Recently, I wrote an article in Fair Observer, \u2018Through the Eyes of Yusuf,\u2019 where I offered an alternative lens to view and understand the meaning of \u2018Muslim\u2019 as a religious category, through an exegesis of the story of Yusuf (Joseph) in the Qur\u2019an. In the piece I briefly touched on the political implications of the Prophetic tradition within Islamic theology. But I want to elaborate more here.<\/p>\n
As much as the term \u2018Muslim\u2019 exists as a socio-political category, it is simultaneously a theological concept that signifies wholehearted submission or acceptance, through faith and through actions, to the One God. The terms \u2018Islam\u2019 (submission to the One God) and \u2018Muslims\u2019 (those who wilfully submit to the One God) are scattered throughout the text of the Qur\u2019an as preceding the historical development of a Muslim political community and the institutionalisation of Islam as a religion.<\/p>\n