Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Socialism
- The Cambridge History of Socialism
- The Cambridge History of Socialism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume I
- Abbreviations
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I Beginnings
- Egalitarianism
- 1 Mazdak and Late Antique ‘Socialism’
- 2 Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought and Praxis
- 3 Egalitarianism in Europe: Hussites, Anabaptists, Racovians, Hutterites, and Diggers
- 4 The Taiping Land Programme: Creating a Moral Environment
- Early Socialisms
- The Arrival of the Hostile Siblings: Marxism and Anarchism
- Part II Negating State Power
- Index
- References
2 - Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought and Praxis
from Egalitarianism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2022
- The Cambridge History of Socialism
- The Cambridge History of Socialism
- The Cambridge History of Socialism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume I
- Abbreviations
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I Beginnings
- Egalitarianism
- 1 Mazdak and Late Antique ‘Socialism’
- 2 Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought and Praxis
- 3 Egalitarianism in Europe: Hussites, Anabaptists, Racovians, Hutterites, and Diggers
- 4 The Taiping Land Programme: Creating a Moral Environment
- Early Socialisms
- The Arrival of the Hostile Siblings: Marxism and Anarchism
- Part II Negating State Power
- Index
- References
Summary
Egalitarianism is a high ideal within Islamic thought. Apart from monotheism, the proclamation of the equality of all human beings in the eyes of God is understood to be one of the most distinctive features of Islam, which strikingly sets it apart from pre-Islamic (Jāhilī) Arab society. Extant sources inform us that Arabs in the pre-Islamic period recognized many cleavages in their society based on tribal membership, kinship, and gender. The pagan inhabitants of Mecca, where Islam began, took great exception to the idea of egalitarianism, in addition to monotheism, espoused by Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh, the prophet of Islam.
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- The Cambridge History of Socialism , pp. 56 - 78Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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