This is a paperbound reprint of a 1997 book about which Book News wrote: Outlines the main features of the theory and practice of political power in Muslim politics in the Middle Ages in relation to older traditions of sacred kingship, particularly Hellenistic, Near Eastern and Byzantine. Al-Azmeh (fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study, Berlin) starts with early Arab-Muslim policy and moves on to deal with the assumptions about power shared by the different Muslin traditions: central imperial theories, practices and ceremonial of power, the relationship of the caliphate to the sultanates, and finally, the eschatological and utopian notions of power and the sacred. Distributed by St. Martin's Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)