Beyond the Nation: A Conceptual History of the Qurʾanic Term Umma in Tafsir and Political Thought

In the Age of a global, yet fragmented world the idea of the umma has grown to become a popular imagination that is invoked by everyone although it's meaning is unclear today. What is meant by the umma when it is invoked? Who is addressed and what is the framework in which the umma operates? This study seeks to trace back the concept of umma to its intended original meaning in the Qurʾan and it's understanding in classical Islamic Political Thought. By the use of three selected interrelated dimensions, morality, politics and religiosity the study seeks to illustrate the shifting emphasis within the two genres, Tafsir and Islamic Political Thought. Through the choice of five classical and modern exegetes the study investigates the range of differences within its meaning in Qurʾan exegesis. In addition to that, the analysis of the exegete's understanding of umma illustrates how socio-political circumstances have shaped the scholars understanding of umma in their historical context and how this in turn has led to a shifting emphasis on the political dimension of the umma. By providing a survey of usages of umma in pre-modern contexts, it highlights the notion of trans-locality that was present in premodern understandings of umma. In light of the wake of colonialism, western modernity, and the spread of nationalistic ideas in the Muslim world, this thesis makes an argument about how the meaning of umma has transformed since the 19th century by an analysis of Sheikh al-Marsafi's understanding of umma in 1881. Salman Sayyid reconceptualization of umma in a postcolonial world, goes beyond the nation-state, yet still stresses the importance of its political dimension and could be considered contextual response to the political challenges Muslims are facing at his time. The transhistorical approach of this study offers a way of relating the understanding of concepts of umma by early Muslim scholars to that of modern scholars in order to clarify in relation to what these changes happened and what political and social implication they had for the Muslim World.