the political and economic conditions of the time. At the beginning of the early Islamic era, Muslims were already trying to legitimize their political interests using arguments and symbols drawn from Islamic religious concepts and sources.¹ The first‘aqīda²discussions originated from this aim to legitimize rule. The