New Politics

The Purpose Toward Which the Social Contract Is Oriented

Zbigniew Brzeziński notes that between 1914 and 1990 “mega-deaths” are estimated to have reached 187 million—roughly 9 percent of the world’s population at the...

Reading the Medina Charter Differently

One of the principal factors that has shaped the Muslim world’s general philosophy of history is the distinctive historical period known as Asr al-Saʿāda...

The Way of Reading a Document

Just as sacred texts are subjected to tafsir, human-authored historical texts may also be interpreted through a similar process. Tafsir is a form of...

How the Medina Charter Came onto the Agenda

The document we call the Medina Charter (Medine Vesikası), and which has become known in Turkey by this name, first entered the wider public...

The Medina Charter

The Medina Charter — Introduction The Medina Charter first drew my attention thirty-five years ago (1991). In the time since, it has regularly surfaced in...

Islam and Democracy

In the ongoing debate in France about “republic versus democracy,” a common consensus has emerged: the republic answers the question “who will govern,” while...