This article will discuss the use of the Qurʾān to justify or contest rule. Three areas will be considered: (1) quasi-political themes in the Qurʾān; (2) the politicization of the Qurʾān in early Islam; and (3) the possibility and limitations of human rule alongside or in addition to the Qurʾān as divine communication.

Some preliminaries: As an institution governing a territory, administering its peoples and…