Civilization, Globalization, and Civil Islam

A Study of Civil Society from the Perspective of Maqashid As-Siyasah

Abstract

This paper discusses modern civilization and globalization as challenges to Muslim societies. Modern civilization and globalization are two undeniable realities that have long shaped the current global landscape. Islam, positioned as a belief system, a religious institution, and a civilization, faces unique challenges, particularly when Islamic values are interrogated or even factually alienated within these modern and global contexts. This study employs the phenomenology of religion, a relatively new approach in Islamic studies, especially in comparative religion, sociology of religion, and the social philosophy of religion. As an analytical tool, the author draws on selected sub-theories from civil society theory, which explores how human civilization evolves from a natural state to a fully developed civil society. Nevertheless, the approach and theoretical framework are anchored in the perspective of maqashid as-siyasah al-Islamiyah, ensuring that the analysis of civilization, globalization, and Civil Islam remains relevant to the discourse of Islamic political ethics. This study concludes that the realization of Civil Islam is reflected in the architecture and symbolic expressions of society, in the economic system, in the development of knowledge and science, in the social system including traditions, culture, interaction, and socialization patterns, and in the political system or at least the political paradigm that shapes governance.