Security Transition; the Shift in Ummah's Security Theory Following the Prophet's Demise

Continuing his previous studies on the Islamic theory of security, the author analyzes the short period following the Prophet’s demise from a security perspective. To do that, using the analytical framework of cleavages and the concept of condensation of cleavages, he shows how this condensation has appeared with the Prophet’s demise. Consequently, the Ummah’s security theory had become subject to internal crisis. According to this analysis, four political, economic, cultural and social cleavages emerged in Medina as affected by power considerations and the ideas of the Ignorance era, thus the essence of Islamic identity was threatened. In such circumstances, just two patterns for crisis management are proposed. The patterns include: First, toleration of the critical conditions aiming at the preservation of Islamic identity that wishes to adjust the conditions from the condensation of cleavages to their intersection; second, the exacerbation of the crisis in order to attain desired objectives in anarchic atmosphere which presents high risks and costs, leading likely to the decline in Islamic identity because of the condensation of cleavages. This analysis is an introduction to the security theory of the Allawi government which will be followed in the next articles.